Baozi
filled bun
Baozi (Chinese: ), or simply bao, is a type of yeast-leavened filled bun in various Chinese cuisines. There are many variations in fillings (meat or vegetarian) and preparations, though the buns are most often made from wheat flour and steamed. They are a variation of mantou from Northern China.
Baozi are popular throughout China and have even made their way into the cuisines of many other countries through the Chinese diaspora.
History and etymology
Baozi were originally called mantou, and may be related to the Central Asian dumpling manti.
During the Western Jin Dynasty (266–316), Shu Xi wrote about dumplings and other wheat-based foods (at the time called bing), which he believed were from the Han dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD) or later. He described mantou as large meat-filled dumplings eaten at spring banquets. Other early sources mention the use of mantou in rituals.
In the Tang dynasty (618–907), mantou were small leavened filled buns eaten as dianxin. In the Song dynasty (960–1279), mantou could have a variety of fillings (meat, poultry, fish, vegetables) and were said to be a common snack for students.
“Baozi” enters the record as filled bun. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Baozi and filled can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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This entry incorporates text from “Baozi” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.