Taiwanese street vendor who sells steamed buns for less than US$2 recognised by Michelin
- Self-taught chef Wu Huang-yi perfected his meat marinade more than 20 years ago and stews the pork belly for hours
- His popular stall at Taipei’s Huaxi Street Night Market has been awarded a place on the food guide’s Bib Gourmand list
A cloud escapes into the air as 80-year-old Taiwanese street food vendor Wu Huang-yi lifts the lid on a giant steaming basket to unveil a piping-hot batch of two dozen buns.
It is lunchtime at Taipei’s Huaxi Street Night Market – the city’s oldest – and a queue has already formed at Wu’s stall, with diners eager to taste the pork belly whose aroma wafts from a steel pot bubbling in the cramped kitchen.
Self-taught chef Wu perfected his meat marinade more than 20 years ago, and he still goes to the market at 5am every day to handpick the pork belly, which he stews for hours in his special blend of ingredients.
“My buns are different from others, it’s all handmade. It’s tasty because it’s so soft and yet chewy,” Wu says.
“Everything is done according to tradition, and that’s the reason why it tastes good.”
03:11
Michelin Guide recognises 60-year-old Taipei street food stall and its famous guabao ‘hamburger’
Also known in Taiwanese as ho-ga-ti (tiger bites pig), the guabao is a circular flat steamed bun, which is folded in half and stuffed with braised meat, salted vegetables, coriander and ground peanuts.