🍽️ Timed Baozi

Weinan old-style buns, fluffy and fragrant.

Timed Baozi is a traditional steamed bun of Weinan, Shaanxi, named because buns used to come out of the steamer at fixed hours and sold out once the time passed. The dough is leavened with old starter, giving a fluffy, soft wrapper pleated with fine folds; the filling is mainly fatty-lean pork with large onion, seasoned with soy, ginger and prickly-ash water for a savoury, juicy bite. Fresh from the steamer, the white, pillowy skin gives way to a burst of hot, onion-scented juice. It is best eaten immediately, as quality fades when cold. Old Weinan shops draw long queues at dawn, where locals pair the buns with tofu-pudding or millet porridge for a breakfast ritual of the Guanzhong plain.