5 Questions with Bao Wow

Can you give us a little bit of insight behind the origins of Bao Wow

Originally known as "Gua Bao", it's Taiwanese streetfood that has come into fashion in fine dining restaurants internationally over the past few years but hasn't really been available on the cheap eats scene in Sydney.

The true Taiwanese version has a slice of braised pork belly, coriander, peanuts, pickles, mustard greens and red sugar.  

I've known I've wanted to run my own stall for a while now and when I came across Gua Bao I knew it was the perfect product to sell.  

The original food is excellent but I decided to freshen it up to suit our climate and culture and my own personal taste.  I think the balance between the freshness of the herbs and cucumber combined with the juicy porked roll and fluffy steamed bun makes a perfect match for market brunch.

Even though still somewhat "new" to Kings Cross Markets, you have already established yourself as a firm favourite.  How encouraging has this been for you

To be honest it's a total surprise.  I took a risk and it's definitely paying off.  We've only been going for about 6 weeks and this is my first experience at running a market stall, so I wasn't sure what to expect, but we have already weekly regulars!

It's a fantastic feeling when someone buys a Bao, then comes back to tell me how much they enjoyed it.  Hearing feedback really makes it all worthwhile.

Where do you source your produce from and how long does it take to prep for market

We get our free range pork from AC Butchery in Leichhardt which has a really great range of meat products, and all our vege and herbs from the Vietnamese supermarkets in Marrickvile (around the corner from my house).  I do all the prep on the Friday before market (eg: making the dough and rolling out over 100 buns that are triple proofed, braising the pork so I can pull it in the morning).  

It's pretty labour intensive but it's worth it for the end product.

What is it about market life that keeps it "real" for you

Being able to work outdoors is part of the reason I was drawn to market life and it's as rewarding as I thought it would be (although we haven't had a rainy day yet!).

I also love the camaraderie between stallholders, swapping Bao for a bunch of organic bananas or the best baklava in the world from two stalls down.

In 5 words, how would you sump up life as a stallie at Kings Cross Market

Tiring, rewarding, exciting and delicious

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Delicious is as delicious does and if they sell out week in week out then obviously they are doing something right!

With thanks to Bao Wow for not only sharing some time and photos with us but being part of our Saturday Kings Cross Market Family and as the man who wears the hat says "do yourself a favour" and make sure you swing by to try one of these little beauties (ps: while you're at it, why not let them know you've read the blog too!)