bah-oân
{{Short description|Taiwanese street food}}
{{About|a Taiwanese street food|the populated place in India|Bawan}}
{{Italic title}}
{{More footnotes needed|date=March 2016}}
{{Infobox food
| name = Bah-oân
| image = Bawan with sauce at table in a restaurant somewhere in Daxi.jpg
| image_size = 300px
| caption = Bawan from Taoyuan, Taiwan
| alternate_name =
| country = Taiwan
| region =
| creator =
| course = Dim sum
| type = Dumpling
| served =
| main_ingredient = Dough (corn starch, sweet potato starch, rice flour), pork, chicken, bamboo shoots, shiitake mushrooms
| variations =
| calories =
| other =
}}
{{Infobox Chinese
| t = {{linktext|肉圓}}
| p = ròuyuán
| poj = bah-oân
| l = meat circle
}}
Bah-oân ({{lang-zh|t={{linktext|肉圓}}|p=ròuyuán|w=jou4-yüan2|poj=bah-oân|l=meat circle}}) is a Taiwanese dumpling made of starch and rice flour, filled with meat and vegetables. It is gelatinous and translucent, and often considered street food.
Names
The alternative term "ba-wan" is a non-standard romanization derived from Taiwanese Hokkien. In the township of Lukang, Changhua County, ba-wan are known as {{Transliteration|nan|bahhoe}} ({{lang-zh|c={{linktext|肉回}}|p=ròuhuí|poj=bah-hôe|l=meat return|labels=no}}) because they take on the block-like shape of the character 回.
History
It is believed that ba-wan were first prepared in the Beidou township of Changhua County by a scribe by the name of Fan Wan-chu ({{lang-zh|labels=no|t=范萬居|p=Fàn Wànjū}}) as food for disaster relief, when the region was struck by heavy floods in 1898.{{cite news |author1=Han Cheung |title=Taiwan in Time: Deadly waters and their legends |url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/archives/2018/08/05/2003697993 |access-date=5 August 2018 |work=Taipei Times |date=5 August 2018}} Since then, ba-wan has spread to different regions of Taiwan and is now considered by many as a national food, and can be found in most night markets in Taiwan. The traditional wrapper was made with sweet potato starch alone, sweet potatoes were the dominant food crop in pre-1950s Taiwan and were traditionally preserved by extracting their starch. The ingredients of the ba-wan reflect the terroir of Taiwan.{{cite web |author-link=Clarissa Wei|last1=Wei |first1=Clarissa |title=The Giant Jiggly Crystal Meatball Is the Ultimate Taiwanese Snack |url=https://www.eater.com/23677940/crystal-meatball-taiwan-dumpling-ba-wan-boba-bubble-tea |website=eater.com |publisher=Eater |access-date=18 May 2023}}
Production
The ba-wan is a disk-shaped translucent dough {{convert|6|-|8|cm|abbr=on}} diameter made of sweet potato starch{{cite book | last=Behnke | first=A. | title=Taiwan in Pictures | publisher=Twenty-First Century Books | series=Visual Geography (Lerner) Series | year=2007 | isbn=978-0-8225-7148-3 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qt7nmCdy4iIC&pg=PA53 | access-date=5 November 2016 | page=53}}{{cite web | last=Wong | first=Maggie Hiufu | title=40 Taiwanese foods we can't live without | website=CNN | date=24 July 2015 | url=http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/23/travel/40-taiwan-food/index.html | access-date=5 November 2016}} filled with savory stuffing and served with sweet and savory sauce. The stuffing varies widely according to different regions in Taiwan, but usually consists of a mixture of pork, bamboo shoots, and shiitake mushrooms.{{cite web | title=A beginner's guide to Taiwanese food in London: the best restaurants | website=Evening Standard | date=6 May 2015 | url=https://www.standard.co.uk/goingout/restaurants/a-beginners-guide-to-taiwanese-food-in-london-the-best-restaurants-and-what-to-order-10227059.html | access-date=5 November 2016}} Changhua-style ba-wan is considered to be the "standard" ba-wan as it is the most famous and most widely imitated of all styles of ba-wan.{{Citation needed|date=May 2023}}
The gelatinous dough is made of a combination of corn starch, sweet potato starch, and rice flour, which gives it its chewy, sticky, and gelatinous texture (sometimes described as "Q" in Taiwanese parlance{{Cite web|title=For Taiwanese Americans, There's No Better Texture Than Q|url=https://www.kqed.org/arts/13897410/taiwanese-food-texture-q-boba-love-boat|access-date=2021-12-15|website=KQED|language=en-us}}) and a greyish translucent hue. Ba-wan are initially cooked by steaming; however, they may also be served after being deep fried to give them a "skin" or gently poached in oil to heat them without drying them out. Their form makes them relatively easy to pre-make and store. They can be quickly heated again in oil before serving.
Gallery
File:沙鹿肉圓福.jpg
File:07.28 總統品嘗在地小吃 (50161805162).jpg
File:寶斗肉圓.JPG
File:Woman frying Bawan at A-Zhang Bawan restaurant.jpg|Frying bawan
See also
References
{{reflist}}
- {{cite book|author=林明德|date=2002|publisher=Changhua County Cultural Affairs Bureau|location=Changhua City|isbn=9789570101263|script-title=zh:彰化縣飲食文化|language=zh}}
{{Taiwanese cuisine}}
{{Dumplings}}
{{portal-inline|Food}}