Folding-table maven MaliNumNum Treats, for example, uses them for her sio-bao, a Filipino-Chinese hybrid with fillings such as pork belly, chicharrones, and tomato or shrimp and mango salsa. The truck Chairman Bao is dedicated to both the steamed and baked varieties, excelling at original creations such as lion's head meatball with kimchi and crispy garlic tofu with miso greens.
The Filipino cart Adobo Hobo is betting on the trend with a recently-debuted menu item called the adobao, a steamed bun with chiccharon-encrusted Visayan- (i.e., Southern-Philippines-) style pork belly adobo with acharra (pickled carrots), radish, and cilantro.
"There are so many fusion/nouveau tacos out there right now that baos offer a new vessel to put meat and stuffings in that isn't overdone yet," reckons Hobo's Ed Chui.
