Tiger Bites Pig
I’m not sure where this steamed Bao revolution in the UK has come from, it feels like since discovering ‘Dim Sum Su’ and her amazing bao at Digbeth Dining Club a year or so ago, bao are now popping up everywhere. My Instagram feed is full of them, which If you love them as much as I do is no bad thing.
Lately most of the pictures clogging up my timeline and making me drool are from the recently opened ‘Tiger Bites Pig’ on Stephenson street. Now I may not know where this new-found bao popularity has come from, but there are two things I do know. I know that the name of the restaurant originates from Taiwan where in some parts, the popular steamed buns were known as hó˙-kā-ti (Tiger Bites Pig) This was because of the mouth like shape of the bun and its filling which was usually pork belly.
The other thing I knew, was that I just had to try this new addition to the independent food scene in Brum. So, one Thursday lunch time that’s what I did, and I was not disappointed. The petit restaurants interior is minimalistic but that really doesn’t matter, as it is the amazing food that does all the talking.
The menu has five different bao and some rice bowls and an excellent selection of interesting drinks of both the soft and alcohol variety. In the interest of been able to write a decent review and being a greedy so & so, I ordered four bao, and a bottle of the very refreshing peach and green tea firefly natural drink.
The smell of the food being prepared in the open plan kitchen invades the restaurant making my belly growl and making me salivate in anticipation of what’s to come.
Braised short rib with chili, black vinegar, shitake mushrooms and cured egg yolk inside a cloud like steamed bun which was light, delicate and everything a good bao should be is the pick of the four. Although the other three were so good, it was near impossible to choose a favourite.
Tender and succulent slow cooked red pork belly with the most amazing texture is accompanied by slightly sweet pickled mustard greens topped with peanuts which provide a delicious crunch.
Perfectly cooked juicy slices of double cooked duck with water spinach and some fantastically fragrant XO sauce which took the bao to a whole new level, the same way that the heavenly crispy sesame chicken skin that topped the white chicken, spring onion and ginger dressed in Sichuan chili oil bao did. That crispy chicken skin will haunt my hungriest memories for ever, it was incredible.
Tiger Bites Pig is a fantastic addition to the ever-growing list of amazing new openings in the city centre, and even though I’m counting down till my next visit here, I am quite glad I don’t work in the city centre as I would be here every day leaving my wallet light and my waistline bao like, it really is that good.
Breaking Bread Podcast, the podcast all about food