Heath planned to make miniature buns. Although they looked rather like xiaolongbao, they were not the same kind of bun at all; even their preparation and texture were completely different. This time, Heath was making that very distinctive kind.
Heath had eaten these buns before. They were a particularly distinctive local specialty in that city and had been recommended on a local food show. It was seeing that show that had made Heath want to try those unusual buns. After trying them once, he had found that the shop's buns really were interesting. Unlike traditional buns, they were the sort you could identify as hers with a single bite.
Generally speaking, most traditional steamed buns were large, with some particularly big ones reaching the size of a fist. What kind of bun you got depended on the shopkeeper's mood. Some shops offered thin wrappers and generous fillings, while at others, you could take a bite without even seeing the filling. Of course, there were also Crab Roe Soup Dumplings, soup-filled buns, xiaolongbao, and other varieties, including some that were famous worldwide, such as the once-renowned Goubuli Steamed Buns.
But after all the changes brought by the passing years, Goubuli Steamed Buns had gone from a celebrated, time-honored Chinese name to a brand widely criticized by consumers. When Heath had traveled there before, even the friend hosting him had said that the customers eating Goubuli Steamed Buns were mostly tourists from other provinces. Locals, on the other hand, did not eat them.
What Heath was making this time was certainly not Goubuli Steamed Buns. After all, the authentic method of making Goubuli Steamed Buns was now essentially lost. Most of the versions popular today had been recreated later, and whether they could reproduce the original flavor of Goubuli Steamed Buns remained