A Bao Eatery at Harvard Square

By Jiang Guangyu

Tong Qihua, a native of Wenling, Zhejiang province, has opened in over 10 years more than 160 bao(Chinese style steamed stuffed buns) stores in Hangzhou with annual sales of nearly 200 million yuan. His bao won the honorary title of “The Most Popular Fresh Bao in Hangzhou,” which was bestowed upon his humble establishment by likes of the Hangzhou Catering and Cooking Association.

After two years’ preparation,Tong Qihua opened his first bao eatery in the United States on July 7, 2016—Tom’s BaoBao.

The eatery sits in a prime location at Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts,located smack dab in middle of the main campus services area of Harvard where there is a large number of cafés, restaurants and bookstores. It is teeming with life and the rent is, as you would expect, an arm and a leg.

童启华是浙江温岭人，他用10多年时间，在杭州开了160余家包子店，年销售额近2亿元人民币；他做的包子，荣获杭州餐饮烹饪协会评定的“最受杭州市民喜爱的鲜汁肉包”荣誉称号。

2016年7月7日，经过两年的准备，童启华在美国的第一家包子店Tom's BaoBao（汤姆的包包）开张了。

包子店的位置在黄金地段，马萨诸塞州波士顿市剑桥镇的哈佛广场。这是哈佛大学的生活服务核心区，汇集多家咖啡馆、餐馆、书店，人气很旺，当然租金也不菲。

包子店的17个厨师，全是美国人。他们是从600多名应聘者中选出来的，上岗前通过3个月的培训和考核。一名厨师的培训费，最多达10万美元。他们按照标准，1分钟之内能把22个面团擀成面皮；1分钟之内能把22个面皮包成褶皱一样的包子；每个生包子的重量是100克，其中面皮60克，馅料40克，误差范围不能超过2克。他们与周围的汉堡店、比萨店的员工相比，待遇至少高出15%，有的员工年薪高达10万美元。童启华说：“尊重这个行业，就要尊重我们的员工，进而让我们的员工尊重我们的顾客。”

包子有经典猪肉包、咖喱牛肉包、酱烧鸡丁包、香菇青菜包、鲜橙红薯包，还有具有当地特色的龙虾包。最便宜的鲜橙红薯包，每个税前3美元。龙虾包较贵，每个税前至少6美元。

点单台上，还放了3份说明，顾客可以按需取阅。一份是关于包子的工艺，一份是菜单，一份是吃包子的四种感觉：视觉、触觉、味觉、嗅觉。包子店简约的装修风格，可以让顾客隔着玻璃窗观看包子是怎么做出来的。

也许很多人会担心：美国人会吃包子吗？童启华回答：“当然会。美味没有国界，关键是要做出最地道的美味。”如果汉堡是标志性的美国食物，那么，包子就是经典的中国传统食物，更是一种跨国文化的交流和沟通。这正是他敢于公开叫板美国汉堡，把包子店开在哈佛广场汉堡店隔壁的原因。

果然不出童启华所料，哈佛大学的学生很开放包容，乐于接受美味飘香的新食物。有个女生一口气吃了4个包子，还觉得有点不过瘾。包子逐渐成为众多学霸、教授口中的美味，也成为会议聚餐的“定制”点心。许多慕名去包子店品尝美食的美籍华人动情地说：“包子是中国人的集体乡愁。”

童启华充满信心地谋划，在未来的3年至5年，还要在美国开设20来家包子店。他说：“美国需要一个令他们疯狂的中国传统美食，就像星巴克代表咖啡，麦当劳代表汉堡一样，我的Tom's BaoBao将来一定能代表中国包子。我对自己的定位是：做最好的包子。”◆

（摘自《辽宁青年》2017年第3期）

The 17 chefs in the store are all Americans selected from a long list of more than 600 candidates,all trained and scrutinized for three months before they took up their post. Chef’s training costs up to 100 thousand dollars.Their quota is to roll out 22 dough wrappers per minute; which produces a batch of 22 bao every 60 seconds. Each bao weighs 100 grams in total with the dough wrappers weighing 60 grams and the stuffing 40 grams, the margin of error is no more than 2 grams.The chefs are paid at least 15%more than their counterparts at the neighboring hamburger and pizza restaurants, and some even earn up to 100,000 dollars a year.“To respect this industry, we should respect our employees and let them respect our customers,”remarked Tong Qihua.

There are classic varieties such as pork bao, curry beef bao,diced chicken bao with sauce,mushroom and vegetable bao,along with more exotic styles like fresh orange sweet potato bao,and even lobster bao which caters to local tastes. The cheapest fresh orange sweet potato bao costs 3 dollars before tax. Lobster bao is more costly, about 6 dollars before tax.

On the ordering counter, three posters hang prominently for the customers to read. The first is about the making of bao; the second is a menu, and the third is the four Taos of the bao, which are: look, touch, taste and smell.The simple but pleasant decor of the eatery allows the customers to get an intimate peek into how bao is made through the glass window.

Maybe you readers out there have a burning question in your mind, would Americans actually like bao? Tong Qihua replied with an air of confidence, “There are no national borders for gourmet treats. The key is to make them absolutely authentic.” If the hamburger is a poster child for American food, then, the Bao is the symbol of classical Chinese cuisine, and beyond that a channel of cross-cultural exchange. Tom’s confidence in the marketability of the bao is precisely why he dared to boldly challenge the great American staple—the hamburger—and put his eatery right next to a hamburger restaurant in Harvard Square.

Just as Tong Qihua expected,Harvard University students are open-minded and nonjudgmental, and more than willing to accept a new food as long as it’s flavorful and satisfying. There was a girl who ate four bao in one sitting and yet hadn’t had her fill. Bao has gradually become the delicacy of many of the school’s top students and professors, and a “readymade” snack for meetings.Many Chinese-Americans compelled to take a nibble or two of Tom’s gourmet bao have given an emotional account of their experience summarized as,“Tom’s Bao are like the collective nostalgia of the Chinese people.”

Tong Qihua is confident in his expansion plans going forward.In the next three to five years, he plans to open 20 more bao eateries in the United States. He pointed out, “The United States needs Chinese traditional cuisine; they’re starving for it. Like the long lines at Starbucks or McDonald’s, my Tom’s BaoBao will be the brandname of Chinese bao. I have set the bar high for myself, because I will not stop until I make the world’s best bao.”◆