My favourite foods generally involve tasty meat enclosed in some form of delectable carbs such as the bun, wrapper, pastry, bread etc. In fact, to maintain consistency throughout, the Chinesy “Yin + Yangster” font that appears at the top of this website is called the “wonton font”. How’s THAT for dedication, huh? *wink wink*
In addition to wonton, I love gyozas, pot stickers, dumplings and 小籠包 (xiao3 long2 bao1), which literally translated means “little bamboo steamer bun”. The second character 籠 (long2) which means “bamboo steamer” is comprised of the bamboo radical 竹 (zhu2) at its top and beneath it, 龍 (long2) which means “dragon”. Both 籠 and 龍 have the same pronunciation and tone. Naturally it wasn’t much of a stretch to change “little bamboo steamer bun” into “little dragon bun”, or 小龍包.
The cartoon caption reads “Didn’t you order the ‘little dragon buns’?”
Ahh, I just love deconstructing the Chinese language… or is this considered butchering it?
PS If you’ve never had 小籠包, you MUST stop whatever you’re doing right this moment and head to your local hole in the wall authentic Chinese restaurant and order yourself a round of these delicious puppies!!! (jk, no puppies!)