I rarely venture out to Cheras to whet my appetite. It just always seems a bit too far to go grab a quick lunch, and a bit too out of the way to go have dinner.

Even then, it was a surprise to my colleagues that I’d never heard of the famous Ong Kee Big Bun. “It’s THIS BIG!” he said, stretching his hands out to give me an idea of its size, which made me imagine it to be the size of a football.. “Inside you got chicken, pork, eggs, and some veggies.. come we go try it today”. So off we went.

Along the way he told me the story of how the pau maker came up with this oversized treat. Apparently some dude approached this simple pau maker and commended him on the quality of his paus, then asked him to create a big pau, as big as Amy Yip’s breasts! Amy Yip is some actress who was um… ‘blessed’ with a pair of enormous tits. Here’s a pic of her because I KNOW you all want it… courtesy of Wikipedia.
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Ok back to the paus.

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Above is the lineup of paus available at this stall, which sits just beside the main road. The prices are hard to read because Mr. Ong Kee has updated them with a pen over the years. I think it’s quite obvious that he’s very proud of his Big Bun creation.

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These are the bamboo baskets where the big buns are made. I never knew paus were pink in colour before being cooked.

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 Here is Ong Kee’s standard issue pau and loh mai kai display cabinet.

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Back at the office, we unwrapped the big bun, to the wonderment and awe of bystanders in the pantry. The guy who held the pau in this picture was practically drooling all over it.

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 The inside of the pau appeared to be exactly as my colleague described. Chicken, pork, eggs, and sengkuang (jicama).

 Personally, I didn’t think much of it, as it didn’t taste very good. The chicken was also still attached to the bones, which made it annoying to eat. Between 3 people, we couldn’t finish the bloody thing. I would therefore classify it as a novelty pau. It’s interesting to look at, and represents good value at RM4.50, but it tastewise it falters badly. But if you’re low on funds and really really hungry, go for it.

[Ratings]