dawn shift, 5 am
6 per basket
"3 cups flour
½ tsp yeast
fold 18 times
— Nǎinai"
est. recipe, 1978
Every bun,
folded by hand.
Where every filling
has a story.
We source each ingredient the way a grandmother would — by name, by season, by trust. Nothing arrives in a box without a face behind it.
Braised Pork Belly
Berkshire pork, slow-braised 4 hours in Shaoxing wine & rock sugar
The heart of the shop.
Salted Egg Custard
Duck eggs cured 30 days, folded into lava custard with grass-fed butter
Flows when you break it.
Black Sesame
Stone-ground Yunnan sesame paste, cane sugar, cold-pressed sesame oil
Oozes like warm ink.
Red Bean & Osmanthus
Adzuki beans from Hokkaido, dried osmanthus flowers steeped overnight
Floral, earthy, ancient.
From flour
to steam.
The Dough
Unbleached flour, spring water, a pinch of yeast. Mixed by hand at 4 am, left to rise until it pushes back like a pillow.
The Fill
A generous spoonful — never skimped. Each filling portioned by feel, not by scale.
The Pleat
18 folds. No more, no less. Each pleat pinched clockwise — the seal that holds everything inside.
The Steam
Bamboo baskets stacked three high over boiling water. 12 minutes. The moment the lid lifts — that cloud of heat is the whole point.
Six buns.
Every one counts.
Hover to look closer. Each bun is a whole world — the skin tells you how it was made.
Braised Pork Belly
红烧肉包Berkshire belly braised 4 hours. Melts the moment the skin breaks. The one that started it all.
Salted Egg Custard
流沙奶黄包Lava custard that flows. Salted duck egg yolk folded with butter — sweet, salty, impossible to eat slowly.
Black Sesame
黑芝麻包Stone-ground paste from Yunnan. Dark, rich, nutty — oozes like warm ink when the skin gives way.
Wild Mushroom & Chive
蘑菇韭菜包Shiitake and king oyster mushrooms with fresh chives and white pepper. Earthy, clean, honest.
Red Bean & Osmanthus
桂花红豆包Hokkaido adzuki beans, slow-cooked with dried osmanthus flowers. Floral, earthy, like a grandmother's afternoon.
Soy Chicken & Ginger
姜葱鸡包Free-range chicken thigh, poached in master stock, shredded with fresh ginger and scallion oil.
Trays of 12 available for office orders · minimum 24 hrs notice
Reserve your buns.
Pickup orders confirmed by SMS. Ready from 7 am, while they last.
"I set an alarm for 6:45 just to make sure I get the pork belly ones before they sell out."
Priya Mehta
Clement St. regular
"Ordered 8 trays for our Monday all-hands. My team now asks every week if we're doing 'bun Mondays' again."
Marcus Chen
Engineering Lead, SOMA
"The salted egg custard lava bun made three people cry at our product launch. In a good way."
Daniela Rojas
Event Planner, SF