Steamed Vegetarian Buns (Brilliant Co.)

These buns don't have an identifiable brand in English on the front of the package, but the back shows they are made by "Brilliant Co." I picked these up when I was taking a friend who just moved to the south part of Boston to the Kam Man for her first time. I am not sure what made me choose them, and the packaging is very unclear to what these are, other than vegetarian! No veggies are listed in the ingredients, just stuff like wheat flour and sugar. It was a pleasant surprise that these have a sweet and salty fake meat filling, with square chunks of textured vegetable protein (could be soy, or seitan? unclear, gluten and soy are both on the ingredient list). I think they are vegetarian plain pork buns? Overall, the buns are on the small side with a good ratio of filling to dough, the filling is moist and chewy with a simple sweet and savory flavor, and the dough was standard with a little chewiness to the outer skin. These were a pleasant surprise, and I would buy them again if my favorite vegetarian Char Siew buns don't reappear.

Score: 4/5 - Good small fake meat bun, good texture and simple but fulfilling flavor.