These meat-filled pastries were introduced last year by Hans Kenneth Tan, an enterprising young Chinoy who thought of giving commuters and on-the-go professionals a convenient snack food that’s both filling and affordable. "I wanted to give the people a tastier alternative to siopao, doughnuts and empanada," said Hans.

Inspired by the golden sweet buns that are usual breakfast fare in Mainland China, Hans together with their Hongkong chef, developed a sweetish bread dough that they kitchen-tested several times. The team made sure they did not overwork the dough and that it was moist. This gave them the ideal dough consistency, which when cooked in a very hot oven the resulting steam literally blows the pastry into layers thus producing a fluffy and crunchy crust. Fresh batches of this wonderful dough are prepared everyday by chef himself.

"The resulting pastry is so good that it can be eaten without any meat fillings. In fact, we’ve had people asking if they can order just the pastry itself," informed Hans. "But the idea really is to give the public a meal-in-itself offering so we started with the traditional pork asado filling and added varieties like chicken teriyaki, beef curry and tuna fillings. We also added ham and cheese filling for the kids. No less than the famous Harbour City’s top Hongkong chef concocted the array of fillings for Kimpao."

"These are take-off from familiar rice toppings. Only this time, we didn’t just sauteed or wok-fried the meat but added an edgier flavor to them by using traditional Cantonese sauces deeply flavored with herbs and spices. We use herbs to remove the oil and add fragrance. The beef fillings, which give off stronger aroma than pork, are put aside for more than 10 hours before being used in the dish, to allow the herbs to mix well with the meat. So we make sure that only the freshest meat cuts and vegetables are used in all Kimpao fillings.

To ensure freshness for each bun, we cook fresh batches of fillings everyday.

"The first time we perfected the buns I sent samples to all my aunts and uncles. The next day they asked where they could order some more," recalled Hans with a boyish smile. "They were surprised to find out that it was from my own recipe. Soon, they were ordering by boxes."

Soon enough, Krispy Kimpao stalls started sprouting all over the metro. People were curious what a Krispy Kimpao is. Seeing the golden crisp buns reeled them in and after several mouthfuls they were hooked. Who wouldn’t be? Imagine biting into mildly sweet dough of a siopao that’s bursting with flavorful beef and pork fillings and deep-fried like the empanada.

Little did Hans realize that with Krispy Kimpao he brought together the goodness of both the siopao and the empanada and that resulted into a delectable food-to go loved by budget-conscious Pinoys. The golden buns are reasonably priced at P20 to P25 and can be ordered by the dozen. These hearty snack alternatives can be found in several malls.

Do remember not to bite off a big mouthful, as you would a hamburger, because the filling is hot.