Love at First Bite: Ya Chou

I love manthou. I often order some when I see it on the menu or grab a plateful at Chinese buffet. Just thin‌king about these freshly steamed buns smothered with butter makes me drool for hours. And I'm so thankful to discover a shop that allows me to have my favorite snack anytime I want. 

Hello, Ya Chou. 

Ya Chou is a small shop in Quezon City that specializes in Taiwanese delicacies like dumplings, peanut balls, radish cake, sausages and machang. Being in the food business for over two decades, Ya Chou has gained loyal patrons who would drop by its store to grab hold of its sweet and savory products. 

I was spoiled by Ya Chou a few months ago when they sent some packs of manthou. The manthou monster in me was thrilled and I was dying to steam some as soon as the packs arrived. 

Available in four flavors, Plain (PHP55, 9 pieces), Ube (PHP55, 9 pieces), Cream (PHP55, 9 pieces) and Wheat (PHP60, 9 pieces), I steamed all flavors in one go! 

The plain white manthou had that faint sweet taste which I love. If steamed right, it had that lovely soft and slightly chewy texture which I love. This is the classic manthou I'd always enjoy with butter or maybe ham or bacon bits too for that nice savory contrast.

I found wheat to be a bit thicker in texture and it was heavier too. Its less sweet taste make it a better complement for savory meals. 

Ube was just like the plain manthou with a sweet note of ube. I could imagine stuffing this with some red bean paste as an afternoon snack. But butter works great with this too. 

My favorite though was Cream as it tasted like brown sugar and reminded me of milk tea. It was also the most fragrant among the four flavors. It's great as is and I always find myself steaming a few extra pieces of this as I could never get enough of it. 

I'll definitely order more and will try its savory products next!

Order yours now. Call Ya Chou at +63 2 362 8223 for your orders.