Ever since I read Thi Nguyen's roundup of the best places to eat Asian breakfasts, I have been seriously craving fried dough and fresh soy milk. A Sunday excursion to the San Gabriel Valley was the perfect chance to try out Ye May Restaurant, a small cafe where the soy milk is hot, the prices are cheap and the breakfast buns are usually stuffed with pork.
I have a theory about foreign breakfasts. I think that while it is relatively easy to dive headfirst into a new cuisine while you are traveling, during the breakfast hour it's tough to do more than just dip in a toe. I'm not talking about French croissants or Italian cappuccinos or plates of peeled tropical fruits; I mean raw egg on rice, chunk of stinky dried fish, big handful of chopped green onion on my salty morning porridge. And it goes both ways. When I asked some of my Japanese students who had spent a year studying abroad in the U.S. and Canada what Western food grossed them out the most, they said without hesitation, "Oatmeal."
But I think when you fall for a foreign breakfast food, you fall hard, which may explain some people's undying love for natto or my six-month quest for Japanese yogurt. Breakfast is so deeply comforting, no matter the country of origin, and a specific craving cannot be quelled by anything but the exact morning meal you are carrying around in your head. Fried dough and hot soy milk had been taunting me for weeks.
I like the illustrated pictures of the food. And I wanted to steal this little girl.
Ye May is a nondescript restaurant tucked into the corner of an equally unremarkable mini mall in San Gabriel. Mid-morning on a Sunday, the stream of patrons placing their orders at the bun-filled bakery case is steady and the women behind the counter are friendly and quick. The menu is translated into English, but as with most literally translated Chinese menus, it helps to ask what's actually in whatever it is you're looking at. Or just point at one of the other tables. They all hold bowls of steaming soy milk and sticks of fried dough as long as the friendly counter lady's forearm.
Soft tofu.
Our order emerged minutes after sitting down: my bowl of soy milk with a spoon, Jessica's soft tofu soup, a stick of fried dough helpfully cut in half and a steamed pork-vegetable bun. I had ordered the "sweet" soy milk instead of salty, but I didn't taste any added sugar in the first steamy sip. Just the essence of soy, pure and clear.
The fried dough was equally simple but sublime, the outer surface crinkled and crisp, the insides soft and satisfyingly chewy. Torn pieces dipped in the soy milk transformed into gushy soy sponges with crackly edges, exactly the right thing to eat on a hazy Sunday morning in China. Or San Gabriel, whichever.
Pork gao bun.
The pork and vegetable bun was the perfect accompaniment, the sweet bun and savory filling a nice counterpoint to the mild flavor of the dough and soy milk. And I would certainly go for the pork gao bun again, the star of our second round of ordering, a sort of bun sandwich filled with pork, herbs, pickles and a chunky peanut spread.
I think I've found my new breakfast craving.
Ye May Restaurant
608 E. Valley Blvd., Space G
San Gabriel, CA 91776
(626) 280-8568
I recently had you tiao for the first time recently with hot sweet soymilk and yeah that's a good taste sensation. Your post about natto was hilarious and the pictures captured the foam and stringiness so well. I don't know if it is genetic but I love slimey stringy stuff like tororo (grated mountain yam). But that pork bun wins the prize for most delicious looking breakfast ever!