{"id":4300,"date":"2023-02-02T18:46:08","date_gmt":"2023-02-02T18:46:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/02\/how-win-son-bakery-makes-one-of-brooklyns-best-breakfast-sandwiches\/"},"modified":"2023-02-02T18:46:08","modified_gmt":"2023-02-02T18:46:08","slug":"how-win-son-bakery-makes-one-of-brooklyns-best-breakfast-sandwiches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/02\/how-win-son-bakery-makes-one-of-brooklyns-best-breakfast-sandwiches\/","title":{"rendered":"How Win Son Bakery Makes One of Brooklyn\u2019s Best Breakfast Sandwiches"},"content":{"rendered":"


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If you live in North Brooklyn, chances are you\u2019ve already heard of Win Son Restaurant<\/a> and Win Son Bakery<\/a>, two establishments (located across the street from one another) that offer their founders\u2019 spin on Taiwanese American cooking. And now, you can make their food at home thanks to their newly-released book, Win Son Presents a Taiwanese American Cookbook<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhatever you want to call it, the food we serve is what makes sense to us\u2014a Taiwanese American guy raised in New York, and a white dude from Virginia who can cook lu rou fan better than your mom,\u201d explains Win Son co-owner Josh Ku in the book\u2019s opening pages. \u201cThough we\u2019re not trying to say our way is any better or worse than what you\u2019d find in Taiwan, we do feel that it\u2019s true to our experience, and it\u2019s something that our community has, thankfully, also embraced.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019m lucky enough to live just a short walk from the Win Son eateries\u2014in fact, the bakery was one of the first places I tried when I moved into my apartment mere months into the pandemic. I joyfully ate my breakfast sandwich on the freezing sidewalk, straight out of the takeout container, and immediately knew I\u2019d be back for more soon. In the many months since, I\u2019ve seen firsthand how their inventive pastries, elevated breakfast items, and easygoing vibe are beloved by the community. \u201cWe wanted to kind of infuse Taiwanese breakfast culture with American breakfast culture, and sell soy milks next to coffees, next to donuts, next to breakfast sandwiches,\u201d says Ku\u2019s partner and Win Son\u2019s chef, Trigg Brown, of the all-day caf\u00e9.<\/p>\n

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Photo by Photographs copyright \u00a9 2023 by Laura Murray. Published by Abrams.<\/span>
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For the cookbook, the duo teamed up with acclaimed food writer (and past F52 contributor<\/a>) Cathy Erway to bring together recipes from both restaurants. Think dishes like Black Sesame Noodles with Mushrooms, Pan-Griddled Pork Buns, Bolo Bao, and Mochi Donuts. To celebrate the publication of their new book, I\u2014along with our social content creator Dominique Evans<\/a> and video editor Isabel Montes<\/a>\u2014spent the day at Win Son Bakery with Ku, Brown, and the restaurant’s pastry chef Danielle Spencer. There, we chatted about the ins and outs of their restaurants, cookbook, and one of their most popular items: the bacon, egg, and cheese on a flaky, crispy scallion pancake. Here\u2019s what we learned.<\/p>\n

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They Make A Lot<\/em> of pancakes<\/h4>\n

Win Son Bakery has a small, dedicated team of five who are solely devoted to making scallion pancakes almost every day of the week. On a busy day, they\u2019ll make 1,000 to 1,200 pancakes, and on the slowest day, the number only goes down to around 700 or 750.<\/p>\n

It’s Hard to Improve Upon Perfection<\/h4>\n

\u201cWe knew if we had a bakery and\u2026if we sold bacon, egg, and cheeses, if it wasn’t going to be $4.50 from the deli (which is the best way to eat a bacon, egg, and cheese in New York) we had to really bring the heat,\u201d says Brown of the scallion pancake-based breakfast sandwich.<\/p>\n

Community is Everything<\/h4>\n

Win Son Bakery was one of the first restaurants in the area to reopen during the pandemic\u2014thanks, in part, to the labor required to make their scallion pancakes. \u201cThere were opportunities to reorganize our labor model and put people to work that wanted to work, even when we didn’t necessarily have hours,\u201d says Brown. \u201cIt was an opportunity to employ people when people needed work, and we needed stuff to get done. It was really cool.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whatever You Do\u2014Don’t Overwork the Dough<\/h4>\n

Using a rolling pin often overworks the dough, resulting in a tough, hard pancake. Instead, Brown picked up an alternative method\u2014flattening the dough with one’s palms\u2014from the restaurant’s employees. \u201cThe technique that these folks taught me from Puebla [for] how to not overwork the dough is by never using a rolling pin,\u201d he says. \u201cThat was like a lightbulb moment for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Want to try your hand at recreating Win Son\u2019s scallion pancake breakfast sandwich at home? We got the recipe (you can thank us later).<\/p>\n

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\nWhich recipes are you most excited to try from Win Son’s new cookbook? Tell us in the comments below!<\/em>
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