I love siopao. I love it that I often forgot to remove the thin piece of paper beneath. The paper is thin, tasteless and looks like a part of the bread. The color is semi transparent white. It really mimics the siopao color and texture.

How many of you have eaten the piece of paper? Frankly, I thought the paper was really edible. Way back, during my elementary years, a classmate gave me a soft candy. I removed the outer plastic wrapper. Another piece of packaging was covering the candy. I was about to peel it off when he said, “no need to remove, that paper is edible”. I did what he said and ate the candy with the paper intact.

Actually, the paper is a parchment paper or bakery paper. It is cellulose type – edible but not digestible. It is made by passing paper pulp in bath of sulfuric acid or zinc chloride. It is used to prevent sticking of siopao to steamer surface. It should be removed before eating.