This is an easy version of the ham and corn buns you can get from the Chinese bakery. Instead of making my own buns, I am using store-bought garlic bread. It tastes surprisingly good and even better than I expected.

close up showing ham, corn, and cheese toppings on garlic bread.

When I was a kid, I remember getting these buns from our local Chinese bakery. Along with BBQ pork buns, they were my absolute favorite. The bun is soft and fluffy and there is a layer of mayonnaise, corn, ham, and cheese on top. I never tried making them at home because I always assumed it was difficult to do so.

But recently, one of our local grocery stores (Save-on-Foods) was selling hot dogs, garlic bread, and corn (4 cobs for $1.49) for only $1.49 each. At first, I didn't know what to make, but then I realized I could make a quick version of the ham and corn buns. So that is how this recipe was born.

It actually tastes really close to the original but it has more of a garlic taste because of the garlic bread. But hey, it is way faster to make, and it cheaper too. And who doesn't like garlic?

The ham and corn topping

Instead of ham, I am using hot dogs because they were on sale. My version also has way more corn because why not? If you don't like corn as much as me, you can add less. You will also need mayonnaise, sweetened condensed milk, black pepper, and salt. The filling should look like this:

ham, corn, and mayo mixture in bowl. — This is what the filling should look like. Try to make the hot dog pieces just a bit bigger than the corn kernels

Note on the mayonnaise

For the mayonnaise, I am using Miracle Whip which I heard is the most popular mayo brand in Hong Kong. I also typically use Hellman's mayo.

Some people say that Chinese bakeries use Kewpie mayo, but I don't think that is true because Kewpie is much more expensive here. It also has a very distinct flavor that I think is too powerful when it's only mixed with corn. Just my two cents though. I never actually tested it with Kewpie. It could be good *shrug*.