Taipa

Kuok Loi-hou: founder of Tai Lei Loi Kei, originator of Macau's pork chop bun

Kuok Loi-hou

Kuok Loi-hou is the founder of Tai Lei Loi Kei (大利來記; originally Tai Lei Loi Coffee Shop) in Taipa, Macau, regarded as the originator of Macau's pork chop bun. A rice merchant's daughter, a fishmonger's wife and a mother of nine, she opened the café around 1960, initially selling coffee, milk tea, wife cakes and 豬仔包 rolls. Per food-media accounts, the Island Municipal Council ordered some 200 relief buns a day, helping the café survive; she later added a pork chop in a Portuguese-style marinade to the roll, creating the pork chop bun, which rose to fame around the opening of the Macau–Taipa bridge in 1974. The brand name "Tai Lei Loi" echoes the "Loi" (來) in the founder's given name.