Best Crispy Pork Belly Bao Buns Recipes

PORK BELLY BAO

Steps:

• Mix together the sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, hoisin, garlic, ginger and a generous amount of pepper in a medium bowl. Cut the pork belly in half and place in an 8-inch square baking dish with the fatty side up. Pour the marinade over top of the pork belly, cover tightly with foil and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
• Bake, covered, until the pork is tender and easy to shred with a fork, about 2 hours. Remove to a cutting board and set aside. Pour the cooking liquid into a medium skillet, bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook, whisking occasionally, until reduced by half, about 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, steam the bao buns according to the package directions.
• Heat the vegetable oil in a small skillet over high heat until very hot. Add the scallions and jalapeño and cook until just starting to turn tender, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a small plate.
• Slice the pork belly into 15 pieces. Once the cooking liquid has been reduced, turn the heat off, place the pork belly into the skillet and flip once just to coat with the sauce.
• Place a piece of pork belly in each bun, sprinkle with the scallion-jalapeño mixture and garnish with a few cilantro leaves. Serve immediately.

SPIT-ROASTED PORK BELLY BUNS

Steps:

• Rub both sides of the pork belly with the vegetable oil. Season with salt, pepper and Chinese five-spice powder.
• Roll the belly into a cylinder, skin side out, and truss tightly with butcher's twine. Place on a spit and roast until tender, with a drip pan underneath to catch the rendered fat, 3½-4 hours. To crisp the skin, stop the spit from rotating so that the skin gets broiled and puffy (watch carefully, as this will happen quickly); then turn to crisp all sides. (Note: If you don't have a spit, place the trussed pork belly on a rack set inside a roasting pan, with the seam side down, and add about a cup of water to the bottom of the roasting pan. Cover with aluminum foil and roast at 325 degrees F for 3½ hours. Turn the oven up to 500 F, remove the foil, and let the skin crisp up for the last 30 minutes.)
• Remove the belly from the spit, and allow it to rest outside the oven while you prepare the buns. Prepare a steam basket set over a wok partially filled with boiling water, or use a pasta insert elevated over a pot of water. Steam the buns to reheat, 5-10 minutes.
• To portion the pork belly, remove the butcher's twine and slice with a serrated knife. Assemble the buns by layering hoisin sauce, sliced cucumber, scallion whites and a piece of the pork belly. Serve immediately.

TAIWANESE PORK BELLY BUNS (GUA BAO) RECIPE

Steps:

• For the Pork Belly: Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet or wok. Cook pork belly until lightly browned on the bottom, about 3 minutes. Flip pork belly and cook until lightly browned, about 2 minutes longer. Transfer pork belly to a plate and set aside.
• In the same skillet, add garlic and ginger and cook over medium-high heat, stirring, until fragrant. Add star anise and chile (if using), and sugar and cook, stirring, until the sugar is melted and bubbling, about 2 minutes. Add rice wine and bring to a boil, stirring until sugar dissolves, about 2 minutes. Add five-spice powder, dark and light soy sauces, and water and bring to a boil.
• Return pork belly to the skillet and reduce heat to low. Cover skillet and cook until pork belly is very tender, at least 1 hour or preferably 2 hours.
• For the Buns and Toppings: Meanwhile, combine peanuts and sugar in a blender or food processor and pulse, stopping to scrape down the sides, until the mixture resembles a coarse powder, about 1 minute.
• Set a steamer over a pot of boiling water. Add buns, cover steamer and cook until buns are heated through and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
• To Serve: Spread pickled mustard greens inside each steamed bun and set a piece of pork belly on top of mustard greens. Top pork belly with a pinch of chopped cilantro and a sprinkle of peanut powder. Serve immediately.

STICKY PORK BELLY BAO BUNS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Heat the oil in a flameproof casserole dish over a medium-high heat. In batches, brown the pork belly well, then transfer to a plate. Tip the sugar into the dish and cook over a medium heat until starting to dissolve and caramelise, then quickly stir in the garlic, ginger and star anise, and cook for 1 min.
• Carefully pour in the rice wine and soy sauce - watch out, it will spatter - and simmer to dissolve the sugar. Stir the pork into the caramel to coat, then add 100ml water and the five-spice, and bring to a simmer. Put the lid on and cook in the oven for 1 hr 30 mins. Remove from the oven, uncover, put on a high heat to simmer and reduce the sauce until sticky. Can be prepared up to 2 days ahead and chilled. Reheat with a splash of water.
• To make the chilli peanuts, mash most of the peanuts using a pestle and mortar, then add the rest of the nuts and roughly crush for a chunky texture. Stir through the togarashi powder. Can be made 2 days ahead and stored in an airtight container.
• For the buns, tip the dry ingredients and a large pinch of salt into a food mixer fitted with a dough hook. Pour in the milk, oil and 100ml tepid water, and work the mixture for about 10 mins until smooth and elastic. Transfer to a greased bowl, cover with cling film and leave to double in size (for about 1 hr)
• Tip the dough onto a floured surface and roll into a sausage shape. Cut the sausage into 10 equal portions. Roll each portion into a bun, then use a rolling pin to roll each bun out into an oval. Lightly grease each one, then fold them over a greased chopstick or skewer and place on a lightly oiled baking tray to rest for 1 hr or until doubled in size. Remove the chopstick or skewer before steaming.
• Heat a steamer and steam the buns on circles of baking parchment in batches for about 10 mins until puffed up. Split the buns and stuff each one with a slice or two of the pork, drizzled with some of the sauce. Scatter over some coriander, cucumber and spring onions, then sprinkle with the crushed nuts and tuck in.