This is the part I love the best, to be able to blog about food. I fell in love with oriental food when I lived in Dubai 20 years ago. I have come along way. If you feel adventurous, make the bun from scratch but if you don't get the buns from an oriental market. I am a busy mum of three, so sometimes quick meals is a must. I have included photographs of freshly made bao buns as well as store bought ones. Pork belly can be slow cooked in a slow cooker, the glaze can be prepared in advance for later, only steam the bao 10-12 minutes before serving. It can be cooked with any steamer, please cover the lid with a kitchen towel or cheesecloth, it keeps the moisture away from the buns. I used parchment paper but individual cupcake wrappers make it easier for individual casing. For whiter looking buns, use bleached flour. If you love making bread, techniques are a bit different but this is the same concept flour, yeast, milk, butter and a bit of sugar to activate the yeast. Knead it by hand or use a stand mixer, I do love getting my hands dirty but I used the stand mixer for a change. 10cm cookie cutter was used to create larger bao buns, which worked out to 2 buns each for dinner. It is so filling so 2 buns is plenty.
For freshly steamed buns
Slow cooked Pork Belly
For pork belly glaze
For gua bao toppings and garnish
* Garnish may vary and can be done according to taste. Sesame seeds, kimchi and spring onions can also be used.
How to quickly pickle cucumber and carrots
Usually I love making infused pickled cucumber when time allows it but sometime it's great to make a quick one. The ratio is 2:1, dissolve 2 tbsp of sugar in 4 tbsp of white wine. In small pickle jar, arrange 1 thinly sliced cucumber, and pour the pickling liquid. Leave it to rest for 15 minutes. Drain the liquid before serving. For the carrot, use the same pickling liquid recipe with 2 julienne carrots.
To make the buns, add all the dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl. Mix milk, warm water and butter to a jug, stir until butter melts. Stir the liquid into the flour mixture. Knead the dough by hand or with a stand mixer for about 10 minutes. Place in an oiled bowl, cover with cling film and let it rise for about an 1 1/2 hour.
Whist the dough is proofing, add chicken stock, pork belly to a pan with ginger, garlic, rice wine vinegar and sugar. Cover the pork and leave it to simmer over low heat for about 2 hours until fork-tender. Drain and slice into small chunks. Heat up oil and fry the pork belly in a pan until golden brown.
Take the dough out, knead it for about 5 minutes and roll it out flat with a rolling pin, until it is about 1cm in height. Use an 10 cm (4 inch) cookie cutter to cut out rounds from the dough. Re-roll the dough as needed until you have used up all of the dough. Place these rounds onto a small sheet of parchment paper or cupcake wrappers. Spray each rounds with oil, fold the dough over in half. Chopsticks can be used in the middle to leave a space in the fold. Once rounds are folded, remove chopsticks, use a rolling pin to gently flatten the dough to form the bun shape. Place on a baking tray for another hour until puffed up. Steam in a steam pan or bamboo steamer for 10-12 minutes.
Whist the buns are steaming, mix oil, ginger, red chilli, soy sauce, brown sugar and lemongrass in a mixing bowl. Season with a dash of salt and pepper. Pour the sauce to deglaze the bottom of the pan for about 1minute. Return the pork into the pan and cook for 5 minutes until the pork looks dark and sticky. Turn off heat and set aside.
Split open the freshly steamed bao buns, spread the bun with sriracha mayo. Layer with some cucumber pickle, carrot pickle and barbecue pork belly. Garnish with cashew nuts, red chillies and coriander leaves. Serve immediately. Bon appétit.