#COOKING: PORK BELLY BAO RECIPE

Pork Belly Bao. This was an ambitious challenge! The Bao came out light and fluffy with a pleasing bounce. The pork belly required a long, slow simmer and melted in my mouth. Mom wanted thirds!

Bao:
2 cups + 2 tbsp flour
25 ml milk
1 1/2 tbsp organic raw sugar
1/2 tbsp rice vinegar
1/2 tbsp yeast
1/2 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tbsp oil
1/4 tsp sea salt

Instructions:
1. Mix flour, salt and 1 tbsp sugar together in mixing bowl.
2. Dissolve yeast and 1/2 tbsp sugar into 1 tbsp warm (not hot) water.
3. Add into flour, milk, oil, rice vinegar and 100 ml water. Mix till dough forms.
4. Turn onto floured surface and knead 10 minutes. If dough is too try, wet hands with warm water till dough is pliable and not sticky. Roll into ball and transfer to greased bowl, roll around till covered. Cover bowl with damp cloth and place somewhere warm (laundry room while drying/preheated oven that is warm, not hot). Allow to rise 2 hours.
5. Transfer dough to surface and flatten dough. Dust with baking powder. Knead 5 minutes.
6. Roll dough into a log. Cut into 9 even pieces (about 3 cm wide).
7. Roll balls into ovals at about 3 mm thick. Brush with oil. Dip chopstick in oil, place chopstick onto oval and fold over.
8. Cut 9 squares of parchment paper and place dough on each. Transfer to a flat sheet. Cover with greased plastic wrap. Allow to rise somewhere warm for 1.5 hours.
10. Steam buns on medium-high heat in batches for 8 minutes.
11. Serve with pork belly, pickled carrots, coriander, Kimchi, green onion and Hoisin Sauce.

Braised Pork Belly:
2 lbs pork belly
5 cloves garlic, minced
3 cubes ginger
2 tbsp oil
2 tbsp white wine
2 star anise
1/2 tsp 5 Spice Powder/ allspice or cinnamon

Marinade:
1 tsp chilli paste
1 tbsp organic raw sugar
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp oyster sauce
4 tbsp soy sauce

Instructions:
1. Cut pork into 1-inch thick pieces. Place in marinate overnight.
2. Heat oil in wok on medium-high heat. Sautée ginger, garlic, star anise and cinnamon. Add-in pork belly and remaining marinade. Fry till cooked. Add wine, stir.
3. Add just enough water to cover surface. Bring to boil and simmer on low heat 2 hours.

 

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A post shared by Mr. Will Wong 📸 (@mrwillwong) on Apr 7, 2020 at 9:21am PDT

 

(Photo credit: Mr. Will Wong)