Sticky Pork Bao Buns

Name: Sticky Pork Bao Buns
Prep time: 60 min
Cook time: 150 min
Total time: 210 min
Yield: 5
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients: 275 g All-Purpose Flour (275g plain flour); 1 tsp Active Yeast (1 tsp dried yeast); 1 tsp Baking Powder (1 tsp baking powder); 2 tbsp Granulated Sugar (2 tbsp sugar); 175 ml Whole Milk (175 ml warm milk); 0 pieces Table Salt (pinch of salt); 4 pieces Pork Belly (1 pack of 4-5 pieces of pork belly — up to 5); 2 cloves Garlic (2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped + 1 tsp garlic, minced); 1 pinch Ginger (1 inch fresh ginger, sliced + 1/2 tsp fresh ginger, minced); 2 pieces Star Anise (2 star anise); 50 ml Chinese Cooking Wine (50ml shaoxing wine); 4 tbsp Soy Sauce (3 tbsp soy sauce + 1 tbsp soy sauce); 1 tsp Chinese Five Spice (1 tsp Chinese five spice); 1 tsp Black Pepper (1 tsp pepper); 100 ml Water (100ml water); 1 tsp Red Pepper Flakes (1 tsp chilli flakes); 1 tsp Honey (1 tsp honey); 1 tbsp Hoisin Sauce (1 tbsp hoisin sauce); 1 tbsp Sesame Oil (1 tbsp sesame oil); ¼ piece Cucumber (1/4 cucumber, julienned); 2 pieces Scallion (2 spring onions, julienned); 0 pieces Coriander Seed (small bunch of coriander); 1 piece Red Chili (1 red chilli, thinly sliced)

Steamed Chinese bao buns filled with tender, sticky-glazed pork belly and fresh garnishes.

210 minChinese

Servings5

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Ingredients

For 5 servings

All-Purpose Flour275 g · 275g plain flour
Active Yeast1 tsp · 1 tsp dried yeast
Baking Powder1 tsp · 1 tsp baking powder
Granulated Sugar2 tbsp · 2 tbsp sugar
Whole Milk175 ml · 175 ml warm milk
Table Salt0 pieces · pinch of salt
Pork Belly4 pieces · 1 pack of 4-5 pieces of pork belly — up to 5
Garlic2 cloves · 2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped + 1 tsp garlic, minced
Ginger1 pinch · 1 inch fresh ginger, sliced + 1/2 tsp fresh ginger, minced
Star Anise2 pieces · 2 star anise
Chinese Cooking Wine50 ml · 50ml shaoxing wine
Soy Sauce4 tbsp · 3 tbsp soy sauce + 1 tbsp soy sauce
Chinese Five Spice1 tsp · 1 tsp Chinese five spice
Black Pepper1 tsp · 1 tsp pepper
Water100 ml · 100ml water
Red Pepper Flakes1 tsp · 1 tsp chilli flakes
Honey1 tsp · 1 tsp honey
Hoisin Sauce1 tbsp · 1 tbsp hoisin sauce
Sesame Oil1 tbsp · 1 tbsp sesame oil
Cucumber¼ piece · 1/4 cucumber, julienned
Scallion2 pieces · 2 spring onions, julienned
Coriander Seed0 pieces · small bunch of coriander
Red Chili1 piece · 1 red chilli, thinly sliced

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Steps

1In a bowl, combine your flour, yeast, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Then gently pour in your warm milk and stir continuously with a wooden spoon or chopsticks to form a dough. Add more water if the dough is too dry.
2Transfer your dough onto a floured surface and knead for 10 minutes. Add more flour if the dough is too wet. Transfer your dough back into the bowl, cover with clingfilm or a tea towel and place in a warm, dry area for 2 to 3 hours (or until grown in size).
3Now move onto your sticky pork! Then, come back to this once the pork is in the oven.
4Once your dough has proven, roll it out into a large circle around 1/3 inch thick. Use a circular cutter to cut out 5 pieces of dough around 2-3 inches in diameter.
5Brush some oil onto one side of the dough circles and then fold the dough in half and gently press down using a rolling pin. Repeat this process and then place the half-moon doughs onto little pieces of baking paper. Cover and leave to prove for a further 30 minutes.
6Place the bao buns into the steamer and steam for 8 minutes. Remove and then assemble your dumpling.
7Pre-heat the oven to 180/160C fan. Get an oven-proof pan, place it on medium heat, and drizzle a little bit of oil into it. Grab your chopped pork belly pieces and transfer them into the pan. Fry for 5 minutes to golden each side of the pork belly.
8Pour in the rest of the pork belly ingredients (sugar, garlic cloves, ginger, star anise, shaoxing wine, soy sauce, chinese 5 spice, pepper, and water). Give it a good stir, place a lid on top of the dish, and then transfer into the oven for 2 hours. Then remove the lid and place back into the oven for a further 30 minutes. Feel free to add in a touch more water if you think that it's beginning to burn. Don't confuse colouring with burning though! As long as there's about an inch of liquid at the bottom, you're all good!
9Remove the pork belly from the oven and set aside.
10In a bowl, combine the pork belly sauce ingredients. Then add in your pork belly and mix well. Your pork is now ready to go!
11Get your bao (bun) and open it up. Place in a tbsp of pork belly, a little bit of spring onion, cucumber, chilli, coriander, and top it off with some extra pork belly sauce. Repeat this for all of the bao buns and then serve up and enjoy!