Sichuan Pork Belly Buns – soft steamed buns filled with spicy Sichuan-style braised pork belly, pickles and herbs…
What is it about the combination of meat in a bun? I don’t think I’ve ever really thought about it closely – maybe it’s the contrast of meaty and fluffy textures, or maybe the way savoury works against sweet, or the way the bread helps to soak up juices from the meat.
In any case, I would hazard a guess that it’s a winning combination found in most cuisines across the globe.
Here’s my contribution to the great wealth of meat and bread options out there – Sichuan Pork Belly Buns. A descriptive title, if a little uninspired, but hopefully you’ll forgive my unimaginative naming once you taste the end result.
These pork belly buns are a little bit of a twist on the traditional Taiwanese gua bao. The typical gua bao consists of a piece of braised pork belly sandwiched in a steamed bread bun, topped with pickled mustard greens, coriander and peanuts.
While a well made gua bao can be a thing of beauty, I’ve had too many bland and lackluster ones to be a bit wary. However, we’re not going too far afield here, but instead I wanted to feature a bit more of a kick to the pork belly by braising it with tingly, spicy Sichuan flavours to balance out the soft sweet bun and perky pickles.
The pork belly is sliced and browned, then braised with a bunch of aromatics and spices for about two hours till tender. The braising liquid is strained then reduced so that it coats the meat with its concentrated goodness.
I certainly wanted the pork belly to stand out on its own, and indeed if you have any left over it can be served with rice and some veg on the side as another dinner.
Instead of the traditional topping of pickled mustard greens, I’ve substituted picked carrot and daikon partly because I don’t have to go hunting for mustard greens, but also because I think it adds some nice visual colour contrast. I smear a little hoisin sauce on the buns to add a little more sweetness, then top with spring onion, coriander and chopped peanuts for freshness and more crunch.
A couple of quick notes here before we dive into the recipe.
I’ve advocated for the use of pre-packaged buns for now because A) it make the whole process easier so you can spend more time eating and B) I have yet to find a recipe that works perfectly. The buns you see in the photos were homemade, but I have yet to perfect the lightness of the buns. Stay tuned, and when I do find out I’ll post or link to the master recipe.
Secondly, when looking for chilli bean paste or doubanjiang, try and find one which uses broad beans and has the fewest number of ingredients – this is a nice little overview about the types of doubanjiang…
Now go forth and eat!
- 150 grams carrot
- 150 grams daikon radish
- 100g grams white vinegar
- 50 grams sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2 tablespoons peanut oil
- 1 kilogram boneless pork belly (sliced into thick pieces to fit into buns)
- 100 grams spring onions (cut into short lengths, about 5 spring onions)
- 30 grams garlic (about 6 cloves, peeled but left whole)
- 20 grams ginger (a thumb-sized piece, sliced into thick rings)
- 6 dried chillies
- 1 tablespoon Sichuan peppercorns
- 1 tablespoon Chilli Bean Paste/ Doubanjiang
- 1 whole star anise
- 1 cinnamon stick (a three-inch piece)
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons shaoxing rice wine
- 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
- 500 mililitres water
- 8 gua bao buns/ chinese steamed buns (store bought)
- 3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
- 2 spring onions (sliced)
- 1 handful coriander leaves (roughly chopped)
- 2 tablespoons unsalted roasted peanuts (chopped)
- Cut the carrot and daikon into thin matchsticks. Mix the sugar, vinegar and salt together and stir until the sugar and sugar have dissolved.
- Put the carrot and daikon into a jar with a lid that will fit all the veg comfortably. Pour over the pickling liquid and leave for at least a couple of hours to mature, shaking occasionally to mix. After this point it can be used, but for best results leave overnight to fully pickle.
- In a large cast iron pot or similar, heat 2 tablespoons of the peanut oil over medium high heat, then brown the pork belly pieces in batches, and set aside.
- Reduce heat to medium, and add the spring onion, ginger, garlic, chilli bean paste and spices and cook for 2 -3 minutes. Add the soy sauces, rice wine, sugar and water. Stir well then return the pork to the pot.
- Bring to a boil, then cover and turn the heat down to a simmer, cooking for 2 hours or until the pork quite tender. Stir every 20 - 30 minutes so nothing sticks.
- Once the pork is done, remove the pork slices to a plate, scraping off any excess spices that may be stuck to the meat. Carefully strain the cooking liquid into a jug, then return it to the pot and turn the heat up to medium to reduce the liquid. Continue to reduce for about 5 - 10 minutes, or until the liquid is thick and syrupy - it should still be quite liquid, but thick enough to easily coat the pork. Pour the reduced sauce over the pork and prepare to start assembling the buns.
- Steam the buns as per the package instructions. To assemble, smear about a teaspoon of hoisin sauce over the bottom of each bun, then lay a slice or two (depending on the size) of the pork on each bun. Top the pork with a little spring onion, chopped coriander, the carrot and daikon pickle and some chopped peanuts.