Pork Gua Bao

Serves: 12
Moderate
Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

INGREDIENTS:

800g piece boneless pork belly
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon kecap manis 
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
½ teaspoon sesame oil
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 star anise
4 black peppercorns 
3cm knob ginger, thinly sliced
1 carrot, julienned
1 cucumber, cut into batons
2 teaspoons salt
½ cup rice vinegar
2 tablespoons caster sugar
12 gua bao buns
1 tablespoon Sriracha chilli sauce
2 teaspoon Kewpie mayonnaise
5 spring onions, thinly sliced
1 bunch coriander, sprigs picked
1 teaspoon black sesame seeds

METHOD:

1. Place the pork belly into a medium saucepan and just cover with boiling water. Add the soy sauces, kecap manis, rice wine vinegar, honey, sesame oil, garlic, star anise, peppercorns and ginger. Place over a low heat and bring to a gentle simmer. Cover and cook for 1 hour and 20 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, place the carrot and cucumber into a bowl and add the salt. Set aside for 10 minutes, to allow the salt to draw out the moisture. Add the vinegar, sugar and 1 cup of cold water. Cover and put in the fridge for 1 hour to pickle. 

3. Follow the packet instructions for heating the guo bao buns. Take the pork belly out of the stock and thinly slice. Spread a thin layer of Sriracha and Kewpie onto the base of each bun. Place a slice of pork belly on the bun and top with the pickled vegetables, spring onions, coriander and black sesame seeds. Put the lids on top and serve.

For this recipe, look for dark soy sauce from Asian grocers. If not, use 4 tablespoons of regular soy sauce for the pork. Gua bao buns are available from the freezer section of an Asian grocer, but you could sub with slider rolls or even lettuce leaf cups.