← Nouns Cooking · Chinese

Ingredients

• 500 g skin-on pork belly in one piece
• 1 tbsp Vegetable oil
• 4 cloves Garlic, smashed
• 3 slices Ginger
• 2 Spring onion, knotted
• 1 Star anise
• 1 Cinnamon stick
• 4 Dried chillies (optional)
• 3 tbsp Shaoxing wine
• 3 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp Dark soy sauce
• 1 tbsp Brown sugar
• ½ tsp Chinese five-spice
• 700 ml Water
• 200 g Pickled mustard greens, rinsed, squeezed and finely chopped
• 1 tsp sugar, for the greens
• 4 tbsp roasted peanuts
• 1 tbsp sugar, for the peanuts
• 1 bunch Coriander (cilantro), leaves picked
• 8 Steamed bao buns (ready-made, frozen)

Method

1. Put the pork in a pot of cold water, bring to the boil, blanch for 5 min and drain. Cut into 1 cm thick slices.
2. Heat the oil in a heavy pot and fry the garlic, ginger, spring onion, star anise, cinnamon and chillies for 1 minute. Add the pork and stir for 2 min, then add the wine, both soy sauces, the brown sugar, five-spice and water.
3. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer gently for 1 hour 15 min, until the pork is very tender. Uncover for the last 10–15 min to reduce the sauce until glossy.
4. Meanwhile stir-fry the mustard greens in a dry pan with the 1 tsp sugar for 3–4 min, until dry and fragrant. Blitz or crush the peanuts with the 1 tbsp sugar to a coarse powder.
5. Steam the buns for 5–8 min, until soft and hot all the way through.
6. Open each bun and fill with a slice or two of pork and a spoonful of sauce, then the greens, a generous sprinkle of peanut sugar and plenty of coriander. Eat straight away.

Tips

• Ready-made folded "lotus leaf" buns are sold frozen at Asian grocers.
• Contains peanuts. The pork can be braised a day ahead and gently reheated in its sauce.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Omnivore's Cookbook Taste of Asian Food Sift & Simmer