Pork belly Bao bun filling.

Carrying on from the trendy Taiwanese buns, here is the recipe I used for the filling. I'm not sure if it's a strictly traditional filling for these little pillows of dough but it looked pretty tasty and not too laboured intensive so with my large list of jobs it was ideal. It's a Shanghai style of cooking pork belly, also known as red cooked pork, I imagine because of the colour it has taken on once cooked. It was rich and sticky, just what I was looking for. The recipe calls for the belly to be cut in to bitesized chunks or slices but I think it would work well in a whole piece, cooked slower in the oven too. Serve with your own bao buns, along side rice and vegetable dishes, chucked in a noodle stir fry or even in an Asian broth. 

Shanghai-style braised pork belly ( Hong Shao Rou)

Serves 2

500-750g (depending on how greedy the diners are) pork belly, rind removed. 

2 tbsp oil

1 tbsp sugar

3 tbsp shaoxing rice wine

1 tbsp light soy

1/2 tbsp dark soy

2 cups water

Start by bringing some water to the boil and quickly blanching the pork. I'm not entirely sure if it's necessary but the recipe said it would clean the pork so I did it anyway. Feel free to skip if you wish. 

Drain after boiling for 1 minute. 

Take a heavy bottomed pan or wok and heat the oil and sugar until it's melted. 

Add the pork, being careful incase it spits and fry until it starts to brown and caramelise. Do this over a medium heat, trying not to burn the sugar. 

Turn the heat down once browned then add all the other ingredients. Add a lid and cook slowly for 45mins to an hour until the pork is nearly fork tender (you can cut it with a fork.) Take the lid off and cook until the sauce has reduced and become sticky. Serve with a garnish of coriander or chilli, to your taste.