Pork Belly Burnt Ends Bao

Pork belly burnt ends are all the rage right now and this recipe puts a bit an Asian inspired twist on them. We pair these up with a bao bun and some pickled salad to make a mouthful of food that is just perfect.

Bao buns are a pillowy steamed dough that wraps around the pork belly burnt ends and salad and make it a great starter or main.

PORK BELLY BURNT ENDS

INGREDIENTS

• 1kg piece pork belly
• Spice Rub (we use Moonshine BBQ Spiced Heat)
• Sweet Bbq sauce
• Blend smoked honey

METHOD

1. Cut the pork belly down the middle length wise and then into inch thick slices. Normally burnt ends are cubed but this will make them easier to fill in the bun.
2. Coat them in your favourite BBQ rub (we use Moonshine BBQ Spiced Heat but any good pork rub will do) and place skin side down on a wire rack (this will make them easier to lift and move on a grill plate)
3. Smoke for 3 hours over apple wood or to a temp of 190F. They’ll be tender but with still enough texture to have some chew.
4. Drop them into a foil tray, pour over sauce and make sure they have a good coating on all sides. Put them back into the smoker for or oven for another 90 minutes or until they are caramelised.

BAO BUNS

To make the bao buns, we adapted this recipe from the BBC Good Food site.

INGREDIENTS

• 500g flour
• 50ml milk
• 200ml water
• 1 tsp dried yeast
• 1½ TBS caster sugar
• Vegetable oil
• 1 TBS rice vinegar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt

METHOD

1. Dissolve the yeast in 1 tbsp warm water, then add it to the flour with the sugar, salt, milk, oil, vinegar, water. Mix together into a dough, adding a little extra water if needed.
2. On a lightly floured work surface, knead for 10 minutes or until smooth. Roll into a bowl and place in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a damp cloth. Leave to rise for 2 hrs (or until it twice it size).
3. Tip the dough out onto a clean work surface and punch it down. Flatten, sprinkle over the baking powder and knead for 5 mins.
4. Roll out the dough into a long sausage shape, about an inch thick, then cut into pieces that are about 3cm wide. In the palm of your hand, roll each piece of dough into a ball and leave to rest for 2-3 mins.
5. Use a rolling pin to roll out each ball, one by one, into an oval shape about 3-4mm thick. Rub the surface of the dough ovals with oil (inside only) and brush a little oil a chopstick or metal skewer
6. Place the oiled chopstick in the centre of each oval. Fold the dough over the chopstick, then slowly pull out the chopstick.
7. Place each bun on a baking tray lined with baking paper, cover with a clean tea towel and leave in a warm place for 1 1/2 hrs (they should double in size again). NOTE – Don’t leave them longer than this as the buns will start to dry out and stick together.
8. Steam the buns for 5-6 minutes in a bamboo steamer over a simmering pot of water.

PICKLED SALAD

INGREDIENTS

• 2 long red chili
• 3 spring onions
• 3 TBS Caster sugar
• 3 TBS Rice wine vinegar
• 2 TBS Salt
• Coriander leaves, picked

METHOD

1. Combine the salt, vinegar and sugar in a bowl
2. Slice chili and spring onion finely and add to liquid.
3. Chill in fridge for an hour (or longer)

TO SERVE

1. Open the steamed bun and place one or two pieces of the steamed pork inside
2. Add a handful of the pickled salad and garnish with picked coriander leaves
3. Eat!