August 8, 2020

Peachy Pork Belly Buns with Sriracha Mayonnaise

Peachy Pork Belly Buns with Sriracha Mayonnaise is my summery twist on the pork belly bao buns that are so popular now on restaurant menus. Besides adding peaches to make the dish feel summery, I also make my own steamed buns. These are not the classic bao buns, but an American rendition, using American bread dough, and then steaming them in a bamboo steamer, in the Asian tradition.

The Equipment You’ll Need

A Bamboo Steamer- You’ll need this to steam the buns. I purchased mine at Sur La Table, for less than 30 dollars.
An Instant Read Thermometer- I find this essential for checking the temperature of my scalded milk and water for baking.
A Food Scale- I find this essential for weighing my flour when baking.

The Ingredients You’ll Need to Make Peachy Pork Belly Buns with Sriracha Mayonnaise

The Pork Belly- No other cut of pork will do for this recipe.
Chicken Stock- I always use homemade.
Ginger- You can use fresh ginger, or a teaspoon of powdered ginger.
Yeast- This recipe uses regular active dry yeast, not quick acting.

How I Made This Recipe

Since I made my own buns, this was quite a project, but really fun.
I started by making my pork belly. It finished before everything else, since we also make a cheesecake today, so I ended up reheating the pork belly right before serving.
Next, I tackled the bun dough. It is very easy to make and does not require a mixer. It is also not very messy, as dough goes.
As the dough rose, I prepared all the veggies.
I also made a cheesecake, and steamed some artichokes.
Finally, I rolled out the buns, and steamed them.
Last of all, I let everyone stuff their own buns.

These Peachy Pork Belly Buns with Sriracha Mayonnaise were really satisfying to make at home. I feel like restaurants don’t do the greatest job on stuffed buns. For one thing, their stuffed buns are way too salty. And, also, restaurant buns are too meat heavy. Let’s face it, pork belly is really fatty, so I only want a small bite of it in each bun. And, lastly, when I eat a restaurant bun, I always wish there were more vegetables inside. So, I hope you’ll try my vegetable filled, not too salty, peachy buns. They’re a treat for the whole family.

Peachy Pork Belly Buns with Sriracha Mayonnaise

Steamed buns stuffed with crispy pork belly, peaches, cucumber salad, and topped with sriracha mayonnaise.

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Prep Time 1 30

Cook Time 3

Course Appetizer

Cuisine American, Chinese

Servings

Equipment

bamboo steamer
Dutch oven
Parchment Paper

Ingredients

To assemble the dish:

12 steamed buns
braised pork belly
cucumber salad
sriracha mayonnaise
2 julienned peaches
1 cup chopped cilantro
1 cup thinly sliced red onion

For the Steamed Buns:

1 tsp. active dry yeast
1 tbsp. sugar
¾ cup whole milk
1½ tsp. salt
2 tbsp. melted butter
2½ cups all purpose flour (300g)
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
6 leaves of lettuce

For the Braised Pork Belly:

24 ounces skinless pork belly, cut into 12 one inch wide slices
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
2 tbsp. brown sugar
3 garlic cloves
1 tbsp. sliced ginger
½ tsp. fennel seeds
1 tbsp. Mirin
2 tbsp. light soy sauce
1½ cups chicken stock

For the Cucumber Salad:

¼ cup rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp. sugar
1 large sliced cucumbers

For the Sriracha Mayonnaise:

½ cup mayonnaise
2 tsp. sriracha

Instructions

For the Steamed Buns:

In a small saucepan, heat ¾ cups of milk until it starts to bubble and then immediately remove it from the heat and let it's temperature drop down to 105°.
In a large mixing bowl, stir together the yeast, half the sugar, and a quarter of a cup of 100 degree water. Let this sit 5 minutes.
When the milk reaches 105 degrees, add it to the mixing bowl with the rest of the sugar, the salt, and the butter. Stir for one minute.
Stir in ¾ cup flour (90g) and stir for one minute.
Add another ¾ cup of flour and stir for one minute.
Slowly add 1 more cup of flour (120g) and stir for one minute.
Knead 10 minutes on a well floured board.
Oil a large clean bowl and let the dough rise, covered with plastic wrap, in a warm place for one hour.
Shape the dough into a 12 inch snake and cut into 12 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and place on a floured parchment paper lined baking sheet. Put it in a warm place, cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise for 30 minutes.
Cut 12 3 by 6 inch pieces of parchment paper. Heat a bamboo steamer over a Dutch oven with 2 inches of simmering water.
On a floured board, roll each dough ball into a 6 inch long oval. Using a pastry brush , paint the dough top with oil, and then place it on a piece of parchment paper, and fold it gently in half.
In several batches, steam the buns on lettuce leaves for 20 minutes, or until puffy and cooked through.

For the Braised Pork Belly:

In a 6 quart saucepan, half full with boiling water, simmer the pork for 10 minutes. Drain well.
In a Dutch oven, on low heat, in the oil, cook the sugar, garlic, ginger, fennel, mirin and soy sauce until the sugar is dissolved. Add the pork and chicken broth and simmer covered for 2 hours. Then, remove the cover, and simmer for 30 minutes, until the sauce is thick and glossy.
For the Cucumber Salad:
Mix all the ingredients together.
For the Sriracha Mayonnaise:
Mix all the ingredients together.