Momofuku Pork Buns

Wow, I’ve been a lazy cow haven’t I? Three months since my last post but let’s try not dwell too much on that. Busy times with Dinner at the Manor means I’ve neglected this blog, but let’s try and put that right shall we?

This weekend I attempted to make David Chang’s Momofuku pork buns. Whilst not a completely new trend and a cult dish at his restaurants I’ve wanted to make them for a while but never really got my backside into gear and actually made them.

The the concept of the buns themselves are a bit of a fusion. To my mind, steamed pork buns are “char siu bau” steamed bread buns with a sweet sticky pork belly mixture in the middle. These babies are more like Peking duck buns, like crispy duck pancakes but a soft pillowy bun instead. Just substitute out the quack for the oink.

They’re almost like a Chinese taco if there’s such a thing. And a really nice alternative to pancakes as the buns make them a bit more substantial.

The recipe is a two day process. You need to brine the pork overnight before you cook it for 3 hours (yes, 3!) and then leave it to cool and press it so you can get nice neat slices. I didn’t have loads if time to do this but I managed decent slices after leaving the pork to rest for about an hour. You can skip this step altogether if you like and just hack at the pork belly, it doesn’t really matter.

The buns are pretty much a basic yeasted dough, the steaming makes them soft, pillowy and chewy. The recipe makes loads but the freeze well and they can be defrosted and reheated in the microwave.

Cucumber and spring onion add freshness and hoisin and sriracha add sweet stickiness and heat. A mouthful of contrasting textures and harmonious flavours. A labour of love but worth every minute!

The recipe can be found here. I urge to try these! Your life will be better for it and you can thank me later.

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