These melt in the mouth Pork Belly Bao Buns are sticky and sweet glazed pork belly stuffed in soft, fluffy steamed buns along pickled onions!
Have you guys had Bao Buns before? If not, you are truly missing out because they are so good! They are steamed buns that are kinda similar to dim sum, that you usually see in bamboo steamed baskets at your favorite Chinese restaurant, but instead of being stuffed these Bao buns are folded over with a variety of all kinds of sweet and savory fillings tucked in. Bao Buns are often made with pulled pork, duck, fried chicken, bacon, egg and sometimes tofu. I think my favorite are these Pork Belly Bao Buns with glazed pork belly, pickled onions, cilantro and sriracha. The first time I ever had Pork Belly Bao Buns was at this Asian street food restaurant here in Charlotte. I was a little skeptical at first, I mean who would I be if I wasn’t haha. Anyway… I had tasted some of my husband’s first and there was pretty much no looking back, I basically tried to eat the rest of his and he wasn’t too happy about that. So now every time I go to an Asian restaurant where they’re on the menu I automatically have to order them!
Since these are so yummy I figured why not try and make these at home, it can’t be that hard right? Well, the hardest part was finding the Bao Buns. That was a challenge because they are not typically sold at your local grocery store, I had to locate an Asian grocery store to grab a few frozen packs since I didn’t want to make them from scratch.
Pork Belly Bao Buns
Ingredients
For the Glaze
- 1/2 Cup Hoisin sauce
- 1/4 Cup Soy sauce, less sodium
- 3-4 Tablespoons Sesame oil, as needed
- 3-4 Tablespoons Sriracha, as needed
- 1/4 Cup Honey, as needed
- 1/2 Tablespoons Ketchup, as needed
- 3 Tablespoons Brown sigar, as needed
For the pork belly
- 2 lbs Pork belly
- Kosher salt
- Brown Sugar
- Green onion, as needed
- Cilantro, as needed
- 1 Pack of bao buns (can be found in freezer section of an Asian grocery store)
For the pickled red onions
- 1/2 Red onion, thinley sliced
- 1/4 Cup Apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 Cup Water
- 2 Tablespoons White sugar
- 1/2 Tablespoon Rice wine vinegar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200°F.
- For the pork, combine the salt and brown sugar in a small bowl. Place the pork into a deep dish (there will be a lot of liquid later on, so don’t use a flat tray) and rub the salt and sugar mix all over. Cover and set aside in the refrigerator up to 4 hours or overnight.
- Add sliced onions, rice wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar, sugar and water into a mason jar or deep dish and place in the fridge to pickle for about 2-3 hours.
- Remove the pork from the dish and rinse to remove excess brining liquid. Pat dry with paper towels and place in a roasting pan. Cover with foil and roast for about 2-3 hours until meat is fork tender.
- In the meantime, make the glaze for the pork. Add all of the glaze ingredients in a small bowel mix and set aside in the fridge.
- Set up a steamer basket and steam the bao buns according to package instructions.
- To finish the pork, take it out of the oven and remove the foil. Turn the oven up to about 325-350°F. Add some of the sauce to the pork on both sides and place the pork back in the oven, uncovered, for about 5-10 minutes until golden and crispy. Transfer to a cutting board, let rest for 5-10 minutes then slice.
- To serve, open up a bao bun and spread hoisin sauce glaze on the bottom half. Top with pork, cilantro, pickled onion and sriracha. Enjoy!
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