Asian Pork Ragout in Gua Bao (Open Buns)

This dish encompasses a mixture of different Asian influences. It uses Gochugaru, which is Korean red chili pepper flakes, Szechuan peppercorn and Toban Jan (chili bean sauce), used in Chinese cooking, and dry Thai chili’s, used in, of course, Thai cooking. Be sure to start this recipe two days prior to when you want to eat it, check out why on the recipe below.

I got a recipe for this from a friend at work, who in turn got it from a restaurant owner. I never did try the original recipe, because I knew, after measuring out some of the spicy ingredients, that as the recipe was written it would be WAY too spicy for my family…for me, probably not, but I can’t eat the whole dish by myself 🙂 …well, at least I shouldn’t.

After making my version it still was a little too spicy for my family so I cut the spice level down even more with the below recipe. At it’s current state you get a mild heat, or sweat, as you will, when eating it. If you sandwich it in between steamed buns with a light pickled slaw on top then the heat is balanced out by the crispy tangy slaw, the chopped cilantro, and the earthy crushed peanuts used as toppings. Oh my!

You can serve it over rice, if you prefer, or even noodles, of any kind. The whole house will smell wonderful. When I had just finished the ragout and my husband and daughter tried it they both thought it was tasty and not too spicy (per their words) until 5 seconds went by and they both ran for the water…there was a delayed response…lol. Later on I heard my daughter speaking to her dad and she said “how can something that smells so good be so spicy”…lol. That is when I knew I had to cut down the heat even more 🙂 .

This recipe will make about 4 cups of ragout, I used about half of it to make 16 buns, but the recipe will make about 32, depending on how full you fill them or how big your buns are 🙂 . I used pork belly, but if you don’t have easy access to it, or just want something leaner, then it would also taste real good with pork butt or shoulder. If you don’t like fatty meats at all, you can always try it with pork tenderloin. If you do you may want to skip the roasting and just cut into about 1 inch chunks and saute in a pot to get some color on it before adding the other ingredients and simmering, as to not dry out the meat.

As for the bao buns, which mean steamed buns, you can make them open sandwich, like I did (called gua bao), or closed like a little bundle of joy! Instead of reinventing the wheel, I used this recipe from Seonkyoung Longest and they turned out wonderful. I did have to use about 1/3 cup more flower because the dough was still a little sticky, but that could have been because I scooped with a spoon and added into the measuring cup which doesn’t compact the flour a lot…I would just follow the recipe and add a little more flour if you see your dough is still sticky. If you don’t have time to make your own then you can use refrigerated biscuit dough to form and steam or a bun/dinner roll of your choice, or now that I think of it, you can even wrap it up in a tortilla and eat it like a burrito!

You will need (2 days prior to when you want to eat it):

• 2 pounds pork belly, in one chunk, if you can find it, or pork butt/shoulder
• 1/8 cup granulated sugar
• 1/8 cup kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 8 ounces onions, chopped
• 5 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/8 cup Gochugaru (Korean red chili pepper flakes), grounded or pounded further, more if you want it spicy spicy
• 1 tablespoon Szechuan peppercorn, grounded or pounded
• 1-4 dried Thai chili’s (again, depending how spicy you want it), grounded or pounded
• 2 tablespoons Toban Jan (chili bean sauce)
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 1/4 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 3/4-1 cup chicken stock/broth
• 1 batch, or 2, of store-bought or homemade Bao buns, or a bun/dinner roll of your choice
• 1/2 of an English cucumber or two mini cucumbers, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup carrots, julienned
• 1/4 cup red pepper, thinly sliced (mild mini bells or spicy jalapeno)
• 1 stalk green onion, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped or leaves pulled
• 4 tablespoons white vinegar
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup peanuts, finely chopped

Steps:

1. Check your pork belly. If the top fat layer is too thick for your tastes then cut some off before curing.
2. Cure pork belly by mixing 1/8 cup each of sugar and salt and sprinkling it evenly on all sides. Cover and set in the frig for 24 hours.
3. After 24 hours, remove from frig and quickly rinse the salt/sugar off of the meat and pat dry. Score the fat in a hatch mark pattern.
4. Put in a roasting pan, cover tightly with foil and roast at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for 1 hour. Remove foil and turn oven to 350 degrees and roast for another 30-45 minutes until the fat has a light golden color.
5. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 15 minutes. Place meat on a small foil lined sheet pan and lightly cover with plastic wrap and then a piece of foil and top with a heavy cast iron skillet (or anything heavy and clean, if you don’t have a heavy pan) then place in the frig overnight to 24 hours. This step is to press the meat, so it is compact.
6. When you are ready to make the ragout, take out the meat and cut into about 1/2 to 3/4 inch cubes.
7. In a sauté pan, add 1 tablespoon of oil and add chopped onions and garlic with the 1/2 teaspoon of salt to sweat (about 5 minutes)
8. Add the grounded/pounded Gochugaru, Szechuan peppercorn and dry Thai chili’s to the onion mixture and stir well.
9. Then add the chili bean sauce, soy sauce, sugar and stock and mix well.
10. Add the cubed pork belly and give it a good stir then let it simmer on low heat for 30 minutes.
11. Remove from heat and cool for about 15 minutes, then place in a container and let it sit in the frig overnight (or for at least 8 hours).
12. The day you want to eat, make the bao buns and steam (if using).
13. In the meantime, make simple slaw by mixing sugar and vinegar and adding it to the cucumber, carrots, red pepper and green onion, combine well. Let sit for 15 minutes.
14. Remove the meat mixture from frig and warm up.
15. Now you are ready to assemble. Add about 2 tablespoons of pork filling into the opening of a bao bun and top with some pickled slaw, chopped cilantro and peanuts.

Kali Orexi!