Steamed Bao with Glazed Pork Belly and Pickled Veggies
New favorite recipe! Seriously, my husband, son, and I sat around the counter devouring these little steamed bao with glazed pork belly and pickled veggies. I recreated this recipe after trying steamed bao with glazed pork belly and pickled veggies recently at lunch with friends. Thankfully, I found a recipe for some sticky pork belly that sounded delicious for my sandwiches on Kitchen Sanctuary and it was fun to make too. There is something so amazing about a soft steamed bao bun slathered in sriracha mayo then layered with sticky and tender pork belly and topped with pickled Asian veggies. The combination of flavors and textures is wonderful and we all agreed that they were AMAZING. I’ll be making this recipe again soon because my daughter missed out on trying them and we all think she would love them too.
How to Make Steamed Bao with Glazed Pork Belly and Pickled Veggies
Prepare the pork belly by pouring the chicken broth, rice wine, and powdered sugar in a large Dutch oven over high heat. Add the pork belly, garlic slices, and ginger slices then bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover with a lid, and simmer for 2 hours. Drain the liquid and save it for a delicious Chinese noodle soup, if desired. Allow the pork belly to cool then cut into bite-sized pieces.
Make the quick-pickled Asian veggies while the pork belly is simmering. Click this link for the recipe instructions.
Make the pork belly glaze by combining the soy sauce, honey, brown sugar, sliced chile, and lemongrass paste; whisk until well combined.
Make the sriracha mayonnaise by combining the mayonnaise in a bowl then adding sriracha, to taste. Stir to combine then set aside in the refrigerator until needed.
Finish the pork belly by heating the oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add the pork and cook, stirring often, until starting to turn golden brown. Carefully drain the grease from the pan then return to the stove and pour the glaze over the pork then continue to cook, stirring often, until the pork looks dark and sticky, about 3-4 minutes. Remove from the heat.
Steam the bao buns in a steamer while the pork belly is sauteing for a few minutes, or per package instructions.
To make the sandwiches, slather some sriracha mayonnaise on the steamed bao bun then add some pork belly followed by some pickled Asian veggies and some fresh cilantro. Serve immediately. Enjoy!!!
Equipment
- Steamer
Ingredients
Pork Belly Simmer:
- 2 lbs rindless pork belly cut into strips approx. size of index finger
- 1 quart of chicken broth
- 1 thumb-sized piece of ginger peeled and finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic peeled and sliced
- 1 tbsp rice wine
- 1 tbsp powdered sugar
Pork Belly Glaze:
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp honey
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger minced
- 1 small Asian chili minced
- 1 tsp lemongrass paste
- Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper to taste
- 1-2 tsp oil for cooking pork
Other Ingredients:
- Pickled veggies see link up above for recipe instructions
- ½ cup Mayonnaise
- Sriracha to taste
- Bao buns steamed per instructions
- Fresh cilantro chopped
Instructions
- Prepare the pork belly by pouring the chicken broth, rice wine, and powdered sugar in a large Dutch oven over high heat.
- Add the pork belly, garlic slices, and ginger slices then bring to a boil.
- Reduce the heat, cover with a lid, and simmer for 2 hours.
- Drain the liquid and save it for a delicious Chinese noodle soup, if desired.
- Allow the pork belly to cool then cut into bite-sized pieces.
- Make the quick-pickled Asian veggies while the pork belly is simmering. Click the link up above for the recipe instructions.
- Make the pork belly glaze by combining the soy sauce, honey, brown sugar, sliced Asian chili, and lemongrass paste; whisk until well combined.
- Make the sriracha mayonnaise by combining the mayonnaise in a bowl then adding sriracha, to taste. Stir to combine then set aside in the refrigerator until needed.
- Finish the pork belly by heating the oil in a large skillet over high heat.
- Add the pork and cook, stirring often, until starting to turn golden brown.
- Carefully drain the grease from the pan then return to the stove and pour the glaze over the pork then continue to cook, stirring often, until the pork looks dark and sticky, about 3-4 minutes. Remove from the heat. Taste and season with sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, if needed.
- Steam the bao buns in a steamer while the pork belly is sauteing for a few minutes, or per package instructions.
- To make the sandwiches, slather some sriracha mayonnaise on the steamed bao bun then add some pork belly followed by some pickled Asian veggies and some fresh cilantro.
- Serve immediately. Enjoy!!!
They look mouthwatering!
Love belly of pork and have some in the freezer so will be trying this very soon. Thanks. Have a good weekend, Diane
My first thought was you were eating snake until I looked more closely at bao. Your sandwich looks delicious and I’m amazed that pork belly is becoming all the rage – I guess that’s why bacon prices keep going up.
Wow, gourmet cooking here Pam. Looks fabulous.
Pam, You don’t know this yet but your my new best friend..lol. After a recent trip to Florida were I got to try a “pork pillow” for the first time at a Vietnamese restaurant I feel in love with this dish. And just today I thought I would start the search to try and recreate the dish at home.
I was on your site for another recipe(coconut vodka and pineapple juice) and came across this recipe. I couldn’t remember what type of bread was used for the “pillow” I just remember the taste and the shape. Now I know it’s a bao bun! I want to leave work right now and drive to the store to get all the ingredients to make this recipe.
Thank you so much!! –