Woky Ko's owner and head chef, Larkin Cen, has created this amazing recipe for Braised Pork Belly Bao.
Ingredients
- 1kg pork belly
- 400g hoisin sauce
- 20ml light soy sauce
- 40g sugar
- 300g strong white flour
- 150ml water
- 9g yeast
- 30g sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
Method
1. Start making the filling the day before. Preheat the oven to 160C/310F/gas mark 3.
2. Place the pork belly in a deep oven tray. Pour the hoisin over the pork belly and rub in, saving all the excess marinade for later use. Cover with water and wrap the tray in foil.
3. Put into the oven for 2 hours 40 minutes. Once cooked, take the meat out of the cooking liquid and press between two layers overnight, under a heavy weight. Once pressed, divide into portions of 1cm in height and 4 cm across.
4. Prepare the buns. Combine the ingredients together and knead for 5 minutes. Let the bread mixture rest for 2 hours.
5. Punch the dough down and turn out onto a clean work surface. Divide the dough in half and then into 5 equal pieces, and gently roll the pieces into logs. Cut into smaller pieces around the size of a ping pong ball and roll into balls, then place onto parchment paper. Flatten each ball into an oblong shape with the palm of your hand, lay a greased chopstick in the middle and fold the bun over. Let the baos rest for 15 minutes.
6. Steam the buns in a bamboo steamer with parchment paper to stop it sticking. They will take about 10 minutes. These can be eaten fresh or frozen and re-steamed.
7. To serve, add some of the excess hoisin along with soy sauce, some sugar, cucumber and spring onions to each bao.
About the Author
Larkin Cen is the owner of Woky Ko, which has got three Asian restaurants throughout Bristol: Woky Ko: Jing Xu, Woky Ko: Kaiju and Woky Ko: CARGO. In addition, they have opened a stand at Bristol's St Nicholas Market! They also offer home deliverythrough Deliveroo. The menu features all of the favourites from Baos and spring rolls, Katsu and cripsy duck noodles.
Currently their times of service are:
Wednesday - Thursday: 5pm - 9:30pm
Friday: 5pm - 10:00pm
Saturday: 5pm - 9:30pm
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