Crispy Pork Belly Bao Buns

This classic street food dish comes in so many different forms across Asia and is a massive bite of flavor wherever you get it! Our Crispy Pork Belly Bao Buns take some classic Chinese ingredients and techniques to make the most delicious bite of food. What I love about this recipe is how versatile it is. You can use all kinds of different fillings and sauces to complete the dish to your liking and flavor profiles. They’re a hugely popular dish in restaurants these days. However, with this easy recipe there’s no need to head out anymore to enjoy amazing Crispy Pork Belly Bao Buns!

The key to this recipe is making beautifully crispy Pork Belly

It’s no surprise that the star of the dish is Pork Belly. There are lots of ways you can prepare Pork Belly to get that famous crispy skin. In this recipe we use a few techniques to dry out the skin to ensure ridiculously crispy skin. We’ve made a load of Pork over the years and can safely assure you this technique is guaranteed to produce beautifully crispy Pork Skin that will be perfect in your Bao Buns

The first step in preparing the Pork Belly for optimal crispiness

Before you do anything else, bring a big pot of water to the boil and then carefully drop in your Pork Belly. Boil it for 2 minutes and then rinse it immediately under cold water. This step just helps to break up all the fibers in the Pork skin and get things moving for the remaining steps in the process

Then, make some cuts into the Pork skin. You can either just make a load of pricks with a heavy, sharp knife (being careful as you do so!), or follow the classic approach of making a series of diagonal cuts. Either way, this step is important to allow the fat that sits under the skin to render while it gets cooked

Now we move onto the curing process

The curing step is ‘technically’ an optional step in the process, as it won’t impact on the crispiness of the skin or anything like that. However, curing the Pork with some beautiful flavors is a sure-fire way to get this dish tasting its best. To do so, grind up a load of Black Peppercorns, Szechuan Peppercorns and add them to a large tray. Add a generous amount of Chinese Five Spice and then an equal amount of Salt as there is every other ingredient

The Pork then goes into the spice mixture and coated well. Ensure the entire Pork is basically smothered with the Salt and Pepper cure. Place it in the refrigerator for about 6 hours to allow those flavors to really infiltrate into the Pork. After 6 hours, wash off the spices with cold water and then pat the Pork dry

Drying out the Pork Skin

The second step is getting that Pork skin as dry as possible. Removing moisture from skin is the best way to ensure a crispy result. I’ve found the best way to do this is to simply leave the Pork uncovered in the refrigerator overnight, and up to 2 days. The dry air of the refrigerator dries out the Pork exceptionally well

All you now need to do is cook the Pork, it’ll take 1 hour

The final step is to cook the Pork, which is a simple process of roasting it in the oven. I like to crank the heat to around 430F for the first 10 minutes to really get the skin cooking and crisping up. Then, drop the heat to 360F and let the Pork Belly cook for another 50 minutes

At this point the Pork will be cooked, but you’ll notice the skin isn’t crispy! That’s ok, as we’ve got one final trick up our sleeves. Switch your oven setting over to the Broiler and crank it to its highest setting. The excessive top-down heat from the broiler will almost immediately begin to crisp up the skin

After about 10 minutes the Pork Belly will be done. I recommend you keep a close eye on it and take the Pork out once all the skin is beautifully bubbly and crackly, but before it begins to burn. Because we’re using the broiler you can even keep the door open, it won’t impact the direct heat hitting the skin

While the Pork is roasting you can prepare the filling

For our Crispy Pork Belly Bao Buns, we’re using a classic combination of thinly sliced Scallions and some Green Apple. The Scallions are great as they add a beautiful crispy freshness to the buns. Green Apple offers that beautiful tartness that contrasts perfectly with the fattiness from the Pork

Try to cut your Apple into a small dice. We don’t want really large chunks or anything like that, as Bao Buns aren’t all that big. You want to be easily able to fill the buns with the filling while allowing ample room for the hero of the dish – the Pork Belly – to fit

I recommend serving the Crispy Pork Belly Bao Buns with two types of sauces

Offering contrasting sauces adds such a variety of flavor to this dish. If you can, try serving up a Spicy Chili Sauce such as Sambal as one offering, and a sweet sauce like Hoisin Sauce as the other. Having a mix of sauces keeps each Bao Bun a little unique and fresh and will just make people want to go back for more!

You can try using other sauces too. A classic pairing with Pork is Apple, so if you like why not try our Green Apple Sauce recipe and swap that out for the diced Apples

Making your own Bao Buns (or not)

Honestly, the hero of this dish is the Pork Belly and getting that perfectly crispy and tender is a challenge in itself. Making your own Bao Buns from scratch is a load of work, and honestly, in our opinion, not worth it. Just get your hands on some good quality frozen Bao Buns and they’ll do the trick! Add the frozen buns to a large plate and spritz them all with a few drops of water. Cover with cling film and microwave for 90 seconds and they’re done

To serve, I recommend adding each ingredient separately on their own serving plates and dish up everything family style. That includes the Pork, which I recommend cutting into slices and serving as the centerpiece of this wonderful dish

Crispy Pork Belly Bao Buns Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 ½ lbs. Pork Belly, skin on
• ½ cup Black Peppercorns, finely ground
• ¼ cup Szechuan Peppercorns, finely ground
• 1 tbsp. Chinese Five Spice
• ½ cup Salt
• 8 Frozen Bao Buns
• 1 Green Apple, core removed and finely diced
• 1 Scallion, finely julienned
• ½ cup Sambal Sauce
• ½ cup Hoisin Sauce
  
  

Equipment needed: Spice Grinder or Mortar and Pestle for the Peppercorns

Instructions

1. Place the Pork Belly in boiling water for 2 minutes then remove and run under cold water to cool. Score the skin or carefully poke it with lots of holes using a sharp knife and then set aside
2. Prepare your curing ingredients by combining Ground Black Peppercorns, Ground Szechuan Peppercorns, Chinese Five Spice, and Salt on a sheet pan and mix well
3. Completely cover the Pork in the curing spices and then refrigerate for 6 hours. Remove and rinse before patting dry
4. Return the Pork into the refrigerator and leave overnight / up to 2 days to dry out the skin
5. When ready to cook, leave the Pork at room temperature for 30 minutes, then cover the sides with Aluminum Foil (making a basket), leaving the skin exposed
6. Roast at 430F for 10 minutes, then drop the heat to 360F and roast for 50 more minutes. Once cooked, switch the oven to your highest broiler setting and broil until the skin is bubbly and crispy (about 10 minutes, but keep an eye on it)
7. Place the frozen Bao Buns on a large plate and spritz each with a few drops of water. Cover in cling film and microwave for 90 seconds
8. To slice the Pork, flip it over so the crispy skin is facing the cutting board. Cut it into strips that will fit into a Bao Bun and serve family style with the Green Apple, Scallion, and Sauces each on their own serving plate
   
   

Recipe Notes

• You can avoid the curing step and simply refrigerate the scored Pork Belly to begin the process to save some time
• Keep a close eye on the Pork Belly when it’s under the broiler to avoid it burning. You can cook it with the oven door slightly open (as long as you’re watching) and it won’t impact the direct heat exposed to the skin
  
  

You can recreate restaurant quality Crispy Pork Belly Bao Buns at home easily with this recipe. The flavors of the Pepper and Chinese Five Spices cured Pork Belly is phenomenal and paired with the Bao filling ingredients it’s an amazing bite to eat!

If you’ve a hankering for even more tasty Pork dishes, try out these amazing recipes of ours:

• Crispy Porchetta with Fennel and Herbs
• Pulled Pork Sandwich
• Pork Schnitzel with German Potato Salad
• Pork Noodle Stir Fry
  
  

Happy Cooking!