Pork Bao

Recipes

Pork Bao

  • SERVES:
    8
  • PREP TIME:
    15
    minutes
  • BAKE TIME:
    235
    minutes
  • TOTAL TIME:
    150
    minutes

ingredients

  • For the Bao
  • 1 box Tenderflake® Puff Pastry
  • Flour for dusting
  • ||
  • For the Pulled Pork*
  • ¼ cup(60ml) honey
  • 5 Tbsp. (74ml) soy sauce
  • ¼ cup (59ml) hoisin sauce
  • 3 Tbsp. (44ml) rice wine vinegar
  • 1 Tbsp. (15ml) sesame oil
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • ½ tsp (2.5ml) Chinese five-spice powder
  • 1.5 lbs pork butt, cut into 2 inch cubes
  • ||
  • For the Garnishes
  • 1 medium carrot
  • ½ a medium cucumber
  • 2 green onions cut thinly on a bias
  • ¼ cup(59ml) salted peanuts, chopped
  • ¼ cup (59ml) fresh cilantro sprigs
  • ½ cup(125ml) rice wine vinegar
  • 2 tbsp. (30ml) sugar
  • Sriracha and hoisin (optional)

directions

  1. Thaw pastry according to package directions. Roll puff pastries out on a lightly floured surface.
  2. To make the filling, combine the honey, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, garlic and five-spice powder in a large bowl and stir ingredients together. Add the pork butt and toss to coat. Place in a slow cooker, cover and cook on low for 2 hours or until meat is tender. Remove meat with a slotted spoon; shred with two forks. Skim off any excess fat on top of the sauce and discard the fat.
  3. Transfer the sauce to a saucepan and bring to a boil. Let simmer for 5 minutes to reduce the sauce. Add the cornstarch and water mixture to the boiling sauce and cook, stirring, until the sauce thickens, about 2 minutes. Add the reserved meat to the sauce and set aside to cool.
  4. Preheat oven to 400°F. Using a 4 " circular cookie cutter, cut 4 circles from one of the rolled out puff pastries. Repeat with the second pastry. Lightly dust each circle with flour and using a rolling pin gently roll into an oval. Place 3 Tbsp. (44ml) in the center and fold over half way so the meat is still exposed. Place on a parchment lined bake sheet and bake for 10-12 mins.
  5. For garnishes, peel and cut the carrot and cucumber into thin matchsticks. Mix both together in a medium bowl.
  6. Heat the rice vinegar and sugar in a small saucepan, just until the sugar has dissolved and allow to cool.  Pour over the carrot and cucumber mixture.
  7. Tips: Garnish the pork baos with carrot and cucumber pickle, green onion, cilantro and peanuts. Drizzle with hoisin and sriracha to taste (optional).
  8. *Alternatively, this pulled pork recipe can be replaced with already prepared pulled pork, which can be found in most grocery stores.
  9. *This recipe was previously made with Tenderflake® Rolled Puff Pastry Sheets and has been reformatted for the Puff Pastry Block.