momofuku pork buns

Remember when the Momofuku cookbook came out and everybody made the pork buns? Even I did. Twice. The reason being that they are awesome. Making the buns from scratch does take a bit of time (mostly due to the dough having to rise multiple times), but it’s all worth it when you bite into a warm, fluffy bun stuffed with juicy, fatty roasted pork belly. I usually add a smear of sriracha and a few quick-pickled cucumbers (marinate thin rounds in salt and rice vinegar for an hour).

Chang's recipe produces a large batch of the steamed buns, so I  freeze the extras. Just re-steam directly out of the freezer when you need them.

Served with a crunchy Asian salad: shredded cabbage, cucumbers, carrots, sweet peppers, and roasted peanuts tossed with a soy vinaigrette (garlic, soy, rice vinegar, sesame oil, green onions, salt and pepper).

You can find a scaled down version of the recipe here.