肉夹馍 | Chinese Hamburger (Pork Belly Bun) | Rou Jia Mo

This will make 4 big buns or 6 small ones. (Or 2 big and 3 small. Whatever floats your boat.)

Make red braised pork belly. While it is cooking on the stove, you can make the dough.

Combine water, yeast, and sugar in a bowl. Mix.
Add flour. Mix, and then once a shaggy dough forms, start kneading.
If the dough feels too soft, add more flour tablespoon by tablespoon. We want to make a hard and stretchy dough.
Knead by hand for ~3 minutes.
Cover the dough and let it rise until double in size. This took about 30 minutes at 78 degrees F.
Deflate the dough and knead for about 1 minute. If the dough doesn’t feel tough, you can add a little bit of flour.
Cover the dough and let it rise until double in size again.
Dust your work surface with flour and a large pinch of baking soda (it will help the dough become chewier).
Deflate and knead the dough on the dusted work surface for about 2 minutes.

Separate dough into 4 pieces, and knead each one into a smooth sphere. Use as much flour as needed to prevent sticking.
Roll out the dough into a long oval. Then roll it up into a cylinder.
Stand the cylinder up, and flatten into a circle. Roll it out into a 3 inch circle. Repeat for the other 3 dough balls.
Place the dough on a dry pan over low heat. Flip after 30 seconds. Cook until golden brown on both sides, flipping occasionally.

Chop up the pork belly after it cools. Put it back into the pan with the reduced sauce.
If using cilantro and green onion, mix those in as well.
When the bun is cool enough to handle, cut an opening in the bun, but not all the way through (think of a pita pocket).
Fill the bun with the filling!
Enjoy!

Connie Feng 2020-09-26 BLOG · RECIPES