Name: My Nikkei Hakata Buns Slow-Braised Pork Belly in Steamed Taiwanese Buns with a Cucumber & Chilli Pickle
Yield: Serves 6
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients: 1 tbsp salt; 6 Japanese bamboo sticks, for presentation; ½ portion of Super-slow braised pork belly; ½ cucumber; ½ red chilli; 1 spring onion (scallion); 2 tbsp chopped red ginger pickle (beni shoga); 6 double-slice Taiwanese buns (also known as Gua Bao buns, available from Chinese supermarkets); 6 small bunches of coriander (cilantro) leaves (just a handful of leaves per bunch); 2 tbsp rice vinegar; 120 ml (4 fl oz/½ cup) water; 2 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch); 90 g (3¼ oz/½ cup) sugar; 120 ml (4 fl oz/½ cup) rice vinegar; 6 leaves of iceberg lettuce; 50 ml (2 fl oz/3½ tbsp) cold water

Preparation info

Serves
6

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Nikkei Cuisine

By Luiz Hara

Published 2015

About

Hakata, the capital of Kyushu island, was a main destination for early Chinese settlers in Japan. I first came across these buns, a Chinese import, in nearby Nagasaki where they are called kakuni manju. Here I spice things up with a cucumber and chilli pickle, ginger and coriander (cilantro) to partner the tender buta kakuni (pork belly).