History

Gua bao is a Hokkien-Taiwanese dish brought from Fujian in the 1700s, traditionally eaten as a snack at weddings and wei ya (year-end company dinners). The shape resembles a tiger's mouth, which is why it's sometimes called 'tiger bites pig'. Lan Jia near Gongguan MRT in Taipei has been the canonical version since 1985, NT$60 a bun. The dish has been internationalised over the past decade as a popular street-food item from London to New York.

Common allergens: Gluten, Peanut, Soy

Make it at home

Yield 8Hands-on 45 minTotal 3 hrDifficulty Intermediate

Ingredients

  • 8 steamed lotus-leaf-shaped buns (frozen, defrosted)
  • 800g pork belly, skin on
  • 60ml dark soy sauce
  • 30ml Shaoxing rice wine
  • 30g rock sugar
  • 1 star anise
  • 1 piece cinnamon stick
  • 5 garlic cloves, smashed
  • 30g fresh ginger, sliced
  • 1 teaspoon five-spice powder
  • 100g pickled mustard greens, chopped
  • 60g salted peanuts, ground
  • 30g caster sugar
  • Coriander leaves, to serve

Method

  1. Score the pork-belly skin, brown all sides in a heavy pot 8 minutes.
  2. Add Shaoxing wine, soy sauce, sugar, star anise, cinnamon, garlic, ginger and five-spice. Cover with 500ml water.
  3. Bring to a boil, reduce to a low simmer, cover and braise 2 hours until tender. Cool and slice into 1cm-thick pieces.
  4. Steam the buns in a bamboo basket 8 minutes until soft and puffed.
  5. Mix ground peanuts with caster sugar.
  6. Open each bun; layer in 2 slices of pork belly, a spoonful of pickled mustard greens, sweetened peanut powder and coriander leaves.

Tip from the editors. The peanut powder must be coarse-ground, not powdered; small chunks give the texture. Make the braise a day ahead and slice when cold for clean cuts.

Where to eat gua bao

Gua bao in Taipei

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