Photograph of the finished Gua bao

China · Bánh bao kẹp ba chỉ Gua bao

Gua bao

2 hr Hands-on time + 2 hr waiting
MediumDifficulty
6 stepsSteps
Serves 4 Amounts follow along 4

What to get ready

  • Photograph of Flour Flour 1.8 lb
  • Photograph of Dry yeast Dry yeast 0.7 oz
  • Photograph of Pork belly Pork belly 2.6 lb
  • Photograph of Pickled mustard greens Pickled mustard greens 11.3 oz
  • Photograph of Roasted peanuts Roasted peanuts 6.3 oz
  • Photograph of Sugar Sugar 4.2 oz
  • Photograph of Soy sauce Soy sauce ⅔ cup
  • Photograph of Cinnamon and star anise Cinnamon and star anise 0.7 oz
  • Photograph of Coriander Coriander 4.2 oz
  • Photograph of Shaoxing Wine Shaoxing Wine ½ cup

Method

  1. 1 Simmer pork belly with soy sauce, sugar, cinnamon, star anise, and rice wine for 70 minutes until the meat is tender.
  2. 2 Knead the flour with yeast, sugar, and warm water for 15 minutes, then let it rise for 1 hour.
  3. 3 Roll out the dough into an oval shape, brush one side with oil, and fold it in half.
  4. 4 Brushing the dough with oil before folding is necessary so that the bun can open into a pouch after steaming.
  5. 5 Let it steep for a second time for 25 minutes, then steam for 12 minutes, and leave the lid on for 3 minutes.
  6. 6 Roast peanuts and grind them with sugar to make peanut powder; then stuff the rice cake with meat, pickled vegetables, peanut powder, and coriander.

With an appliance

  • Pressure cooker 1 hr 40 min

    Replace step 1: braise the pork belly at high pressure for 20 minutes, then release the pressure naturally for 10 minutes; the pastry shell in steps 2–5 should be proofed and steamed separately to maintain the bag's shape.

Start cooking