Gua bao

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.