COPPERGua bao recipe
A folded flat steamed bun closed over a slice of soy-braised pork belly, sour mustard greens, sweet peanut powder and coriander.
Ingredients
- 8 folded steamed buns
- 600 g pork belly
- 80 ml soy sauce
- 60 ml Shaoxing rice wine
- 5 tbsp sugar
- 15 g ginger
- 200 g pickled mustard greens
- 80 g roasted peanuts
- 1 bunch coriander
How to make Gua bao
- Put a 600 g slab of pork belly in boiling water for 5 minutes, rinse it and cut it into 1 cm slices.
- Brown the slices in 1 tbsp oil with 3 slices of ginger, then add 80 ml soy sauce, 60 ml Shaoxing wine, 5 tbsp sugar and enough water to just cover.
- Cover and simmer on low heat for 1 hour 30 minutes until the slices are tender but hold their shape.
- Rinse and squeeze 200 g pickled mustard greens, chop them and stir-fry 5 minutes with 5 tbsp oil and 1 tsp sugar.
- Grind 80 g roasted peanuts with 5 tbsp sugar into a coarse powder.
- Steam 8 folded buns for 8 to 10 minutes until soft.
- Open each bun, lay in one slice of pork with a spoonful of braising juice, then mustard greens, a spoonful of peanut powder and coriander leaves.
What is Gua bao?
Gua bao is a traditional dish from Taiwan, simmered in one pot, and takes about 2 hours and 5 minutes from start to finish. It is built around pork belly, pickled mustard greens and soy sauce. The recipe below uses 9 ingredients and is written out step by step.
How long does Gua bao take?
At 125 minutes it is slower than 53% of the 586 dishes in Copper's atlas. Copper's atlas has 15 dishes built on pork belly. The method runs to 7 steps, the longest being 30 minutes.
Any tips for making Gua bao?
Braise the pork belly in slices on low heat until tender but whole: each bun takes one intact slice, not shredded meat.
How Gua bao compares
Folded steamed buns appears in no other dish in the atlas.
Cooked with the same thing elsewhere
Other traditional dishes built on pickled mustard greens, from other countries.
- Shan noodles 🇲🇲 Myanmar
- Khao soi 🇹🇭 Thailand
Copper documents Taiwan alongside 197 other countries. Every recipe is free to read, with the full ingredient list and every step.