Pork belly bun, or Rou Jia Mo (肉夹馍) in Chinese, is a Chinese sandwich that is similar to the idea of doner kebab or sloppy Joe. It uses pre-cooked braised pork belly, chopped cilantro, and peppers with flatbread to create a super delicious sandwich, that is usually sold for 1 to 2 dollars on the street. If you’ve ordered pork belly buns in a Chinese restaurant, you might have come across the Taiwanese version. It usually uses skin-on pork belly stuffed in steamed buns with cucumber and hoisin sauce. The one I’m introducing today is the Mainland-style pork bun with a special gravy, that originated in Xi’an (one of the oldest cities in China; it used to be the ancient capital of China and was the starting point of the Silk Road). Although there are two types of meat bun – pork and halal (which usually uses beef or lamb) – the pork one is much more popular among Mainlanders. The Xi’an style pork belly bun is made with melt-in-your-mouth pork that is slowly braised for hours in a savory master sauce. It’s served with crispy peppers and cilantro in a fluffy grilled flatbread, with a spoonful of velvety gravy. It’s so irresistible that you’ll always ask for more after you finish the first one.
Making braised pork belly is super easy
In making the pork bun, the key ingredient is the meat gravy. The real-deal gravy is made from a master sauce, also called “thousand-year sauce” (卤汁, lu zhi). The reason it has this name is that the braising liquid is reused again and again for years, so it will be infused with flavor from all the meat that has been braised in it over time. I know it might sound a bit gross or not really great from a sanitation standpoint, but the truth is, the gravy is super delicious, with a complex flavor, and there’s no simple way to replicate it. For family cooking, people usually buy the master sauce directly from the supermarket. But it is actually very easy to cook it from scratch in your kitchen. The base of the sauce is soy sauce and several spices, such as cinnamon, clove, cardamom, and star anise. You can braise just about anything in the master sauce – pork, beef, chicken, eggs, root vegetables, etc. A good master sauce should be well-balanced so that not a single ingredient is outstanding or overpowers the others. Meat that is slow cooked in this sauce will be tender, moist, and infused with a rich savory flavor that is not overwhelming.
Authentic pork belly bun vs. improved version
To make an authentic pork bun, Chinese street vendors always chop the pork belly finely before stuffing it into the bread. They also add plenty of cilantro and pepper to blend them in the minced pork while chopping. This step is to cut the grease of the fatty pork belly. After mincing the pork into small pieces, the fat will have “dissolved” and the sandwich will taste juicy and moist without feeling too greasy. The mixed vegetables will add crispy texture and lemony flavor, so the sandwich will be less heavy. When I create this pork belly bun recipe, I made some small changes.
A few more cooking notes
(1) Always make a big batch of braised pork
The pork takes about 3 hours to braise, with about 15 minutes of active cooking time. The process and time used are the same, no matter whether you braise 1 pound or 4 pounds of pork. I always buy a whole slab of pork belly from the Asian market. It costs less than $20 to get 3.5 to 4 pounds of meat, which lasts us for several meals. You can serve the leftover pork on rice or make fried noodles.
(2) What flatbread to use
I introduced a super easy recipe to make the Chinese flatbread at home (recipe here). It takes as little as 30 minutes to prepare and 10 minutes to cook. If you don’t want to cook the flatbread, you can simply buy pita bread from the grocery store instead. I found that panini bread and dinner rolls are also a good substitute (not authentic, but still taste great!). Of course you also can serve the pork over steamed rice and pair it with a vegetable dish.
(3) Add some spiciness
If you want to add a kick to the sandwich, try adding a few drops of homemade chili oil or Sriracha sauce. It tastes so good with just a bit of spiciness!
(4) Cook ahead and serve later
This recipe is also a perfect option for hosting a dinner party. The braised pork and the bun can be prepared beforehand. The day you intend to serve the buns, simply heat the pork and gravy on the stove and warm the bread in the oven. It will only take a few minutes to assemble the buns and everything will taste warm and fresh.
More delicious pork recipes
Mom’s Best Braised Pork Ribs Slow Roasted Crispy Pork Belly (Siu Yuk) Real-Deal Moo Shu Pork Twice Cooked Pork (回锅肉) & A Sauce Recipe Easy Orange Pork Chops
If you give this recipe a try, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it (once you’ve tried it), and take a picture and tag it @omnivorescookbook on Instagram! I’d love to see what you come up with. The recipe was published by Aug. 25, 2014 and was updated on Mar. 29, 2018.
