Everyone seems to love dim sum, so I wanted to share my Gua Bao recipe. If you’ve never had it, this classic is such a treat to have at home. Gua Bao is a popular dish from Taiwan. It’s made with a fluffy semi-circular-shaped bao bun stuffed with tender pork belly, cilantro, pickled mustard greens, and crushed peanuts. They’re usually eaten as an appetizer but can absolutely be the main event on your table. Gua Bao is quite similar to Rou Jia Mo, a northern-style Chinese burger that is made with flatbread and chopped up pork belly. You can also make my Rou Jia Mo recipe and compare the flavors! In this post, I’ll show you how to make the tender pork belly filling for Gua Bao. I’ve already created a post on how to make the super-soft and fluffy steamed bao buns. They require simple ingredients but do take time to make. The effort is worth it, but if you don’t have a lot of time, you can pick up store-bought buns to use instead. You can usually find them at Asian markets in the freezer section.
Ingredients
The ingredients for making braised pork belly for gua bao are quite basic and a well-stocked Chinese pantry may already have them. For the pork belly, it would be most convenient if you can find the thinly sliced type. This type of pork belly is slightly thicker than bacon and Asian markets usually carry it. It requires less time to braise and soaks up flavor better. But don’t worry if you can only find the regular pork belly. I’ve included instructions for both types.
Cooking process
Making the filling for Gua Bao is so easy. It takes just 15 minutes of active cooking time. I recommend making a bigger batch too since you can easily use it for meal prep and freeze it for whenever the mood for dim sum strikes.
How to assemble and serve Gua Bao
Typically, Gua Bao is served with Chinese pickled mustard greens, but I highly-recommend using my quick pickled shallots instead. It creates a more refreshing taste and texture that pairs beautifully with the richness of the pork. Besides the pickles, you should also use some chopped peanuts and cilantro to further add texture to the sandwich. For the buns, either homemade bao buns or store-bought ones will work. When you have guests over, Gua Bao makes a perfect appetizer. That’s how it’s traditionally served, but by all means, you can enjoy it as your main dish or for a lovely light lunch. For entertaining though, it really is perfect since you can prep everything ahead and make it easy to serve so everyone can enjoy it as they wish. Want to learn more about Chinese Cooking? Sign up for my newsletter to receive the 5-Day Chinese Cooking Crash Course and recipe update! 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.
More delicious dim sum recipes
Baked BBQ Pork Buns (Char Siu Bao)Chinese Scallion Pancakes (葱油饼)Pineapple Buns (Bolo Bao)Turkey dumplings (A Thanksgiving Leftover Recipe)Wonton Soup
Lilja Walter is a part of the Omnivore’s Cookbook team and worked closely with Maggie to develop and test this recipe.
