So, I had a left over mini-slab of pork-belly hidden in the freezer, and figured I'd give it a shot...
Click the "Read more" for more pictures...
For those who don't know what/who Momofuku's is.....well, it's the hippest most trendy, most foodie, most coolest, most awesomest, most delicious eateries in NYC. If you had to click the link to find out, you're probably not even cool enough to read the rest of this. As as matter of fact....don't...I've already made a reservation for you at Tavern on the Green.
Because this is comfort food, and well...I suck at baking/pastry...and I have an AWESOME Asian market...I bought the buns 10 for 2$...much better than me buying the ingredients that I didn't have only to screw it up. Read the number 3 instruction...
I had brined the pork belly the night before. Now...there is a reason I had a piece of pork belly in the freezer...because it was a shitty cut, and well, I figured I'd use it SOME day...I wish I had a better cut, but for experimentation, this was it. 
2.5 hours with foil on, 20 minutes at 450 with it off...
then rest for 20-30 minutes, then chill, then slice...and if you have a good cut, NOT like mine, it will slice up nice. 
Very simple, just hoison, cucumber, scallions, pork belly. 
all I can say is...wow.
I'd almost match it up against a burger, and coming from me, that says a lot.
Momofuku's Pork-Belly Buns...aka Comfort Food Heaven
Friday, November 28, 2008
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2 comments:
Okay, you are seriously insane. I like you.
You really need to try Dongpo Rou, which nobody but a total nut would make himself.
Su Dongpo was this high-level official who lived around 1100, as I recall. He got exiled, as happened to people like him, and had to focus his palate on things the peasants ate... like pork. And did he ever eat pork! He wrote poems about it.
This dish, which he probably didn't eat but would have liked, basically has you start with pork plate, i.e. the lower part of the belly where it's pretty much 100% fat. (Tasty fat, though.)
You steam it, braise it, marinate it, and so on for a long time, in very complicated ways. The end-result is this red-sauced stuff with big squares of wobbly pale things in it. The squares are in effect fat matrix: you've removed most of the actual fat, and left behind the framework in which it normally sits, and you've filled that space with pork flavor and fabulous sauce. You reach into the pot, pick up one of these squares, fold it into one of those buns like you have here, and sprinkle with some scallions.
Given how you felt about this dish, you would absolutely adore this. There is one place in NYC that makes it wonderfully, if you want to try it first. And if you want a recipe, do let me know (just private-mail me at Foodie Forums): you're exactly the sort of nut-job who ought to know about this.
i totally made these toooo!
I also made the buns... very hard, but so worth it. make the buns and you will be able to put anythign in them!
http://kitchensidecar.blogspot.com/2008/12/steamed-buns-test-kitchen-evolution.html
yummmmm
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