I haven’t had one of these since I lived in China in 2005 yet I still remember them, they’ve been on my must try and make list for a long time and I finally got round to it after comparing multiple recipes. These are satisfying, juicy, super flavoursome pork with a simple, soft, warm and fresh flatbread, kind of a like a slightly flattened English muffin. In fact on the days where you just can’t be bothered to make the bread, you could swap in English muffins instead or just use a regular burger bun or bread roll.

This recipe is quite time consuming considering you are essentially making a glorified sandwich but actually pretty low effort once all the ingredients are gathered and on the boil. Nice to make on a day where you’re planning to be pottering around at home anyway.

Having looked in to multiple recipes, I have set out my version below but it is primarily an adaptation of the recipe found at Red House Spice, one of my favourite Chinese food blogs.

Serves: This recipe makes just 4 “burgers” which is probably about right for 2 people as a meal or 4 people as a snack.

Time: 2 hours

Ingredients

For the flatbread

• 250g plain flour

• 120 ml water

• 1tsp dried instant yeast

• 1tsp sugar

• 1tsp vegetable oil

• Pinch of salt

For the filling

• 500g pork belly, fat trimmed

• A thumb sized piece of ginger, peeled and chunkily sliced

• 2 spring onions

• 1 star anise

• 1 stick of cinnamon

• 3 cloves garlic peeled and lightly squashed

• ¼ tsp fennel seeds

• ¼ tsp Sichuan peppercorns

• ¼ tsp black peppercorns

• 5 dried chillies

• 2 tsp light soy sauce

• 2 tsp dark soy sauce

• 2 tsp Shaoxing wine

• ½ tbsp sugar

• ½ tsp salt

To finish

• 2 spring onions

• 1 small handful of fresh coriander

• Fresh chillies, deseeded (optional, to taste)

Method

Pork

Trim the pork belly of any chunky strips of fat and then place in a pot with cold water just covering the meat. Bring to the boil then discard the water and rinse the meat. Clean out the pot then place the pork back in the pot and add in clean cold water so it just covers the meat.

Place back on the heat and add the rest of the ingredients and cover with a lid bringing it to a boil. Once it comes to a boil reduce the heat to a simmer and leave to cook for approx. 90minutes, until the pork is tender, it should more or less come apart with a fork.

Do check on the pork from time to time, I have made the mistake before of leaving it to simmer away and all the braising stock has evaporated away leaving the ingredients to burn to the base of the pot. Terrible!  

Make the dough

Add the dough ingredients in to a stand mixer, try not to put the salt directly on the yeast as it can kill it and prevent the dough from proving properly. Using the dough hook, mix the dough until it forms a ball. Be careful with the water, I suggest you add it in slowly towards the end, you may find you need a little bit more or less water to bring the dough together depending on the brand of flour you are using.

The dough should come together in a ball, I usually knead it by hand just for an extra minute which I find tends to help make it a bit smoother. Place back in the mixer bowl and cover up with a damp cloth or cling film and leave in a slightly warm place e.g. airing cupboard or warm room.

The dough should more or less double in size and this is likely to take around an hour (but can vary between around 45 minutes – 90 minutes).

Cook the flatbreads

Roll the dough in to a cylinder and cut in to 4 equal sized pieces

Roll and shape each piece in to a long strip and then roll it up in to a cylinder shape.

Flatten it with your hand and then using a rolling pin, roll it out in to a circle about 10cm wide.

Heat a dry frying pan on the stove on low heat. There is no need to add any oil.

Place the flatbreads in the pan and cover with a lid, this will help the bread steam and cook inside whilst the outside is gently browning. Try to leave a little space between the flatbreads as you will find they puff up a little.

After about 5 minutes flip the flatbread over, adjust the heat if you feel the bread is too dark or not colouring enough. Remove the lid and let the second side cook uncovered for about a further 4-5 minutes. (Some recipes say to keep the lid on, but this can prevent the flatbread from gently crisping on the outside. I find keeping the lid on for the first 5 minutes is enough to cook it through).

Final assembly

Once cooked, remove the flatbreads form the heat to cool.

When the pork is cooked, remove it to a chopping board and chop the pork in to small piece, adding a few tablespoons of the braising liquid as you go.

Chop the coriander spring onions and additional chilli if using finely and mix in to the pork.

Slice the flatbreads with a knife halfway and then using the tip of the knife cut through the bun but not the whole way through, basically creating a bit of a pocket within the bun.

Fill the bun generously with the pork mixture and finish off with another spoonful of the braising liquid, this will be soaked up nicely by the meat and the bread, don’t worry, it won’t leak out. 

Enjoy whilst still warm!