We've got buns hun

This past Saturday we attempted our second meal made from my Momofuku cookbook.  I can't say our second recipe, because you may recall, when we made the Ramen we actually made 7 recipes to complete the one meal. 

When we dined at Momofuku Noodle Bar in NYC, beside the noodles we ordered the famous Pork Buns.  I knew at the time that David Chang and his Momofuku restaurants were famous for their Pork Buns, however I had no idea what a Pork Bun was- I ordered it anyway.  A David Chang pork bun is pillowy, delicious, sweet and salty, fatty and crunchy, hot and cold and the closest you can get to heaven with pork belly. 

Momofuku Pork buns, photo fromesquire.com

D$ has been itching to make these buns at home and I have resisted only because the recipe for the actual buns makes 50 buns. 50!  Although small and freezable I don't have the counter or freezer space for 50 buns.  However, D$, found frozen "Chinese Buns" in one of our favorite Asian markets in Tucson- 17th Street Market.  Finally on Saturday, we got to work making our pork buns!

The recipe is pretty straight forward (from the Momofuku cookbook, page 80):
1 steamed bun
1 tablespoon of hoisin sauce
3-4 slices of Quick Pickled cucumber
3 thick slices of pork belly
1 scant tablespoon of thinly sliced scallion (note: we didn't add this)
Srirachi, for serving

All of our ingredients gathered to create our pork buns. Top left to right: Pork belly, hoisin sauce.  Bottom: frozen Chinese buns, quick salt pickles.

D$ worked on the pork belly, using the same recipe we used for the Ramen as that is what the buns called for.  We halved the recipe using 1.5 pounds of pork belly rubbing it with equal parts sugar and kosher salt before nestling it into an oven safe dish, we used a Le Crusete baking dish.  We let it rest over night, putting it in the oven Saturday morning for one hour at 450, basting the pork, then for one more hour at 250 degrees.  After allowing it to cool on the counter- we wrapped it up with plastic wrap and placed it in the fridge till it was time to slice.

Pork Belly!

I wanted to try my hand at pickling for a while now and decided to take a crack at the salt pickles needed for the pork buns.  As David Chang writes in the cookbook, there is hardly a need for a recipe.  In 10 minutes flat I had the best pickles!  First we sliced a cucumber up using our mandolin. 

We loved the waffled or crinkle cut texture the mandolin gave.  Another bonus for using the mandolin is that every slice is equal.  Then I added equal parts, 1 tablespoon, of sugar and kosher salt. 

Once mixed thoroughly the pickles just rest for 5-10 minutes. After resting, taste the pickles, you can adjust the flavor as necessary adding more salt, more sugar, or as I did, rinsing them in a colander to stop the "pickling" process.  Just pat them dry with a paper towel and serve. 

They must be used that day within 4 hours.  So although easy, not a true pickling method. 

Once the pickles were made, D$ sliced the pork after warming it in the oven for about 10 minutes while we steamed our buns.

Once the buns were steamed all we had to do was assemble the sandwiches and enjoy! 

The frozen buns were a hit, not as fresh (obviously) as we remember from our visit to the Noodle Bar, but very good, cheap and easy!  This fall I will attempt to make my own buns, but knowing we have a frozen option available to us means more pork buns in our future!