The ULTIMATE Pork Belly Slider aka Taiwanese Gua Bao | Sous Vide recipe

Guabao is the ultimate combination of flavors and textures. A taiwanese classic, it's typically a decadent piece of pork belly placed in a soft, fluffy, warm bun. We sous vide pork belly making it melt-in-your-mouth delicious AND crisping up the bottom of the bun to give that next level texture.

We added stir fried suan cai (pickled mustard greens) to cut the fat and peanuts to top it all off.
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This is a party sized recipe. It makes about 15-20 portions.

INGREDIENTS
5 lbs Pork Belly
2 Star Anise
2 Dried Chillies
2 inch Cinnamon Stick
2 tsp White Pepper
50g Rock Sugar
2 tbsp Water
2 tbsp Shaoxing Wine
¼ cup Dark Soy Sauce
¼ cup Light Soy Sauce
4 Scallions
4 Ginger, 2” slices
Sauce
1 tbsp Sugar, or to taste
1 tsp 5 spice powder, or to taste
1 tbsp Cornstarch
3 tbsp Water

Suan Cai
300g Suan Cai (Pickled Mustard Greens)
1-2 Birds Eye Chillies, Diced
3 tablespoon cooking oil
3-5 Garlic Cloves, Minced.

Garnish
Cilantro
Peanuts (candied), crushed
Hoisin Sauce

Recipe
Set your sous vide to 170F.
In a dry pan toast the star anise, dried chillies, cinnamon stick, and white pepper until fragrant. Place into a spice bag and set aside.
In a saucepan over medium melt the rock sugar and cook until caramelized. Once a dark caramel colour is achieved turn the heat down to low and add water to thin it out. Stir constantly so that it thins out. Add in shaoxing wine, dark soy sauce, and light soy sauce. Bring back to a boil then set aside to cool.
Slice the pork belly into ¾” strips against the grain. Then slice into pieces slightly larger than your bun. Approximately 2-3” wide.
In a large vacuum bag, place the pork slices, the cooled sauce, scallions and ginger. If you do not have a vacuum sealer with a pulse function or can deal with liquids, cut your bag larger so that you can clip it to the side of your container.
Vacuum and seal the bag.
Sous vide for 24 hours.

While you wait you can prepare the Stir Fried Suan Cai:
- Soak the Suan Cai in a bowl for 10 minutes.
- Drain and wring out
- Soak again for another 10 minutes in clean water.
- Drain and wring out again.
- Dice the preserved vegetables and set aside.
- Warm a pan on medium heat, add oil, and chillies.
- Fry until fragrant, then add the diced preserved vegetables.
- Fry for 3-4 minutes, then add in the garlic. Toss around to incorporate, and cook for another 3-4 minutes. Set aside.

Once the time is up remove the pork belly from the sous vide, drain out the liquid and separate out the oil.
Pour the remaining sauce into a pan and bring it to a boil. Strain it to remove any coagulants and pour it back into the pot.
Bringing it back to a boil, flavor with sugar and 5 spice powder. Lower the heat to low.
Add water to the cornstarch to make a slurry. Pour into the sauce.
Allow it to thicken up so that it can coat the back of a spoon, but still runny.
Take it off the heat and set aside.

To finish the pork, brush on a good layer of sauce and caramelize in a frying pan or using a blow torch.

Crispy Bottom Bun
Heat a frying pan over medium heat. Add a little bit of oil and heat up until shimmering. Place frozen bao in the frying pan then add water to cover the bottom of the pan. Place on lid to allow the buns to steam.
Once the water has mostly evaporated, open the lid and allow the oil to fry and crisp the bottom. Remove once it’s nice and golden brown.

Putting it all together.
Open up the bun, brush on some of the pork sauce or use hoisin.
Add some cilantro, place on the pork piece, add some suan cai, and top with some peanuts.
Open wide and eat it.
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EQUIPMENT

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▸ Anova Container: https://amzn.to/37PiRIE
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