Coconut crispy pork "gua bao"

Yum bun. Bao. Flesh and buns. Momofuku. Thank you glorious chefs for bringing these sweet buns to everyone's lives. These sweet Asian pillowy sandwiches are a revolution to my life.. Well, maybe just to my diet. When I made these Asian lion's head meatballs last year, it was to satisfy my boyfriend's obsession  love of sandwiches. These certainly tick the box too. The traditional "gua bao" from Taiwan  is the godfather of bao: signature pickled greens, coriander, crushed peanut powder as the holy trinity of accoutrements... Lest we forget the sweet and sticky pork belly slices. I am a total pork belly fanatic and devotee. How I've managed to have so little pork belly on the blog so far is atrocious. This recipe draws inspiration from the original, but just some personal tweaks suited to my taste. 

I've got to admit before you read any further I'm a total cheater here. Those buns...aren't mine. There are some great recipes out there, but you need time and patience. And faith that you've not wasted four hours for nothing. When I first started out recipes for buns for supper clubs, there were so many variations: different rising times, gluten levels, fat content, flour brands, kneading levels...it's endless torture if you aren't a pro at bread. Now, I have a stock pile in my freezer that I can always whip out should the craving call for me. However, in comes convenient frozen buns from Asian food stores. Since these buns have become more famous, they're readily available in most places which is fabbo. 

What goes in it is up to you. I believe pork fillet to be an underused, value for money, secret weapon for bite sized glory. It's protected in cornflour when fried, so stays crispy on the outside and full of juicy goodness on the inside. Tucked into a soft bread bun, sliced carrots and a sweet coconut cashew crumb it's a perfect "sandwich" to put a smile on your face. You can use this pork recipe for noodles, rice or a side dish with vegetables...don't just limit yourself to buns, just enjoy how you want. The sweet sugar combo will surprise you. I took the idea from a pork belly dish we have in Hong Kong - where the belly is cooked and served cold, to dip into a choice of a spicy mustard kick, or caster sugar for a contrasting flavour. 

Oh-Bun Sesame! Black sesame rolls with condensed milk

Black sesame and condensed milk buns - beautiful textures and tastes

As January starts to wind down, my demon calories slowly wind up...and I've come up with quite the theory why it can't be helped for my British/Chinese background. Think back to early December, and we have a whole month of parties, canapés, alcohol and decadent food to consume... All with a certain "grace" period and less judgement that you will put on a few pounds. 25th December comes and you've mentally and physically prepared for your Christmas Everest. From mid January, I feel the grace period returns, without proper acknowledgement, as we prepare for Chinese New Year feasting. So really, this recipe and the copious amounts of flour I've used this week in cooking should be considered more of a saviour to my own future health. In between English and Chinese traditions, I've combined two treats to create something I was very proud to test out on a few friends last Friday. It's almost a guiltless pleasure- every doughy-soft, sweet and nutty bite was unequivocally justified I didn't feel sorry for my waistline in the slightest, it tasted that good. So, sorry that I'm not sorry.

Black sesame filling is rich, sophisticated and moreish

The recipe is inspired from cinnamon rolls. However about half way in, the sugar quantities get to you and the cinnamon,sugar, butter crunch becomes too much... and that sneaky guilt kicks in that it should be finished but your stomach can't take any more. Black sesame is something I love and definitely overcomes this anguish. It has a long lasting rich and toasty nuttiness, that's not too sweet or overpowering that really fills the mouth and whets the appetite to have another bite over and over.
There is most certainly a lot less butter and sugar here than most cinnamon rolls, but the glaze on top is a drizzle of condensed milk - something that's practically in our veins in Hong Kong. We put this in our tea, like how Vietnamese sweeten their coffee, spread it on toast for breakfast and decorate our cakes with it. It's our sweet elixir of choice for sure, and I like how everyone can individually add how sweet they want to make their bun (now with a handy squeezey bottle it comes in). Creamy, sweet and a satisfying thick texture- it's the final layer that really finished these buns.

Lashings of condensed milk? This one definitely needs a little more...yes please.

Be patient with the proofing and knead properly-it will all be worth it when you see the buns merge and bind to their neighbours to uniformly and obediently rise in the oven.