Chinese BBQ Pork Buns (Baked)
Chinese BBQ pork, or "Tsa Sao," is a happy childhood memory for me. I remember my mom bringing home seasoning packets from the Chinese grocery, marinating lean pork cuts for hours, and roasting the meat in the oven. The meat is an eerie pink-red hue, due to the salt peter that is in the mix (it's the same stuff that makes corned beef the same eerie pink). But it's one of those neon bright colors that one associates with the dish, and therefore one believes it's supposed to be that way.
Fast forward to Summer 2007, when I visited college roommate Jess in Boston, where she was doing a summer internship after her first year of grad school and rocking it out in Beantown (funny coincidence, since one of her childhood nicknames is Bean...a Bean in Beantown...I wonder if she ever noticed that). We stopped by a used bookstore and decided to check out what gems were hidden amongst the shelves. Far and away the best book there was one on phrenology, which unfortunately due to a very steep price, did not come home with us. But a book on how to raise mink, a beer recipe book (for a friend of Michael's), a book on Kosher Chinese food, and a book of authentic regional Chinese recipes compiled by a Chinese-American woman did make the cut.
The last book is entitled Regional Cooking of China and is written by Margaret Gin. Michael and I have found this book quite useful for its simple yet classic recipes. Beef noodle soup and BBQ pork have graced our table several times, and all thanks to this cookbook.
How do you eat BBQ pork? Here are some suggestions:
1) By itself
2) In a sandwich
3) In noodle soup
4) On rice with an egg and some green veggies, like in this scene (from 3:15) and continued in this scene (just the very beginning of the clip) of "God of Cookery" and any street corner rice shop in Taiwan/China
And of course, 5) In steamed/baked buns!
And that's what I did tonight. Using Michael's wonderfully made BBQ pork made earlier in the week, and using the filling sauce and dough recipe from this site (Michael made buns from this recipe earlier this week, but he didn't use the filling sauce, while I did), here are the fruits of my labor earlier tonight:
Soft, tender bread encasing a hot, gooey mess of onions and pork and sweet sauce....*drool*....
The only change I made to the dough recipe is that I didn't brush the buns with an egg wash 15 minutes into baking, nor did I brush the top with sugar water at the end; instead I brushed them with a bit of olive oil at the 15 minute mark. They still came out a great tan hue, and I didn't have to deal with any leftover egg.
As it is said by the judge in the cooking competition judgment at the end of "God of Cookery" : "Why do you let me eat such a good bowl of BBQ Pork Rice? What shall I do if you don't cook it for me in the future?"
The answer: make it yourself!
Fast forward to Summer 2007, when I visited college roommate Jess in Boston, where she was doing a summer internship after her first year of grad school and rocking it out in Beantown (funny coincidence, since one of her childhood nicknames is Bean...a Bean in Beantown...I wonder if she ever noticed that). We stopped by a used bookstore and decided to check out what gems were hidden amongst the shelves. Far and away the best book there was one on phrenology, which unfortunately due to a very steep price, did not come home with us. But a book on how to raise mink, a beer recipe book (for a friend of Michael's), a book on Kosher Chinese food, and a book of authentic regional Chinese recipes compiled by a Chinese-American woman did make the cut.
The last book is entitled Regional Cooking of China and is written by Margaret Gin. Michael and I have found this book quite useful for its simple yet classic recipes. Beef noodle soup and BBQ pork have graced our table several times, and all thanks to this cookbook.
How do you eat BBQ pork? Here are some suggestions:
1) By itself
2) In a sandwich
3) In noodle soup
4) On rice with an egg and some green veggies, like in this scene (from 3:15) and continued in this scene (just the very beginning of the clip) of "God of Cookery" and any street corner rice shop in Taiwan/China
And of course, 5) In steamed/baked buns!
And that's what I did tonight. Using Michael's wonderfully made BBQ pork made earlier in the week, and using the filling sauce and dough recipe from this site (Michael made buns from this recipe earlier this week, but he didn't use the filling sauce, while I did), here are the fruits of my labor earlier tonight:
Soft, tender bread encasing a hot, gooey mess of onions and pork and sweet sauce....*drool*....
The only change I made to the dough recipe is that I didn't brush the buns with an egg wash 15 minutes into baking, nor did I brush the top with sugar water at the end; instead I brushed them with a bit of olive oil at the 15 minute mark. They still came out a great tan hue, and I didn't have to deal with any leftover egg.
As it is said by the judge in the cooking competition judgment at the end of "God of Cookery" : "Why do you let me eat such a good bowl of BBQ Pork Rice? What shall I do if you don't cook it for me in the future?"
The answer: make it yourself!
Oh that phrenology book! How I rue its steep price even to this day! I do remember that awesome chapter on pork in the Kosher Chinese Cookbook...
ReplyDeleteI believe salt peter is also used to make gun powder. Yummy!
Also yummy - in appearance - those pork buns.