When Jason from Yonder Way Farm asked me if I want the pork belly pieces he had on hand as I was picking up some meat from him my instant response was “well, of course I do!” These are nice slabs of about 5 lbs each and around 2 inches thick. I only wish they came skin on. I cooked a few things with the first slab and the other one is still sitting in the freezer.
This first dish is the simplest and straight from Momofuku cookbook. I cured a piece of the pork in a mixture of salt and sugar overnight. Then I cooked sous vide at 75 C for about 12 hours. It got chilled and sat in the fridge until dinner time a couple of days later.
I was thinking of making my own buns for this but timing just did not work out. Besides I was at the Asian grocery store that day and they had a good selection of these things in a couple of different sizes. So all I had to do was steam them and they were good to go. Last thing to prepare, while steaming the buns, is the instant “pickles”. These are really more like marinated cucumbers. Thin sliced cucumbers are tossed in some sugar and salt. They sit for 15 to 30 minutes are good to go.
Get the pork sliced and crisped a bit and tuck into a soft steamed bun along with hoisin sauce, sriracha (or sliced jalapenos or both!), sliced green onions and some of those marinated cucumbers.