Pork Belly Buns

kakuni manjyu 角煮まんじゅう

Nagasaki, where I grew up, is influenced by many different cultures. Because Nagasaki was the first in Japan to open up for imports from foreign countries and allow missionaries to spread Christianity, it made this place so unique and rich in history. The culinary tastes are also different than other cities in Japan. Chinese, Portuguese, Dutch and other influences are still present. The people there took all those and somehow melded them to create their own original style. I think the most famous there is Nagasaki chanpon （長崎ちゃんぽん）rich pork noodle soup with lots of vegetables and seafood – sort of a ramen on steriods. Kasutera is very popular sweet in Japan. Story is that one of Dutch missionary made for investigator but I ‘m not for sure because 1500’s in Japan didn’t have oven so how someone could make kasutera without it. And this pork belly buns originated from Chinese dim sum is one of my favorite. If you go to the city of Nagasaki, I recommend to stop by Nagasaki  Butaman Momotaro (長崎ぶたまん桃太呂）Their pork bun is small but tasty and less than $1 for one. They are famous for gyoza also.

Filling

First you make pork belly filling (preferably make it the night before). This is pretty much the same as I posted before in Pressure Cooker Pork Belly but make the flavor a bit richer and the sauce thicker.

• Pork belly 800g-cut in chunk
• Sake 2 cups
• Water 1 cup
• Long green onion- use green part only
• Ginger root 80g-skin and slice
• Dark brown sugar 1/3 cup
• Soy sauce 1/4 cup

1. In a pressure cooker, brown pork belly
2. Pour sake, water,green onion and ginger and pressure cook on high for 50 minutes ( if using regular pan, make sure meat is submerged. Add more water if not. Cook on medium high for 1 hour and 30 minutes. Turn off heat and let it cool.)
3. After meat is cool, put dark brown sugar and soy sauce then cook until cooking juice reduced by half over medium heat.
4. Dissolve 2-3 tablespoons of cornstarch in about 1/4 cup of water then pour in the pan to thicken the juice.

Dough

• 2 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/3 cup whole milk, at room temperature
• 2 tablespoon oil
• 3-4 tablespoon water

1. Put everything in bread maker and knead for 10 minutes. Shape into a ball and let it rest for 1 hour.
2. Cut parchment paper in 12 2-1/2 inch square put it aside
3. Lightly flour a work surface. Roll the dough into a 16 inch long log. Cut  the log into 12 equal pieces and make balls from each piece. Cover the dough with damp cloth until ready so it won’t dry out. Any longer than 2 hours and it dries out too much.
4. Working with one piece at a time, shape the dough ball into a cup-don’t stretch too thin or it will break. Hold the dough in one hand and carefully spoon about 1 tablespoon of pork belly with some juice into the center.
5. Gather the edges of the dough, twist the dough and seal at the top.
6. Place seam side up on the prepared parchment paper.
7. Bring 4 cups of water in wok or big pan to a boil over high heat.
8. Put the balls in a bamboo steamers, spacing the bun at least 2 inches apart. I have a double-decker bamboo steamer so I placed 6 in each. Stack the steamer on top of each other and cover.
9. Set the stacked steamers over the boiling water and steam the buns about 15 to 20 minutes
10. Serve with Japanese mustard and soy sauce.

Nagasaki has many great restaurants and places to see. I hope you visit if you get a chance.