Earlier this week I was slightly overwhelmed by stress, and decided to drop everything for a tried and true stress reliever - tackling a new (and complicated) recipe. Its was pure kismet that I had all of the ingredients at my house already, including leftover pulled pork that my dad had slow-cooked on his Big Green Egg a few nights before. It was just begging to be used.
I had been totally craving Vietnamese pork buns, which I've had at a few restaurants recently as an appetizer. Most recently, I had them at none other than the Cheesecake Factory, which far from being traditional Asian, were still downright delicious. I know I've had similar buns in other Asian restaurants, but the ones I made at home were directly inspired by the Cheesecake Factory's "Vietnamese Tacos."
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| The Inspiration: Vietnamese Tacos, from Cheesecake Factory |
This was a learning process, and I still need to perfect it. I have very little experience with cooking Asian dishes but I really want to learn. I was very proud of my first attempt, and they passed with flying colors with the whole family. I adapted two recipes that I found online to make my recipe. Jaden from Steamy Kitchen made
a version with Pork Belly, and I took the recipe for the buns here at
Use Real Butter, but I cut the recipe in half. Both sites have some delicious recipes!
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| My Homemade Pork Buns! |
The steamed buns are what MAKE this dish. Soft and pillowy, they were tricky to make and absolutely delicious. I have never attempted steamed buns before and was thrilled to discover I could make them, and not have to get them store bought and pumped with preservatives. I know you will love them as much as I did!
