Week 3: Momo What? (Steamed Pork Buns à la David Chang)

Recently someone gave me a very generous gift card to Amazon and I waited several days to use it, savoring the thought of the spending spree upon which I was about to embark. Finally I couldn't stand it any longer and made my first purchase last week, Momofuku, the cookbook/restaurant autobiography by David Chang, founder of the restaurants of the same name in New York.

This is one of those books that got great reviews on Amazon but had I seen it in a bookstore and been able to inspect it a little more closely, I would not have bought it. The first problem is that most of the recipes are made with pork or lard. I don't have a problem with pork but I grew up in a family that eschewed pork products for religious reasons and to this day, I rarely choose to eat it if there are other options available and I never cook it at home. Another problem is that these are recipes as Chang makes them in his kitchens - they are large quantities and use techniques that people don't normally use at home. I rarely return things when I buy them on Amazon so I resigned myself to trying at least a few of the recipes, adapting them as needed.

A recipe that immediately caught my eye was Steamed Pork Buns. My mother makes steamed buns (which I blogged about here) that are wonderfully delicious and I have been wanting to try my own version but never found quite the right recipe. I decided to give Chang's buns a try. You can find a recipe (also from Chang) very similar to the one in the cookbook on epicurious.com.

Note: This is a "make-ahead" meal that keeps in well in the freezer. You should plan on spending a day making the pork and several hours making the buns.

The pork requires 12 - 24 hours to cure and another 5 - 6 hours to slow-roast. I chose to use the americastestkitchen.com recipe instead of the Momofuku method simply because I had never made pork before and I always have good results with America's Test Kitchen. This was no exception. I used brown sugar (ATK) instead of white (Chang's recipe) and we roasted the meat at 325F the entire time (instead of starting at 500F and then turning the heat down to 250F per Chang's method). The pork turned out superb. Tender and flavorful.

The bun recipe on Epicurious.com makes 16 but the recipe in the book makes 50 tiny rolls. At the restaurant, these buns are served as an appetizer and so they are intentionally small. Next time I will double the dough ball size because they were just too small to be satisfying as a meal. The buns were delicious but I'm not sure I will make them again. They required THREE separate risings, which means it takes almost three hours from start to finish. I am now on the hunt for an easier, less time-consuming but just as delicious replacement recipe.

These are yeast buns that are steamed rather than baked. I bought a bamboo steamer last year when it went on sale but had never used it. I LOVED IT! The two stacking baskets enabled me to steam 10 buns at a time and the results were perfect. I read somewhere that the bamboo prevents the steam/water from collecting and dripping onto your buns resulting in wrinkled skin. There may be some truth to that because my buns on both levels were perfectly smooth and delicious.

The Momofuku recipe calls for the buns to be served with Chang's Quick-pickled cucumbers and thinly-sliced green onions. I had neither so I made a green salad with slivered red cabbage and onions. The addition of bottled Hoisin sauce rounded out the dish.

The Results
This is a recipe where the sum is greater than the parts. Each individual ingredient was good but when we put them all together with the hoisin sauce, the pork buns were OUTSTANDING! The Geek declared this the best pork he had ever eaten.

Ratings

• Difficulty: The pork is easy, the buns are challenging if you have never made bread before.
• Time to prepare: Two days (several hours each day, although a lot of it is waiting around time)
• Prognosis: Will definitely make the pork again for The Geek using this method. And I'll make the buns again once I find a better recipe.