Korean-Style Pork Belly Buns

Korean-Inspired Pork Belly Buns

Reflecting on the ever-growing popularity of Korean tacos (recipe wanted: korean tacos) and my own personal fascination with Korean food, I began to think of other ways to integrate Korean tastes into my cooking and realized the most obvious answer (which was also, literally, in front of me at the time) was to create a Korean-inspired pork belly bun! The original plan was just to add a slice of kimchi into the bun, but given how delicious Korean barbecue marinades are, I decided to braise a new batch of pork belly, but this time, with Korean flavors! I incorporated the juice/marinade from the kimchi, hot sauce, sesame sauce, garlic, soy sauce, mirin rice cooking wine, and a little bit of sugar and tossed this mixture with the pork belly into the oven.

After the pork belly was done, I once again set out to assemble the bun. I started with a few slices of kimchi, added a few slices of the pork belly, followed by arugula (the only lettuce I had at the time) and topped with slivers of scallion.

The result? Delicious. The spicy and sweet flavors of the pork belly playing against the kimchi were beautifully absorbed by the soft texture of the delicate bun. Though to some people, the bun may appear to detract from the full taste and experience of the meat and kimchi, to me this combination was delectable, as the combination resulted in a flavor profile that was not overly powerful in any particular taste (unlike how sometimes the spicy flavor of meats or kimchi can overpower everything else).

Korean-inspired braised pork belly

Ingredients

• 2 lbs pork belly
• 2 tbsp sesame oil
• 1/2 cup mirin rice wine
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 kimchi marinade
• 1/4 cup hot sauce (or as much as you would like)
• 3 tbsp minced garlic
• 4 tbsp sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare pork belly (either leave as long strips or cut into 2 inch wide slices, depending on how you want to serve). Heat pan and quickly sear the sides of the pork belly. Remove from heat and place pork belly in a roasting pan.

Combine the sesame oil, rice wine, soy sauce, kimchi marinade, hot sauce, garlic, and sugar in a bowl, adjusting each component to your personal preference. Pour into roasting pan and coat the pork belly. Place into the oven.

Cook at 375 degrees for 1 hour (turning the meat every 30 minutes and making sure the juices have not dried up). Lower to 325 degrees and cook for another 30 minutes. Remove from heat and serve.