Thread: PAG's Pulled Pork With Steamed Bao Buns

Finally time to christen the Ikea pressure cooker I got a couple of weeks ago, with pulled pork being its maiden voyage. First off, defrosted a pork shoulder overnight, then got a marinade ready. This was made up with apple cider vinegar, soft brown sugar, tomato ketchup, Dijon mustard, smoked paprika, ground cumin, and garlic and onion powders.



All the ingredients mixed together, and the pork fully coated before going in the fridge for 24 hours.



Another first for me this morning, making Bao buns. Flour, yeast, caster sugar, rice vinegar, sunflower oil and milk mixed together to form a ragged dough.




Turned onto a lightly floured surface and kneaded by hand for about 10 minutes until smooth, then into a lightly oiled bowl to prove for an hour or so.





Tipped onto a clean surface, flattened then sprinkled with a spoon of baking powder before another 5 minutes of hand kneading.



Roughly divided into 12 pieces, rolled into balls and left to sit for a couple of minutes.



Time to flash up the pressure cooker. The pork and marinade goes in, followed by around 450 ml of apple juice. Should take about an hour or so.



The buns are shaped into ovals, and the tops brushed with oil to stop them sticking together when folded in half. They were covered with tea towels and left for a second prove of an hour.



Whilst the cooker was depressurising, steamed the buns in batches of 6, 3 in each of the two levels. Once the pork was rested, pulled apart in a tray before going back in the cooker to be stirred into what was a thick sauce. Also had made some picked carrot and mooli (Asian radish) a couple of days ago to go with the pork.





The buns are actually very good, being fine and light. They also freeze quite well, just need to be defrosted and back in a steamer for a couple of minutes.





M'Sahib had hers with the pickled veg, some guacamole I'd made this morning, and grilled tofu.