Gua Bao 刮包 ("Taiwanese Burger", or Pork Belly Buns)

[js]
As you will see, this is defiance kicking in and it didn't take very long, did it? We're not even two weeks into our program and I have to have my little transgressions.

Well, not so little a transgression this time, I guess.

What is Taiwanese Gua Bao (刮包)?

[ts]
For the uninitiated, it's a most spectacular piece of deliciousness.

It's also called "Taiwanese Hamburger", which is just so wrong in terms of names. I mean, why do they have ownership of this magnificent beauty? JS recalls gua bao on every street corner in Ongpin during our childhood in Manila. Also, why "hamburger"?!

I digress.

What you have here is a fluffy, soft white Chinese bun, braised pork belly fragrant with what we like to call "the taste of Formosa", tangy-sweet pickled mustard greens, ground roasted peanuts with white sugar, and cilantro.



[js]
That's right, in our homemade version of Taiwanese Gua Bao, what we have are all wicked things that those nutrition plans tell me I shouldn't have: fatty pork belly, white sugar, and the most refined and bleached flour that you can get to make the bun.

The Bun


[js]
It wasn't in the cards for us to make our own buns this time. -- besides I don't know how they make these soft, soft, soft, white, white, white buns -- so I headed to the supermarket to buy what they have taken to calling "Chinese Hamburger."

[ts]
It's a mystery, these buns. The one time that I did try to make white Chinese buns, they came out looking a tad grey.

Braised Pork Belly

pork belly, braised the day before

[ts]
In our household, it seems that JS has mastered conjuring up "the taste of Formosa."

[js]
I started with a couple of pounds of pork belly, which I braised in a soy-sauce-based liquid flavored with five-spice, cinnamon, sugar, garlic, ginger, dried orange peel, Szechuan peppercorns and cloves.

The flavors are quite similar to making Taiwanese Stewed Minced Pork (魯肉; 肉燥).

After an hour and a half, when the pork is tender but not yet falling apart, I turned off the heat. We let the pork bellies cool overnight in the braising liquid.

[ts]
See them up there, encased in their own fat?



[ts]
I sliced them up while still cold. The pork belly will be heated before assembling the buns.

Ground Roasted Peanuts with Sugar


[js]
I toasted some peanuts in a skillet and TS proceeded to ground them in the food processor. After which, sugar was added to the ground peanuts.



[ts]
Peanut Sugar is sooooo good!

Pickled Mustard Greens


[js]
TS also started chopping the pickled mustard greens we have in the fridge.

This is an essential ingredient in a gua bao (刮包). Essential, not to be missed. My personal feeling is if there are no pickled mustard greens, might as well dispense with the gua bao.


pickled mustard greens, to be chopped

[ts]
These are the pickled mustard greens that we made using vinegar, salt, water and sugar. (See here and here.)

The resulting greens are tangy-salty-sweet. Perfect.

Cilantro


[ts]
Of course, one mustn't forget the cilantro!

Now, it's simply a matter of assembly.

Assembly


Take your soft, soft, soft, fluffy, white, white, white "Chinese Hamburger" bun, and lay your warmed braised pork belly slices on top.



Add your chopped pickled mustard greens, a very generous amount of ground peanuts with sugar...



...then your cilantro. For a little bit of heat (optional), we added some Sriracha sauce on top.

Here's a closer look at the interior.


[ts]
WOWZA!



[js]
These Gua Baos are a thing of beauty -- I say, what a way to transgress!

What a symphony of flavours and textures: the savoury-caramel-ly unctuousness of the pork belly, the salty-tartness of the pickled mustard greens, the sweet and nutty peanut sugar, the heady herbaciousness of the fresh cilantro sprigs -- all of that nestled within that soft, soft, white, white bun!

I'm drooling right now just remembering it!

I remember some of the gua baos of my youth would be served with a few slivers of bird's eye chilis -- and that is also one option here, but for some reason, we didn't slice up some chilis. Instead, we ate some of our gua baos with Tabasco sauce and some with Sriracha sauce.



[js]
Oh deliciousness!

[ts]
Now, is it any wonder we were failed to be impressed by those Momofuku buns? No comparison. At. All.


Some more "tastes" of Formosa
Taiwanese Stewed Eggs (滷蛋) with Stewed Minced Pork (魯肉 or 肉燥)
Taiwanese Stewed Minced Pork Noodles (魯肉麵; 肉燥麵) with Stewed Eggs and Pickled Mustard Greens
Sautéed Minced Clams and Leek
Gua Bao 刮包 ("Taiwanese Burger", or Pork Belly Buns)

Taiwan trip 2009
Taiwanese Bakery Goods (including ChiaTe Bakery)
Dan Shui 淡水, Taiwan (including food)
Taipei Quick Eats: Mos Burger, Hong Ya Breakfast, Ay Chung Flour-Rice Noodle
Taipei Convenience Store Foods
Shilin Night Market 士林夜市 (Taipei, Taiwan)
Breakfast Buffet at the Shangri-La (Taipei, Taiwan)
Taiwan Beef Noodle Soup, 4 versions (Taipei, Taiwan)
Yehliu 野柳 Geopark; Dried Seafood (Taiwan)

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Recipes
Braised Pork Belly

3 "sticks" pork belly (approx 5 pounds)

braising liquid
4 cups water
1/2 cup soy sauce
3 teaspoons five-spice powder
1-inch piece cinnamon stick
1/4 cup sugar
4 cloves garlic
1-inch piece ginger
i piece dried orange peel
2 tablespoons Szechuan peppercorns
4 cloves

Put pork bellies into a pot and add all braising liquid ingredients. Bring to a boil, then simmer on low heat. Cook for about one-and-a-half hours until tender.

If not using right away, let cool in the braising liquid, then store in refrigerator.

Slice pork bellies into half-inch slices and set aside.

Pickled Mustard Greens
Use FoodMayhem's recipe.
We modified this to include sugar. To use for gua bao, drain some greens and chop finely.

Ground Roasted Peanuts with Sugar
Simply toast/roast some raw red-skinned peanuts. Let cool. Grind in a food processor. Mix in white sugar (to taste).

To make Taiwanese Gua Bao (刮包)
(Please see step-by-step photos in the body of the post.)

For each gua bao:
Open up "Chinese Hamburger" bun and lay 2 slices of warmed braised pork belly. Add chopped pickled mustard greens, ground peanuts with sugar, and some cilantro. Add hot peppers or hot sauce, if desired. Enjoy!


For showcasing PEANUTS blended with SUGAR for use in a savory dish, we're submitting this post to Weekend Herb Blogging, a world-wide food blogging event (created by Kalyn's Kitchen, now maintained by Haalo of Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once) with the goal of helping each other learn about cooking with herbs and plant ingredients.

If you'd like to participate, see who's hosting next week. WHB is hosted this week by Haalo of Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once herself!

Tomato Bread Salad, Greek-style

We are holding a LE CREUSET GIVEAWAY! Have you entered it yet? If not, enter to win now. Click here: http://www.eatingclubvancouver.com/2010/03/le-creuset-giveaway.html

[ts]
As part our of "healthier lifestyle" -- not that our lifestyle was grossly unhealthy before -- I made this salad to accompany our lean pork souvlaki and our lean chicken souvlaki.

Whole Wheat Herb Foccacia Croutons

odd bits and ends

[ts]
Don't ask how, but we had a ton of odd bits and ends of whole wheat herb foccacia bread (from Calabria Bakery, mentioned here and here). So, I simply toasted them until they were crisp.

Tomato Salad, Greek-style


[ts]
I made this "Greek-inspired" tomato salad by combining halved cherry tomatoes, red onion, orange and green bell peppers, and kalamata olives.

The dressing is almost exactly like the marinade for our souvlaki: lemon juice, olive oil, dried oregano and salt and pepper.



[ts]
To finish the bread salad, we added the bread! The toasted whole wheat herb foccacia pieces got tossed with the tomato salad.



[ts]
This tomato bread salad was very flavorful and satisfying. The toasted foccacia pieces, great by themselves, were made even better by the tomato salad juices.


Pork and Chicken Souvkali, with Tomato Bread Salad


eatingclub vancouver Greek
"Greek" Calamari
Simple Greek Meal
Caper Salad
Greek Meatball Soup (Giouvarlakia)
Marinated Feta
Greek Shrimp with Feta
Greek Ribs with Tzatziki
Mushroom Ragu Pastitsio
Spanakorizo (Greek Spinach Rice)
Zucchini Ribbons Salad with Anchovy Dressing
Souvlaki (Pork and Chicken)
Tomato Bread Salad, Greek-style
Grilled Fish Fillet on Oregano
Pastéli (Greek Sesame Snaps)

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Recipe
Tomato Bread Salad, Greek-style

This is more a non-recipe than a recipe.

stale bread

tomatoes, diced
red onion, diced
bell peppers, diced
kalamata olives

lemon juice
extra virgin olive oil
dried oregano
salt
pepper

Determine the quantities of each ingredient according to your personal tastes.

Tear or cut stale bread into piece. Toast stale bread pieces until crispy (like croutons). Set aside.

Combine the rest of the ingredients together and adjust according to taste. Toss tomato salad with toasted bread. Serve.

Lombardi's Pizza (New York, NY)

[ts]
Another NY pizza experience! Supposedly, Lombardi's serves the "Best on the Planet."



[ts]
We thought we could just get a slice here at Lombardi's, but it's a sit-down kind of place. Since we already made a special trip to get there, we went ahead and sat down.

It had quite a strange layout, the restaurant. We had to walk all the way to the back, go through the kitchen, then come into the other "wing" of the restaurant to our table. I guess that must be an added-on section to the restaurant.

Lombardi's was quite "fancy" too; at least, "fancier" than I expected. The interior was quite nice and inviting. The waitstaff all had walkie-talkies and headsets too. Front of house was very efficient.



[ts]
A couple of iced teas while we waited. And finally, the pizza!



[ts]
Of course, to test their pizza, we opted for the classic Margherita. This was the"small size" -- 14 inches!



[ts]
The pizza had a very nice crisp crust and was just plain good, overall.


pizza back

[ts]
Even though it was a bad idea to eat a whole pie (this was neither lunchtime nor dinnertime), we enjoyed it nonetheless.


Lombardi's Pizza
New York, NY
http://www.firstpizza.com
Visited in August 2009

We ate all the food below -- and more -- in 4 days! Insane. See how: NYC Eating Extravaganza (August 2009)

[eatingclub] vancouver in New York
Rice to Riches
Shake Shack
Grom Gelato
Bleecker Street Pizza
New York Burger Co.
Ess-a-Bagel
Artichoke Basille's Pizza
Katz's Deli
Lombardi's Pizza
Hummus Place
Max Brenner, Chocolate by the Bald Man
Anthos
Momofuku Ssäm Bar
Amy Ruth's
wd-50
Taïm Falafel and Smoothie Bar
A Tale of Two Dogs: Gray's Papaya & Papaya King

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Ess-a-Bagel (New York, NY)

[ts]
A New York bagel! We had to have one, right?



[ts]
We ordered an everything bagel with cream cheese, and a coffee. (I think the banana was our own, but I don't remember.)



[ts]
The bagel was huge! I can now say for certain that I have never had a New York bagel prior to this. Very chewy; it will definitely fill you up.




Ess-a-Bagel
New York, NY
http://www.ess-a-bagel.com
Visited in August 2009

We ate all the food below -- and more -- in 4 days! Insane. See how: NYC Eating Extravaganza (August 2009)

[eatingclub] vancouver in New York
Rice to Riches
Shake Shack
Grom Gelato
Bleecker Street Pizza
New York Burger Co.
Ess-a-Bagel
Artichoke Basille's Pizza
Katz's Deli
Lombardi's Pizza
Hummus Place
Max Brenner, Chocolate by the Bald Man
Anthos
Momofuku Ssäm Bar
Amy Ruth's
wd-50
Taïm Falafel and Smoothie Bar
A Tale of Two Dogs: Gray's Papaya & Papaya King

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Pain Perdu (French Toast) with Sautéed Cherries

[ts]
This post is a big THANK YOU to Bellini Valli of More than Burnt Toast: Thank you!

We entered a giveaway not too long ago celebrating her two years of blogging. Wow, two years! That's a long time, in blogging-years. =) If you aren't already a reader of her blog, do go and check it out.

Among the numerous entries, we were quite surprised and overjoyed to hear that we won!

Since Bellini Valli is a fellow Canadian, the giveaway prize was a choice among a selection of Canadian cookbooks. We chose Laura Calder's French Taste: Elegant Everyday Eating.

It is only fitting that we make something from the cookbook. Bellini Valli, this pain perdu is for you. =)

http://morethanburnttoast.blogspot.com/2009/02/two-years-of-bloggingand-giveaway.html
http://morethanburnttoast.blogspot.com/2009/02/tried-tested-and-true-turkey-pinwheels.html



[ts]
Recently, we've received a ton of cherries! One might say that we were a bit overrun with cherries. Looking at the cover of French Taste: Elegant Everyday Eating and seeing Laura Calder there with a bowl of cherries, we hoped that we would find a recipe using them.

We also had some French bread that has been slowly deteriorating in quality, sitting on the counter for a few days. It was certainly très perdu!

Our luck must still be with us, as we found this recipe for Pain Perdu with Sautéed Cherries.



[ts]
There's the French toast, there's the sautéed cherries. Put them together and you have a great dessert! (Or breakfast, or snack... Or lunch or dinner, for that matter.) ;)

I was too lazy to do the extra step of brûléeing each French toast, but obviously that would be delicious. We didn't have ice cream to serve with it, so we topped ours with some ricotta.


This serving is for Bellini Valli of More Than Burnt Toast. =)

Our Laura Calder & Laura Calder-inspired posts
Piedmont Marinated Eggs
Stuffed Savoy Cabbage with Pork
Pain Perdu (French Toast) with Sautéed Cherries
Hazelnut Roll

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Recipe
Pain Perdu with Sautéed Cherries
from Laura Calder's French Taste: Elegant Everyday Eating
Makes 4 servings

For the cherries
2 tablespoons butter
2 to 3 tablespoons sugar, more to taste
2 pounds cherries

For the pain perdu
1 cup milk, more if needed
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 thick slices day-old baguette
1 egg
2 tablespoons sugar, more for caramelizing
1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Vanilla ice cream, for serving

For the cherries, melt the butter in a medium sauté pan over medium heat. Add the cherries, turn the heat to high, and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 2 minutes. Scatter over the sugar, and continue cooking until the cherries break down somewhat, about 2 minutes more. Set aside.

For the pain perdu, stir together the milk and vanilla in a shallow dish, and soak the bread slices in it for about 5 minutes, turning once so they absorb the milk evenly. Beat the egg with the sugar, and pour onto a plate. Heat the butter in a frying pan over medium heat until sizzling. Take the bread from the milk, holding it above the bowl to drain slightly. Dip into the egg mixture to coat both sides, then drop into the sizzling butter, and fry until golden brown, about 5 minutes per side.

At the last minute, sprinkle the tops with a little extra sugar, and "broil" with a kitchen blowtorch (or place them on a baking sheet under the broiler until the sugar melts, bubbles, and turns golden).

Divide the bread among serving plates. Serve hot with a scoop of ice cream and a spoonful of sautéed cherries.

Chermoula Shrimp, Hummus, Sangack Bread

[ts]
So, we had some golden yummus hummus around. We also crisped up some Persian sangack bread. Nice.



[ts]
But, what now? Is it possible to make this even better?

Chermoula Shrimp


[js]
I had been craving some Moroccan flavours and I remembered our chicken tagine with those oh-so-fragrant preserved lemons. We had some prawns aka shrimp in the fridge so I thought, why not these shrimp dressed with some charmoula goodness?



[ts]
So, we blended the chermoula ingredients together: garlic, preserved lemon, onion, chili peppers, sweet paprika, cumin, dried bay leaves, cilantro and parsley, and some olive oil.

I heated the chermoula in a pot, adding some sliced onions, tomatoes, potatoes and olives. I let the mixture cook a bit, waiting for the potatoes to be done, then added in the shrimp, olives and more cilantro.

Just writing about them now is making my salivary glands spring into action!

"Pizza"


[js]
When I saw these three things together, I immediately thought of some sort of pizza with the Sangack bread as the crust, the hummus as the sauce, and the prawns as the topping. It was delicious!

Salad Bowl


[js]
As I was happily munching along, I realized that I could use a little bit of freshness and greenness with my pizza. So I had TS do me a salad bowl with nice big leaves of lettuce. See?

Or, as a platter works too.

Any of these three configurations, with these three components -- chermoula shrimp, hummus, sangack bread

-- it's all yummy to me.

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Recipe

Chermoula Shrimp
adapted from Food Safari's Moroccan Chicken Tagine
Serves 6 to 8

2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 preserved lemon, rinsed and thinly sliced
2 onions, chopped
½ birds eye chilli
1 tbsp sweet paprika
1 tbsp ground cumin
1/4 cup tbsp chopped cilantro, stems and leaves
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1/2 cup olive oil
2 bay leaves, torn in half
Salt

Process all ingredients together in a food processor until finely chopped and thoroughly combined. Can be stored in the refrigerator for up to seven days.

2 pounds prawns/shrimp
2 large potatoes, cut into wedges
1 onion, sliced
1 tomato, sliced
150g pitted green olives
1 bunch cilantro, chopped

In a pot, heat chermoula over medium heat. Add sliced onions, tomatoes and potatoes. Cook until potatoes are done. Add in prawns/shrimp and olives, stir, and let cook over medium until prawns have turned pink. Stir in fresh cilantro. Serve and enjoy!