Chinese hamburger (rou jia mo)

It’s street food in China. A snack rather than a full meal. Its American nickname, Chinese hamburger, doesn’t really describe it with justice but, at least, it gives you an idea that it is a dish of meat nestled inside a bun.

But despite being a meat and bun combo, rou jia mo — which literally translates to “meat in a bun” — is nothing like hamburger. The filling isn’t a meat patty but, rather, chopped braised pork belly drizzled with some of its cooking liquid and tossed with cilantro. The flavor is magnificent. That’s what you get with long and slow cooking.

But it isn’t just flavor that makes this snack so good. It’s the texture of the bread too that’s crispy outside and lightly chewy inside. I could sing praises until you roll your eyes with boredom so I won’t.

When my daughter, Alex, volunteered to make rou jia mo at home, she did not expect to feel so tired by the time she served the sandwiches. So, yes, this is a rather complicated cooking project. Not for newbies as it involves not only braising pork belly to make the filling but making the bread too.

But if you’re up for the challenge, you will reap the unforgettable reward of eating something so good and you’ll realize that it’s worth all the effort.

The cooking process outlined below involves multi-tasking. If it sounds like too much work, I suggest that you cook the pork a day ahead, and let it steep in the cooking liquid overnight in the fridge. Make the buns the next day. Reheat the pork, chop and stuff into the slit buns.

Braised pork belly

The first step in cooking the pork is parboiling it. The process is essentially about removing impurities but it is also a good opportunity to start flavoring the meat.

Boil water, and add ginger, toasted Sichuan peppercorns and Shao Xing wine.

Drop in the pork belly and allow to boil until the surface of the liquid is covered with scum. Drain the pork, rinse thoroughly and wipe dry with a kitchen towel.

Spread the pork in a lightly oiled pan and cook, giving them quarter turns every few minutes, to brown all sides.

Stir in chopped shallots and ginger, and continue cooking cooking until aromatic. Then, add more spices.

To the shallots and ginger already in the pan with the pork, add Sichuan peppercorns, galangal, cloves, cinnamon, star anise, a nutmeg, a couple of bay leaves and generous pinches of chili flakes.

Next, add light and dark soy sauces, sugar and enough water to cover the meat.

Cover the pan and braise the pork belly with all those spices and seasonings over low heat until fork tender, and the fat and skin are gelatinous. That takes a while. An hour at the very least. Use that time to make the buns.

Buns (“mo”)

Sprinkle the yeast in water and leave for a few minutes. Instant yeast doesn’t really require blooming but, for the sake of even distribution, it’s safer to mix the yeast with water before adding to the flour.

Place your flour in a bowl, and add salt and oil. Pour in the yeast-water mixture and mix until the liquid has been absorbed. Transfer to a lightly floured work surface (or into the bowl of a stand mixer) and knead until it forms into a smooth ball. Around ten minutes of kneading should do it. Cover the bowl with a cheesecloth or a kitchen towel and leave the dough to double in size.

Transfer the dough to your work surface, cut into ten portions then roll each portion into a ball.

Flatten the ball into an oblong. Lift one short end of the oblong and start rolling the dough. Like a jelly roll, actually. Then, roll the dough against your work surface to make it twice as long.

Flatten the elongated dough with your fingers then roll up again — this time, as though you’re making cinnamon rolls. Tuck the end of the dough underneath.

Now take the dough and flatten with your fingers to form discs about four inches in diameter.

Flatten again? Yes. What’s with the repeated steps of flattening and rolling? It is this process that gives the bun a unique texture. You’re actually forming layers as you flatten, roll, flatten and reroll. Those layers puff during frying to give the buns a lovely crisp crust.

Arrange the formed dough in a tray, cover with a kitchen towel and rest for about 10 minutes.

You’re now ready to cook the buns. No oven. Just a frying pan. No need to add oil either. Cook the buns, covered, over medium-low heat for two minutes per side to cook the dough all the way inside. Then cook them, uncovered, for a minute per side for a crispy crust.

Assemble your rou jia mo

Scoop out your pork, transfer to a chopping board and cut into small pieces. Dump the cut pork into a bowl, drizzle in a few tablespoons of the cooking liquid, add chopped cilantro and toss.

Slit the buns (don’t cut all the way through but only enough to form pockets), stuff with the pork filling and serve.