Make Ahead

Peking Pork Belly Tacos

June  6, 2011
4.7
3 Ratings
  • Serves 10
Author Notes

Between the memories of delicious Peking Duck my parents would take the family out to eat, and the incredible Roast Pork Buns served at David Chang's Momofuku in New York, I had to create something of my own at home. If you have access to them at your local Asian market or if you can make them yourself as I did, a pan-toasted scallion pancake is great in lieu of a tortilla, and holds together a real explosion of flavors and textures (not kidding). It can get a little messy, but all is forgiven when you take that first bite.

The pork belly can be prepared a day (or days) ahead as it does take a long time to both cure and set. —chairmanhu

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • Roasted Pork Belly
  • 2 pounds pork belly (or two long slabs)
  • 1/4 cup kosher salt
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • The Assembly
  • 10 flour tortillas
  • 2 kirby cucumbers (or 1 English), cut into 1/8" discs
  • 1/2 pound piece daikon radish, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/8" slices
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 1 cup scallions, cut into slivers
  • hoison sauce
Directions
  1. Roasted Pork Belly
  2. Combine the salt and sugar and rub all over the pork belly. Discard any excess, then lay the belly into an oven safe dish. Cover with plastic wrap and let it sit in the refrigerator for four hours or overnight (no more than 12 hours).
  3. Heat oven to 275 degrees F.
  4. Discard any liquid that accumulated in the dish. Lightly rinse off the belly, pat dry with paper towels and then return to the dish. Put it in the oven, fat side up, and cook for two hours, basting every half hour with the rendered fat.
  5. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly. When it's cool enough to handle, wrap with aluminum foil or plastic wrap and set in the refrigerator to cool completely so that it's firm enough for slicing with a knife.
  1. The Assembly
  2. Place the cucumbers and the daikon in two separate containers. Split the sugar and salt so that each container gets 1 tbsp sugar and 1 tsp salt. Toss each well, then cover and let sit in the refrigerator for a half hour.
  3. Wrap the tortillas in aluminum foil and warm in the oven on a low temperature for 15 minutes.
  4. Slice the chilled pork belly into half inch pieces and warm on a pan on medium heat until the fat becomes translucent and jiggly.
  5. Smear a small spoonful of hoison sauce onto half of each tortilla. Place two pieces of warmed pork belly over the sauce, then add a few slices of pickled cucumber and daikon. Top with scallion slivers and serve immediately.
Contest Entries

See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • Beautiful, Memorable Food
    Beautiful, Memorable Food
  • Midge
    Midge
  • Kitchen Butterfly
    Kitchen Butterfly
  • SwoonMySpoon
    SwoonMySpoon
  • chairmanhu
    chairmanhu

9 Reviews

Beautiful, M. June 23, 2011
Having had the Momofuku pork buns at the source, I am drooling at the memory. Your recipe looks maybe even better-- one of the best looking scallion pancakes I have seen (except my mom's, of course!)
 
chairmanhu June 24, 2011
Yay, win! I was going to include the recipe for the scallion pancakes, too, but I was afraid of making the entry too long. Perhaps another day...
 
Midge June 23, 2011
This is genuis!
 
chairmanhu June 24, 2011
More delicious than genius =D
 
Kitchen B. June 23, 2011
Yummy - I love David Chang. The Momofuku cookbook is the only culinary tome that has brought me to tears, and that I've read cover to cover. Since then though, I pay regular tribute to many things porcine, namely pork belly!
 
chairmanhu June 23, 2011
Amen! This was my first entry and submission. I've got a long way to go to match up to your own culinary tome of recipes!
 
SwoonMySpoon June 16, 2011
Looking forward to testing and eating your tacos!
 
chairmanhu June 16, 2011
yay, thanks!
 
chairmanhu June 23, 2011
whoo, thanks for testing my recipe!