Pork Belly Sandwich

About this dish

Gua bao, also known as steamed bao, pork belly buns, or ambiguously, bao, is a Taiwanese snack food consisting of a slice of stewed meat and other condiments sandwiched between flat steamed bread. The steamed bread is typically 6–8 centimetres (2.4–3.1 in) in size, semi-circular and flat in form, with a horizontal fold that, when opened, gives the appearance that it has been sliced. The traditional filling for gua bao is a slice of red-cooked porkbelly, typically dressed with stir-fried suan cai (pickled mustard greens), cilantro, and ground peanuts. The food is known colloquially in parts of Taiwan as hó͘-kā-ti (虎咬豬; "tiger bites pig") due to the mouth-like form of the bun and the contents of the filling. Gua bao are also called "Taiwanese hamburgers" due in-part to the wide variety of novel ingredients used as filling, such as fried chicken, fish, eggs, and stewed beef.