Gua bao (刈包) is one of my favorite Taiwanese street foods: a soft, fluffy steamed bun folded around tender braised pork, pickled mustard greens, sweet peanut powder, and fresh cilantro.
If you’ve ever wandered through a Taiwanese night market, you’ve probably seen these handheld steamed buns. They’re savory, sweet, crunchy, tangy, and ridiculously satisfying all at once. And somehow, this humble Taiwanese street food has gone from night-market staple to a menu favorite around the world.
And for some reason, I thought I’d already shared this recipe.
I HAVEN’T.
I can’t believe it either. I’ve made these for parties more times than I can count, and they are always a hit. Whoever first decided to put all of these ingredients together was a genius because every single component brings something different to the bite.
The best part? Gua bao isn’t just one recipe. It’s four recipes working together.
You have:
- Fluffy steamed buns
- Savory braised pork
- Stir-fried pickled mustard greens
- Sweet peanut powder and fresh cilantro
Each part has an important job, and when you put them together, you get one seriously addictive Taiwanese sandwich.
What Is Gua Bao?
Gua bao (刈包) is a Taiwanese steamed bun that is folded around a flavorful filling, traditionally braised pork belly.
The name 刈包 refers to the idea of a “cut-open bun.” You’ll also sometimes see it written as 割包.
There’s another wonderfully creative Taiwanese name for gua bao: 虎咬豬 (tiger bites pig). The folded bun looks like it’s clamping down on the piece of pork inside.
That’s exactly what it looks like.
Traditional Taiwanese gua bao are typically filled with braised pork, pickled mustard greens, peanut powder, and cilantro. The combination might sound unusual if you’ve never had it before, but trust me: this is one of those flavor combinations that just works.
The 4 Parts of Taiwanese Gua Bao
1. The Steamed Bun
The bun is essentially a soft, fluffy, slightly sweet steamed bun that’s folded in half.
It’s light enough to hold all the fillings without overpowering them, but sturdy enough that you can pick up the whole thing and eat it like a sandwich.
And don’t let steamed buns intimidate you. These are surprisingly easy to make and only take about 10 minutes to steam.
The slight sweetness of the bun is especially important because it balances the savory braised pork and tangy pickled mustard greens.
2. Taiwanese Braised Pork
The braised pork might look like the complicated part, but it’s actually pretty straightforward.
I use my Dong Po Pork recipe as a starting point, but for gua bao I make a few changes: more warm spice and less glaze.
Classic Taiwanese braising flavors do most of the work here:
- Star anise
- Ginger
- Garlic
- Chili
- Soy sauce
The pork becomes tender and deeply savory as it braises. On its own, it’s delicious with the slightly sweet steamed bun.
But we’re not stopping there.
3. Pickled Mustard Greens
This is one of the ingredients that makes Taiwanese gua bao taste like Taiwanese gua bao.
The pickled mustard greens are tangy, slightly sweet, savory, and wonderfully crunchy. I stir-fry them with garlic and chili, which adds even more flavor and a little bit of heat.
They’re the perfect contrast to the rich braised pork.
Think of them as the ingredient that keeps the whole thing from becoming too heavy.
4. Peanut Powder + Cilantro
Now for the combination that might sound strange until you try it: sweet peanut powder and fresh cilantro. It’s actually a classic Taiwanese flavor combo.
The peanut powder is sweet, nutty, and slightly crumbly. The cilantro adds freshness and a little herbal bite.
You’ll find peanut powder and cilantro showing up in everything from savory snacks to sweet treats.
Once you’ve had it with gua bao, you’ll understand why.
How to Make Peanut Powder for Gua Bao
If you’re making your own peanut powder from raw peanuts, there’s one important trick I learned the hard way:
Grind the raw peanuts into a powder BEFORE roasting them.
I originally tried roasting the peanuts first and then blending them. Big mistake.
Once the peanuts are roasted, their oils are released much more easily, and instead of a fluffy peanut powder, you can end up with a sticky, oily peanut paste.
So:
Raw peanuts → grind into powder → roast until golden.
You’ll get a much better texture for sprinkling over your gua bao.
How to Assemble Taiwanese Gua Bao
Once all four components are ready, assembly is easy.
Open one steamed bun and layer in:
braised pork → pickled mustard greens → peanut powder → cilantro
Then eat immediately.
The magic of gua bao is in the contrast: soft bun + rich pork + crunchy pickles + sweet peanut + fresh cilantro.
Every bite has something different going on.
And yes, they are absolutely worth making for a party.
In fact, they’re one of my favorite foods to serve when I’m feeding a crowd because everyone gets to assemble their own gua bao, and somehow people always go back for another one.
PS. GuaBao pairs amazingly well with orange wine. We did a whole pop-up dinner pairing on it!
Taiwanese Gua Bao Recipe
This recipe includes everything you need to make Taiwanese gua bao at home, including the steamed buns, braised pork, pickled mustard greens, and peanut topping.This dish consists of four main parts: bun, braised meat, pickled mustard and peanut powder. Each of them plays an important part in the gua bao and has to be prepared separately.
If you’re looking for something that’s less traditional: check out THIS Turkey Wild Rice Juicy Lucy GuàBāo with First Kiss Apple Slaw
Taiwanese Gua Bao | 正宗刈包
Gua Bao is a cut-open steamed bun stuffed with tender, flavorful braised pork, pickled mustard, peanut powder, and cilantro. You can often find this tasty treat at night markets in Taiwan, it is so good that it has made its way across the globe, starting trends in all big cities.
- Total Time2 hours 15 minutes
- Yield8 1x
Ingredients
Braised Pork
- 2 lb Pork Belly (Butt Roast Work too!)
- 2 Cloves Garlic
- 2 TBsp Sugar
- 2 C Soy Sauce
- 2 Thin Slices of Ginger
- 1 Star Anise
- 1 Chili
The Bun
- 2 C All Purpose Flour
- 2 TBsp Sugar
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 1/2 TBsp Active Dry Yeast
- 1 TBsp Vegetable Oil
- 3/4 C Water
Pickled Mustard Green
- 1 Package of Pickled Mustard Green
- 1 TBsp Sugar
- 2 Cloves Garlic (Minced)
- 1 Chili (More if you like it spicy)
Peanut Powder
- 2 C Raw Peanuts (or use peanut powder if you can find any)
- 3 TBsp Sugar
Cilantro
- 1/2 Bunch of Cilantro (Chopped)
Instructions
Braised Pork
- Slice the pork into strips. Roughly 1″ thick, 3″ tall and 4″ in width.
- With a Tablespoon of oil, fry the pork strips until the color has changed and some fat has been rendered down. About 3 minutes. Remove from pot.
- In the same pot that the pork was fried, leaving only 1 TBsp of oil, smash the garlic, chili and ginger and add to the pot. Fry for 10 seconds then add the sugar until it turns slightly brown and caramelized.
- Add the pork back followed by two cups of soy sauce. Be careful the sauce might splatter. Give it a good stir and add enough water to cover the pork.
- Add the star anise and bring the pot to a boil then turn the heat down to low. Simmer the pork until soft and tender. 30 minutes to 1 hour. I usually let it simmer until all my other ingredients are ready.
The Bun
- Mix all the dry ingredient and oil in a mixing bowl.
- Add 3/4C of water and mix with a fork until flaky looking.
- Knead with your hands until the dough is soft and smooth. Cover and let it rest for 20 minutes. (while you prep for the toppings!)
- After 20 minutes, punch the dough down and divide them into 8 even pieces. Roll each piece out into an oval that’s roughly 5″ in length. Brush the surface with vegetable oil then fold them in half so they don’t stick after steaming.
- Place the buns 1.5″ apart from each other on a steam rack with steam liners and steam on high heat, starting from cold water for about 10 minutes or until cooked. Leave a small crack in the pot while steaming and let the buns sit in the steamer for 5 minutes to cool down slightly before opening the lid so the buns don’t collapse.
Pickled Mustard Green
- Take the mustard green out of the package, discard the liquid and dice the vegetable. Finely chop the chili.
- Heat one tablespoon of vegetable oil, add the minced garlic and chili, fry for 10 seconds until fragrant.
- Add the diced pickled mustard green, stir-fry until fragrant about 2 minutes. Add 1 TBsp sugar and remove from the pan.
Peanut Powder
- Grind 2C of raw peanuts into powder
- In a dry pan, over medium heat, roast the peanut powder until slightly golden and fragrant. Remove from the pan and let cool.
- After the powder had cooled, add the sugar and mix well.
Gua Bao
- To assemble the gua bao, simply open the steamed bun and add a slice of pork top it with pickled mustard green, peanut powder, and cilantro!
Notes
If you have extra pork, it’s SUPER TASTY with rice too.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 2 hours
- Category: Appetizer, Main Dish, Pork, Side Dish, Snack
- Cuisine: Asian, Taiwanese
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TAIWANESE PEPPER BUN WITH BEEF (HU JIAO BING) | 牛肉胡椒餅
WHAT IS TAIWANESE FOOD? |台灣料理的定義是什麼?
