These pulled pork bao buns are one of my most popular dinner recipes. The asian style pork is super easy to make in the slow cooker.
Once you try these delicious Pulled Pork Bao Buns the recipe will be sure to be one of your favourites. The pulled pork is made in the slow cooker so you can prep it in the morning and come home to delicious Asian style pulled pork for dinner.
For something a little different, why not try my Pulled Pork and Apple Pie? Pork, slow cooked with apples and onions to create a beautiful gravy, then topped with golden, flaky pastry.
Ingredient notes:
- Pork: I get my pork from the butchery section of my local supermarket. I try and buy it when it's on special!
- Spices: The combination of five spice powder with the ground ginger and garlic powder helps to give this recipe a lovely Asian style flavour.
- Sauces: Hopefully these are pantry staples for most people. If you don't have Hoisin sauce at home I highly recommend you get some! The flavours are salty and tangy and most similar to BBQ sauce.
Note: Scroll to the recipe card for the ingredients, quantities and the full method.
Step by step instructions:
Add onion and pork to slow cooker, stir together soy sauce, five spice, garlic powder, ginger and sweet chilli sauce then pour over the pork. Dissolve the oxo cube in the boiling water and pour into the slow cooker then add the star anise. Cook on high for 4+ hours or on low for 6+ hours.
Once the pork is falling apart easily, remove from the sauce and set aside, mix the cornflour with about a ¼ cup of the meat juices and add to the sauce. Shred the pork (discard the skin and any bones) then add it back to the slow cooker and stir, turn it onto low until ready to serve.
Serve the pulled pork on steamed bao buns with Hoisin sauce, Kewpie mayo, shredded carrot, sliced cucumber and coriander.
You can buy the bao buns from Asian supermarkets and specialty stores, they are kept in the freezer section.
I also have a sticky beef version of these bao buns on my website.
Recipe FAQs:
This recipe will make enough pork to feed around 12 people, which makes it great to serve fo a family get-together or party.
Yes, the ingredients are naturally gluten free. However, make sure you check your sauce bottles and stock to ensure they meet your dietary requirements. Bao buns are not gluten free. You could substitute these for gluten free buns or freshly steamed rice.
Storage:
Store any leftover pulled pork in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days. Serve in bao buns, on rice, in wraps or on pizza!
Leftover pulled pork can also be frozen. Store in an airtight container or freezer bags in the freezer for up to three months. Defrost completely before reheating. If you're looking for tips, tricks and ideas on more freezer food, click through to my Freezer Meals Made Easy course page.
Top tips:
This delicious pulled pork also goes so well in a Hawker Roll (that's a rolled, flakey, roti stuffed with yummy Asian style fillings!). I added some store-bought coleslaw, kewpie mayo, fresh herbs and a squeeze of lime. So good.
Related Recipes:
Did you know this recipe was voted as one of the top 8 VJ Cooks dinner recipes of all time by our social media followers? To celebrate these popular recipes, I compiled a FREE ebook of the crowd favourites. Click here to download my Favourite Dinners ebook.
Pulled pork bao buns
This pulled pork is made in the slow cooker so you can prep it in the morning and come home to delicious Asian style pulled pork.
Ingredients
- 2kg pork leg or shoulder
- 1 onion, sliced
- ½ cup soy sauce
- 1 tsp 5 spice powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 3 Tbsp sweet chilli sauce
- 1 oxo stock cube
- 2 cups boiling water
- 4 star anise (optional)
- 2 Tbsp cornflour
To serve
- 12 bao buns
- ½ cup Hoisin sauce
- 3 Tbsp Japanese Kewpie mayo
- 2 carrots, grated/julienne
- ½ cucumber, thinly sliced
- Handful of coriander
Instructions
- Add onion and pork to slow cooker, stir together soy sauce, five spice, garlic powder, ginger and sweet chilli sauce then pour over the pork.
- Dissolve the oxo cube in the boiling water and pour into the slow cooker then add the star anise.
- Cook on high for 4+ hours or on low for 6+ hours.
- Once the pork is falling apart easily, remove from the sauce and set aside, mix the cornflour with about a ¼ cup of the meat juices and add to the sauce.
- Shred the pork (discard the skin and any bones) then add it back to the slow cooker and stir, turn it onto low until ready to serve.
- Serve the pulled pork on steamed bao buns with Hoisin sauce, Kewpie mayo, shredded carrot, sliced cucumber and coriander.
Notes
- This sauce is great with chicken too just adjust cooking time until chicken is cooked through.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 650Total Fat: 76gSaturated Fat: 26gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 44gCholesterol: 344mgSodium: 2507mgCarbohydrates: 100gFiber: 8gSugar: 20gProtein: 113g
Nutritional values are approximate. Please use your own calculations if you require a special diet.
Thank you for checking out this recipe. I hope you enjoy making and eating it! If you have any questions, queries or feedback, please feel free to leave a comment below.
If you don't already follow me, head over to my Instagram, Facebook or TikTok pages to keep up to date with all my new recipes.
Vanya
Jess says
Loved this! I had some leftover pulled pork in the freezer so added some hoisin sauce and assembled - too easy.
Sherree Drysdale says
Umm, so I hope I did something wrong. But this was bad. Dry, tasteless, tough. I have used many other pulled pork recipes in the crockpot that are really good. So I don't know what happened here. I'm so disappointed - such a waste of meat.
VJ cooks says
Sorry to hear that Sheree. I have only had overwhelmingly positive feedback for this recipe. This recipe is deigned for a ratio of 2kg of meat to 2 cups of boiling water, I wonder if you had a bigger cut of meat? In which case you might have needed more liquid?
apolo says
just tray it again with carefull on amounts of ingrediesens and heat time
Charm says
The crackpot is a pressure cooker so cooking it for 4 hrs would completely ruin the meet. You would lessen the time to 60mins with a pressure cooker.
Lyn Vesey says
Which OXO stock cube is used in this recipe please. Not showing in picture of ingredients.
Thank you
VJ cooks says
Hi Lyn, I used beef stock but you could also use vegetable or chicken stock if that's what you have to hand.
Lyn says
Thats awesome thank you. Appreciate the response
Caroline says
Hello, Do you cut the rind off the pork prior to placing in the slow cooker please?
VJ cooks says
Hi Caroline, I don't cut it off first. Mainly because it easily comes away once the pork is cooked and I can discard it then. But if you have the time, you can absolutely cut it off before cooking.
Pam says
In the photo it shows sesame oil but its not in the instructions?
VJ cooks says
Sorry for the confusion! I've removed it from the photo
Kate says
Hi, where do you purchase your 5 spice from? I cant seem to find it
VJ cooks says
Are you in New Zealand? Greggs and Masterfoods both sell it in major supermarkets. The spices are often alphabetical and this might be under 'C' for Chinese 5 Spice.
Jennifer says
Hi, I love the look of this recipe but I don’t have a slow cooker - Any thoughts on how I can convert it to oven times, temps etc
VJ cooks says
160 degrees celsius for 3-4 hours depending on the size of your pork. It will be ready when the meat is falling off the bone.
Jennifer says
Thanks so much!
Kym says
If I haven’t got any sweet chilli sauce, is there a substitute you can recommend?
VJ cooks says
You could use a combination of honey or hoisin sauce with some red chilli flakes.
Anna says
This was delicious! wondered if it would be dry after reading the feedback but followed the recipe and its perfect!
Very easy, I have your cookbook, the sticky asian beef is also a massive hit in our house.
VJ cooks says
Thank you so much for the feedback!
Meagan says
Hi there. I'm using 1kg pork and my slow cooker is very big the liquid lays at the bottom. Can I cut up the pork into big chunks?
VJ cooks says
Yes of course. But the pork will still cook through even when it's not entirely covered in liquid.
Helen says
Very successful and delicious dish. 5 stars for my family! I cooked a 1.7kg pork shoulder roast in one piece in my Breville FastSlowPro cooker, on slow cook setting, pot roast, for 6:30 hours. The meat was moist, succulent, tasty, and just fell away from the bone. Thanks for a great recipe!
VJ cooks says
That's awesome, I'm so pleased to hear you had a great win! Thanks for the feedback, Helen.
Tina Cornwell says
Hey Vanya, where do you get those delicious looking flakey roti from or do you have a recipe? Would love to try the PP in a Hawker Roll.
VJ cooks says
Hi Tina, I used the Kawan Roti Boom roti. You can get it from some supermarkets and Asian Specialty stores. It has a purple packet.
Kylie says
Hi your image shows sesame oil above but it's not in the recipe? Is it required?
VJ cooks says
No it's not required. Sorry for the confusion.
Courtney Bennett says
Oh my gosh this was un-fricken-real!!!! Seriously tasted like a bought one, hubby was so impressed! Definitely recommend making this is you want to host dinner and impress some people 🙂
VJ cooks says
Aww that's awesome. Thanks for your feedback, Courtney 🙂
Catherine White says
Absolutely delicious - so easy and so good! A family fave
Megan says
Do you think this would also work well on slider buns / mini-hamburger buns?
VJ cooks says
Yes that would be great!
Stacie says
This is such a great and minimal effort recipe to feed a crowd. Our family loves it. Making it for our New Years Eve dinner with friends & family tonight. Happy New Year!
VJ cooks says
Amazing! Yes, it's my go-tp to feed a crowd too 🙂
Margaret Ann Gibson says
Hi, I want to make this for a family lunch. Does the six hours in slow give a better result? If yes could I cook it the day before and how would I reheat it successfully? The recipe sounds delicious.
Thank you.
Margaret Ann Gibson.
VJ cooks says
Hi Margaret Ann, it doesn't matter too much if you cook it on high or low, the main thing is that the meat is tender and falling apart. To cook a day head, simply follow the instructions until the end, allow to cool then refrigerate. I usually heat up the portion I need in a pot on the stove top. You can add a little more liquid to it if need be.