Harrison Tran

Howdy! Welcome to my very first recipe and video! My name’s Harrison and I smoke meat and fuse Texas style BBQ with Asian flavors. I’m a 2nd generation Vietnamese-American, born and raised in Texas. I’m also a retired D1 swimmer for the University of Wisconsin-Madison and recently moved to LA to pursue acting!

To me, this bite encapsulates two sides of a coin in the piggybank of my life that’s been on my mind after moving across the country from Texas and away from my family.

The first is my relationship with my brother. We reconnected on a whole ‘nother level as he taught me the art of Texas BBQ during Covid, after drifting apart during the years of my hectic college swimming career and his demanding path in medicine.

The second is my Vietnamese heritage. Moving far from my family strangely pulled me closer to my roots than I’d ever been. Yes, Vietnamese is technically my first language and I ate tons of Vietnamese food growing up, but the way I took it all for granted for 25 years really sums it up.

So at a glance, this looks like bánh rán, a Vietnamese fried pastry with mung bean filling and covered in sesame seeds, but I actually filled it with a 6-hour hickory smoked pork belly burnt-end, caramelized with either mãng cầu (soursop) or sầu riêng (durian) infused BBQ sauce and stuffed with đồ chua (pickled carrots + daikon) to cut the fat.

This dish is years in the making. My ancestors are rolling in their graves… BUT, it takes me back to some of my most cheery memories, is yummy, AND you’ve listened to a little bit about what it means to me, so it’s worth it.

Translations from the video:
* Bánh Rán/Bánh Cam = lightly sweet Vietnamese fried pastry made with glutinous rice flower, mung bean filling, and covered in sesame seeds
* Mãng Cầu = soursop
* Sầu Riêng = durian
* Đồ Chua = pickled carrots + daikon

Pork Belly Bánh Rán Lollipops

5 from 1 vote

Recipe by harrisondtran Course: Lunch, Dinner, Snack, EntreeCuisine: Vietnamese, Texas BBQ, American, Fusion, PorkDifficulty: Hard

Servings

1

servings

Prep time

0

minutes

Cooking time

6

hours 

melt-in-your-mouth meat + sweet, tangy sauce + crispy, chewy shell

Cook Mode

Keep the screen of your device on

Ingredients

• Dough

• 16 oz 16 glutinous rice flour

• 1 cup 1 sugar

• 2 tbsp 2 baking powder

• 2 1/2 cups 2 1/2 water

• 2/3 cups 2/3 mashed potato flakes

• 1 cup 1 untoasted sesame seeds

• 1/2 gallon 1/2 neutral oil

• 8 oz 8 rice flour

• Pork

• 1/2 lb 1/2 pork belly

• 4 tbsp 4 salt

• 4 tbsp 4 black pepper

• Thịt Nướng (BBQ Pork) Sauce

• 1/2 cup 1/2 sugar

• 1/4 cup 1/4 honey

• 3/8 cup 3/8 Fish sauce

• 1/8 cup 1/8 oyster sauce

• pinch 5 spice

• 1/2 tsp 1/2 garlic powder

• durian or soursop pulp

Instructions

• Pork
• Cut pork belly into 1.5” cubes.
• Smoke at 250° F for 3 hours or until bark forms to your liking.
• Transfer pork belly to pan and add sauce.
• Wrap in foil and cook at 250° F for 2 hrs.
• Unwrap and cook at 250° F for 1-2 hours or until internal temp is 200° F.
• Dough
• Combine glutinous rice flour and rice flour.
• Dissolve sugar and baking powder in water.
• Mix mashed potato flakes into fluid.
• Slowly and fully combine fluid with flour to form dough.
• Flatten dough with rolling pin.
• Add filling and close ball. Keep water handy to prevent dough cracking.
• Roll ball untoasted sesame seeds until fully coated.
• Fry in neutral oil at 325° F, rotating until outside is evenly golden.

Recipe Video

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