Pork belly bao buns

Donal’s pulled pork recipe is perfect for a crowd and easy to make. The pork shoulder pork belly bao buns on the hob and transforms to tender shreds that can be piled into a soft roll.

With sweet potato fries and spicy coleslaw, this American classic is complete. Look for cuts that are moist and a healthy deep-pink colour, not grey or red. Choose neat cuts with a fine-grained texture. Avoid any meat that looks damp or clammy, or that has oily- or chalky-looking fat.

Free-range, organic and rare-breed pork will generally be a deeper pink colour than commercial pork. It is not only considered more flavoursome than intensively reared pork, but will also come from older animals that have had a better quality of life. Rare-breed pigs take longer to mature than the breeds selected for modern farming methods and are generally very well cared for in a natural environment. Although this means the end product is more expensive, the pork and bacon from traditional breeds of pig such as Saddlebacks, Gloucestershire Old Spots and Tamworths is considered especially flavourful because the extra fat these pigs carry helps keep the the meat moist and succulent during cooking. Store meat in the coldest part of the fridge.