胡椒餅 — Print Recipe — The Culinary Codex

A charred, blistered bun baked in a tandoor-like drum oven, filled with juicy seasoned beef and scallions, explosively peppery and crusted with sesame seeds — the night market showstopper.

Ingredients

Dough: 400g all-purpose flour, 200ml warm water, 7g instant yeast, 1 tbsp sugar, 1 tsp salt, 1 tbsp vegetable oil
Filling: 400g ground beef, 4 stalks scallion (chopped), 2 tbsp soy sauce, 2 tbsp coarsely ground black pepper, 1 tbsp sesame oil, 1 tsp sugar, 1 tsp five-spice powder
White sesame seeds
1 egg white for brushing

Instructions

1 Mix dough ingredients, knead 8 minutes until smooth. Cover and let rise 1 hour.
2 Combine filling ingredients and mix well. Refrigerate 20 minutes so it firms up.
3 Divide dough into 8 portions. Flatten each, place a generous ball of filling in the center, and pinch closed, sealing tightly.
4 Brush the sealed side with egg white and press into sesame seeds.
5 If using a conventional oven, preheat to 250°C (480°F) with a baking stone. Place buns sesame-side up on the stone.
6 Bake 15-18 minutes until the buns are deeply browned and blistered. The bottom should be charred and crispy.
7 Let cool 2 minutes (the filling is scalding hot inside), then eat immediately.

Did You Know?

Raohe Night Market's famous pepper bun stall has had a permanent queue since the 1990s — the buns are slapped onto the inside walls of a scorching barrel oven and baked in under 10 minutes.