Taiwanese Pepper Buns with Beef (Hu Jiao Bing)
Pepper bun has become one of the most loved street food in Taiwan. Imagine a calzone filled with perfectly spiced juicy meat, but cooked in a charcoal-fired Tandoori oven until it’s crispy on the outside but dripping with juice inside. Now you can make this spicy, flavorful and ridiculously juicy pepper bun in your own kitchen.
- Total Time40 minutes
Ingredients
Units
Scale
Bun
- 1 C Water (plus 2 TBsp)
- 2-3/4 C All Purpose Flour
- 2 tsp Active Dry Yeast
- 2 TBsp Sugar
- 1/2 tsp Salt
油酥 (you2su1)- this is the part that makes the crust flaky
- 5 TBsp Lard (or sub with vegetable shortening)
- 3/4 C Pastry Flour
Filling
- 1 lb Ground Beef
- 1 tsp Chinese 5 spice
- 1 TBsp Sugar
- 3 tsp Finely grounded Black Pepper
- 2 tsp Finely grounded White Pepper
- 1 TBsp Sesame Oil
- 4 TBsp Soy Sauce
- 1/2 C Water
- 2 bunches of Spring Onion (Chopped)
Sesame Crust
- 1/3 C White Sesame Seeds
- 2 TBsp Water
- 1 TBsp Sugar
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, combine 2-3/4C All purpose flour, 2 tsp active dry yeast, 2TBSP sugar, 1/2 tsp Salt. Add 1C+2TBsp Water to the flour mixture and knead until combined and smooth.
- Let the dough rest while you make the filling.
- Mix all the ingredients for the filling together, leaving out the chopped spring onion. Add the water to the filling mixture 1 TBsp at the time until absorbed. Mix the filling until the meat becomes sticky. Keep the filling in the fridge until ready to make buns!
- Combine 5 TBsp lard at room temperature and 3/4 pastry flour, mix well.
- Back to the dough. Roll out the dough into a rectangle that’s roughly 1/4″ thick.
- Spread the lard and pastry flour mixture over the rolled out dough.
- Roll the dough up into a log, pinch and close both ends, cover and let the dough rest for 30 minutes.
- Cut the dough into 8 pieces. Pull each dough pieces on the open ends and bring them together on top. Pinch it shut so the lard mixture won’t ooze out.
- Preheat the oven to 400F.
- Take the beef filling out of the fridge, add the chopped spring onions to the mixture. Make 8 even portions.
- Roll or simply flatten the dough with your hands into 2.5″ Rounds. The dough should be thinner on the outskirt.
- Take one portion of the filling and place in the center of the wrapper. Close the bun by pinching it shut or the same way you’d make a bun.
- Mix 2 TBsp of Water with 1 TBsp sugar.
- Dip the top of the bun (The smooth side) in the sugar water then into the sesame seeds. Place on a baking sheet closed end down.
- Leave a crack in the oven door, bake at 400F for 20 minutes or until golden and crispy.
Notes
Leave a crack in the oven door makes the buns crispier.
If you’d like to use strips of pork for this recipe, omit the 1/2C water added to the beef mixture.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Appetizer, Beef, Pork, Side Dish, Snack
- Cuisine: Asian, Taiwanese
Find it online: https://www.choochoocachew.com/hujiaobing/
