A delicious Chinese street food, crispy stuffed flatbread is beloved for its delectable taste and pleasing texture. A treat worth every bit of effort.
Note: This is a revised version of my post published in 2017. It provides more tips, process shots and a tutorial video.
Born and raised in the northwest of China, I have a deep love for flour-based dishes, particularly ones with savory fillings, such as Jiaozi (Chinese dumplings), Baozi (steamed stuffed buns), and all types of Bing (flatbread), Today’s recipe is a perfect example: Chinese crispy stuffed flatbread, a variety of Bing known as Guo Kui.
What is Guo Kui
Guo Kui/锅盔, literally meaning “pot helmet” in Chinese, is a type of pan-fried or pan-baked flatbread that is popular in the western regions of China. It can be plain or stuffed, yeasted or non-leavened.
Today’s version originated from Sichuan province. It features crispy, layered dough stuffed with a beef filling that is generously seasoned with scallions and Sichuan pepper, a mouth-numbing spice unique to Chinese cuisine (Other types of meat and/or spices can be used as substitutes).
Like Scallion Pancakes, Chinese Meat Pies, and Chinese Doughnut Sticks, crispy stuffed flatbread is a popular choice at breakfast street stands in China. They also make for a delicious lunch or dinner when accompanied by congee or soups.
Top tips
Before I explain the recipe in detail, here are some useful tips to bear in mind.
- Rest the dough to increase its elasticity
- Choose ground meat with a high-fat content
- Be generous with scallions and spices
- Use a thick-bottomed skillet and control the heat to ensure crispiness
Make the dough
You only need two ingredients to make the dough: all-purpose flour and water at room temperature. It’s a simple non-yeasted dough like what you use for Chinese dumplings, but it has a higher water content and thus is much softer in texture.
🛎️ NOTE: The flour to water ratio is 5:3 by WEIGHT (e.g. 500g flour to 300g water). You may need to alter it slightly as different brands of flour have different water absorption capacities. Adjust when needed. You can also measure them by volume with cups (e.g. 4 cups flour to 1¼ cup water ), but it’s less accurate this way.
Choose one of these methods to prepare the dough:
- By hand: Add water to flour gradually while stirring with chopsticks. Then combine and knead with your hand until a rough-looking dough forms. Let it sit for 10 minutes. Knead it again until it becomes very smooth.
- With a stand mixer: Put flour and water into the mixing bowl. Use a dough hook to mix and knead on low speed for 8 minutes or so until a smooth dough forms.
Place the dough over a lightly oiled work surface and gently rub a thin layer of oil over it. Flatten the dough with your hands, then cut it into equal portions, making sure they don’t stick to each other.
Cover the dough pieces with plastic wrap and allow them to rest for 30 minutes. This process will make it more elastic and stretchy.
Prepare the filling
To stuff the crispy flatbread, you need 4 components:
- Ground meat (beef, pork, or chicken), preferably with a high-fat content, and its seasonings
- Scallions, finely chopped
- Ground Sichuan pepper, or other spices such as five spice powder, black pepper, cumin powder, etc.
- A flour & oil paste
To season the meat, mix it with Shaoxing rice wine, salt, white pepper, and water. It’s done when no more liquid can be seen and the meat turns into a sticky mass. Divide it into equal portions for easy assembly in the next step.
The flour & oil paste will be brushed over the dough, ensuring the finished bread has clear layers. It also adds some flavor too. To make it, heat the oil until smoking, then pour it over the flour in a bowl. Stir to remove any lumps.
Assemble the flatbread
To create flakey layers, the flatbread is assembled in a particular way. Here is how it’s done step-by-step.
- Flatten a piece of dough into a tennis racket shape with your fingers. Brush a layer of the flour & oil paste all over.
- Sprinkle ground Sichuan pepper (or other spices) generously.
- Place a portion of the ground meat over the racket head end of the dough, then top it with chopped scallions.
- Wrap the filling with the outer part of the dough around it.
- Roll the filled dough towards the racket handle part of the dough, until a layered cylinder forms.
- Stand up the cylinder then gently press it into a disc (don’t worry if a little filling is pushed out).
To better understand the process, please take a moment to watch the tutorial video inside the recipe card below.
Pan-fry the flatbread
Similar to how you cook Scallions Pancakes, these flatbreads are pan-fried in oil to achieve a pleasing texture: crispy outside and soft inside.
In a skillet (frying pan), preferably with a thick bottom, heat enough oil over high heat to thinly cover the entire surface. To test if the oil is ready, you can drop a small piece of dough into it. If it sizzles, the oil is hot enough.
Gently put in the assembled flatbread. Reduce the heat to medium-low and leave to sizzle until the bottom turns golden. Then, carefully flip them over to fry the other side.
Make ahead
Freeze the uncooked flatbread immediately after assembly. Stack them with sheets of parchment paper in between each one, then tightly seal the entire stack with plastic wrap.
Before serving, place the frozen flatbread directly into hot oil, without defrosting, and fry until the bottom is browned. Pour in ½ cup of water, then cover the skillet with a tight lid. Cook over high heat until all the water has evaporated. Uncover and flip the flatbread to fry the other side.
This fry-steam-fry method, similar to the one used for cooking Sheng Jian Bao (pork buns), allows the flatbread to thaw thoroughly and ensures it is fried to perfection.
Other popular staples
Looking for more tasty staples to try? Check out these classics:
📋 Recipe
Love this recipe? Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating in the recipe card below & if you REALLY like it, consider leaving a comment as well!
Crispy Stuffed Flatbread (Guo Kui/锅盔)
BEFORE YOU START
Ingredients
For the dough
- 500 g all-purpose flour - aka plain flour (see note 1)
- 300 g water
- Cooking oil - for coating the dough
For the flour & oil paste
- 3 tablespoon all-purpose flour - aka plain flour
- 1 pinch salt
- 3 tablespoon cooking oil
For the meat
- 280 g ground beef - or pork/chicken
- 4 tablespoon water
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing rice wine
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon white pepper
You also need
- 1 tablespoon ground Sichuan pepper - or other spices, such as five spice, cumin powder, black pepper, etc.
- 6 stalk scallions - finely chopped
- Cooking oil - for pan-frying
Instructions
Make the dough
- Put flour into a mixing bowl. Add water in batches while mixing with chopsticks. Then combine and knead until a soft dough forms. Cover the bowl and leave the dough to rest for 10 minutes. Knead again until it becomes very smooth (see note 2 if using a stand mixer).
- Rub a little oil all over the dough to form a thin coating. Flatten it with your hands, then cut it into 10 equal pieces. Cover with plastic wrap and leave to rest for a further 30 minutes.
Make the flour & oil paste
- Put flour and salt into a small bowl. Then heat oil in a pan until it smokes. Pour the hot oil over the flour. Stir well to remove any lumps. Set aside.
Prepare the meat
- Put ground beef, water, Shaoxing rice wine, salt, and white pepper into a mixing bowl. Swirl with chopsticks in the same direction until the liquid is fully absorbed and the meat becomes sticky. Divide the filling into 10 portions. Set aside.
Assemble the flatbread
- With your fingers, flatten a piece of dough into a tennis racket shape (see note 3). Brush a layer of the flour & oil paste over, then sprinkle with ground Sichuan pepper. Place one portion of the meat in the middle of the racket head end of the dough, then top with chopped scallions generously.
- Wrap the meat with the outer part of the dough, then roll the stuffed dough towards the handle part of the racket while stretching it as thin as possible.
- Once a layered cylinder forms, stand it on one end then press it down with your fingers until it turns into a disc about ½ inch (1.3 cm) thick. Repeat the procedure to assemble other flatbreads.
Pan-fry the flatbread
- In a large skillet/frying pan, heat oil just enough to cover the entire surface over high heat. Once hot, put in the flatbread. Reduce the heat to medium-low and leave to fry.
- Turn the flatbread over once the first side turns golden. When the second side is done, transfer the flatbread onto a plate lined with kitchen paper to absorb any excess oil.
Video
NOTES
NUTRITION
NUTRITION DISCLOSURE: Nutritional information on this website is provided as a courtesy to readers. It should be considered estimates. Please use your own brand nutritional values or your preferred nutrition calculator to double check against our estimates.
Jodi says
How much salt in the dough mixture?
Wei @ Red House Spice says
Salt is not compulsory for this dough. But please feel free to add a pinch if you wish.
Ken says
Do these freeze well?
Wei @ Red House Spice says
You may freeze the flatbread right after assembling them. Put a piece of baking paper between each one then place them in an air tight container /bag. Fry them as instructed without defrosting.
Alice says
I roll up the dough like you do but my filling burst out from the dough when I press them down… every single one of them…
I followed the recipe exactly so I don’t know why this happened…
Wei @ Red House Spice says
Sorry to hear that! I’d like to offer you a few tips that might help you to fix the problem. Finely chop the spring onion to prevent it from piercing through the dough. Make sure the flattened dough is not too thin. Rest the dough a bit longer to make it more stretchy. I hope this is helpful.
Grace says
This recipe looks amazing! I can’t wait to try it! Thanks so much for the great info and pictures!
Wei @ Red House Spice says
Thank you Grace! It’s my pleasure to share it. Happy cooking!
Zhien says
I like the round shape too but just couldn’t get it so round easily! I made 10 of them and they all came out in different shapes. I then cut each in half so that more people could enjoy them. Thanks again for the recipe!
Wei @ Red House Spice says
You are more than welcome Zhien!!
Zhien says
Wei, how did you make the flatbread so round? I tried but they still came out in various shapes. LOL!
Wei @ Red House Spice says
Haha! I’m a bit of perfectionist so I like it round. But to be honest, you don’t have to worry about the shape at all. In fact, in China you often find oval-shaped ones. As long as they are tasty, any shape will do!
Jacquie M. says
I absolutely love getting you emails. I could spend hours just looking through all of your mouth watering recipes. Can’t wait to try this one.
Wei @ Red House Spice says
Thank you so much Jacquie! So glad that you find my recipes interesting. Tell me how you like this flatbread after trying! Have a great day!
Cynthia says
Hi, is it possible to bake this rather than fry it? It looks yummy and can’t wait to try it!
Wei @ Red House Spice says
Hi Cynthia! Thank you for stopping by! I never baked them in the oven. Technically, the flatbread can be cooked that way but the result (the look and the texture) will be quite different I should imagine. The contact with oil in the frying pan (equally for both sides) makes the flatbread very crispy which is one of the key features of this delicacy. Moreover, it’s much faster to cook it in a pan. I will test oven method when I have a new oven fitted (my current one is not accurate enough for serious blog recipe testing) and update the info. Have a great day!
Seine Lady says
This looks like a fabulous recipe. Thanks for sharing the technique.
Wei @ Red House Spice says
Thank you very much! It’s a great pleasure to share what I’m passionate for. Have a great day!
Nabeah says
Wow, this looks really good. Can you use something else instead of the rice wine? I’d love to make this now but I just got braces :'(. When I make it, I’ll definitely tell you how it was!
Wei @ Red House Spice says
This recipe only calls for a very small amount of rice wine for the beef, so you can skip it without any problem. Go ahead and have a try! Look forward to hearing from you again!
Nabeah says
Ahh thank you! When I can finally chew again this is certainly going to be made!
Josa says
How can I store after frying? It is amazingly delicious!
Wei @ Red House Spice says
You can store them in an airtight bag/container in the fridge for up to 3 days. You may also freeze uncooked ones.
afra says
Hello, I made a batch yesterday. They were easy to make. I do need to practice cooking them though. The first one I had the flame to hot (too dark on the outside too soft inside) The second I just overcooked. But I am sure I will get there 🙂 I froze the rest to enjoy soon.
Wei @ Red House Spice says
Thank you for trying out my recipe Afra! I’m sure you’ll get the hang of it soon. Happy cooking!