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.
Kitchenhutt Spices says
Your blog is impressive, thanks to the quality of your recipes & other content.
Mark says
I first saw something similar from a vloger about Uyghurs cuisine, but have made many times with beef, lamb, fish or pork. Also handy as a cold snack food.
JOSA MOON says
I HAVE MADE THIS RECIPE 5 TIMES. EACH AN EVERY TIME I AM BLOWN AWAY BY HOW AMAZING IT IS. THANKS SO VERY MUCH
Wei Guo says
So happy to hear that Josa!
Tea says
Great recipe! This was pretty easy to follow, except all my fillings went to the sides. Any tips in shaping the bread? Not sure what I am doing wrong. Thanks!!
Wei Guo says
Thank you for trying out my recipe! The leakage of the filling might be caused by 1. The dough isn’t evenly rolled out so the weak (too thin) parts tear easily. 2. The filling isn’t sealed securely inside the dough. Also, you can try resting the dough a little longer so that it becomes more elastic. Hope this helps!
Yochai Golan says
Hi Wei I have been traveling to China for work for 22 years now, an I love the food especially the street food. Not being able to travel due to Covid I miss the food and China badly I love all the recopies I tried and this one is no different.
One thing i can get right is the pressing part the either tear and the meat comes or I dont get the nice round spiral shape any help would be great.
Wei Guo says
Thank you Yochai for trying out my recipe! Next time, you can try leaving the assembled bread to sit for 5 mins or so then press it flat. The resting process will make the dough more stretchy. Another thing is to make sure the dough is rolled out evenly without any parts being too thin.
Aly says
OMG is this good. I used the 5 spice powder since I didn’t have sichuan pepper. It takes a little practice to get the technique (the picture was essential). The time is SO worth it.
I didn’t have ground beef so I subbed ground turkey (its a pandemic). It probably make it a little less calories but still SO yummy.
The timing for frying is 3 minutes on each side. I would post a picture but I can’t see how.
Wei Guo says
So happy to know you’ve enjoyed it Aly! Sorry that photos can not be submitted in blog comment section but you may share it on Instagram and tag me if you’re using this platform.
Anna says
I can’t wait to try this out! I ate these as street food growing up in Shanghai, and I’ve finally found a recipe for it!!
Wei @ Red House Spice says
That’s great! Hope you’ll enjoy making and eating it!
Ella says
Hi Wei! A super warm shout out and great thank you for all your wonderful, delicious, and easy-to-follow recipes! I am Chinese but like many who have grown up in the US my Chinese reading level is not as high as my speech. Your website gives us access to authentic Chinese recipes, which has brought such joy and the lovely smells of hometown foods into our home. My family has enjoyed making these recipes together, the making of a productive and yummy pastime during covid. Thank you again, appreciate the thoughtfulness of creating this site, and looking forward to any new recipes as well – such as the round meat buns (rou man tou) 😉 Hope you and your loved ones are staying safe and well!
Wei @ Red House Spice says
You’re welcome Ella! So happy to know you and your family have enjoyed my recipes. Regarding the round meat buns, do you mean steamed bao buns (Baozi) or pan-fried bao buns (Sheng Jian Bao)? Stay safe and have more yummy food!
Ella says
Yes! Cannot believe I missed it 🙂 more to look forward to making – thank you again!
Mike says
Hi. Let me know if I can add yeast to the water dough. If yes, plse let me know how much to add. Thanks
Wei @ Red House Spice says
Hi Mike, please check out my post on “Spring onion flatbread” for leavened dough recipe.
ktehrlich says
This looks delicious! I also had something like this in China but with a peanut filling, do you know what it’s called?
Wei @ Red House Spice says
There are many types of layered flatbread like this in China. I can’t think of any classic flatbread filled with peanut but there is a speciality of Beijing called Tang Huo Shao (糖火烧) which uses sesame seed paste as filling. Maybe what you had is a variety of this type.
ktehrlich says
okay, great! Thank you so much!