Taiwanese Pepper Buns

Ingredients

• 270g strong white bread flour
• 1 tsp instant yeast
• 1 tbsp caster sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 15g lard or softened butter
• 170ml warm water
• 250g minced pork, with at least 20 per cent fat
• 1 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp ground white pepper
• 1/4 tsp ground Sichuan peppercorns
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tsp caster sugar, for the filling
• 1/2 tsp salt, for the filling
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp cornflour
• 120g spring onions, finely sliced
• 1 tsp honey
• 1 tsp water, for the glaze
• 60g white sesame seeds

Before you cook

• Mix the minced pork with both peppers, the ground Sichuan peppercorns, soy sauce, sugar, salt, sesame oil and cornflour, stirring in one direction until the mixture is tacky.
• Cover the filling and refrigerate it for at least four hours or overnight.
• Whisk the bread flour, yeast, sugar and salt together in a large bowl.
• Rub in the lard, then pour in the warm water and bring the dough together.
• Knead the dough on a clean surface for ten minutes until it is smooth and springs back when pressed.
• Cover the dough and leave it somewhere warm for forty-five minutes until doubled.
• Slice the spring onions finely just before you fill the buns.

Steps

1. Heat the oven to 230C with a baking stone or heavy tray on the middle shelf.
2. Fold the sliced spring onions through the chilled pork filling and divide it into six mounds.
3. Knock the risen dough back and divide it into six equal pieces.
4. Roll one piece into a circle about 12cm across, leaving the centre slightly thicker than the rim.
5. Set a mound of filling in the middle and pack a generous pinch of extra spring onion on top of it.
6. Gather the edges of the dough up over the filling and pleat them together, then pinch the seam firmly shut.
7. Turn the bun seam side down and press it gently into a flat disc about 8cm across.
8. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling.
9. Stir the honey and water together and brush it over the top of each bun.
10. Press the glazed side of each bun into the sesame seeds so they stick in a thick layer.
11. Set the buns sesame side up on a lined tray and rest them for fifteen minutes.
12. Slide the tray onto the hot stone and bake for eighteen to twenty minutes, until the crust is deep golden and the seeds are toasted.
13. Rest the buns for five minutes so the juices settle before biting in.