Shenze Roast Bun Stuffed with Meat

Shenze Roast Bun Stuffed with Meat

　　Roast Bun Stuffed with Meat

　　Shenze’s specialty roast bun stuffed with meat is a traditional snack from the local folk culture of Shenze, said to have been passed down since the Qing Dynasty.

　　The making of Shenze’s roast bun stuffed with meat pays great attention to ingredient selection, dough mixing, baking, and meat stuffing. First, premium high-gluten flour, peanut oil, prickly ash powder, sesame seeds, and other ingredients are chosen.

　　The method involves mixing flour with water and stirring vigorously until achieving the “three smooths”: smooth dough, smooth hands, and a smooth bowl. Then let it rest for half an hour before use—this is called proofing the dough. The filling dough is made with hot-water dough: an appropriate amount of prickly ash powder and salt is added to flour, then mixed with hot oil. The oil temperature must be moderate—not too high—to prevent scorching the flour. The second step is to wrap the prepared hot-water dough into the proofed dough, fold and roll it out into a circle, then place it on a special griddle to bake. It's best to use odorless charcoal as fuel. While baking, keep brushing oil to maintain heat until fully cooked.

　　The resulting buns are golden in color, crispy outside and tender inside, fragrant and delicious. The way the meat is stuffed into the Shenze roast bun is also particular—the fillings mainly include donkey meat, beef, pork offal, and Xihe meat cake, with donkey meat and Xihe meat cake being the finest and most unique varieties.