Gate Nail Meat Pie

Gate Nail Meat Pie

　　Men Ding Rou Bing (Gate Nail Meat Pie) or Men Ding Rou Bing is a traditional Beijing snack. It gets its name from its resemblance to the gate nails on ancient city gates. It is also said that the Gate Nail Meat Pie carries auspicious meanings.

　　Legend has it that during the Qing Dynasty, the imperial kitchen specially made a stuffed pastry for Empress Dowager Cixi, who loved it and asked what the dish was called. The chef, thinking quickly of the gate nails on the palace doors, replied that it was called Gate Nail Meat Pie.

　　The preparation of Gate Nail Meat Pie is not much different from that of a regular stuffed pie, except that while regular pies are flat, the Gate Nail Meat Pie is shaped like a cylinder about 3 cm high and 5 cm in diameter. The filling is traditionally made with beef and green onions. For the filling, tender cuts from the upper brain part of the beef, along with marbled fat and lean sections, are minced. They are seasoned with sesame oil, onion, fresh ginger, Sichuan peppercorn, and other ingredients. The dough is made from refined wheat flour to form a soft, pliable skin. The pastry is then wrapped into the shape of gate nails on palace doors—about 4 cm in diameter and 2 cm thick—and pan-fried until cooked through. It is considered a delicious dish with thin crust and generous filling. The pie is crispy outside, tender inside, fragrant and juicy, and with each bite, bursts of savory soup fill the mouth, making it uniquely flavorful.