Chinese-style crispy and flaky flatbread stuffed with savory meat filling, vegetables, and spices and cook on the griddle. They are popular street food in China.
Mix all ingredients for the dough in a mixing bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment. Turn the speed to low to start mixing the ingredients. Then increase speed to 2 and knead until the dough is soft and smooth, about 4 minutes. Then cover and let it proof for one hour. The dough should be only about 50% puffy. We don't need the dough to proof until double in size
Prepare the filling: (can be prepared the day before)
Combine all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl and stir into one direction using a chopstick to get a paste-like consistency
Boil a small amount of water and get a small amount of a filling and cook in the boiling water. Have a taste and adjust the seasoning to suit your taste. When you are happy with the taste, cover and let the filling marinate in the fridge
When ready to use, divide the filling into roughly 8 equal portions
Assembling:
When the dough is about 50% puffy, don't deflate and knead the dough. Simply shape it into a log and divide the dough into 8 equal pieces. Keep them covered and work with one at a time
Lightly oil your work surface. Stretch the dough into a long oval and then use a rolling pin to roll it out into about 8 inches long, about 4 inches wide and about 1/16 inch thick. Roll the dough up like a Swiss roll. Repeat this with the rest of the dough. Keep them covered
Back to the first dough that you roll, flatten slightly with your palm and roll it out again into a long oval about 1/16 inch thick. If the dough is hard to roll and keeps retracting back, rest it for 10 minutes to relax the gluten. It will be easier to roll out after that
Spread the beef filling on top of the dough. Roll it up like a Swiss roll again. Repeat with the rest of the dough and filling
Stand the dough up and flatten it down with your palm. Repeat with the rest of the dough
Go back to the first dough you have flattened and use a rolling pin to gently roll it out into a disc about 1/8 inch in thickness. Repeat with the rest
Cooking:
Preheat oven to 400 F (204 C). Lined a baking pan with parchment paper. Preheat a large non-stick pan over medium heat. Add 1 tbsp of oil. Cook 2-3 guo kui on the pan, or the amount that fits your pan. Cook for 2-3 minutes or until golden brown and then flip over and cook another 2-3 minutes. Repeat with the rest. The next batch may brown faster as the pan has heated up more by now, it may turn golden brown in 1-2 minutes
Baking:
Arrange the browned guo kui on the baking pan and bake in the preheated oven for 8-10 minutes
Serve them warm or let them cool down on cooling rack