Guokui (traditional Chinese: 鍋盔; simplified Chinese: 锅盔; pinyin: guōkuī),[1] literally "pot helmet", is a kind of flatbread made from flour originating from Shaanxi cuisine.
 Guokui from Sichuan | |
| Place of origin | Shaanxi, China |
|---|---|
| Associated cuisine | Shaanxi cuisine |
| Main ingredients | Flour, Water, Yeast, Sugar, |
| Variations | Chicken, beef |
Variations edit
The dish is said to have been invented during the Tang dynasty by a laborer who cooked flatbread in his iron helmet over a wood fire.[2] There are many different versions including Shaanxi, Jingzhou (Hubei), Henan, Sichuan, and Gansu.
Jingzhou style edit
Hailing from Jingzhou, Hubei, in this style the dough of flour, water, yeast and sugar is stuffed with either a savoury filling like chicken, beef, and pickled vegetables, or a sweet filling like red bean paste.[3] It is then flattened and cooked until crispy inside a cylindrical charcoal oven. Since the preparation resembles making Indian naan in a tandoor oven, the dish is sometimes called "Chinese naan"[2]
Shaanxi style edit
The guokui originated in Shaanxi. In Shaanxi, a guokui is round in shape, about a foot long in diameter, an inch in thickness, and weighs about 2.5 kg. It is traditionally presented as a gift by a grandmother to her grandson when he turns one month old (滿月, a traditional custom in Han Chinese). Along with biang biang noodles, they are considered one of the "Eight/Ten Oddities of Guanzhong".[4]
Gallery edit
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Cooking Jingzhou-style guokui in the traditional cylindrical oven -
Jingzhou-style guokui flatbread with red bean paste, broken into pieces -
Beef guokui
See also edit
References edit
- ^ Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, ed. (1 September 2016). 现代汉语词典 [A Dictionary of Current Chinese] (in Chinese) (Seventh ed.). Beijing: The Commercial Press. p. 496. ISBN 978-7-100-12450-8.
锅盔 guōkuī
- ^ a b "This 1,000-Year-Old Chinese 'Naan' Was Once Cooked in a Hat, and It's Yummy".
- ^ 飘零星. "荆州锅盔".
- ^ "The Eight Oddities of Guanzhong – Xianease".
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