Taiwanese Savory Beef and Onion Pie (Shen Bin) 牛肉餡餅

Taiwanese Savory Beef and Onion Pie (Shen Bin) 牛肉餡餅

I’ve been trying to figure out how best to describe shen bin. All I can come up with is giant, flat fried dumplings. Sounds good to me. 🙂

Dough Ingredients:

3 ½ cups of all-purpose flour
150 ml of boiling water
175 ml of cold water

Filling Ingredients:

1 lb of ground beef
1 cup of diced scallions
1 cup of diced onions
1 tbsp of grated ginger
1 tbsp of ground pepper
2 tsp of white pepper
1 tbsp of soy sauce
2 tbsp of sesame oil
1 tbsp of Shaohsing wine
2 tsp of salt

Dipping Sauce Ingredients:

Soy sauce
Red vinegar
Sesame oil

Directions:

1. In a mixing bowl, burn the flour with the boiling water. Mix with a utensil while it’s hot.

2. Add the cold water, mix with your hands until the dough roughly comes together.

3. Pour the dough out on a clean surface and knead until a smooth and clean ball of dough is formed. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside for 15 minutes while you prepare the filling.

4. Combine all of the filling ingredients in a mixing bowl. Mix thoroughly to ensure all ingredients are incorporated throughout.

5. The dough should be springy by now. Roll it into a log and portion the dough out into 8 pieces.

6. Flatten a portion of dough with your hands and roll it out from the middle. The end circle should be as big as your open hand.

7. Place two heaping spoonfuls of meat filling into the center of the circle of dough. Gather and pinch the sides together, remove any air so there won’t be any empty pockets. Give the top a twist and pinch of any excess dough.

8. Turn the dough over so it’s seam side down. Gently pat it down. Repeat with the other portions of dough.

9. Add about 1 cm of oil to your frying pan. Heat over medium heat.

10. Place the shen bin, smooth side down into the warm oil. Pour about 2 tbsp of water into the frying pan, cover with a lid and fry/steam.

11. When the smooth side is golden brown, flip the shen bin over to its seam side. Add in another 2 tbsp of water, cover and fry/steam.

12. When the seam side is golden brown and you can hear the pies hiss, remove the lid and continue to fry until crispy.

13. Serve with dipping sauce. I like to use a mixture of soy sauce, red vinegar and sesame oil.

Notes:

I’ve been trying to monitor my salt intake, so 1 tbsp of soy sauce may not be enough for most people. You can use as much as 2 tbsps.

Try to add as much filling as possible and still be able to pinch together the shen bin.

When you flip the shen bin in the frying pan, be careful to not puncture the pie and release the yummy meat juices.

Background Music:

J.S. Bach’s Prelude in C – BWV 846
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