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Guokui

Guokui
Guokui from Sichuan
Place of originChina
Region or stateShaanxi
Associated cuisineShaanxi cuisine
Main ingredientsFlour, water, yeast, sugar,
VariationsChicken, beef

Guokui (traditional Chinese: 鍋盔; simplified Chinese: 锅盔; pinyin: guōkuī),[1] literally "pot helmet", is a kind of bing (flatbread) made from flour originating from Shaanxi cuisine.

Variations

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Jingzhou-style guokui with red bean paste

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

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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

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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 among Han Chinese). Along with biang biang noodles, they are considered one of the "Eight/Ten Oddities of Guanzhong".[4]

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ 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
  2. ^ a b "This 1,000-Year-Old Chinese 'Naan' Was Once Cooked in a Hat, and It's Yummy".
  3. ^ 飘零星. "荆州锅盔". Archived from the original on 2021-05-09.
  4. ^ "The Eight Oddities of Guanzhong – Xianease". 5 September 2018.