Peppered Pork Pastry

This videoPepper Cake, is very informative and i find this cake/pastry very interesting, although i could not fully understand the  language but i could guess.  I managed to bake a batch of very light pastry and loved it, no wonder these cakes are so popular on the streets of Taipei.  I don't know if i had guessed right the ingredients and had wished that i could know all the tips.  I could have missed some tips, cos my dough 1 did not rise to double in 20 or 30 minutes.  ok - it is winter here but not 4 hours later????.  Could it be that the salt had killed some of the yeast??  The next time if i should make this recipe again, i will add 1 tbsp of sugar to Dough 1 and i am sure the sugar present in the dough should aid the yeast to work better and will leaven the dough faster. 

Ingredients:

Dough 1:
2 cups bleached all-purpose flour
1/2  tsp instant yeast
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup or more water(to make a soft dough)

Dough 2:
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup lard

Filling:

1 /2 lb ground shoulder pork
1/2 lb  ground belly pork
1 tbsp soya sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp rice wine
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp msg(optional)
1 tbsp black pepper
1/4 cup water


2 cups chopped green onions

White Sesame seeds for topping

1/2 cup simple syrup for glazing


Method:

Mix all the ingredients for the filling and stir well to combine.  Add water, a little at a time until pork is homogeneous.  Cover with plastic wrap and leave in the refrigerator

To prepare Dough 1:

Dilute salt in the water.  Mix sugar, yeast and flour together and add in all the water to make into a dough.

Set aside and leave to rest while you prepare Dough 2. Let dough rise until double in size.

To prepare Dough 2:

Add lard to the flour and knead into a dough.

To prepare the pastry:

Divide Dough 2 into 10 portions(more if you want smaller pastry)

Divide Dough 1 into 10 portions.

Wrap Dough 2 with Dough 1, repeat with the other 9 portions.

Using a chinese rolling pin, roll 1 portion into a long ovel(Flatten dough by starting from the center and roll up once, back to center and roll down once)

Roll up the flattened dough like you would roll a carpet.

Repeat with the other 9 portions.

Now back to the first portion.  Ending flap facing up, press your index finger on the flap, with your thumb and third finger, pinch the two ends together, so that the dough now is slightly round.

Roll with rolling pin to a thin circle,  fill with marinated pork and a generous portion of green onions.

Pleat the pastry and seal well.

Dip the surface of  wrapped pastry onto the simple syrup and then dip onto the sesame seeds.

Repeat with the other 9 portions.

Cover wrapped pastries and let it rise for 20 - 30 minutes before baking in preheated 350 f oven for 20 minutes,  after the first 10 minutes, open the oven door, so that steam can be released and pastries will crisp better.

Serves