Pan fried steamed beef buns

Season the ground beef with the soy sauce, oyster sauce, dark soy sauce, minced garlic, ginger, five spice powder, white pepper and Sichuan peppercorn powder.

Roast whole Sichuan peppercorns in the wok over low heat a minute or two and blend them to a powder.

Dribble in sesame oil and mix until the flavour is well combined.

Stir in the beef stock, stirring in one direction only to develop the texture.

Bring a pot of water to a boil, turn off the heat and soak the sweet potato starch noodles 4 to 5 minutes; mung bean noodles only need 1 minute.

Shake off the excess water and roughly dice the noodles.

Add the noodles, diced scallion and diced cilantro to the filling, mix well and refrigerate.

Stir the salt and instant yeast into the room temperature water, drizzle in the oil, mix again and pour slowly into the all-purpose flour in batches, stirring with chopsticks.

Gather the flour by hand into a rough dough, scraping the bottom and edge of the bowl.

Rest 10 minutes to relax the gluten so the dough is softer.

Knead well about 5 minutes until smooth; this is a one-time proof method with no deflating stage, so the kneading matters.

Rest another 10 minutes so the dough stops springing back.

Poke a hole in the middle, enlarge it, cut it open into a log, roll it even and divide into 12 pieces of around 38 grams; dust with flour and cover.

Dust a piece and roll it flat with a rolling pin to three inches across, then lift the sheet and roll the edge thinner, to about 4.5 inches in diameter with a thicker middle.

Put about 3 tablespoons of filling on the wrapper, pack it tight, and pleat round with the right hand lifting and pinching while the left pushes; twist and pinch to close.

Proof the buns 50 minutes under plastic wrap; they should be slightly bigger and dent slightly, not fully proofed, or the skin turns soggy.

Drizzle enough cooking oil to cover the bottom of the frying pan, set the heat to medium and place the buns in with space between them, without waiting for the oil to heat.

Once it sizzles, mix the cornstarch and water and pour it in, put on the lid and cook about 8 minutes, moving the pan around if the stove heat is uneven and leaving a small gap for steam to escape.

When the water is nearly gone and the cornstarch has set into a crust, shake the pan gently; if the buns do not release wait 10 to 20 more seconds and try again, then turn off the heat.

Do not wait for the cornstarch skirt to brown or the bun bottoms will burn.