Combine the beef with the sugar, half of the pepper, the garlic powder, ⅔ of the oyster sauce and light soy sauce, salt and cornstarch. Mix thoroughly and marinate for at least an hour in the fridge.
After marinating, remove the mixture from the fridge and let it get to room temperature.
Add the oil to a hot pan, and add the beef mixture. Stir fry until browned. Remove the mixture from the pan and deglaze the pan with the rice wine until reduced.
Add the stock and the beef again and add the remaining oyster sauce, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce and pepper.
Cook the mixture out until you have a very thick sauce.
Cool and refrigerate for at least two hours, preferably overnight.
Boil the eggs for 4 minutes and shock in a water bath with ice water.
When they have cooled, peel the eggs and then carefully remove the egg whites from the yolk. The yolk is going in the pie.
In a pan, brown the tomato slices and leave to cool.
When you’re ready to make the pies, remove the shortcrust pastry from the freezer and allow to thaw a little.
Using a pastry cutter, cut 4, 14 cm rounds. Lightly grease the pie tins and place the shortcrust pastry into the tins, working away from the centre. You should have around 1 cm of pastry hanging over the edges. Refrigerate the pie tins for at least two hours to firm up the pastry.
After two hours, remove the puff pastry from the freezer and allow to thaw a little.
Remove the pie tins from the fridge and fill each pie tin with the lok lak, leaving a whole in the centre for the egg yolk. Carefully slide the egg yolk into the pie filling. Place the sliced tomatoes on top of the filling. Baste the overhanging pastry with the beaten egg.
Cut the puff pastry sheets into 12.5 cm rounds and place each on top of each pie tin. Fold the shortcrust pastry over the puff pastry and seal all around. You can use the back of a fork and go around the top to ensure the seal is good.
Make a small incision in the centre of each pie to form an air vent. Brush the top of the pie with more beaten egg, being careful to not cover the air vent. Place the pies back in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 200˚C with a baking tray on the centre rack.
When ready remove the pies from fridge and place on the baking tray. Cook for 10-12 minutes at which time the top should be lightly golden.
Reduce the heat to 180˚C and cook for another 10 minutes to ensure the centre of the pie is hot. If the tops of the pies start to look too golden brown, you can place a sheet of aluminium foil on top of the pies.
When done, allow to cool slightly before eating.