P
Chinese · Northern/Central China
Chinese Sesame Flatbread (Shao Bing)
Shao bing: the sesame-crusted flatbread of Northern and Central China — leavened or unleavened, with sesame seeds pressed into the surface. Stuffed versions (filled with pork, red bean, sesame paste, or beef and scallion) are a major street food category. The Xinjiang version (nang) is a related tradition; the Beijing version is slightly leavened, oval-shaped, and often stuffed with beef and spring onion.
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I
The Market List
The benchmark for each ingredient, and who stocks it near you. Tap a stockist to go straight to the product.
For the dough
300 g
plain flour
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
5 g
instant yeast
Your own market
180 ml
warm water
Your own market
4 g
salt
Your own market
For the laminating layer
40 ml
plain vegetable oil or sesame oil
brushed inside the dough
Your own market
20 g
plain flour
mixed with the oil to form a paste
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
For the surface
60 g
white sesame seeds
raw
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1
egg
beaten, for adhering the seeds
Your own market
For the filling (beef and spring onion version)
200 g
beef mince
finely chopped
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
3
spring onions
finely chopped
Your own market
1 tsp
salt
Your own market
1 tsp
light soy sauce
Each tap is counted, so the stockist sees the demand Provenance sends them.
II
The Method
1
Combine the flour, yeast, salt, and warm water. Knead to a smooth, slightly tacky dough. Cover and rest until just beginning to puff — the Beijing version is only lightly leavened, not fully proved. The dough is ready when it yields under a fingertip but holds its shape.
2
Mix the oil and flour for the laminating layer into a smooth paste. Roll the dough out into a thin rectangle on a lightly floured surface. Spread the oil-flour paste evenly and completely to the edges. Roll the sheet tightly into a log, then coil or fold it back on itself. This is where the dish lives or dies: insufficient lamination — too few turns, too little paste, too slack a roll — produces a doughy, unlayered bread rather than the crisp, flaky interior that defines shao bing. The surface of the log should feel taut and the paste should be fully enclosed.
3
If using a filling, combine the beef mince, spring onion, salt, and soy sauce. Divide the dough log into four equal pieces. Flatten each piece, place a portion of filling at the centre, and bring the edges up firmly around it, pinching the seam tightly closed. The sealed parcel must feel firm with no thin spots — any weakness will allow steam from the filling to burst the seam during baking.
4
Flatten each filled parcel gently into an oval. Brush the top surface with beaten egg. Press the sesame-seed side firmly down into a plate of raw sesame seeds so that they cover the surface evenly and densely. Lift: no seeds should fall away when the bread is inverted. If seeds are loose, press again.
5
Bake on a hot, lightly oiled tray in a high-temperature oven — the entry specifies deep colour and crunch as the markers of correct heat. Bake until the sesame crust is deep golden, the underside is firm and coloured, and the bread sounds hollow when tapped.
6
Rest briefly off the tray. The sesame fragrance should be pronounced and the exterior should remain crisp on handling. Break or cut to check the interior: distinct visible layers are the mark of correct lamination.
III
Quality Hierarchy
01
Reserve — Hand-ground raw sesame seeds; beef from a named Hui Muslim butcher on Beijing's Niujie, hand-chopped; freshly milled flour; baked against the wall of a wood-fired tang lu clay oven.
02
Estate — High-quality raw sesame seeds; well-sourced beef mince, finely chopped by hand; a domestic oven preheated to its maximum setting with a baking stone.
03
Market — Supermarket sesame seeds; good-quality commercial beef mince; a well-heated domestic oven on a heavy tray.
04
House — Any sesame seeds; standard beef mince; standard oven. The layering technique remains essential at every rung — it cannot be omitted without changing the dish entirely.
IV
Sensory Tests
◇Touch. The rested dough yields under a fingertip but springs back slowly — it is lightly leavened, not fully risen.
◇Touch. The rolled and folded log feels taut on the surface with the laminating paste fully enclosed and no visible seams splitting.
◇Sight. Sesame seeds cover the surface densely with no bare patches; none fall when the bread is lifted.
◇Sound. Baked bread sounds hollow when tapped on the underside — the interior has set and separated into layers.
◇Sight. Deep golden-brown sesame crust with visible crunch; distinct layers visible on the cut or broken face.
◇Where it lives or dies. The laminating layer — oil-flour paste rolled and folded through the dough — must be applied evenly and rolled tightly enough to create distinct layers; without it, the bread is doughy rather than flaky, and no amount of oven heat will recover it.
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VI
What to Pour
The pairing
Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Buffalo Trace Distillery · Kentucky Bourbon Country
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
Whisky
From British Columbia
Nothing from British Columbia holds against this yet.
Without alcohol
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The whole pairingPillar VII
Origin and lineage are part of membership.
Where the dish comes from and how it came to be — on every recipe.
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Sourced through Provenance