hello hi everyone! Wesley here. Today we are diving back into our series dedicated to Chinese comfort food classics with a shot at a Shanghainese scallion flatbread, or “qiang bing.” Now, those following along will know that we certainly are no strangers to the slightly more common scallion pancakes or “cong you bing.” And while our flatbread’s construction has many similarities, it is in fact QUITE different from a cong you bing for one reason in particular, which is that our flatbread contains leavening agents, today that’s gonna be a bit of dry active yeast and baking powder. 

For those unfamiliar, at its core, both the cong you bing and qiang bing are assembled very similarly. We have a high hydration flour and water dough that we’re then rolling out very thinly, layering in scallions and sesame oil, and finally wrapping into coils to create nice flakey layers. Today however, for our qiang bing, the addition of our yeast and baking powder is going to create a significant amount more rise, first in our proofing process, and again in our frying process, resulting in what I can only describe as more of a foccacia like texture, due to its fluffy, oily qualities. Hope you try it.

 

Yields 3

INGREDIENTS

  • ~2 cups AP flour

  • 1 1/4 cups warm water

  • 4 green onions/scallions

  • 1 packet dry active yeast

  • 1/2 tsp baking powder

  • sesame oil

  • kosher salt

  • peanut oil

INGREDIENTS (chili oil sauce)

  • 4 tbsp low sodium soy sauce (or 2 tbsp full sodium soy sauce)

  • 1 tbsp rice vinegar

  • 1 tbsp brown sugar

  • 1 tbsp sesame oil

  • 1 tbsp chili oil

PREP

  • COMBINE the yeast and warm water in a large mixing bowl, then proof for 10 minutes until bubbles form

  • ADD the baking soda and a pinch of kosher salt

  • ADD the AP flour 1/4 cup at a time gradually until a cohesive dough ball forms (it should be fairly tacky)

  • COVER with plastic wrap and proof in an oven with the oven light on for 2 hours

  • SLICE the green onions, set aside

  • COMBINE all sauce ingredients, set aside

  • DIVIDE the dough into three separate pieces, then add to a liberally floured work surface

  • FORM the dough into a coin shape with your hands first, then roll the dough until paper thin, rotating a quarter turn after each roll

  • ADD the green onions, a tbsp sesame oil, and a pinch of kosher salt

  • ROLL the dough horizontally first, then vertically into a coil shape

  • FORM the dough into a coin shape with your hands, then gently roll the dough out to 6 inches in diameter with a rolling pin, rotating a quarter turn after each roll 

  • FINISH with sesame seeds, and repeat with remaining dough

  • ADD 4 tbsp peanut oil to a cold skillet, then add the the pancake, cover, and proof for an additional 30 minutes

ON THE STOVE

  • UNCOVER the skillet, then fry over medium heat for 3-4 minutes until golden brown

  • FLIP and fry for an additional 3-4 minutes

  • SLICE into quarters and serve with a side of chili oil sauce

 

tagged with qiang bing, shanghai scallion flatbread, yeasted scallion pancake, yeasted green onion pancake, chinese flatbread, woo can cook, cong you bing