hello hi everyone! Wesley here. Today we’re diving back into our series dedicated to Chinese breakfast foods with a shot at a very simple but also deceptively difficult breakfast snack known as a “shao bing.” For those not familiar, a Chinese “shao bing” (roughly translating to Chinese “biscuit”) is a popular flakey and yeasted snack item that can be served in many different forms. Often times, you will come across it stuffed with sesame paste, green onions, eggs, Chinese pork floss, or even just served simply on its own. Today we’ll be doing our version with a few of my favorite additions, which is a simple wok fried egg, green onions, and some black and white sesame seeds for a colorful finish. While at the surface this one may seem like a fairly simple one to take on, the most challenging task today will be about achieving those flakey layers to our biscuits, without the inclusion of butter, which you would more commonly come across in European baking. I’ve got some user friendly solutions for this, as well as some more challenging tricks that take a bit more elbow grease and effort that we’ll dive into as well. Hope you try it.
Yields 8
INGREDIENTS
6-8 green onions
1 tbsp sesame oil
3 eggs
1 tbsp shaoxing wine
1/2 tsp corn starch
black and white sesame seeds
oil
INGREDIENTS (dough)
200 grams (1.5 cups) AP flour
5 grams (1/2 tbsp) kosher salt
10 grams (1 tbsp) white sugar
100 grams (1.25 cups) warm water
1/4 tsp dry active yeast
PREP
SLICE the green onions thinly, set aside
COMBINE warm water and dry active yeast, then let sit for 10 minutes until bubbles form
COMBINE AP flour, kosher salt, and sugar in a separate bowl, then combine with the water/yeast mixture
KNEAD until a cohesive dough forms, then add to an oiled bowl, cover, and proof for 1 hour until 50% larger in size
WHISK eggs with shaoxing wine and corn starch, set aside
PUNCH the air out of the proofed dough, then roll out until paper thin, set aside
ON THE STOVE
HEAT a wok over medium heat, then add 4 tbsp peanut oil, and long yao
ADD the eggs to the wok, then rotate the wok to cook on as much of the wok surface as possible
LOOSEN the edges, then flip once the eggs are set (about 1 minute)
REMOVE from heat, then fold into a log
ADD the sesame oil to the center of the dough, followed by green onions and egg, then fold the dough closed and divide into 4 equal pieces
ADD the sesame seeds to a mesh strainer, then run under water until damp, and add to the cutting board
PRESS the the shao bing into the sesame seeds until coated, then add to a parchment paper lined baking sheet
BAKE at 400F for 15 minutes until golden brown