Sesame Scallion Bread

This Chinese-Islamic Sesame-Scallion Bread (zhima dabing) is crunchy and chewy on the outside and soft and loaded with sesame oil flavored scallions on the inside. 

This sesame scallion bread, with origins as a street food in northwestern China, is "baked" in a skillet on the stovetop. This bread is a distant cousin to the Chinese scallion pancake, or Cong You Bing, but it's yeasted flatbread rather than a pancake.

The shaping method is very similar, in that you coil the bread after rolling up the scallions in the dough, but with the difference being that this is a thicker yeasted flatbread in the tradition of Chinese Muslim cuisine.

While this recipe is baked in a 12-inch skillet, vendors of this bread can often bake this bread very large disks. In fact, I've read that zhima dabing translates to "sesame big pancake."

The book, All Under Heaven: Recipes from the 35 Cuisines of China, has lots of information about this bread as well as the region. It's a fascinating and comprehensive book that covers so much about Chinese cooking.

For a more traditional bread that incorporates these flavors, be sure to try scallion and sesame rolls. 

Ingredients for this Sesame Scallion Bread:

You will need all-purpose flour, instant yeast, salt, honey, sesame oil, sesame seeds, and scallions. 

In addition, because the flour used in the region is softer than American all-purpose flour, it's helpful to add a softer flour to your all-purpose flour to simulate the Chinese wheat flour. 

If you don't want to blend your own flour, Gold Medal bleached all purpose flour is good. Other options include adding some cake or pastry flour to your favorite all-purpose flour (Vietworld Kitchen). 

Milk Street Magazine suggests adding a small amount of glutinous rice flour (or sweet rice flour) to the blend. I already had some on hand from making these Senbei (Japanese rice crackers), and it worked perfectly. 

I'm always grateful when I can use some of the multitudes of random ingredients I have in my freezer from previous recipe experiments. 

One of the reasons that this bread is "baked" on the stove top is that traditional Chinese kitchens are not equipped with ovens. 

After shaping the dough, let the bread rise in the skillet that you will be using to "bake" the dough. 

I was nervous about whether or not the dough would cook through, but I shouldn't have been. The dough cooked beautifully, with the layers of scallions shining through. 

Serve this Chinese-Muslim Sesame-Scallion bread with cumin lamb or Mongolian beef, or just enjoy it all by itself slathered in butter. 

How to Shape Sesame Scallion Bread:

First, you spread the risen dough out into a 12 inch by 9 inch rectangle. Next, you spread some scallions that have been soaked in sesame oil over the dough. 

Next, you roll up the dough, width-wise, into a log and then form the log into a coil, sort of like a snail shell. Flatten the coil into a 10-inch disk. 

Finally, let the the disk rise in a 12-inch skillet. 

If you are a regular bread baker, this bread should be pretty easy. If you are not, be sure to place close attention to the shaping instructions. Even if you aren't happy with how your shaping turned out, definitely still cook the bread. It is highly likely that you will love the bread, no matter what it looks like. 

 This month the Bread Bakers are baking breads with seeds. Many thanks to Stacy of Food Lust People Love for such a great theme:

• Amaranth and Honey Bread from What Smells So Good?
• Brioche Buns from Simply Inspired Meals
• Cheddar Poppy Seed Bread Sticks from Food Lust People Love
• Dinner Rolls With Seeds In Paper Tea Cups from Sneha's Recipe
• Everything Sourdough Bagels from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Gluten Free Amaranth Crackers from Anybody Can Bake
• Gul Poli-Tilgul Poli - Jaggery and Sesame Seeds StuffedIndian Flatbread from Cook With Renu
• Nordic Stone Age Bread from All That's Left Are The Crumbs
• Poppy Seed Rolls from Ambrosia
• Seeded Sourdough Boule from Bread Therapy
• Seeded Turmeric and Leek Levain from A Messy Kitchen
• Wholewheat Poppy Seed Dinner Rolls from Sizzling Tastebuds

Sesame Scallion Bread

Yield: 4 servings

Author: Karen Kerr

This Chinese-Islamic Sesame-Scallion Bread (zhima dabing) is crunchy and chewy on the outside and soft and loaded with sesame oil flavored scallions on the inside.

ingredients:

• 217 grams (1 2/3 cups) all purpose flour
• 40 grams (1/4 cup) glutinous rice flour
• 1 teaspoon instant yeast
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 3/4 cup warm (100 degrees F) water
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 4 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
• 1 cup (about one bunch) thinly sliced scallions
• 4 tablespoons sesame seeds
• 2 tablespoons neutral oil

instructions:

How to cook Sesame Scallion Bread

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix the flours, yeast, 1 teaspoon of the salt with the dough hook on low.
2. Whisk together the water and honey in a separate bowl and add it to the flour mixture with the mixer running on low.
3. Mix on low until you have a smooth dough. Check the dough at about the one minute mark to see if the dough is too wet and sticky. Add flour, one tablespoon at a time (no more than 3 tablespoons total), until you have a smooth and tacky but not sticky dough. This process should take about four minutes.
4. Coat a medium bowl with 1 teaspoon of sesame oil. Place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with the oil. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let the dough rise until doubled, about an hour.
5. Rub a baking sheet with 1 teaspoon of sesame oil. Add the dough to the pan and press it into a 9 inch by 12 inch rectangle.
6. In a small bowl, toss the scallions with the rest of the sesame oil. Spread the mixture over the surface of the dough. Sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon of the salt.
7. Roll the dough, starting from the 12 inch side, into a log. Seal the seam.
8. With the cylinder seam side down, coil it into a tight spiral or "snail." 
9. Sprinkle the top with half of the sesame seeds. Flip the coil over and press the other side with the rest of the sesame seeds. 
10. Flatten the dough into a 10 inch round. 
11. Add the neutral oil to a 12 inch skillet and transfer the flattened dough to the pan. Adjust the dough back into a 10-inch round. Cover the pan with a lid. Let rise for 30 minutes. 
12. Place the covered skillet over medium heat and cook for 5 to 6 minutes, until the bottom has browned. 
13. Flip the bread over and continue to cook until browned, about 3 to 4 minutes. 
14. Cool on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes. 

https://www.karenskitchenstories.com/2019/09/sesame-scallion-bread.html

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This recipe was adapted from and inspired by Milk Street, Vietworld Kitchen, and Kirbie's Cravings.

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. 

We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.