Shao Bing

Yum. This little treat deserves its own post. It is by far my favorite snack in China. I crave it just typing this up :) Shao bing (燒餅)  is a little like flat bread with a filling and sesame seeds on top. The oval ones are savory, and the round ones are sweet. The oval ones have a salty/green onion paste inside and the sweet have sugar. When you bite into the sweet ones, you can't see anything. It looks empty but tastes sweet. I've seen them make these babies-- they start by rolling the dough into a ball and then smashing it with their hand. Then, they take a small rolling pin and roll it into the correct shape based on the filling. Once they have a massive amount made, they sprinkle the tops with sesame seeds and press them in. Finally, they go into the center of this pit thing--they use water to get the dough to stick to the walls. There is coal burning inside there. Once they are browned, they pull them out with some tongs and put them on the tiled top to stay warm.

 I go to my shao bing lady on a pretty regular basis--we're talking daily... except Fridays (that's her day off and don't ask why I know that... okay I admit I had one of my colleagues ask her) and Sundays. She is always really excited to see me. She smiles and waves when she sees me coming. I think we may have built up some guanxi. You get 4 for 1 kuai (15 cents people!) It's amazing. They practically give them away. I always by 5 kuai worth. Sometimes I share, but most of the time I just eat all 20 of them. As a matter of fact, I had some today. Next time I go, I'll have to get a picture with the owner. And maybe I can make a video of her making them. That's something you all want to see, right? :)