Homemade Sauce-Flavored Flatbread
家庭版酱香饼 · northern cuisine
The author notes that the ingredients don't need to be exact — use whatever you have at home, and a few grams more or less of the sauce components makes little difference. Ingredient amounts are written into the steps for extra clarity. Water quantity for the dough is flexible: just go by the dough's feel — a slightly soft dough makes a better, easier-to-cook flatbread.
Fiona AldridgeUK mum of three, sourdough starter named Barry is four years old. I bake through my nan's recipe box and post the wins and the collapsed sponges.Nutrition & allergens
Contains:SesameSoyWheat
Some ingredients are not yet allergen-surveyed; this label is not exhaustive.
Per serving (4 servings)
- Energy (kcal)
- 360.9(Main ingredients only; seasoning not counted)
- Protein (g)
- Unknown
- Fat (g)
- 3.2(Main ingredients only; seasoning not counted)
- Carbs (g)
- 68.6(Main ingredients only; seasoning not counted)
- Sodium (mg)
- 1098.3(Main ingredients only; seasoning not counted)
Estimated from verified ingredient data for the original formula — not lab values, and one dish is not a full meal.
10.58 oz
0.46 cup
0.46 cup
salt盐
0.11 oz
as needed
soybean paste (yellow soybean paste)黄豆酱
1.59 oz
1.06 oz
0.74 oz
0.74 oz
0 cup
onion洋葱
1.0 whole
1.0 whole
to taste
to taste
mSG味精
to taste
Chili flakes辣椒面
to taste
as needed
as needed
Techniques you'll use
- Pan-frying (jian) ↗
Sear food in a shallow layer of oil, one side at a time.
- Aromatic blooming (bao xiang) ↗
Bloom ginger, garlic, and chili in hot oil to build the aroma base.
- Simmering (dun) ↗
Gentle low-heat cooking in liquid until flavors merge and meat softens.
Steps
- 1
Step 130 min
Make the dough: mix 300 g flour with the salt, then divide into two halves. Prepare one half with boiling water and the other with room-temperature water, then combine both doughs. Add a little oil and knead for 5-8 minutes (a stand mixer works too). Cover with plastic wrap and rest for about 30 minutes (in hot summer weather, rest it in the refrigerator); knead once more partway through. If splitting hot and cold water feels fussy, you can instead mix with about 60 C warm water — the water amount doesn't need to be precise, just go by the dough; a slightly soft dough tastes better and cooks more easily.
✅ Done when: The dough is smooth and slightly soft after 5-8 minutes of kneading and has rested about 30 minutes.
- 2
Step 2
While the dough rests, make the sauce and the oil paste. Oil paste: mix 2-3 spoonfuls of flour with a tiny pinch of salt, pour hot oil over it, and stir. Then divide the rested dough into equal portions sized to your pan.
✅ Done when: The oil paste is smooth after the hot oil is stirred in, and the dough is portioned evenly.
- 3
Step 3
Take one portion, roll it out (not too thin), spread the oil paste evenly (leaving a border around the edge uncoated), cut a few slits as shown in the photo, fold everything up to enclose, pinch the overlapping edges shut, and roll it out thin.
✅ Done when: The parcel is fully sealed with no oil paste leaking, then rolled out into a thin, even round.
- 4
Step 4
While rolling thin, you can brush a little oil on both sides to make it easier to roll; try not to use too much extra flour.
✅ Done when: The dough sheet is thin, even, and moves without sticking.
- 5
Step 5
Make the sauce blend: blitz 1 onion and 1 head of garlic in a blender. Also blitz 2 spoonfuls of Pixian broad bean paste, 3 spoonfuls of soybean paste, 1 spoonful of ketchup, and 1 spoonful of oyster sauce (the broad bean paste and soybean paste are essential; add the other two only if you have them). Finely chop the scallions.
✅ Done when: The aromatics and sauce components are blended into a smooth paste and the scallions are chopped.
Heat a pan, add a generous amount of cooking oil, and add the chopped onion.
✅ Done when: The pan is hot and the onion hits the oil with a sizzle.
Once the onion is fragrant and just starting to turn light golden, add the blended sauce and stir to combine evenly.
✅ Done when: The onion is translucent with lightly golden edges before the sauce goes in, and the sauce is stirred through evenly.
- 8
Step 8
Add a little water.
✅ Done when: The sauce loosens into a stirrable consistency.
- 9
Step 9
Add the chicken bouillon powder, MSG, thirteen-spice powder, and chili powder.
✅ Done when: The seasonings are fully stirred into the sauce.
Add a tiny drop of dark soy sauce for better color (optional). Simmer until the sauce thickens, then set aside. Keep the heat at medium-low the whole time.
✅ Done when: The sauce has thickened to a paste-like consistency that clings to the spoon.
- 11
Step 11
Set the finished sauce and scallions aside. Preheat an electric griddle (or a pan).
✅ Done when: The griddle is fully preheated before the dough goes on.
Once the griddle is hot, add a generous amount of oil (especially for the first flatbread) and brush oil on both sides of the dough.
✅ Done when: Both sides of the dough are evenly coated with oil on the hot griddle.
When the flatbread puffs up, flip it over.
✅ Done when: The flatbread has visibly puffed and blistered.
- 14
Step 14
After flipping, wait 10 seconds, then brush the sauce on as evenly as possible. Sprinkle white sesame seeds and chopped scallions over the sauce.
✅ Done when: The sauce is spread edge to edge and the sesame and scallion topping is evenly scattered.
Cook for about 1 more minute; cook a bit longer if you like a crisper flatbread.
✅ Done when: The bottom is golden and the bread feels set after about 1 minute.
- 16
Step 16
If you rolled the dough thin enough, you can gather it into pleats like this before the final roll.
✅ Done when: The dough holds soft, even pleats without tearing.
- 17
Step 17
Transfer the cooked flatbread to a cutting board.
✅ Done when: The flatbread is fully cooked and resting on the board.
- 18
Step 18
Cut into pieces and serve.
✅ Done when: The flatbread is cut into even, ready-to-eat pieces.