Shao Bing Through the Dynasties: A Comparative Study of Taste and Technique

Introduction

Shao bing is a beloved and versatile staple in Chinese cuisine. Whether eaten as a flatbread stuffed with savory fillings, served plain, or sweetened with nuts and sugar, shao bing is important in daily meals, especially breakfast. Through an examination of two distinctly different recipes, one from the Qimin Yaoshu (齊民要術) of the Northern Wei dynasty and the other from Yuan Mei’s Recipes from the Garden of Contentment (隨園食單) of the Qing dynasty, we can better understand the stylistic evolutions of this enduring bread. By analyzing these texts side by side, I hope to better understand the technical similarities and differences in dough preparation, shaping, and baking methods across dynastic periods.

The emergence of wheat-based dough products dates back to the Warring States period, and by the Han dynasty, the general term “bing” was coined to describe a wide range of baked goods, including flatbreads, dumplings, buns, and noodles (Zhang and Chen, 2014). Due to climate differences, the North of China, too cold and dry for rice, relied on wheat as a staple crop, influencing the predominance of wheat-based foods like shaobing. Traditionally baked in clay ovens similar to tandoors, shaobing diversified into over 100 varieties across China (Li, 2017).

Shao bing traces some of its origins to Central Asia, with varieties introduced through the Han dynasty's western contacts beyond Yumenguan. While the broader category of “hubing” (胡餅, "barbarian breads") includes many foreign-inspired breads, this project focuses on Chinese recipes explicitly termed "shao bing" within two important literary culinary sources (Li, 2017).

Reconstruction Trials and Observations

Sweet Shao Bing (Yuan Mei’s Recipe)

Text from *Recipes from the Garden of Contentment: Yuan Mei’s Manual of Gastronomy* translated and annotated by Sean J.S. Chen

I first attempted a sweet shaobing following Yuan Mei’s description, annotated and translated by Sean J. S. Chen. At first, I assumed this bread would resemble the flaky, layered shaobing I was familiar with today. My early trials focused on laminating the dough to achieve flakiness, but after reviewing the translation with additional annotations, I realized that the texture should be more similar to a shortbread, held together by lard, rather than a flaky pastry. In one of my attempts, I tried using an almost 1:1 ratio of lard to flour, but the bing melted while grilling on a pan. Once I realized that the shao bing should be more like a shortbread, I began rolling the dough into balls and then flattening it out to make the shao bing. I then switched to the measurements recorded below, which were relatively successful. Since I did not have a double-sided pan, I flipped the bing every minute to try to achieve an even texture, an alternative to what the recipe calls for.

Recipe Attempt:

1 cup all purpose flour
1/8 cup lard
1/3 cup chopped walnuts + pine nuts
Sesame seeds for topping

The dough was dense and pliable but not elastic. After baking, the resulting texture was chewy rather than flaky. I concluded that the hydration and fat content needed adjustment to reach a texture closer to shortbread. A higher lard-to-flour ratio and reduced kneading may help avoid gluten development, preserving the crumbly structure typical of shortbread.

Future Improvements:

Increase lard content slightly
Minimize kneading
Flatten thinner before baking for a crispier exterior

Savory Shao Bing (Qimin YaoShu Recipe)

The second shaobing reconstructed was a lamb-stuffed variety from Qimin Yaoshu. A distinctive feature here is the use of a sour liquid (suan jiang 酸漿) as a leavening agent, functioning similarly to yeast.

To better understand the historical Chinese instructions, I relied on a combination of resources: a Google Chrome extension (Zhong Wen Chinese-English Dictionary), my parents' help in interpreting older phrasing, and ChatGPT for confirming historical context and terminology.

My translation:

《食经》 says : Method for making leavening dough:

Take one dou (approximately 2 liters) of sour liquid (suan jiang), boil it down to obtain seven sheng (approximately 7 liters); add one sheng (approximately 1 liter) of polished (non-glutinous) rice to the sour liquid, then reduce the heat and simmer it until it becomes like congee (rice porridge).

"In the sixth month (summer), when soaking one shi (approximately 100 liters) of flour, use two sheng (approximately 2 liters) of the prepared starter; in winter, use four sheng (approximately 4 liters)."

Suan jiang (酸漿) likely refers to the fermented liquid derived from a medicinal plant traditionally used in Chinese herbal medicine to "clear heat" and "detoxify" (Suan Jiang - 酸浆 - Radix et Rhizoma Physalitis - Chinese Herbs - American Dragon – Dr. Joel Penner OMD n.d.). There is not much documentation of using suan jiang as a fermented liquid in Chinese culinary practices. However, the use of naturally fermented substances to promote dough fermentation aligns with traditional Chinese fermentation techniques (Holliday, 2021). Unlike yeast directly cultivated for baking today, suan jiang's fermentative strength would have varied based on local environmental conditions and preparation methods.

Starter Preparation:

3 tablespoons of suan jiang-like sour liquid (substituted with a vinegar/rice mixture)
Boiled down to 2 tablespoons
2 tablespoons of polished rice
Added 1 teaspoon of dry yeast to approximate ancient fermentation

Dough and Filling:

1 cup all purpose flour

Lamb leg, boiled for 1.5 hours
4-5 chopped green onions
4 tablespoons soybean sauce
Sprinkles of salt

For the dough starter, I began by boiling 3 tablespoons of distilled vinegar down to 2 tablespoons. I then added a small amount of polished rice and enough water to form a thin congee, simmering the mixture for about 40 minutes. While making it, I realized that using distilled vinegar as a substitute for suan jiang would not naturally cause fermentation the way yeast would. To address this, I added a small amount of dry yeast to the congee once it cooled slightly and let the starter rest for about 6 to 12 hours (Gluten Free Sourdough Starter, 2014). When preparing the dough, I incorporated about one tablespoon of the starter into the flour mixture and let the dough rest overnight before shaping and baking.

The dough barely rose, and any leavening effect was minimal and not very noticeable, making it unclear whether the fermentation process fully succeeded. Despite this, the resulting bing was dense but tender enough to hold the filling well. When folding the dough, I followed a video to put the filling in the center of a flattened rectangular-shaped dough, folding each side towards the center, rolling the dough tightly to make a ball, and then flattening the ball (Souped Up Recipes, 2018). For the filling, I boiled a whole leg of lamb and, after about an hour, cut the meat into smaller pieces to help it cook more evenly. The lamb became flavorful and juicy, with the rich broth contributing to its tenderness. Letting the lamb soak in the broth for a couple more hours, reheating as necessary, made it even more tender and enhanced its depth of flavor. Future attempts could benefit from chopping or shredding the lamb more finely to ensure a more even distribution throughout the bing.

Next Steps for Improvement:

Roll the dough thinner to promote crisping
Experiment with modern leavening techniques alongside historical methods to distinguish skill gaps from true stylistic differences
Shred lamb more finely

Comparison of Qimin Yaoshu and Yuan Mei’s Recipes

The Qimin Yaoshu provides detailed technical instructions for food production, including explicit measurements and methods for leavening dough. It emphasizes functionality and agricultural practicality, revealing a food culture deeply intertwined with resource management and seasonal cycles. In contrast, Yuan Mei’s Recipes from the Garden of Contentment is less concerned with detailed instruction and more focused on aesthetics and idealized tastes. Yuan assumes a level of culinary familiarity from his readers, omitting measurements and many technical details.

Both texts, however, rely heavily on tacit knowledge from their readers, particularly in the dough-making and shaping technique. While Qimin Yaoshu offers quantities for ingredients, it ignores key questions such as dough resting times or indicators of proper consistency. Yuan Mei’s work is even more cryptic, often leaving the actual method to the reader's imagination and experience. Neither text offers explicit instructions on how to fold the dough, nor do they specify the intended final texture, for example, whether the shao bing should be flaky, chewy, or layered. This lack of instructions suggests a reliance on the cook’s experience and familiarity with traditional techniques.

Additional challenges in using these historical sources for hands-on reconstruction include the lack of standardized measurement systems, assumptions about oven types, and differences in ingredient quality between the historical and modern periods. To address these challenges, I supplemented my reading with secondary scholarship and adjusted proportions experimentally.

These omissions and differences may also hint at the intended audience for each text. In Yuan Mei’s recipe, the mention that “Kou’er knows how to make this” suggests that the recipe assumes the presence of a skilled cook,possibly a household servant or chef, with prior culinary knowledge. This implies that the text was likely written for literate elites who oversaw cooking rather than performed it themselves. In contrast, Qimin Yaoshu appears directed toward readers with hands-on cooking experience and access to agricultural resources, offering more detailed ingredient lists while still relying on the reader’s practical knowledge to fill in procedural gaps.

Conclusion

Before beginning my experimentation, I set out to explore a food that had not only been a constant presence in my life but also held deep cultural significance in Chinese cuisine. I was drawn to shao bing for its enduring popularity across centuries and regions, and I hoped that comparing recipes from the Qimin Yaoshu and Yuan Mei’s Recipes from the Garden of Contentment would help illuminate how dough-making techniques, shaping methods, and baking styles evolved across dynastic contexts. Through this side-by-side analysis and hands-on reconstruction, I was able to observe key technical differences. For instance, the use of leavened dough and baking in the Northern Wei recipe versus the emphasis on sifting and grilling techniques in the Qing dynasty version.

My reconstruction is grounded in historical and textual scholarship. I referenced translated measurements, attempted to reconstruct ingredients like suan jiang with guidance from secondary literature, and adapted cooking techniques such as clay-oven baking based on culinary studies of traditional Chinese ovens. However, I also acknowledge limitations in my process. Ingredient quality and environmental factors, such as modern flour refinement and oven type, differ significantly from those available in their original contexts. A future reconstruction might benefit from testing these methods using heirloom wheat varieties or traditional baking vessels to get closer to the original textures and results.

This project ultimately reinforced a key argument found in culinary scholarship: that replicating historical foodways requires more than a set of instructions. It requires embodied practice, trial and error, and interpretive decision-making. The differences I encountered between dynastic recipes challenge the notion that Chinese baked goods remained uniform over time and instead reveal a rich, evolving tradition shaped by regional, temporal, and technological shifts. Through this process, I gained a deeper appreciation not only for the historical context of shao bing, but also for the craft knowledge, labor, and creativity that sustained it across centuries.

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