Da Bing

My family would order this bread in a restaurant in San Jose when visiting family. Back on the east coast we had no such source for purchasing. So my dad learned how to make it himself, perfected the technique and gave me his recipe. This is similar to the scallion pancake recipe, but a raised dough. I like it better, but it is much more time consuming - you need about 4-5 hours to complete this.

The Dough

Da means Big in Chinese - Big Bing!

• 1.5 c warm water
• 1.5 T sugar
• 1.25 t salt
• 1.5 T olive oil
• 4 c flour
• 1.25 t yeast

1. Mix first group of ingredients well, using water just warmer than skin temperature (about 85F). Let it sit for 10 minutes at 82 degrees*. Knead it well for 5-10 minutes and then let it rise at 82 degrees for 30 minutes. To maintain warm dough for good rising put it in the oven and turn on the light or put in a couple jars (with lid on) of hot water to raise the temperature mildly.
2. Alternatively - stick first 6 ingredients in bread machine and set to dough cycle for 30-40 min.

The Bing

• 1-2 bunches of scallions
• 6 pinches of salt
• 2-4 T oil (canola or sesame)
• sesame seeds

1. Stretch the dough out into a thin square/rectangle by pressing the edge on the counter and working around the edge until the dough is spread out as big as possible, without any holes. You don't need to have a perfect shape; having an even thickness is more desirable.
2. Spread the oil evenly on the surface, using your fingers. Then sprinkle the salt on.
3. Sprinkle 2/3 of the scallions on 2/3 of the bing, leaving 1/3 uncovered. Fold in the uncovered portion over. Then fold in the other third.
4. Sprinkle oil, salt and remaining scallions. Fold in the other direction to make it into a 9 layer square.
5. Spread sesame seeds in a 10" round baking container (smaller is also ok). Place the dough inside. Put a heavy cover on top. Let rise at 100 degrees for 40-60 minutes.
6. Turn the dough upside down to put the sesame side on top. Sprinkle more sesame seeds before placing dough down (or oil or flour) for easy removal later.
7. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes with a heavy cover on top. This is to encourage the bing to spread sideways into the pan instead of just up. My dad recommends using a large dish for easy cleaning, with a metal lid on top. Just be sure everything is oven safe!
8. Uncover and bake an additional 10-15 minutes. Increase to 375 if you like an extra crunchy crust.
9. Optional: Leave the bing in the oven for another 5-10 minutes after turning off the heat.
10. Put on a cooling rack. 

Note

Use all of the scallion OR cut off the white parts and use just the green parts. Stick the whites in a cup of water to regrow more scallions.