This tall layered sesame flatbread is a twist on zhima dabing. It is made with wild yeast (sourdough), giving the bread an extra depth of flavor. The sourdough dough is then rolled out and laminated with sweet and rich caramelized onions. After, it is enveloped with sesame seeds to create a crisp and nutty crust. The flavor and textural combination is pretty awesome.
For a traditional version of this flatbread, or if you are interested in instructions for commercial yeast, visit this post: Zhima Dabing: Sesame Scallion Flatbread (Sourdough or Yeasted).
Looking for more sourdough discard recipes?
- Flakey Sourdough Discard Biscuits
- Sourdough Discard Cong You Bing: Scallion Pancakes
- Sourdough Discard Mini Crescent Rolls [or yeasted]
Sourdough Caramelized Onion Sesame Flatbread
bold flatbread with lots of height and layered with sweet caramelized onions
Servings: 4
Equipment
- Skillet preferably cast iron with lid
Ingredients
Dough
- 150 g all purpose flour
- 100 g sourdough discard/starter
- 60 g water
- 3/4 tsp salt
Filling
- 1/2 onion thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup lard or oil
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Caramelized the onions by cooking them in lard or oil with salt until deep brown and soft. Transfer the onions onto a plate lined with paper towel. Reserve the fat for later use.
- Add all the dough ingredients together and knead until a smooth and elastic dough forms. Cover and let rise ~2 hours.
- Roll dough into a long rectangle. Brush on the reserved lard. If you used vegetable oil, mix flour a tsp at a time into the oil until it has a sauce-like smearable consistency. Then brush it on the dough.
- Scatter the caramelized onions on top and roll up the dough into a log. Roll and stretch the log. Coil and tuck the ends under. Flatten the dough into a disk about 3/5-1 inch thick.
- Wet top and sides of the dough with water and sprinkle on sesame seeds. Repeat on the other side. Cover and let rise ~2 hours.
- Place the dough in a dry cast iron skillet. Cover and turn on the heat to medium-low and cook for about 8 minutes or until the bottom is toasted and light brown. Flip, cover & cook the other side ~5-8min. Turn off the heat and let the flatbread sit covered for 5 min. Transfer to a cutting board to cool for another 5min before cutting.
