Source: http://www.meishichina.com
Makes ~9 biscuits
Ingredients:
Plain flour, 250g
Milk powder, 15g
Dry yeast, add to 30ml warm water, 3g
Fresh milk, 120g
Sugar, 15g
Salad oil, ½ tbsp
Salt, pinch
Lard*, 10g
Sugar water, by dissolving 1 tsp sugar in 2 tsp hot water and allow to cool
White sesame seeds
Method:
1. Sift flour and milk powder into a big bowl. Add in remaining ingredients, except for sugar water and sesame seeds, and knead well into a smooth dough. Cover dough with cloth and set aside in warm place for ~1 hr, till dough rises to double its original size.
2. At end of 1 hr waiting, preheat oven at 180 degC.
3. Flatten the risen dough, roll out dough into rod shape and divide into 9 portion.
4. To each portion, roll into ball and flatten slightly. Brush top surface with sugar water, coat it with white sesame seeds and set aside for ~15 mins. Pierce a hole in centre of each biscuit using index finger before placing on greased baking tray.
5. Bake in oven for ~15 mins till golden brown.
Serving:
1. Jiguang Bing can be eaten on its own, or stuffed with desired filling like bread in sandwiches.
Source: http://www.ttmeishi.com
Jiguang Bing (继光饼) is a popular snack in Fuzhou, Fujian province of China. This snack is creation of a Ming Dynasty general by the name Qi Jiguang (戚继光), who led his team of soldiers to the southern part of China in year 1563 to fight against Japanese pirates occupying shoreline of Fujian province. To cut short time used to cook meal, General Qi instructed the cook for his platoon to make small round biscuits (shaped with a hole in centre) using flour and bake them over fire. The hole enable each soldier to string up the biscuits for easy carriage and eat it as dry foodstuff.
It is believed his platoon offered the snacks to people after they were freed from the pirates' captivity, hence the biscuit's popularity later among people in Fujian province. It is not only eaten as common snack, but also used as food offering to dieties and ancestors. As an appreciation, people named this snack after the General Qi, hence Jiguang (= his name) Bing (= biscuit).
Makes ~80 pcs biscuits
Ingredients:
Plain flour, 1750g
Fermented dough*, 250g
Soda Bicarbonate, 25g
Salt, 5g
Water, 500ml + 250ml
* Mix 250g plain flour with required amount of yeast. Prepare fermented dough in same as as pizza dough.
Method:
1. Place plain flour in a big bowl and make a well in centre. Add Soda Bicarbonate, salt and 500ml water to the well. Mix water to dissolve ingredients in the flour well, then add in pre-prepared femented dough. Fold in plain flour from well surrounding and knead well. Add in additional water (up to 250ml) to achieve smooth dough.
2. Rough dough into long rope and break into ~80 pcs mini biscuit dough. Roll each mini dough into a ball, then flattened it slightly, and make a ring in centre.
3. Bake in oven at 180 degC till golden brown.
