Qingyang unfermented flatbread

Qingyang unfermented flatbread

　　Flatbread is a beloved staple among the people of eastern Gansu, with a wide variety of styles and many skilled makers. To prepare flatbread, it is typically either pan-fried, baked, or deep-fried — usually requiring leavened dough. But unfermented flatbread doesn’t need leavening. At most, the flour might be scalded with boiling water, then kneaded well and rolled out evenly before being placed in a hot oiled pan. Press it down with one hand and swirl it around — hear that sizzle — flip it over, press again, swirl, and another sizzle follows. Cover with the lid, wait two or three minutes, and take it out. Ah, soft and glistening, shiny and fragrant with the aroma of fresh dough. This is the unfermented flatbread.

　　Unfermented flatbread isn’t commonly eaten. It uses up a lot of flour, and those with sensitive stomachs may find it hard to digest. The proper term for making this kind of flatbread isn’t “pan-frying” or “baking,” but rather “bia (啪).” Listen to that sound — a raw flatbread is slapped with great force into the pan, swirled around, and with a flick of the wrist like a carp jumping, “bia!” The other side lands on the hot pan, another swirl, another “bia!” Lift it up, toss it onto the cutting board, and with a satisfying “slap slap,” you eat as if the sky were falling and the earth tipping. But making unfermented flatbread the right way — the “bia” technique — is no easy feat. Those who master it can manipulate it like magic, flipping it effortlessly. But for the inexperienced, wrists get bumped on the pan rim, hands get burned by the hot oil, one side burns while the other stays raw, and when flipping or lifting the bread, uneven pressure rips it apart messily. Not very appealing, and the taste suffers too. (Baitong Cooperative, Ning County, Qingyang)