Bread · Baked

Guang Bing (Sesame Flatbread with a Hole)

📷 Closely related photo — Photo: Alex Bayev / Unsplash · Unsplash License

In Fuzhou it's still called 'Jiguang bing' after the general, and legend says the hole let his soldiers string the loaves on a cord and carry them into battle.

A round, sesame-topped flatbread is fermented until airy, shaped with a finger-punched hole in the center, and baked until golden, often split and stuffed with pork.

Why it's made this way: Local legend credits the bread to Ming-dynasty general Qi Jiguang, who needed durable, portable rations while fighting Japanese pirate raids on the Fujian coast.