Description
A traditional food in Shaanxi (Xi'an) called the 'living fossil' of Chinese bread. Bread dough is buried inside blazing hot, smooth river pebbles (Shi Zi). The far-infrared effect of the stones bakes it shatteringly crisp. The surface retains crater-like dimples from the stones, yielding a unique roasted aroma.
Restaurants serving Shi Zi Mo (Shaanxi Pebble-Baked Bread)
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We are researching restaurants that serve this dish.
On this site you can check dictionary details and, later, places to buy or eat related items.
The Recipe section below is a general reference, not a recipe from the listed shops.
Recipe
Ingredients
- Wheat flour
- Eggs
- Veg oil(or lard)
- Salt
- Sichuan pepper leaves(or Five-Spice)
- Round pebbles(as cooking tool)
Instructions
- [Authentic Recipe]
- (Stone Prep) Wash smooth, round 'river pebbles' (black stones hold heat best) and coat lightly in oil. Place in a massive wok and blast on high heat until the stones are blazing hot.
- (Dough) Knead wheat flour with salt, egg, oil, 'Sichuan pepper leaves', or fennel powder into a firm, unleavened dough.
- Roll into a flat disc.
- [Pebble Baking Ritual]: Push the hot stones to one side. Pave the bottom of the empty space flat with hot stones.
- Place the dough on the hot stones, then dump the remaining hot stones entirely over it, 'completely sandwiching (burying)' the dough in stones.
- Bake for a few minutes via the intense far-infrared heat of the stones.
- Remove the stones to reveal the Shi Zi Mo, baked to its absolute crispy limit, glowing golden with deep crater-like dimples on its surface.
Learn more Spice, substitutes, tips
Key spices
Pure roasted wheat aroma from the stones、Faint Sichuan pepper scent
Substitutes at Japanese supermarkets
(Irreplaceable - the far-infrared effect and craters cannot be replicated in an oven)
Pairing
Mutton Soup / Soy Milk
Trivia
[Trivia] The prototype of human bread, preserving the 'stone slab baking' technique of the Stone Age into the modern era. Predating iron woks and ovens, the sight of vendors heating stones to bake this in Xi'an stalls is living Silk Road history.
Eating tips & etiquette
[Unique Eating] Because it is extremely hard and crispy, snap it by hand and eat it like a biscuit or cracker. The charred dimples are particularly aromatic. Highly preservable, it was historically treasured as portable travel rations.
Allergen
Wheat, Eggs, Sesame