FOOCHOW KOMPIANG

福州光饼

Some like it plain

Some like it stuffed

But all like it fresh from the oven, crispy and nice!

A century old shop in Fuzhou,

still selling Kompiang strung together

Kompiang 

originates from Fuzhou,

 the capital city

 of Fujian Province 

of the People's Republic of China. 

It is a biscuit

 popular among the Chinese Community

 of Foochow (Fuzhou) ancestry.

It was invented for the soldiers
 to eat in the battle fields. 

So it is also called

征東餅

With the hole in the centre,

 the biscuits are strung together
 and easily carried along! 

Some grandmothers said
 that these biscuits were hung around the neck,

 so that they can have access to food
 anytime anywhere without much fuss. 

No cooking is required 

so will not attract the attention
 of the enemies of their whereabouts.

Kompiang is simply a ball of flour, water & salt. 

It is flattened
 & slapped onto the sides of a traditional home-made Chinese oven. 

Kompiang 
may be plain
 or stuffed with fillings of meat, or fats and onions.
Both taste good when fresh from the oven.

If you like kompiang, you may like to try making some for yourself. After much trial and error I have come out with this recipe:

Fuzhou Kompiang

also kown as Foochow Kompyang or Gongpiang 

Biga

177g High Protein Flour

227g water

1/8 tsp yeast

Dough

All of the above Biga

361g High Protein Flour

2 tsp salt

2 tsp sugar

1/8 tsp alkali water
1 Tbsp double action baking powder

120g water-adjust consistency

Method:

1) mix Biga and let rest at room temperature 12-15 hours.

2) put all ingredients in bread machine-dough cycle 15min kneading

3) leave dough to rise 30min

4) preheat to 250'C, put a heavy baking tray inside the oven.

5) divide dough into 20 pieces of 45g each

6) flatten the balls of dough into disks, punch a hole in the centre
7) when you have made enough for a tray, quickly take out the hot tray from the oven & arrange the biscuits on it.

8) spritz with warm water on the biscuits before putting back the tray into the oven @ lowest rack!

9) after 5 min baking, turn off the bottom heat.

10) continue baking for another 10min until brown.

Notes:

1) You can eat them plain-they are crispy when still warm.

    You may toast it the next day to get back the crunch. 

2) If you like it with filling, just lie the biscuit down & slice it across,

    fill it with pieces of roast pork or stew pork.

3) You can even bake them with fillings as below:

Filling:   

Stir fry with some cooking oil: minced pork, chopped big onions, roasted sesame seeds, salt, sugar & pepper to taste. Some dark soya sauce to add to the colour.

To wrap:

@6) before flatten, wrap one tablespoon of filling into the dough   

 7) flatten the ball into a disk
 8) prick some holes on the surface with a fork.
 9) Mist the biscuits & sprinkle some sesame seeds on top to decorate

Stuffed with meat