'Shaobing' warrior

Besides being a regular guest on television, presenting the skill of making shaobing, Feng recently wrote a book entitled Xiaochidayi (Little Snacks, Great Skill), in which he collates stories about traditional Beijing snacks.

Feng was assigned to Longfusi snack shop as an apprentice in 1975. He worked under Wang Fuyu, a shaobing master, who led him on his path to shaobing fame.

At first, Feng did not like his job. Most of his classmates were given jobs in factories, and he thought working in catering would not earn him much respect.

However, despite having to perform menial tasks like igniting the oven (which always left his face plastered in coal ash), his master showed him how excellent a pastry chef can be－even if he is just making a common shaobing.

To achieve such excellence, he would start with the dough. It requires 1 kilogram of flour mixed with 600 grams of water－the balance is always set at 1.6 kilograms－per batch. Wang would throw it on the scale and every time it would always be exactly 1.6 kilograms. He never once moved the balance.

Feng devoted himself to learning from Wang, and after a couple of months, he perfected the skill of cutting the dough to the exact weight.

The next step, however, is the most challenging, and a bit of a trade secret: "Throwing the fan". The idea is to roll and flatten the dough into a fan shape, before throwing it onto the counter, making it longer and thinner.

"The key is to hold the fanshaped dough, whirl it in the air and throw it hard onto the board. You're trying to make it more than a meter long and very thin," explains Feng. "That single movement can take people years to master."

One of Feng's apprentices took seven years to learn that single step, while many others were still practicing.

"It's the secret to making a shaobing with 18 layers. Without this step, the dough would not be thin enough and you can only achieve a few layers when you roll it," Feng notes.

"We used to have a special tool to roll the dough into a fan shape. I only have one in my home as a collector's item, but most people couldn't figure out what it is."