How China Made Bagels 400 Years Ago

They look like bagels and taste like bagels, but instead of being boiled, they're baked. Also, they're from China and have been around for over 400 years.
Guangbing is a staple bread from the coastal province of Fujian. They're baked fresh every day in wood-fired ovens and cost just 14 cents a piece. We went to Fujian and met one of the last specialty guangbing makers in China.
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Producer: Clarissa Wei
Videographer: Patrick Wong
Editor and Mastering: Joel Roche
Animator: Ray Ngan
Music: Audio Network

[@NestyAngel]

Mad props to the son for learning this dish. Keep the tradition and heritage going bro!!! Ya got my respect✊

[@AnthonyJonathan]

his portioning skill is 🔥😱

[@nic3010]

Just letting you know, there are at least two thriving Fuzhou communities in Malaysia. One at the peninsular Malaysia town called Setiawan (实兆远) and another one at Sibu (诗巫). I am from Sibu. We still make and eat Guangbing the traditional way.

[@selfreflection2117]

Looks like the famous Sibu kompia. I really like the salty ones. In the video, the quanbing has a hard biscuit like texture, whilst kompia is soft bread like

[@youtube-youcool]

how you make it, same like in the video? Does it hv any meat and vege stuffings?

[@jacksonlee2192]

Grandpa still has the passion in making these guangbings. Hasn't missed a beat.

[@cookbook800]

It is awesome and amazing that the son wants to carry on the tradition!

[@TheJulietxo]

Oh my god they're all perfectly portioned and shaped, what the hell

[@testermonkey2304]

Thats nothing the machines that make bagels do 100x as many in a more consistent shape.

[@Vincent-ds3kc]

@@testermonkey2304 Of course duhhh

[@leafster1337]

@@testermonkey2304 for human hands is it not great skill? a fish can swim incredibly fast, but for a human those olympians do inspire awe in doing what others are incapable of achieving; no one is astounded by a fish swimming quickly unless it’s a particularly fast fish. same as sprinters to cars. whyd you need to run?!

[@andytang8679]

seriously a machine can make more??????!!!!! noway!!!!!???? i'd take the handmade one made with soul please.... i think youll find the bagels in east london are also handmade

[@trym2121]

@@testermonkey2304handmade is tastier. Added salt and other chemical from the artisan palm sweat.

[@saiwenya]

love his attitude “I always win I always win I always win” “is there someone smarter or better than me?”

[@MrLeonardee]

Charlie Sheen

[@yadisfhaddad722]

Actually by the way he says it in Chinese is not braggadocious, is just kind of sad no one is taking up the challenge and that the skill is dying.

[@vanillasketch7016]

@@yadisfhaddad722 it’s not dying. you can find this food still popular in some parts of Taiwan and Malaysia.

[@markw496]

This guy is the perfect man to be in Kung Fu hustle. Everything about him and his attitude. He's been looking for someone to compete but has never found it.

[@J_Z666]

ay fuzhou people im fujianese proud to see my peeps

[@Andrew-nu8ez]

The first time I tried these with sesame in Fuqing, they were the best. Ever since I couldn't find any that's close. I need to go back to the temple where I got them. Hopefully this summer.

[@xiolinorchdork]

I love the dad's colorful pants 😆

[@starsiegetribes.peniswrink1320]

Looks soo good.. this is how all food could and should be made fresh daily!

[@jamjamc]

The Chinese are the real foodies, the OG chinese grandpas would give the Instagram foodies a run for their money 💸💸💸🤣🤣🤣

[@andytang8679]

damn right!!!! everything fresh or its not food!!! im obsessed with pengjengji a chinese foodie channel on youtube... the 2 hosts are awesome and hilarious

[@akaneishikawa8724]

@@andytang8679 im interested but didnt find the channel

[@zhenghuang5982]

In tears, my home town food, one of my favorite food!

[@zhenghuang5982]

But my hometown version has white sesame on one side

[@michelle.tuv.nguyen]

i need this guy's confidence

[@mon6745]

The baker has such precision - wow. Cool topic

[@chrischan4936]

I love the man's fit. His shirt's got a boxy cut fit, tucked into his colorful shorts that's not over his knees.

[@Ferngull.e]

@hits*academic im sorry but what the fuck does that have to do with his outfit, Debbie downer?

[@Ferngull.e]

@hits*academic ah I see, youre crazy

[@DovidM]

Bagels are boiled then baked. I have not heard of bagels that were only boiled.

[@lipming88]

We have this in Sibu City, Sarawak, Malaysia.

[@butterflysim2732]

exactlyyy...it kompia right. Gosh i miss buying this at the old high street. A bit salty, crispy on the outside, soft but abit chewy.

[@mimicinabox2547]

I like his opening promotion at the start. Feels like a Kung Fu master's self-proclamation in the old wuxia movies.

[@green-eyedmonster]

So can we say the best is sometimes lonely ? Lol

[@rubychen2635]

I love shiny biscuit from my dad’s village. It’s different from the one in the video but it is what I grow up with.

[@Thinkofwhat]

A very humble old chap hahaha...

[@rxlky]

i would be happy to try one of these

[@nanhinting7447]

This bagel is nice to have braised pork in between like a pork burger or go with pork thick soup. This bagel can only be found in the city of Fujing City in Fujian Province. Eaten as a snack anytime of the day. Not recommended for old people without teeth as it is very hard but dip in soup before eaten is alright. Has a very fragrant flour taste.

[@mabellemichelle]

What's it like compared to a western bagel? Could you eat cream cheese with a guangbing?

[@nanhinting7447]

It's totally different from Western Bagel. Western Bagel is like a bread where as Guangbing is really hard on the outside. I've never tried it with cheese but I guess you can. It's up to each preference.

[@alf8652]

May I know the exact location of this shop please?

[@maggiejetson7904]

I like his pants. My dad was always trying to get it after leaving Fujian, but when he went back he said they didn't taste like how he remembered. His sisters from back home said that's how it always taste like. He used to slice it in half and make seaweed sandwich with it.

[@akwa2273]

Fun fact when you move permanently and start eating different food. Your Palate start to change. That's why thing can taste different than how you remember it.

[@maggiejetson7904]

@@akwa2273 Memory is always better than reality.

[@kas7344]

Damn, this video was recorded 400 years ago

[@TheLeolee89]

We called it Kompia or kompyang in East Malaysia.

[@TheLeolee89]

@amannisa oigur Are you staying inside a cave?

[@tuoli9118]

no need to argue with this stupid guy, oigur. he is copying and pasting the same comment everywhere. probably gets paid from some sort of propaganda.

[@kaksoispistev5403]

Same here in Indonesia

[@xmb6793]

kompia is the fujian dialect. they have the same meaning.

[@singw4256]

中文是一样的，叫光饼

[@hellonello]

The grandpa sure knows how to boost 😂 Salute to him 👏

[@eroskaw5423]

this was common in the Lan Nang area of Fujian in the 16th century and made its way to Poland in the 17th century. same time as the perogi. the Lan Nang were the traders and seafarers of ancient China.

[@sabaideeDIY]

Wow bagel looks crispy good👍

[@Natalie-kf2gz]

i hope they're able to keep on making guangbing :( someone run them their check!

[@carolinekobelin5711]

I really miss Guangbing!

[@Bigjoe99]

Specifically its originated from Fuzhou, capital of Fujian..Fuzhou or Hokchiu people are found in several places all over South East Asia and where they are in significant numbers you can find these. But these looks amazingly good..

[@gp2779]

This can be found commonly in the town of Sitiawan in Malaysia too. To think that the Malaysian Chinese who have settled here for more than 100 years still makes Guang bing this is quite pleasing

[@emilychen4161]

We have to keep this going. We have to keep a lot of our histories going.

[@Phlegethon]

小时候跟我妈我爷爷去三坊七巷买光饼

[@sengbrewery]

Ha I know there is 1 in Malaysia and I have first eaten It is in the small town Sitawan and they are busy.

[@gp2779]

Considering Sitiawan’s Chinese population is majority of the FuZhou descent, and this video features from the Fujian province (I believe specifically in the Fuzhou city) as well, it’s of course relatable.

[@butterflysim2732]

in my hometown Sibu Sarawak, its is very popular. We call it Kompia. Except that on top of it, the seller put sesame.

[@112313]

i loveeeee this!!! Don't worry, malaysia still have many guanping makers.

[@bi5259]

好棒啊，喜欢这位老爷爷。从来没吃过光饼。为什么不引进机器呢？

[@gloriaiuc]

Those Guangbings look delicious!!

[@alexeygraive1674]

its sad to hear that they barely can afford food when the bussiness are bad. i hope they are fine during this pandemic

[@dmanzawsome]

China has like less than 1000 cases now so its probably ok for now.

[@goosenuggets9693]

@@dmanzawsome According to their government which is known to cover up internal problems.

[@alf8652]

@@goosenuggets9693 You must be American

[@sonator14]

Malaysia also have this Bagel near northwest. Called the same name Kuang Ping

[@MrLantean]

It is sold in Sitiawan, Perak and Sibu, Sarawak. It is known by its Minnan name, Kompyang.

[@chenmucls]

this is from my hometown :)

[@ocloudx]

Meanwhile a bagel from starbuck can sell for $10 RMB

[@eddiegerahty3454]

RMB is ￥， $ is dollars.

[@Xind0898]

power of marketing

[@truthseeker7287]

I’d love to try these 😋

[@ztl6711]

😍dense and crispy

[@Searrows]

Dang, the gluten in that dough must be pretty developed. listen to that snap as he separates the dough pieces.

[@curtislee3521]

I’m from Hong Kong. These bagels are nice, slightly sweet, but I much much prefer a western bagel, these Chinese bagels are really dense. My classmates before in school sometimes use them as stones to throw at people

[@haroldlee6923]

His attitude is fierce..wonder how his bagels stacks up against the best of New York’s? 😃

[@dontaskmewhy100]

戚繼光 is a very famous general in history.

[@DerMimi]

guang bing in Malaysia still standing, 1 ringgit for 3 to 4 pcs. but i thought it's fu zhou food, not fu jian.

[@mellow-jello]

Instead of using a 2-step cooking process, Guangbing uses the alkali water to speed up the cooking for a similar baking good as the bagel. With less moisture, it must be tough, so it can said to be bagel-like, not a bagel.

[@aperson1139]

Maybe he should compete with Sushki makers, see which one is better for a military campaign, which lasts longest, more nutritious and other stuff.

[@gloriaiuc]

How can I support his business if I don't live there?

[@TheJulietxo]

Buy a bunch if you ever visit, that's my plan lol

[@ahmadchoirul660]

i love his pants

[@Moss_piglets]

It looks like a bagel but it's not. Boiling dough first then baking results in a different texture. A bagel is a bagel. Guanbing is guanbing. No comparison.

[@greenmachine5600]

I agree. I think they'd taste pretty different. Since the guangbing has lye in it, it might taste more like a bretzel.

[@maggiejetson7904]

I've had both. Guanbing is like half way between pretzel and bagel closer to the pretzel side. The how it works part are very similar though: a bread with a ring for string together and lye to make it taste and smell better. The wood fired brick oven wall makes it taste a lot crispier.

[@TheAdsertor]

It does not translate as :shinny bread". The real translation is "official bread". The soldiers stringed the guangbing around their necks (carrying their own ration so the army can move fast} and matched to fight the Japanese pirates raiding the coastal areas of Fujian Province.

[@NO1xANIMExFAN]

no, its definitely shiny. official is guan. shiny is guang. different words but they are similar sounding

[@auburntiger6829]

光餅 ≠ 非官餅

[@rjfreeman2562]

*casually sticks hand in oven and gets burned just to put the dough in*

[@tkjho]

@0:13 bagel is boiled in diluted lye and then baked.

[@tkjho]

@amannisa oigur WTF are u talking about? Every Chinese from USA, Taiwan or hongkong and China know what bread is. Even the non-baked but steamed BAO is a form of bread.

[@tkjho]

@amannisa oigur Genghis Khan and the Mongolians invaded China during the Song dynasty and the Yuan dynasty ruled China for about 90 years until the Ming dynasty took over. Mongolian food became one of the regional Chinese food, akin to all other regional Chinese food, which probably originated as the food of the various tribes in the different regions. Yuan dynasty is an integral part of Chinese history, hence also its food. There are more Chinese people of Mongolian heritage in China than non-Chinese Mongolians outside of China.

[@tkjho]

@amannisa oigur History taught us that China had "baked bread" for at least 750 years, since 1271AD. Other minority ethnic tribes might also have baked bread before that, who knows. The CCP's intervention is politics, not history.

[@neil8081]

Here in borneo there are chinese from fujian provance that make them, its called "kom pia" here

[@Phlegethon]

A bagel is like a Guangbing

[@greenmachine5600]

Guangbing are Guangbing. Bagels are Bagels. They look similar but are very different. Guangbing do look tasty at least.

[@hc8714]

actually they taste very similar.

[@maggiejetson7904]

It taste like a bagel with pretzel aroma, some bagel shop dip their bagel in lye water before cooking and it taste similar.

[@sophiemamiya1740]

I slightly remember Stephiance mentioning this in a video with Stephanie

[@jocelynlin6044]

Omg which video, I really want to watch cuz I’m from fujian

[@ljwljw21]

Shinning biscuit is a lame translation. As the guy himself mentioned the name is tributed to General Qi Ji Guang, the general's biscuit is more like it

[@anhw3303]

The word guang is more likely known by today’s generation as shiny since it’s the same word and the bread does have a shiny surface.

[@gabriellel1118]

@@anhw3303 光 is more like light, I was thinking light biscuit? But it sounds weird.

[@MrBoliao98]

This one definitely must be some Fuzhou thing, never heard of such a bun in Malaysia or Singapore.

[@buibuiopolismayor7329]

It’s popular in sibu sarawak cuz there is a large population of Fuzhou people there.

[@MrBoliao98]

@@buibuiopolismayor7329 hmmmmmmmm, guess it's just something only hockchew ppl like.

[@maggiejetson7904]

It is from Fuzhou

[@rl9056]

Grew up eating this in sibu, only a few traditional makers left sadly. We used to freeze them and bring em to sg or aus for relatives. Tho ours don't look like this tho, ours always have sesame seeds, the plain ones are usually soft one filled with butter sugar mixture.

[@parameswarar2]

Which part of Malaysia are you from?

[@FredFox985]

....by bagels do you mean TUBBY TOAST???

[@zzzzzz3006]

They look like gold coins 😊

[@Yeepride987]

I'm just expecting Joey, Connor, and Gig to just pop out of nowhere

[@fsdds1488]

But why would the bois pop out????? Because of the wild taxi driver?

[@warrenleezy]

I got the new dating app: Gu Fei Meets Bagel. 😆

[@TheAlan11223]

Selling one bagel in NY is equivalent to almost 10 guangbings....

[@CarlosRodriguez-dd4sb]

Baba made me smile.

[@twinspak]

Am I the only one that noticed his nails?

[@trefader32]

So basically, Imperial China did not invent bagels. These are just bagel-shaped, Chinese breads. Actual bagels have to be boiled , then baked(its chemistry).

[@johnnyzhao7698]

I'm too lazy to learn and to pass down my mom original mooncake making.

[@rachelcheah9551]

you boil bagels?!

[@bonitajoymojica]

Lye...?

[@kylin3197]

protect the culture!! given how Taiwan has lots of Fujian folks wonder if they have 光餅 there too

[@kylin3197]

@amannisa oigur China is big and diverse. That's why Chongqing hot pot is not a traditional Shanghai dish. If you watched the vid, you'll learn that Qi Jiguang invented it in Fujian in 1563, more than 400 years ago. And Chinese refers to all the ethnicities e.g. Han, Uyghur, Tibetan, Mongol, Manchu (5 Colored Flag of the ROC! 🇹🇼) not just Han. Tho I certainly do wish that CCP regime treated the other ethnicities much better along with the Han

[@user-wu6xl4wq5q]

Okay boomer.

[@xmb6793]

@@kylin3197 minority in china enjoy priviledge by the government.

[@rsw114]

Wow

[@susansong963]

nice

[@spacecadet2314]

Salute

[@CycocelVocalist]

the Goku of guanbing

[@teebo5298]

This guy go see a ripper doc ? His hands are a scale/ measure machine

[@minhthuvu2067]

He is really confident, i'm waiting for liziqy beat him

[@tuoli9118]

这是光饼，传说是戚继光将军做军粮用的。。。

[@Surstromming22]

It's sad but some crafts are meant to die off. Machines and automation should rightfully take his place, especially if the economics of this craft is not sustainable.

[@krazykrush]

Nails are kinda sus though. Maybe adds special umami flavor?

[@aryanhan506]

Eewwee....I only saw his thumb nails which can gv some protection....come in handy when peeling or scraping, of coz, must keep clean. Even my ex domestic helper also insists keeping her thumb nails, to peel prawns.....Slowly, I get used to it, cannot be too fussy...haha

[@joyjoyoo]

China has 5000 years of history, we made everything.......lol

[@Kar90great]

Yep chinese have made up everything lmfao

[@seongho37]

wait. bagels are boiled?

[@anoobiscooking1193]

Tht bagel saved ppl...

[@kaniphish]

bakel.

[@dmanzawsome]

Owner: ITS UNBELIEVABLY SPECIAL AND COMPLICATED, takes years to learn Process: 1.Make dough 2.Roll into cylinder 3.Poke hole in middle 4.put in oven 5.splash with water Don't every show this man a Recipie Book He would have a heart attack from all the steps. but after the 3000 years it takes him to learn to bake a cake it will be the most perfect cake in the history of cakes.

[@youtube-youcool]

DO you mind to share the recipies?

[@dafrasier1]

Hard tack. If you are dying in a desert you are forced to eat Boiled bread.

[@gizroc]

This recipe almost got forgotten during the cultural revolution. Modern chinese civilization is only 70 years old. Everything almost got erased. Because of Mao.

[@vuivui4273]

They aren't bagel. They are Chinese shiny biscuit. They aren't bread.

[@Zefram0911]

the bagels at dunkin donuts are just as good. I've tried both.

[@rebeccaspratling2865]

That can't be true lol. The bagels I make are a hundred times better than the ones at dunkin donuts and mine are just a basic bagel dough recipe. This guy's bagels is a whole process and includes fermenting the dough overnight. You're trolling, gotta be. 😂

[@Moss_piglets]

Nothing beats NYC bagels.

[@Zefram0911]

@amannisa oigur I lived in Guangdong 400 years ago. You have no idea what you're talking about.

[@greenrolaids]

is china made bagel 400 old years?

[@tanhtran8192]

👍

[@LLeoLopes]

Guy is the Trump of guangbing...

[@Nearnface]

wowowowoowowow

[@LKSLKSLKSLKS]

That's not a bagel