Baba Flatbread

Baba is a broad term in Yunnan for various flatbreads made from wheat flour, rice flour or a combination, cooked on a dry iron griddle until golden and slightly puffed. In the Bai minority areas around Dali, a prominent version is the Bai baba — a thick, layered wheat bread similar to a scallion pancake but without the onion, eaten at breakfast with sweet or salty fillings including goat's cheese (rubing), cured ham and fermented bean paste. In Naxi areas around Lijiang, a thinner rice-flour version is common. The shared thread is the flatbread format, cooked at market stalls from early morning and sold fresh and hot. Tourist areas in Yunnan often sell stuffed baba with Yunnan ham and chilli as a street food. The flatbread is eaten at any hour as a snack or meal replacement.