Shuiqi Baba (Steamed Tibetan Flatbread)

Shuiqi baba is a steamed bread of the Yunnan Tibetan area, made from wheat or barley flour kneaded with water, proved, divided into pieces and cooked through by steam—hence the name "shuiqi," steam. The finished bread is soft and puffy with a smooth skin and a faint fermented grain-fragrance, a common street and household snack of Shangri-La.

Shuiqi baba comes from the Diqing Tibetan area of Yunnan, blending Tibetan bread-making with the plateau habit of steaming; with the low air pressure of the highland making boiling difficult, cooking by steam is well suited, and the bread became a local speciality.

Eaten warm from the steamer, it accompanies butter tea, Tibetan yoghurt or yak dishes; street stalls often cut it into pieces to dip in butter or sugar, taken as a breakfast or tea-time treat.

Its steam-cooked method, the soft puffy texture and the faint fermented grain-fragrance are what set shuiqi baba apart from griddle-baked flatbreads.