Zhīma Jiàng Shāobing (芝麻酱烧饼) is the sesame-paste-filled reading of the baked sesame flatbread: a layered, sesame-crusted shāobing whose internal sheets are spread with thick sesame paste, zhīmajiàng, so the bread carries a savory, nutty seam through its flaky structure. The angle is the paste worked into the lamination rather than spooned on after. Folding sesame paste into the layers means the richness and the toasted sesame note run all the way through the round instead of sitting in a pocket, and the bread has to stay flaky despite the fat the paste adds.
The craft is in laminating with the paste and getting the bake right. A wheat dough is rolled thin and brushed not only with an oil-and-flour roux but with a layer of loosened sesame paste, often seasoned with a little salt and sometimes spice, then folded and rolled through several turns so the paste is distributed into many thin internal sheets. The round or rectangle is shaped, the top wetted and pressed firmly into sesame seeds, and it is baked against a hot oven wall or griddled and finished covered until the crust crisps and the layers set. Done well the zhīma jiàng shāobing has a thin crisp sesame shell, an interior of fine flaky sheets veined with savory paste, and a deep roasted-sesame aroma carried through every bite without the crumb turning greasy or solid. Done poorly the failure modes are specific: too much paste laid on too thick weighs the layers down so it bakes dense instead of flaky; under-baked and the paste-rich center stays gummy and slick; over-baked and the fat scorches and the round dries into a bitter, hard crumble; uneven spreading leaves dry plain layers next to oily ones.
It shifts by how heavily the paste is laid in, by seasoning, and by shape. A light spread keeps it close to a plain layered shāobing with a sesame accent; a heavy one runs richer and softer, eaten almost as a savory pastry; some kitchens season the paste with five-spice or salt-pepper, others keep it pure sesame, and a few fold in sugar to push it sweet. The plain split-and-fill sesame round, the egg-stuffed form, the pork-tenderloin form, and the meat-baked-in ròu shāobing each run on a different filling logic and deserve their own article rather than being crowded in here. What holds zhīma jiàng shāobing together is the paste in the layers: a sesame-crusted flatbread laminated with zhīmajiàng so a nutty, savory seam runs through a crisp, flaky round.