Yufka is a thin, unleavened bread used in Turkish cuisine for sweet and savory dishes. It is made from wholemeal flour, salt, and hot water, rolled out with a thick rolling pin and finished with an oklava. It can be cooked on a griddle and used in dishes such as baklava and borek. It can be substituted with phyllo dough, which is similar but contains oil and white vinegar.
Yufka is a very thin, round bread that originated in Turkish cuisine. Bread is a staple in Turkish cuisine, and yufka features a simple recipe that doesn’t include leavening agents to make it rise. Layers of the flat dough are often included in various sweet and savory dishes to add a soft, flaky texture.
Like other unleavened bread, yufka contains only a few basic ingredients. Generally, unleavened bread is made from wholemeal flour and salt which is added to hot water to form a soft dough. After kneading, the dough can be covered with a damp cloth and allowed to rest for several minutes before rolling out.
Using a thick rolling pin with handles on both sides, the cook rolls out the bread to about 20cm wide. Then the dough is finished rolling with an oklava – a stick-shaped rolling pin without handles. In general, the dowel measures approximately 1 inch (less than 2 centimeters) in thickness and approximately 32 inches (80 centimeters) in length. The thinness of the baking utensil helps work the dough so that it achieves maximum thinness. Rolling is typically continued until the dough is at least 24 inches (60 centimeters) long.
Once prepared, unleavened bread can be cooked on a heated griddle for about two minutes per side. The dried dough can then be stacked and stored in large bundles and taken out as needed for various dishes. To rehydrate for use, the dough can be sprinkled with water.
Mediterranean pastry shows up in various dishes associated with traditional Turkish cuisine. One of its most popular uses in its pastry dishes such as baklava. The sweet pastry is traditionally made up of layers of yufka with each layer filled with chopped nuts, honey, and a cinnamon-spice filling. Another use of yufka is in borek, which are various Turkish filled sweets that are prepared by baking, frying or steaming. The pastries usually include various herbs and spices along with savory ingredients such as ground meat, vegetables and cheeses.
Although yufka contains only a few ingredients, it can be a bit laborious to prepare. Rolling out the dough can be a complicated process for someone not versed in the process. However, for making bread, some users prefer to buy ready-made yufka in supermarkets.
In some recipes, yufka can be substituted for phyllo dough, a bread that’s generally easier to find prepackaged in grocery stores. Also known as phyllo dough, the bread is also of Mediterranean origin. Like yufka, filo dough contains salt, hot water, and flour. The flour used, however, is usually all-purpose flour, bread flour, or plain flour. Also, the dough usually contains oil and white vinegar and tends to be slightly thinner.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
