History

Regag is baked by trailing a loose batter across a saj, the convex iron dome heated over gas or coals, so the sheet dries in seconds into something closer to a crisp than a bread. It was the working bread of the coast, cheap and fast, and the fillings record what was to hand: cream cheese and egg, or mehyawa, the fermented anchovy sauce that Emirati and Bastaki households brought from the Persian side of the Gulf. Dubai's regag counters cluster on Jumeirah Road and in Satwa, often beside a karak window, and the standard pairing of a regag roll with a sweet cup of tea has outlasted every restaurant trend in the city.

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Common allergens: Gluten, Egg, Milk, Fish

Make it at home

Yield Makes 6Hands-on 25 minTotal 35 minDifficulty Intermediate

Ingredients

  • 200g plain flour
  • Half teaspoon salt
  • 450ml water
  • Neutral oil for wiping the pan
  • Cream cheese, 2 eggs and mehyawa or anchovy paste thinned with lemon, to fill

Method

  1. Whisk the flour, salt and water to a batter the consistency of single cream. Rest 10 minutes and whisk again.
  2. Heat a large flat or slightly domed pan over medium high heat and wipe it with the barest film of oil.
  3. Dip your fingers in the batter and streak it across the hot surface in fast overlapping lines, working from the centre out, until you have a thin lacy round about 25cm across.
  4. Cook 60 to 90 seconds without turning. The edges will lift and the sheet will go from matt to crisp.
  5. Spread cream cheese over the hot bread, break an egg onto it and smear it flat with the back of a spoon so it sets in the residual heat, then add a few drops of mehyawa.
  6. Fold into quarters or roll into a cone and eat immediately.

Tip from the editors. A sheet that tears as you lift it is too thick, not too thin. Add water 50ml at a time until the batter runs off your fingers freely.

Where to eat khubz regag

Khubz regag in Dubai

Al Khayma Heritage Restaurant & Cafe ★ 4.3

$$ EmiratiAl Fahidi

Al Khayma Heritage Restaurant & Cafe seats diners under a tree in a covered courtyard in Al Fahidi, a Bib Gourmand kitchen cooking rustic Emirati food.

OrderMachboos rice with dango chickpea soup and a plate of luqaimat.

TipBread is baked in view of the courtyard tables, and live music plays in the evening.

Directions

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