The first mistake most people make trying regag bread at home is treating it as a dough. They knead it, leave it to prove, then reach for a rolling pin to roll it thin. The result is a thick piece, or a torn one.
Regag is not a dough at all. It is a runny batter, closer to crepe consistency, and it is not rolled but swept by hand onto a hot surface.
The consistency is everything
The usual ratio: two cups of flour to two cups of water, so roughly as much water as flour. With it, a teaspoon of yeast, a tablespoon of brown sugar and a little salt.
Mix the sugar and yeast into warm water first, then pour onto the flour and stir gently, cover and leave for an hour.
And the rule that rescues the attempt: the batter should be neither watery nor stiff. If it comes out heavy, add water; if it comes out thin, add flour. That calibration is done by eye rather than by cup, because flour itself differs from one type to another.
The griddle and the hot surface
Heat the surface on a medium flame, not a high one. Then take a measure of the batter and sweep it across the surface with your hand or a wide scraper in one quick movement.
And here is the real cause of tearing: hesitation. One quick sweep gives a continuous sheet; repeated sweeping over a batter that has started to set rips it.
And regag is not flipped to cook on both sides in the traditional method. It cooks on one side until its edges dry and lift.
The filling
The filling goes onto the sheet while it is still on the heat: beaten egg with salt and black pepper, and cream cheese over it. Then it is folded in half twice into a triangle.
The sweet version swaps the egg and cheese for honey, date syrup or chocolate.
And the whole thing takes no more than five minutes for a single piece with its filling. Regag is fast food by nature, which is why it became the bread of breakfast and of the family gathering.
A note on the name
The name comes from raqeeq, meaning thin. It is a shared Gulf bread, known in the Emirates and Al-Ahsa by roughly the same name. And the quantities given here come from recipes for this bread across the Gulf generally, not from a specifically Kuwaiti measure.
Photo: a woman baking on a griddle — from the Solange Ory collection via Wikimedia Commons, open licence. The photo is from Syria and illustrates griddle baking rather than Gulf regag specifically.
Further reading: a regag bread recipe and its quantities · Bread Between Us on regag and its role
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