Jianbing 煎餅 Chinese Breakfast Crepes

Jianbing 煎餅 Chinese Breakfast Crepes

Jianbing is one of China's most popular street breakfasts. The best way to describe it is as a savory, crispy crepe.

The base of this street food is a flour crepe with egg spread over the surface as it cooks. Beyond that, the build differs from region to region and from vendor to vendor. Some use fried wontons rather than youtiao (Chinese cruller), others offer fillings like shredded carrots, grated radish or chicken.

The one similarity that all the jianbing share is the wait. There is always a line for jianbing. They are never cooked ahead of time, rather cooked to order to ensure that first bite crispness.

Here's a simple recipe for jianbing, fill it with whatever you have on hand. No youtiao? Add some wonton crackers. Want to make it more substantial? Roll in some Chinese sausage, bacon or ham and top it with some leafy greens.

Batter Ingredients:
1 cups of all-purpose flour
¾ cup of milk
½ cup of water
1 tbsp of oil

Sauce Ingredients:
4 small green onions
½ cup of chili garlic sauce
½ cup of hoisin sauce

Additional fillings:
Eggs
Youtiao or Chinese Crullers

Directions:

1. Make crepe batter - mix together flour, milk, water and oil until smooth. Set aside until ready to use.

2. Heat up some oil in a small frying pan. Fry green onions until fragrant. Add chili garlic sauce and hoisin sauce. Let simmer for about 1 minutes. Set aside until ready to use.

3. Heat a large nonstick skillet or oiled skillet to medium high. Pour about ¼ to ½ cup of crepe batter to the pan and spread into a thin layer. Cook for about 30 seconds.

4. Pour a beaten egg onto the top of the crepe. Spread the egg evenly. Cook for about 1 minute or until the bottom and edges start browning, then flip over. Cook until the egg just set and flip over so the egg side is up again.

5. Spread a heaping spoonful of the green onion sauce on top of the egg. Sprinkle on a few more chopped scallions. Place a youtiao (Chinese Cruller) on the edge of the crepe. Roll the crepe around the youtiao. Use your spatula to flatten and continue to fry for another minute.

6. Serve warm and enjoy!

Notes:

If you can’t find youtiao or Chinese cruller, you can omit. Other fillings include pork sung (shredded pork floss), preserved vegetables, Chinese breakfast crackers, Chinese sausage, even bacon.

Jianbing is usually eaten like a burrito, on-the-go. Wrap the rolled crepe in a paper towels or parchment paper for easy handling and you’re good to go.


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