煎饼 Jian Bing

Jian Bing or Chinese Egg Crepe originated in Tian jing, a city famous for their snacks
, not far from Beijing. These were among our favourite grab and go breakfast. There were street vendors selling all sorts of delicious breakfasts just a couple blocks from our house and so much cheaper and healthier than McDonald's. My husband and I did these together and we have been experimenting for about 6 months.
We took a long break for moving, having a baby, adjusting and lots of summer fun. But it took quite a bit of practice and experimenting to get the crepe to spread out thin and even and get the portions just right of the three flours. I have given you all the tips that we learned to help out but don't get discouraged if your first couple aren't so pretty.

Jian Bing Batter
3/4 cup white flour or wheat flour
3 Tbsp. soy flour
1.5 Tbsp. adzuki bean flour
Add water mixing well until you have a thin batter (about 1.5 cups) that is the consistency of heavy cream of syrup.

Toppings
egg
chopped green onion
chopped cilantro
black sesame seeds
salt
sweet bean paste
chili paste (optional)
Crispy thing

How to make The Crispy Thing

Ahh the crispy thing, looks so complicated but so so easy to make. Just buy wonton wrappers, needs to be thin so wonton is a must, at your local grocery and deep fry until golden and covered in little bubbles. 

Roll out the wonton skins until they are rectangle in shape like so. 

Turn the heat to the highest it can go. Preheat your oil. Fry wonton skins by holding it with chopsticks or tongs and then dipping it in and out of the oil till golden brown and covered in bubbles. This takes practice to get these right and they sometimes still decide they don't want to puff up so just keep trying til you get it right.You can also omit the crispy thing all together and replace it with meat and lettuce, I have never tried this version but from what I have learned this is a popular snack all over china and the variations are endless.

Instructions for Jian Bing:

To begin: Heat a large cast iron frying pan over medium heat for electric, medium low for gas. Let it heat for 5-10 minutes. Lightly grease the pan with oil. Grease your spreading tool. I find a fondant roller to work well, a spatula would work as well. Pour 2 ladels of batter into the pan and spread it out thinly using light pressure. The combination of a grease spreading tool and light pressure are necessary for your success. The amount you use will depend on the size of your pan so you will have to experiment with it.
Crack an egg over top and spread it out over the batter then sprinkle sesame seeds, green onions and cilantro and salt.

Once the jian bing is crispy on the bottom, flip it over, spread with sweet bean paste and chili paste and place a crispy thing in the middle.

Fold both sides over the crispy thing or your choice of filling, the fold again length wise.

There you have it. Delicious Jian Bing.

Tweet