Jianbing
A street breakfast from northern China — Tianjin and Beijing — sold from carts from dawn and assembled in front of you in a minute or two. The traditional batter is made with mung bean flour, often with millet or wheat; at home a mix of wheat and buckwheat flour stands in well, giving a similar greyish colour and a distinctly grainy flavour. The crucial element, though, is baocui — a crisp fried sheet folded inside. It creates the contrast without which jianbing would be simply a pancake with an egg on it.
Your own work in that: 0 min.
- Batter 20 min
- Sauces 5 min
- Cooking 25 min
Step by step
0 / 8 doneWhisk a thin batter and rest it
Whisk both flours with the cornflour, salt, egg and water into a very thin batter, the consistency of pouring cream, and rest 20 minutes. Thin, because the crepe must be paper-thin — a thick batter gives a pancake, not a jianbing.
Ingredients: 70 g plain flour · 40 g buckwheat flour · 20 g cornflour · 260 ml water · 1 pcs egg · ½ tsp salt
Mix two sauces
Whisk the bean paste with the soy sauce and sugar until smooth — that is the savoury sauce. Separately mix the chilli oil with the sesame oil. Chop the spring onions and coriander. Two sauces, not one: at street stalls the vendor usually asks whether you want it spicy.
Ingredients: 3 tbsp sweet bean paste · 1 tbsp soy sauce · 1 tsp sugar · 2 tbsp chilli oil · 1 tsp sesame oil
Heat a flat pan to medium
Heat a large flat pan over medium heat, not high, and wipe it with oiled paper. Too hot a pan sets the batter before you can spread it — and you have about ten seconds.
Ingredients: 4 pcs eggs · 2 tbsp sesame seeds · ½ bunch coriander · 4 pcs spring onions · 4 pcs crackers · 60 g pickled mustard greens · 2 tbsp oil
Spread the batter thin
Pour in about 100 ml of batter (a small ladleful) and spread it with a fast circular motion — with a wooden scraper, the base of the ladle, or by tilting the pan. The crepe should be about 25 cm across and thin enough to see light through.
Ingredients: 70 g plain flour · 40 g buckwheat flour · 20 g cornflour · 260 ml water · 1 pcs egg · ½ tsp salt
A circular motion from the centre — about ten seconds.Crack an egg and spread it over
Once the batter sets (after about 30 seconds), crack an egg straight onto the crepe and spread it across the whole surface with the scraper. Scatter with sesame, spring onion and coriander and press lightly so they stick to the still-liquid egg. Cook for about 1–2 minutes, until the egg is almost set.
Ingredients: 4 pcs eggs · 2 tbsp sesame seeds · ½ bunch coriander · 4 pcs spring onions · 4 pcs crackers · 60 g pickled mustard greens · 2 tbsp oil
Egg spread over the whole surface, not left in a pool.Flip and brush with the sauces
Flip the crepe egg side down once the egg sets, and brush the top with the bean-paste sauce and chilli oil. Flip only once — the second side needs seconds, and cooked longer the crepe turns brittle and cracks as you fold it.
Ingredients: 3 tbsp sweet bean paste · 1 tbsp soy sauce · 1 tsp sugar · 2 tbsp chilli oil · 1 tsp sesame oil
Add the cracker and fold in four
Lay a large crisp cracker in the centre, add the pickled greens and fold the crepe in four, bringing the sides to the middle. Put the cracker in whole — it will crack as you fold, but it should stay in large crisp pieces, not crumbs.
Ingredients: 4 pcs eggs · 2 tbsp sesame seeds · ½ bunch coriander · 4 pcs spring onions · 4 pcs crackers · 60 g pickled mustard greens · 2 tbsp oil
Cracker in one piece, crepe folded into four.Serve at once, cut in half
Cut in half and serve immediately, in paper, then make the remaining crepes the same way (four take about 20–25 minutes in all). Jianbing is eaten at once: the cracker inside softens from the steam within a few minutes and loses its crunch.
Ingredients: 4 pcs eggs · 2 tbsp sesame seeds · ½ bunch coriander · 4 pcs spring onions · 4 pcs crackers · 60 g pickled mustard greens · 2 tbsp oil
Before you start
What replaces baocui
The original baocui is a thin, deep-fried sheet of wheat dough — closest to a fried wonton wrapper. Substitutes: a large thin rice cracker, a fried wonton wrapper, or a crisp tortilla. One condition — it must be very crisp and unsweetened.
Mung bean flour
The classic batter includes mung bean flour, sold at Asian grocers. Buckwheat gives a similar greyish colour and grainy flavour and is easier to find. Plain wheat works too, but the crepe comes out more neutral.
The batter can be made a day ahead
Keep the batter refrigerated for up to 24 hours — it is better for standing, as the flour fully hydrates. Whisk before use: the starch settles, and the first crepe otherwise comes out unlike the rest.
