A savory Chinese breakfast item akin to crêpes. Stuffed with crunchy crackers, fresh salad, and more!
Oh, crêpe!
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A bit of lore
I don’t usually talk about anything other than the recipe in these posts, but I’m making an exception today if you’ll indulge me for just a minute. A few years ago, I brought homemade jian bing to a friend’s wedding buffet here in Germany, and none of the other guests had heard of it before. They enjoyed it a lot, however, and one even asked me for the recipe. I showed him the one I had followed, but kept going on about tweaks based on my own learnings. At the time, I had a private blog just for myself, in order to preserve and improve recipes I enjoyed. This interaction, as well as the overall delight of some guests at a taste that was new to them, would end up being a big motivator for the creation of Hideout Recipes. Beyond delivering new tastes, food is a powerful vessel for cultural exchange, and I liked the idea of contributing to it by (for now) focusing on East Asian dishes while running a blog out of Central Europe.
Trust your buds
There are many variations of this recipe out there, and this is a pretty classic one. I did opt for all-purpose flour because it’s more widely available than the traditional mung bean flour, and the sauces used aren’t necessarily the most widespread combination. It is often a mix of two sauces, and I like the doubanjiang / tian mian jiang combo in particular, but you will find many alternatives out there if you want to go for something else.
When it comes to the fillings, again, this vegetarian variation is a pretty classic one. You can add whatever you like, sausage or ham being popular additions.
Wonton disregard
As for the “crackers” on the inside, I went with deep-fried wonton wrappers because they appear to be a commonly used substitute for the traditional choice of bao cui, a type of cracker I have never seen in any store I’ve been to. If you can get your hands on those, you can skip the most time-consuming step of frying all the wonton wrappers. Luckily, this can be done in advance as they stay crispy even overnight if stored separately in the fridge.
Do not skip cutting into the wonton wrappers, as the cuts prevent large bubbles from forming in the deep-frying process. If you are unsure about where to cut, you can see one of the slices in the fried cracker on top of the stack in the picture. There is a another equally sized one on the opposite side, but it’s less visible.
Oh, crêpe!
Jian bing is often dubbed “Chinese crêpe” (even though it’s the much older of the two), so if you have a crêpe maker at home, it’s a perfect match. However, I can attest that it works almost as well in a non-stick pan on a stovetop.
Thanks to my crêpe maker, I was able to document the exact steps below. You can see what ingredient goes on which side, and how to fold it in the end in case the text isn’t clear enough. It can be confusing that, in fact, the toppings (egg, scallions, sesame seeds) go on the outside, then you flip it just once, and add the fillings on the other side.
Even though it’s traditionally a breakfast item, I can easily recommend jian bing as a mid-sized snack at any time of day. If you want to make it a full meal, you should make two per person.
Jian Bing
Equipment
- 1 food thermometer for the oil
Ingredients
For the dough
- 90 g all-purpose flour
- 50 g whole wheat flour
- 380 ml water
For the crackers
- 16 wonton wrappers ready-made, frozen
- 200 ml neutral cooking oil
Toppings & fillings
- 4 eggs medium to large
- 1.5 tsp black sesame seeds
- 2 stalks green onions
- 4 tsp ready-made doubanjiang aka toban djan
- 4 tsp ready-made tian mian jiang aka sweet bean sauce
- 8 lettuce leaves
- 2 tbsp cilantro leaves optional
Instructions
Deep-fry the wonton wrappers
- Defrost your wonton wrappers a few hours ahead of time so they can be easily separated when you start cooking.
- Separate 16 wrappers from the stack in pairs of 2, so you have 8 pairs of stuck-together wrappers.
- Cut two long lines about a third of the way from (and parallel to) the sides, about half the length of the wrappers.
- Heat up the neutral oil in a small pan or saucepan. It should be at least 1 cm deep.
- When it reaches 180°, try to keep it between 175° and 185° from here on out.
- Deep-fry each pair of crackers for 1 minute from each side, for 2 minutes total. They should turn out golden brown and crispy (see picture).
- Shake off excess oil and set aside on paper towels.
Make the batter
- Add the two types of flour to a medium bowl or measuring jug.
- Add the water and mix thoroughly.
Prepare fillings & toppings
- Briefly toast the black sesame seeds in a dry pan until fragrant.
- Thinly slice the green onions.
- Wash the lettuce leaves, halve them and discard any hard stems.
- Wash the cilantro and (if you prefer) pluck the leaves, discarding the stems.
Outside & toppings
- Put a medium-sized non-stick pan over medium heat and apply a very thin film of neutral oil (e.g. by wiping it with a paper towel).Note: If you have a crêpe maker as seen in the pictures, that's even better!
- Pour one serving of the batter (about 130g / 110 ml) into the pan and quickly distribute evenly across the surface by twisting the pan.
- Once there is no more runny batter on top, crack an egg on it.
- Using a spoon, break the yolk and distribute the egg on the surface.
- Immediately sprinkle with some scallions and sesame seeds. Make sure to do this while the egg is still runny, so the toppings stick to it.
- Flip the pancake onto the other side in the pan and turn off the heat.Note: The egg and toppings are facing down now (and will be on the outside of the jian bing), whereas the fillings coming up go on top (and will be on the inside).
Inside & fillings
- Brush 0.75 tsp of doubanjiang and 0.75 of tian mian jiang on the surface.
- Add two halves of a lettuce leaf.
- Sprinkle about 0.5 tbsp of cilantro if using.
- Add two of the deep-fried wonton pairs in a line.
- Fold up the sides of the jian bing over the crackers, then fold once more in the middle so that one cracker is in each half. See the picture gallery for a visual guide.
- Serve immediately. The fresher, the better!
