Jian Bing
A savory Chinese breakfast item akin to crêpes. Stuffed with crunchy crackers, fresh salad, and more!
Servings: 4 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!