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 ATianjin-stylejianbing guozi | |
| Type | Bing |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | China |
| Region or state | Shandong andTianjin |
| Associatedcuisine | Chinese cuisine |
| Main ingredients | Wheat |
| Ingredients generally used | Eggs |
| Jianbing | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 煎餅 | ||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 煎饼 | ||||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | fried pancake | ||||||||||||||||
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Jianbing (simplified Chinese:煎饼;traditional Chinese:煎餅;pinyin:jiānbǐng;lit. 'pan-fried bing') is a traditional Chinesestreet food similar tocrêpes. It is a type ofbing generally eaten for breakfast and hailed as "one of China's most popular street breakfasts."[1][2][3] The main ingredients ofjianbing are abatter ofwheat andgrain flour,eggs andsauces,[3] cooked quickly by spreading the batter on a largefrying pan or a specialized flathotplate. It can be topped with different fillings and sauces such as Oil stick,baocui (薄脆, thin and crispy fried cracker), ham, chopped or dicedmustard pickles,scallions andcoriander,chili sauce, orhoisin sauce depending on personal preference. It is often folded several times before serving.
Jianbing has seen international popularization in recent years and can be found in the West, sometimes with modifications to cater to local tastes.[4][5]
Jianbing originated innorthern China, wherewheat- andbroomcorn-basedflatbreads,pancakes andpies (collectively calledbing) are common asstaple foods. Its history can be traced back 2,000 years toShandong province during theThree Kingdoms period (AD 220–280). According to legend, ChancellorZhuge Liang encountered the problem of feeding his soldiers after they lost theirwoks. He ordered the cooks to mix water with wheat flour to make batter, then spread it onshields, or flat coppergriddles over a flame.[6] The dish raised the soldiers' morale and helped them win the battle. After that, jianbing was passed down through generations in Shandong province and gradually spread to different parts of China.[7]The raw materials used in ancient pancakes should be millet, and millet cereal pancakes are one of the common foods of the ancient northerners. In ancient times, pancakes were made usinggriddles (Chinese:鏊;pinyin:ào).[8] Archaeological finds have been discovered in ancient times, except for the prehistoric pottery figurines dating back more than 5,000 years, as well as the iron shovel and bronze gongs belonging toLiao,Song,Jin,Western Xia andYuan dynasty.Yangshao people have created pottery figurines and the like. The cooking utensils, which were later unearthed in various eras, also found a number of murals of pancakes from different eras, revealing the true existence of pancakes in history.
One of the most popular street breakfasts in China,[1][9] jianbing can be easily found in many cities. The characteristics of jianbing account for its popularity in China and the West.
First, jianbing is never "pre-cooked". In order to preserve its crispness, customers have to wait for their turn, which often results in a queue,[2] although the preparation time is short. Part of the attraction is that customers can watch the raw ingredients come together to form the dish.[5]
Jianbing can satisfy different people's tastes as it can be made with many different ingredients and mixed with different sauces, jams and flavors in different proportions.[10] According to the vendors outsideEast China Normal University, though some customers like spicy flavors and some do not likecilantro, they can create their own jianbing.[11]
The low cost of jianbing is also one of the reasons for its popularity, as the basic ingredients are themselves inexpensive.[10]
Additionally, jianbing is a type ofbing that has rich nutrient values.[3] It contains abundant nutrients as it can be made ofsoybeans,mung beans,black beans,lettuce,peanuts and eggs.
The traditional jianbing originated inShandong and flourished inTianjin.[10] Jianbing is basically made of flour and eggs with different fillings and sauces. As there are many variations depending on tastes and preferences in different regions, many cities have their own versions of jianbing. Shandong-style jianbing and Tianjin-style jianbing are the two most common versions of jianbing in China.[3]
Jianbing from Shandong province tastes crispy and harder as its batter is formed from the flour mixture that mainly contains coarse grains such ascorn,sorghum andmillet.[12] In the old days, people had Shandong-style jianbing mainly by rolling it with scallions or serving it with meat soup.[13] Nowadays, the variety of fillings are richer and differ according to one's preference, for example,sweet potatoes,lettuce andpork are also used as fillings.
Jianbing from Tianjin is a transformation of thejianbing originated in Shandong. It is also calledjianbing guozi[3] andguozi refers to itsyoutiao stuffing. Tianjin-stylejianbing tastes softer as its crepe is made ofmung bean flour, which contains lessgluten. Also, Tianjin-stylejianbingis topped withyoutiao (fried dough stick), while the Shandong-style one sold by street vendors is usually topped withbaocui (薄脆, crispy fried crackers).
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Jianbing is also served in theU.K.,U.S. andAustralia by Western vendors and young Chinese entrepreneurs.[14][15] In the U.S., it has become one of the newest food trends and gains high popularity among Americans and East Asian customers, particularly Chinese overseas students.[6] Western vendors were inspired to start jianbing business back home after first trying it in China.[16]
Apart from the traditional Chinese jianbing, some vendors in the U.S. offer various versions of it to cater to American customers' taste, such asvegetarian jianbing andgluten-free jianbing.[16] Culture-crossing fillings likebarbecue pulled pork,bacon,cheese,hot dogs, andSpam are additionally provided to let customers create their own customized jianbing.[16][17]
Besides, fillings of jianbing are diverse with new innovations. Tai Chi Jianbing from San Francisco carries fish floss jianbing, which is made with dried tuna.[18] Afood truck in New York called “The Flying Pig jianbing”[14] provides different filling options such asdried pork floss,pork belly andbamboo shoots. In another shop called Mr. Bing,[17] the crepe batter is made of millet flour,buckwheat flour andpurple rice. Many characterized jianbing are also shown. For example, the cha chaan bing withpeanut butter andcondensed milk, and thePeking duck bing[19] with theduck sauce,cucumber chunks and duck slices are introduced.
In the UK, street food stall Mei Mei's Street Cart brought jianbing into the London and UK street food scene back in 2012, taking their jianbing to London, Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield and Brighton and winning two awards. They sell the traditional jianbing alongside their 'London' jianbing with fillings such as fried chicken and char siu pork, to build on the traditional jianbing and make it a more substantial dish.[20][21]
