Jian Bing – Chinese Pancakes

Cambridge has a fabulous food scene, and the market is no exception. I first tried Jian Bing one day as I cycled through town, stopping for a snack.

Traditionally, these are very simple with a chilli sauce, egg, spring onions, sesame, and some crackers wrapped in a thin pancake. They’re served as a street food breakfast dish.

A little research online will show people are putting in pulled pork, chicken, and I even had one with kimchi, Korean fermented cabbage. So let your mind go when you’re making these, and don’t just think they are for breakfast.

Method

To make the pancake mixture

1. Whisk together the flour and water. Leave for 30 minutes in the fridge.

To make the sweet chilli sauce

1. Mix together spicy bean sauce, tomato ketchup and honey.

For the wonton wrappers

1. Deep fry about 4 wonton wrappers per person at 180°C. 
2. Cook them until they are golden brown, this will be pretty quick. 

To make the Jian Bing

1. Setup your Egg for a direct cook at 160°C with a stainless grid and either a large cast-iron skillet or a cast-iron plancha (my preference). Allow these to heat up but don’t let them get too hot (>160°C).
2. Oil your plancha or pan lightly.
3. Whisk your batter mix and using a ladle, add some batter to the plancha. Use the crepe spreader to make your batter circular and thin.
4. Allow the pancake to cook for about 45 seconds until it firms.
5. Now crack an Egg over the pancake and spread it to the edges (breaking the yoke).
6. Once it has set, flip your pancake.
7. Using a basting brush, paint on your chilli sauce.
8. Sprinkle with your sliced spring onions, black sesame seeds and place your crispy wontons onto one half of the pancake. 
9. After a minute or two, fold over the pancake, cut it into two and serve. 

You could add pulled pork, chicken or even ham to these. Have an experiment.