Jian Bing
Makes 6 medium pancakes
Jian Bing - I call it the holy grail of pancakes. During our time in Shanghai, I had this “dosai look-alike” for the first time at one of my trips to the local wet market. I had just started learning Putonghua and would often venture out to practice my language skills with the locals. One bite of this golden beauty and I was convinced this was going to be my favorite breakfast for life, even though my stomach never got used to the amount of La Jiao Jiang brushed on it. Thereafter, our wonderful driver Peter would bring me this spicy breakfast treat at least once a week. At the migrant village where he resided, hawker chefs from Shandong province dotted every street corner with their pitch black cast iron skillets sat on huge gas fires. Every morning, hundreds of crispy mung bean and wheat flour crepes were slathered with fresh eggs and black sesame on one side, and sweet-spicy sauce and herbs on the other. The icing on the cake was the savory, crispy pastry that these crepes were wrapped around; a burst of beautiful flavors and textures in every bite.
Took me three long years of craving it but I finally made it and I did it in style - presenting my sourdough discard “Jian Bing”. Luckily, I managed to find most ingredients at Fairprice Finest, and we devoured these golden beauties two days in a row. I have used sourdough discard in the recipe below which imparted a pleasant tang to the dish, but you can go the traditional way and use regular AP flour. Enjoy the recipe!
P.S. I shared a pancake with my Shanghainese neighbor and she said it took her back to her school days in China - that’s how good these turned out.
Ingredients
1/2 bag wanton wrappers, with 2-3 slashes on the pastry
vegetable or coconut oil, for deep-frying
1 piece fermented bean curd
1 tablespoon sweet bean paste or hoisin sauce
2 tablespoons chili broad bean paste
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2-1 teaspoon red chili flakes or chili sauce, to taste
2 tablespoons water
1 cup all purpose flour + 1 cup water OR 375g sourdough discard
1 cup mung bean flour
3/4 cup water (or more)
1/2 teaspoon Chinese five spice
1 teaspoon sea-salt, or more to taste
6 eggs
black sesame, to sprinkle
Chili sauce, optional
2 spring onions - greens finely chopped
1 bunch coriander, finely chopped
1 halved onion, for rubbing on cast iron pan
Oil, for brushing/spraying
Recipes
1. Using a a sharp knife, start by making a few slashes on wonton pastry to prevent the pastry from puffing up during frying. In a small saucepan, heat a few inches of vegetable or coconut oil on medium flame, until it reaches 190ºC or 375ºF. Reduce heat to low-medium, and fry slit wonton pastry (one at a time) for a couple of minutes, turning every few seconds, until golden brown. Set aside to drain and cool on a kitchen towel.
2. To make sauce, place fermented bean curd in a bowl and mash using the back of a spoon. Next, add sweet bean paste (or hoisin), chili broad bean paste, brown sugar, chili flakes and 2 tablespoons water. Stir well and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together all purpose flour + water (or sourdough discard), mung bean flour, chinese five spice, sea-salt and another 3/4 cup water. Whisk until smooth, and add more if necessary, to achieve a smooth spreadable consistency.
4. Chop spring onion and coriander leaves - set aside.
5. Heat a large non-stick skillet or cast iron pan on medium flame. Once hot, reduce heat to low, pour 1/2 cup (or less) batter in the center of the pan and spread in a smooth concentric motion (as shown in the video), until very thin like a crepe.
6. Crack an egg on the crepe and spread evenly all over, using the back of a spoon. Sprinkle black sesame all over. Spray lightly with oil. Let the crepe cook and crisp up for a few minutes, then flip.
7. Brush prepared sauce sparingly all over along with some chili sauce if you like, sprinkle spring onion greens and coriander all over.
8. Crack a couple of crispy wontons along the center, fold the sides in and over the crackers.
9. Cut into two using a sharp bench scraper and serve hot.
Note: To achieve a non-stick surface on your cast-iron pan, halve an onion and stick a fork through the skin on the outside, then rub the flat open end of the flesh all over the pan. Repeat the process as often as necessary.