hello hi everyone! Wesley here. Today we’re diving back into our series on Bay Area restaurant hacks with a shot at the Chinese Jian Bing, inspired by the version found at Tian Jin dumplings here in Oakland, CA. For those not familiar, a Jian Bing is a Chinese street food classic that is colloquially referred to here in the states as a “Chinese Crepe,” which as you’ll come to find, is a pretty accurate description. It is made with a loose flour based crepe batter which is then coated in egg, and finally folded over a Chinese fried donut “youtiao,“ or as I’ve always called them, oil sticks (which is their direct translation).
For today’s version we’ll be going with some store bought youtiao which you can generally find in the freezer section of most Chinese markets, but we’ll certainly tackle this bit soon too. Hope you try it.
Yields 4
INGREDIENTS
3/4 cup AP flour
1 1/4 cup water
4 eggs
4 green onions
4 frozen Chinese donuts (youtiao)
sesame seed
kosher salt
peanut oil
INGREDIENTS (sauce)
2 tbsp doubanjiang
1 tbsp lao gan ma
2 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
PREP
SLICE the green onions thinly, set aside
COMBINE the flour, water, and a pinch of kosher salt until a smooth batter forms, set aside
WHISK the eggs, set aside
COMBINE all sauce ingredients, set aside
ON THE STOVE
HEAT a non-stick skillet on medium low heat, then coat the pan in 2 tbsp of peanut oil
ADD 1/2 cup of the batter to the skillet and rotate to coat the surface, then let set for 1 minute
ADD 1 whisked egg on top of the batter, then let set for an additional 1 minute
RELEASE the crepe using a spatula, then flip onto a large plate
ADD the crepe back to the skillet egg-side down, then coat the surface with sauce and green onions
PLACE half of one Chinese donut in the center of the crepe, then fold the crepe around the donut
FINISH with sesame seeds