With gourmet versions flourishing overseas, Sun Jiahui goes in search of the authentic jianbing
It grew up on the street, before heading to the big city and making a name for itself; now it’s here, there and everywhere—Beijing, London, San Francisco, New York. Jianbing (煎饼) is the humble immigrant with multiple personalities, the lowly snack that, somewhere along the way, became gourmet grub at places like Manhattan’s Mr. Bing, or Mei Mei’s Cart in London.
In March, The New York Times reported on local attempts to make the jianbing as “familiar and essential a part of the city’s food scene as tacos and falafel.” Carts offering varieties of jianbing from between 3.5 and 15 USD can be found in Flushing, Queens (long flush with Chinese immigrants), Kips Bay, Brooklyn, and Midtown East. Hipster varieties of jianbing have been spotted as far afield as Seattle and Portland.
Hailing from north China, jianbing is a crepe made with batter and eggs, typically topped with cilantro, scallions, and a sweet sauce made of bean paste, often with the addition of a deep-fried crunchy wafer (baocui, 薄脆). It’s usually sold on the streets as breakfast and eaten on the go.
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The Bing Dynasty (Login-walled) is a story from our issue, “Wheel Life China.” To read the entire issue, become a subscriber and receive the full magazine.
Sun Jiahui is a freelance writer and former editor at The World of Chinese. She writes about Chinese language, society and culture, and is especially passionate about sharing stories of China's ancient past with a wider audience. She has been writing for TWOC for over six years, and pens the Choice Chengyu column.
