Chinese Crepe (Jianbing 煎饼)- made with wonton wrappers

One of my favourite memories from my childhood is going to a street stall and getting a Chinese crepe. It’s big, savoury and very filling. It’s one of my favourite breakfast! If I go back to China and see one of the street stalls selling it I will definitely buy one!

What is Jianbing?

The most traditional Jianbing or Chinese crepe we know today has its origin in Tianjin. However there are other areas of China that also makes Jianbing. The ones made in Tianjin is usually with a milled green beans. Then an egg, green onions and black sesame seeds are added. The crepe is flipped, brushed with sauces. Usually you can add a Chinese donut or a thin crispy pancake in the middle. It’s folded and served hot. In other parts of China, the crepe batter could be a combination of grains. They are made plainly and meant for people to take home and make their own wraps. Some also get very fancy and they add sausages, lettuce etc so it’s more balanced.

Making Chinese Crepe (Jianbing) at home

I’ve always wanted to make Chinese crepe at home but could never get the batter correct. I recently discovered that there is an easier way to make Chinese crepe and far less frustrating. It’s using wonton wrappers. While it’s not the most traditional way of making the Chinese crepe but it’s still very delicious and takes the hassle away from making the batter. What makes wonton wrappers unique is that it’s already rolled very thin like a crepe so it’s easy to cook. In addition, I also made the crispy chips to go inside the crepe by air frying some wonton wrappers.

Ingredients

• 8-10 wonton wrappers (4-5 wonton wrappers per crepe)

Sauces

• 1 tbsp sweet bean sauce
• 2 tsp fermented tofu mixed with water (optional)
• 1 tbsp garlic chili sauce

Toppings

• 2-4 egg (1-2 eggs per crepe)
• 3-4 lettuce leaves ( roughly 1-2 lettuce leaves per crepe)
• 1 cooked sausage cut in half ( 1/2 sausage per crepe)
• 4-5 Wonton chips – 2-3 wonton chips per crepe.
• Chopped scallions
• Black sesame seeds

Substitution

Sweet barley/bean sauce can be substituted with hoisin sauce. Also if you don’t want to use wonton chips, used corn chips to give it an extra crunch. You can also add a Chinese donuts or youtiao into the crepe.

I would recommend if you can find it, try the fermented tofu. It’s soft and can be mixed with water to make a sauce. It has a salty but umami flavour. I love it and I sometimes put it on plain bread.

How to make Chinese crepes (Jianbing)

Prep

1. Place some wonton wrappers into the air fryer and fry for 5 minutes at 170^oC/ 340^oF
2. Wash the lettuce
3. Boil sausage/hot dog for 2-3 minutes
4. Take a piece of fermented tofu out, mash it up with a bit of water, set aside.
5. Put the rest of sauces into small bowl for easy assembly.

Making the chinese crepes

1. In a frying pan, add a bit of oil and wipe with paper towel
2. Place the wonton wrappers in a single layer
3. Crack an egg on top, break the yoke and spread it across the wonton wrappers
4. Sprinkle some chopped scallions, sesame seeds and cilantro.
5. Once the egg is half cooked, flip it.
6. Brush on the sweet bean sauce, fermented tofu, chili sauce.
7. Add wonton chips, lettuce and sausage. Let it heat up slightly.
8. Fold the sides of the crepe towards the center and fold the crepe in half.
9. Serve!

Pro-tip

• Use the white wonton wrappers, it’s usually bigger and made with mostly flour and water. The other types have eggs in it so it’s more yellow. I found that egg based wonton wrappers are a bit tough when cooked this way.
• Try to keep the heat on medium to medium low or else you might overcook the wonton wrappers
• Put a bit of oil and wipe the excess off, you don’t want to fry the wonton wrappers, just enough to keep it from sticking
• Ideally do this in a frying pan or crepe pan.
• When putting the egg on top of the wonton wrappers, quickly break the yolk and spread it across the wonton wrappers. It will cook faster