Northern · breakfast
Jianbing
煎饼 · Jiānbing
A griddle-cooked wheat-and-mung-bean crepe filled with egg, crispy wonton, hoisin sauce and chilli paste.
Jianbing is China's most popular street breakfast, made to order on a circular griddle in about two minutes. A batter of wheat flour and mung bean flour is spread thin on the hot surface, an egg is cracked on top and spread flat, then the pancake is flipped. The diner's choice of hoisin sauce, chilli paste and sesame paste is smeared on, followed by pickled mustard greens (suancai) and fresh coriander. A crispy element — either a fried wonton skin (cuibing) or a youtiao dough stick — is placed in the centre before the pancake is folded into a neat packet. It is eaten folded and held, not plated. Regional variants across Tianjin, Beijing and Shandong differ in the batter ratio and sauce combination. The Tianjin version (jianbing guozi) with mung bean batter is considered the most traditional.
Where to try
Nationwide: any morning street-food stall, particularly in northern and eastern cities. Tianjin: food streets around the ancient culture quarter for the 'original' version.
Dietary notes
Wheat, mung bean, egg. The crispy insert may contain wheat and oil. Vegan versions available without egg on request.
Other north dishes
- Beijing Lamb Hot Pot涮羊肉
Beijing-Mongolian style hot pot — clear broth, thinly-sliced lamb, sesame-paste dipping sauce.
- Boiled Dumplings (Shuijiao)水饺
Wheat-wrapper dumplings filled with pork-and-cabbage, lamb-and-leek, or vegetable, boiled and served with vinegar.
- Cat's Ear Noodles猫耳朵
Small thumbnail-pinched Shanxi pasta, shaped like cat's ears. Stir-fried with vegetables or in soup.
- Goubuli Baozi狗不理包子
Tianjin's signature steamed pork buns. The original house, founded 1858, is still operating.