The Best Street Food in China: 煎饼果子 (jiān​ bǐng guǒ ​zi)

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I'm Wolfgang, the owner of Wohok.com. I'm originally from Austria, but have lived in various places in China since 2010. Currently I am in Hong Kong. The aim of this website is to share my interest in China, its food, the culture, its language(s) and most of all the people with the world in the hope it can somehow fix a thing here or there in the relationship between East and West. You can get in touch with me, via the contact form, Twitter or LinkedIn. I'm a web developer by trade and will post some business related content on this site from time to time. If you need help with your website or need answers to China related web questions, please get in touch using my Codeable partner link, LinkedIn or the contact form on my website. Hope you'll enjoy Wohok.com!

I have lived and studied in Beijing for more than 2 years back in 2011. My absolute favourite food was 煎饼, I got it almost every evening for dinner or as a late night snack. You get it in all sorts of variants. The most common one is soft outside and crispy inside, but some are crispy outside as well.

煎饼果子 originated in the Tianjin region. It’s a combination of a thin, crispy pancake with various fillings, such as eggs, scallions, cilantro, sesame and a selection of sauces. The inside of this delicious street food is the 油条, a deep-fried dough stick, which adds the crunch to every bite I was talking about above.

煎饼果子 jiān​ bǐng guǒ ​zi - Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Ww9980

The process of making 煎饼果子 is relatively simple and consists of a few easy steps. You start by mixing the pancake batter, which typically includes a combination of flours, such as all-purpose, mung bean, and soybean flours, water, and salt. After resting the batter for a brief period, you’ll spread it onto a hot, oiled pan and cook it until crispy. Next, you’ll add desired fillings and sauce, place the fried dough stick in the middle, and finally fold the pancake around it to form a tasty, portable meal.

Here’s one done by a chef in Tianjin:

煎饼果子 is most popular in the northern parts of China. I’m now in the south, where it’s less common. Can’t wait to get my hands on one again when back in Beijing (more than one probably).

If you have the chance of trying one, go for it, you won’t regret it!

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