Jian Bing — Beijing Crêpe (煎饼果子)

Beijing and Northern China — street cart culture

Beijing's iconic street breakfast: a thin crêpe made from a mung bean and wheat flour batter cooked on a flat griddle, spread with sweet bean paste (tian mian jiang) and chilli paste, topped with a fried egg, green onion, and a crispy wheat cracker (bao cui). Folded into quarters and eaten hand-held. Made fresh to order at street carts across Beijing — the entire production takes 90 seconds.

• French buckwheat galette (similar savory crepe concept)
• Indian dosa (fermented lentil crepe — similar grain-legume flour base)
• Mexican burrito (wrapped around filling, eaten hand-held)

Savoury-spicy-sweet with mung bean earthiness; crunchy cracker against soft egg and crepe; spring onion freshness cutting the rich bean paste — a perfectly balanced quick breakfast