Jianbing guozi

Jianbing guozi

Jianbing guozi (Chinese: 煎饼馃子) is a "deep-fried dough sticks rolled in a thin pancake" of Chinese origin. It is a sub-category of Jianbing. Originated in Tianjin, it is a popular street food and has been hailed as "one of China's most beloved street breakfasts", especially in Tianjin and neighboring Hebei province. It consists of mung bean, eggs, and youtiao (fried dough sticks) or crispy "dragons", served with sweet bean sauce, diced green onion, and optionally chili sauce.

History

A Jianbing guozi stall in Tianjin

Jianbing guozi originated in northern China. Its history can be traced back 2,000 years to Shandong province during the Three Kingdoms period (220–280 AD). According to legends, Chancellor Zhuge Liang encountered the problem of feeding his soldiers after they lost their woks. He ordered the cooks to mix water with wheat flour to make batter, and then spread it on shields, or flat copper griddles over a flame. The dish raised the soldiers’ morale and helped them win the battle. After that, jianbingguozi was passed down through generations in Shandong province and gradually spread to different parts of China.

Cooking

Jianbing guozi is prepared by creating a shell for the pastry and then filling it with the stuffings and wrapping it, as illustrated below in five steps.

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  Step 1
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  Step 2
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  Step 3
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  Step 4
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  Step 5

Other varieties

Shandong-style Jianbing guozi

Jianbing guozi from Shandong province tastes crispy and harder as its batter is formed from the flour mixture that mainly contains coarse grains such as corn, sorghum and millet. In the old days, people had Shandong-style Jianbing guozi mainly by rolling it with scallions or serving it with meat soup. Nowadays, the varieties of fillings are richer and differ according to one’s preference, for example, sweet potatoes, lettuce and pork are also used as fillings.

Shanxi-style Jianbing guozi

Shanxi Jianbing guozi uses wheat flour and the practice is roughly the same as that of Tianjin Jianbing guozi.

Tahe-style Jianbing guozi

Tahe Jianbing guozi, from Tahe, Heilongjiang province, is processed meat, shredded potatoes, and a number of other ingredients wrapped in a thin egg-and-flour pancake. It is a bit spicy. The resulting product is quite fat in size.

Gallery of Jianbing guozi around the world

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  Jianbing guozi in New York, US
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  Jianbing guozi in Calgary, Canada
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  Jianbing guozi in Monterey Park, California, US
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  Jianbing guozi in Dubai, UAE
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  Jianbing guozi in Tokyo, Japan

See also

• Jianbing
• List of street foods