Jian Bing Tortilla Roll Up (Chinese Crepe Hack)

Have you ever traveled somewhere and had the most amazing dish? Did you vow to cook said dish when you returned home so that you may never have to live without it again? And did you come home only to find you didn’t have any of the tools or ingredients you needed? There are just some dishes that are so difficult to recreate at home, and jian bing is one of them. For those of you who are unfamiliar with it, jian bing is a Chinese savory breakfast crepe. It’s got egg, cilantro, scallions, and some sort of sauce on a Chinese version of a crepe. It’s also difficult to recreate accurately at home. However, being the crafty Asian-American mom that I am, I have come up with a nifty food hack to still get your jian bing fix. It’s obviously not a traditional Chinese recipe, but it’s REALLY good and REALLY EASY. I present to you: the JIAN BING TORTILLA ROLL UP!

I know some of you read the name of this dish and rolled your eyes. You’re probably thinking this is another abomination of Asian fusion. But you know what? Asian fusion is revolutionary work. It takes creativity, resourcefulness, and ingenuity! If you can’t see that, then you can move along and spend five hours making one dish in a meager attempt to pretend that you live in Beijing. If that makes you feel good, then more power to you. But for the rest of you want to scratch that itch of food nostalgia but also have very busy lives, this food hack is for you.

What is a Jian Bing?

I realize I can’t get into this recipe without first talking about the original dish that inspired it! Like I mentioned before, jian bing is a savory Chinese crepe. Different regions have different variations, but in general it is a savory crepe with a layer of eggs. It usually has cilantro and scallions and some sort of spread. Some areas serve it with lettuce, others serve it with other crunchy fillings. You can read more about jian bing here. It’s usually eaten as breakfast. One important thing to know about it is that it is a street food. In China, you can find street food stalls with a special griddle for making jian bing. This is one of the reasons why it’s so hard to recreate at home. I don’t think many of us are willing to put a large jian bing griddle in our kitchen.

In lieu of a special griddle and tools for making a traditional jian bing, I opted for an easy hack: tortillas! How did it turn out? Well…

Chinese Breakfast Crepe Tortilla – Asian Fusion or Abomination?

I have a confession to make. I used to be against Asian fusion food. In my mind, Asian fusion meant forcing Asian flavors into dishes more palatable to white audiences, just another way to exploit my culture. But then over the years I realized that some of my favorite foods were technically Asian fusion. Spam musubi? California rolls? Asian fusion foods happened naturally when Asian immigrants had to adapt to new grocery store ingredients. And the resulting dishes were not only great, but they became staples in our distinctly Asian American cuisine.

I’m not so full of myself as to claim this jian bing tortilla roll up will go down in the Asian American food hall of fame. But it only takes about 5 minutes to cook, uses everyday grocery store ingredients, and is REALLY GOOD. If you don’t have much time to cook and need food hacks, and if you love Chinese food, you will absolutely love this recipe!

The Inspiration – Egg Roll Ups from Nadiya’s Time to Eat

I can’t get into the recipe without giving credit to the OG source. I got this idea to do a Chinese tortilla roll up hack from the Netflix show, Nadiya’s Time to Eat. In one of her episodes, she makes what she calls an egg roll up. Nadiya puts beaten eggs in a frying pan, sprinkles it with veg, then throws a tortilla on top that has sun dried tomato spread on it. After frying, she rolls it up and slices it. It’s pretty much the same thing as a tortilla pinwheel, which is a common American snack, except this is cooked and served warm. Anyway, after seeing the egg and tortilla fried together, I realized that with some Chinese ingredient substitutions, it could get pretty close to a jian bing. So thank you Nadiya!

Jian Bing Ingredients

The ingredients for this tortilla roll up hack are all things you can find really easily at any grocery store: eggs, tortillas, scallions, and cilantro. There’s just one exception: the sauce. You really need to use a Chinese sauce for this. I always use my black bean chili oil. You can find this in the Asian section of grocery stores sometimes. But you could also use hoisin, garlic chili oil, or other bean pastes. As long as it’s something salty, Chinese-y, and with umami, you’re good. Of course, as always, feel free to substitute ingredients as you wish!

Jian Bing Tortilla Roll Up: the Method

Super easy, super fast. Make sure you have all your ingredients ready. Put the beaten eggs in a frying pan. Sprinkle the scallions and cilantro on top. Immediately, before the eggs are done cooking, put the tortilla on top with the sauce side down. Press down a little so the eggs and tortilla adhere. Then when the eggs are done, flip. Fry the other side until the tortilla is golden brown, like a quesadilla. Take it off the heat, roll up, and slice (if you want)! That’s it! Once you start the frying pan, it probably takes only 5 minutes.

Here’s a video if it helps!

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Alright, I know this might be a new thing for some of you, but I hope you give it a try! Let me know what sauces you like the best!