Scallion Egg Wrap

No. No, it does not.

Jian Bing was my favorite street food when I lived in Beijing. This recipe is missing the crunchy wafer element that give Jian Bing that extra wow factor. A matzoh would be too bland. But a few well-chosen potato chips would work wonders before you fold the whole thing up!

The pickled mustard greens are easy to make. Rinse well and chop into 2 inch pieces. salt heavily with kosher salt and wait about an hour. Rinse at least twice (more if still too salty) and then hand squeeze as much water out as you can. place in jar and cover with pickling solution: (equal parts)sugar dissolved into water, and white vinegar. Refrigerate and wait about a week.

Another parent at school made these for the kids when we had early morning practice, and they were gone in minutes. She made them with only the tortilla, egg, and scallions (probably with a little salt and pepper) and they were delicious. She rolled them into cylinders instead of folding them into wedges, and wrapped them in foil - they stayed warm for at least 30 minutes and were also tasty at room temperature.

Wonton strips, as sold for salads, work (speaking as another former Beijing resident). We have found that it's better if you make the dough yourself with 1:1:1:1 mung bean flour, all purpose flour, milk, and water (maybe skimp a little on the liquids); fill a large nonstick skillet, flip once, then do the egg, sauces, and toppings and fold the whole thing over on itself. Closest I've been able to get to the real thing.

...it does not count as this thing, but the other point of recipes is to inspire and serve as guides...so in that sense, yeah, it counts (me thinks).... Cooking, among other things, is technique and combinations ... and you flew with those. Good job, John Barber! My sister is a similar kind of cook -- well, I didn't have this, but I had this (in the category), and so I can kind of do this, and the thing comes out as something entirely different.... in art: abstracting the model... .

The only ingredient I had on hand was the eggs, so a scrambled the eggs with chives and parsley, placed the eggs open-faced on dark rye, and splashed with Alder-smoke salt and green Thai curry paste. It was wonderful, proving I need to be more exploratory in my cooking. Does that count?

Jian bing is a specialized skill, but I do wish that the NYT had legitimately tried to interpret this for home cooks, as they do for many other recipes involving specialized skills!! As written, this is just a suggestion of herbs and sauces that taste good with eggs. This is missing two key components-- the mung bean crepe, and the crunchy wafer inside. The mung bean crepe can't be too difficult to make, and I've seen people use you tiaos (available frozen) to approximate the wafer.

I make this same thing! The only thing I do differently is I keep the tortilla in the pan and scramble the eggs on the tortilla - the way I saw the street vendors make this in Shanghai. So good!

I assume that you should flip the tortilla and egg combo before you slide onto the plate. Or am I misunderstanding the instructions?

This is such a great, easy, American version of one of my favorite Chinese snacks! A helpful tip if you can't get your hands on pickled greens easily - I've seen jianbing made in the west with a salad mix of lettuce, carrots, and red cabbage that you can easily pick up at any western grocery store, it definitely does add a nice crunch.

I made these this morning -- flipped quickly once to get the wet-ish part under the tortilla for sure done -- 5-10 seconds. Sprinkled with a few drops of ginger soy sauce before placing tortilla on top. SUPER DELICIOUS. ... And you then say, why didn't I think of this one? Also perfect for high-schooler's lunch, at room temp. He is totally up for it. Thank you for this quick, ingenious and delicious (and filling) recipe. Egg to tortilla: 1:1.

The flavors in this are awesome and make me nostalgic for a northern Chinese food stall in Oakland that used to sell jian bing for $4. Didn’t have pickled mustard greens, but added sliced Serrano peppers pickled in white wine vinegar for a kick. My eggs scrambled too fast after adding them in on top of the scallions - lumpy and scrambled egg-like rather than crepe like. Next time I’ll keep the heat on med-low and won’t scramble after adding the egg on top of the scallion.

Thanks for your notes, all! We edited the recipe to clarify that you should flip the pancake onto a plate, egg side up.

This feels like sarcasm to me.