jianbing

Jianbing is a traditional Chinese street food similar to crêpes. It is a type of bing generally eaten for breakfast and hailed as "one of China's most popular street breakfasts." The main ingredients of jianbing are a batter of wheat and grain flour, eggs and sauces, cooked quickly by spreading the batter on a large frying pan or a specialized flat hotplate. It can be topped with different fillings and sauces such as baocui (, thin and crispy fried cracker), ham, chopped or diced mustard pickles, scallions and coriander, chili sauce, or hoisin sauce depending on personal preference. It is often folded several times before serving. Jianbing has seen international popularization in recent years and can be found in Western cities such as London, Dubai, New York City, Portland, Oregon, Seattle, Chicago, San Francisco, Toronto, Hamilton and Sydney, sometimes with modifications to cater to local tastes. History Jianbing originated in northern China, where wheat- and broomcorn-based flatbreads, pancakes and pies (collectively called bing) are common as staple foods. Its history can be traced back 2,000 years to Shandong province during the Three Kingdoms period (AD 220–280). According to legend, 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, 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, jianbing was passed down through generations in Shandong province and gradually spread to different parts of China. The raw materials used in ancient pancakes should be millet, and millet cereal pancakes are one of the common foods of the ancient northerners. In ancient times, pancakes were made using griddles. Archaeological finds have been discovered in ancient times, except for the prehistoric pottery figurines dating back more than 5,000 years, as well as the iron shovel and bronze gongs belonging to Liao, Song, Jin, Western Xia and Yuan dynasty. Yangshao people have created pottery figurines and the like. The cooking utensils, which were later unearthed in various eras, also found a number of murals of pancakes from different eras, revealing the true existence of pancakes in history. Reasons for popularity