Snack Attack: Griddling Up Jianbing With Our Beijing x the Hutong

Snack Attack is your weekly guide to the sometimes smelly, sometimes flavorful, sometimes odd munchies to be had in the capital.

If I told you 煎饼 jiānbing was a favorite breakfast food of mine, this would only be partly true. Whenever I get my hands on one of these savory thin pancakes with all manner of fillings, I do enjoy them – but the last time I actually ordered one was way back in 2019.

Thus it was on a sunny, crisp, winter day that I found myself going to Beixinqiao, winding past rows of increasingly gray and silent buildings before reaching the Hutong for a Jianbing Workshop hosted by Our Beijing – not just to eat jianbing, but to make some as well.

The course was led by Our Beijing founder and Beijing food lover Dominic, who began with a brief history of the savory snacks.

The story goes like this: During the Three Kingdoms Period (220-280) around present day Shandong province, forces under the command of a military strategist, Chancellor Zhuge Liang were ambushed by enemy forces and, in the subsequent retreat, lost their woks. For a quick pick me up, the troops mixed wheat flour and water into a batter and cooked it on their shields, resulting in thin pancakes that filled them up and – so the legend goes – helped them win the next battle.

Following the history lesson it was time to get cooking. Dominic introduced his flour of choice – a mix of wheat and mung bean flour that lent the resulting batter a pleasant, nutty bite.

Pouring it onto the griddle – basically a home-use crepe maker – it was relatively easy to smooth the batter into a round with a few nifty provided accoutrements: a normal spatula, two special wooden paddles for folding the jianbing, and what I can only describe as something akin to those little wooden rakes that come with Zen garden kits, only flat on the bottom.

With these tools in hand, it’s easy to get everything rounded, then cooked and topped with egg, cilantro, and sesame seeds. Then it’s flipped and the other fillings are added. On my first go, I went with peppers, onions, the unavoidable crunchy cracker thing, a spicy sauce and some winter sausage – which isn’t a traditional filling, but added a welcome smokiness to the whole affair.

I made two jianbings in all, choosing to add nutella and sausage in the second, curious to find out what would happen. As expected, you can’t beat a sweet and savory combo.

But what’s the story behind Dominic, Our Beijing, and jianbing? To find out more, I spoke to the man himself after the class was through.

What gave you the idea for a workshop like this?
Like all of our experiences, they come from something we enjoy. Jianbing have been part of my China journey from the beginning. I remember the cart outside our offices which would have a big queue early morning. They’re so simple, but so good.

Is jianbing a favorite breakfast food of yours? How many would you say you consume in a month?
Definitely a favorite of mine, but I think they’re good any time of day. If I’m going on a hike I like one early morning, but otherwise I find brunch or lunch are best. These days probably only a couple a month. Back when you were guaranteed to pass a jianbing cart on the street I would have a few times a week.

Jianbing workshops aren’t the only activity Our Beijing has on offer, what other things do you do? What gave you the idea of starting the company?
That’s right. We began with eBike tours, and now we have multiple routes for these as well as walking tours, food tours, Great Wall trips and other hikes, film nights, and one of my favorites, jian zi golf. Also another popular workshop which is our mahjong workshop which was passed on to us by our partners at Culture Yard.

It was my mate and business partner Ilya who planted the seed for the idea whilst I was studying Chinese at Culture Yard in October 2017. I was surprised there wasn’t eBike tours in Beijing as I think it’s the best way to explore Beijing. In the summer it’s too hot to cycle without dripping with sweat and the winter it’s too cold to cycle without your fingers falling off. Whereas on eBikes in summer you get a nice natural fan to cool you down and in winter we have blankets on the eBikes to keep you warm. And we all know Beijing only has two seasons, summer and winter.

I love bikes of all kinds and having a good time, Ilya introduced me to really interesting places in Beijing as well as the history and culture. After not speaking for maybe half a year I messaged Ilya and said I’m keen to give these tours a go, we met up for a coffee to chat about it and the rest is history. COVID has actually helped us to open more experiences and it has been really nice to be able to get to know people more as they come back to enjoy multiple experiences.

What places would you recommend people seek out for a classic Beijing jianbing?
So there are the two types of jianbing I like, jiānbing guǒzi (the one we made and more popular in Beijing) and Shandong jianbing. I’m sorry but you’ll have to join one of our tours to find out what my favorite spots are! We visit my favorite jianbing guozi spot on our eBike food tour and my favorite Shandong jianbing eatery on our walking food tour.

One thing to keep in mind is a lot of these tasty foods that used to be on the streets are now hidden in the back of street side supermarkets. So check out some local supermarkets and the food stalls in them. There’s a marketer north of Gulou Dajie Subway Station who serves up some tasty treats, including my third favorite jianbing!

Dominic and Our Beijing will be hosting their next Jianbing Workshop at the Hutong on Sunday, Jan 16, from 11.30am-1pm. Spots are RMB 250 and RMB 200 for Hutong members. Scan the QR code in the poster to join or contact Our Beijing on their WeChat (ID: ourbeijing).

READ: Snack Attack: A Roubing Worth Waiting in Line For

Images: Vincent R. Vinci, courtesy of the venue