Jian Bing is the best breakfast in China by a country mile! And the Jian Bing Dandong varietal is perhaps the best in China. What though is it that makes it so good, where can I buy it and what are the ingredients.
What the Jian Bing?
I will not go into crazy detail about this as it has been covered in this article, but it is an egg wrap pancake with varying ingredients depending on where you are in the Middle Kingdom and beyond.
I was to have have this after stopping for some meetings after 7000 lm or so overland travel from Cambodia. Meetings where to discuss North Korea, who in a Kevin Bacon style way got me to love the Dandong Jian Bing.
Where the Jiang Bing Dandong?
As a quintessential street food in a city that is still small by Chinese standards the best way to get some Jian Bing Dandong is through the many street vendors selling the stuff.
A large portion of these are art Dandong Railway Station, the gateway to North Korea Back in the day when there were tours we would take the group here before boarding the train to Pyongyang. Honestly your choices are that, or KFC.
And while there are usually numerous street vendors perhaps the best in Dandong is via the food hut directly under the watchful gaze of Chairman Mao. It is also just sideways glance from the Dante Hotel, perhaps one of the my favorite in all China.
The Jian Bing Dandong recipe
In Dandong the Jian Bing is started as normal with a dollop of what will later become the pancake and a fried egg being mushed into it. A sausage is then cut up with noodles, and sliced potato as well as some lettuce being cooked on the side – should you desire.. If you so desire a light spice is then painted onto the pancake.
This is all then hooked up together, folded into a warp and then into two halves before being given in the bag you then eat it from. For an extra 0.40 cents or so you can also have a hot soya milk to wash it down with. This is without doubt the correct way to do it.
What you then have is the perfect breakfast that can be eaten on the go, on your way to Sinuiju, or as you travel Dandong.