All wrapped up: Discovering the savoury side of crepes

Wednesday, 31 July 2024

Wendy Zhan is busy making Chinese crepes, known as bings. Her food stall at the Thursday Night Market in Hornby sells 100 to 150 bings a night.

Wendy Zhan’s B-plan began on a whim a year ago, but she’s now quite confident that it “can be something of a Christchurch street-food legend”.

“B” stands for bing, a Chinese savoury crepe popular as a quick and easy roadside meal.

Zhan has a deep passion for bing, known in full as jian bing guo zi in Chinese. She used to visit a bing food stall in Hornby every week and decided to buy the business and make bing herself last year.

Customers wait at Zhan’s food stall at the Hornby night market.

“If you like something and you can’t get it, what do you do? You make it,” she said.

“The stall had been there for over five years, but just one night per week. I loved their bing so much that I decided to buy the recipe and give it a go.”

Her food stall at the Thursday Night Market in Hornby sells 100 to 150 bings a night.

Zhan is a big fan of jianbing guozi, or Chinese crepes. She loves them so much she bought a food stall last year and began making them herself.

“Every Thursday night is crazy busy and full of fun. Once we open, there's no stopping as people keep lining up for orders.”

Jianbing is a popular street food in North China in particular. It’s traditionally made with wheat flour, eggs and sesame seeds and is stuffed with delicious fillings.

The best-selling flavour is the chicken bing, which comes with marinated chunky chicken slices, mixed salad, crispy crackers, and soybean and/or chilli paste. The original, which is full of vegetables, is also very popular.

A bing takes just a few minutes to make once the batter and fillings are prepared.

Zhan said making a bing took just two to three minutes. The process begins with spreading a big spoonful of batter onto a frying pan using a special spatula.

An egg is then cracked onto the surface of the pancake, followed by a layer of sauce, and a sprinkling of coriander or finely chopped green onions.

Venu Jarugula, the owner of Dosa Kitchen in Riverside Market, claims his dosa is the biggest - and possibly yummiest - crepe of any kind in Christchurch.

The final step is to put the meat, salad, and crispy cracker on the pancake before folding it.

“It’s two-hands full. It’s hot and fresh. It will warm up your hands and tummy on a cold winter night,” Zhan said.

Each dosa at Dosa Kitchen is about 50cm long and served with three dipping sauces.

“We've experimented with various flour mixes and different methods of fermenting and frying to achieve the perfect crispiness.”

Venu Jarugula, a mechanical engineer turned cook, is an Indian crepe maker.

Jarugula and his staff at Dosa Kitchen make the dosa batter from scratch.

The owner of Dosa Kitchen in Riverside Market claims his dosa is the biggest crepe of any kind in Christchurch, and possibly the yummiest.

Each dosa at his bustling food stall is about half a metre long and is served with three dipping sauces: coconut chutney, tomato chutney, and sambar - a fresh vegetable lentil stew.

“Masala dosa is our top seller. It’s a must try, as it has been ranked fourth among the top 10 foods to try before you die,”Jarugula said of a list compiled by the the Huffington Post in 2012.

Korean crepes, known as jeon or buchimgae, take about 15 to 20 minutes to make, Ye Chon Korean restaurant’s Nancy Kim says.

Jarugula and his three staff make the dosa batter from scratch: softening rice and lentils in water, grinding them in stone grinders to make a very fine batter, then leaving it overnight to naturally ferment.

When it’s time to make a dosa, they spread some batter on a griddle and sprinkle a little bit of oil over it to create the perfect crispiness and texture.

“The fermentation juice helps sour the taste… We then fill the dosa with mashed potatoes, herbs and spices, creating a fragrant, spicy and soft filling.

Using the freshest seafood possible is the key, Kim says.

“People travelling from India say that we have one of the best dosas, and hearing that motivates us to keep doing what we’re doing,” he said.

Korean crepes, known as jeon or buchimgae, take longer to make, about 15 to 20 minutes, according to Nancy Kim from Ye-Chon Korean restaurant in Church Corner.

The mother and culinary aide at her family’s food business is in charge of making jeon, “giving it a mum’s flavour”.

Jeon are savoury pancakes made with a variety of ingredients, incorporating vegetables, meat, and/or seafood. The most popular jeon at Kim’s restaurant is a seafood version.

“They are shallow-fried in a pan, creating a craveable texture that's both chewy and crispy with golden brown edges,” Kim said. “Using the freshest seafood is the key.”

The restaurant uses chunky pieces of mussels, prawns, and squid, mixed with carrot and leek shreds, flour, and eggs.

“That’s why they take longer to cook as you need to be extra careful when cooking the seafood,” Kim explained.

“When it rains and you feel a bit down, Koreans often enjoy a seafood pancake with alcohol.”