Lunch last Saturday after our weekly walk through George Town was at ๐๐ฝ๐ผ๐ต ๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐๐ถ๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด, the first place in Penang to offer ๐ซ๐ช๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ, a 2,000-year-old Chinese filled crepe which dates back to the Three Kingdoms era.
The creation of ๐ซ๐ช๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ was attributed to Zhuge Liang, the Imperial Chancellor (or Prime Minister) of the state of Shu Han (221โ263). According to legend, Chancellor Zhuge Liang ordered his army chefs to use metal battle shields to cook pancakes to feed his hungry troops after they lost their woks in an enemy foray (trust the Chinese to raid an enemy camp and chose to steal the enemyโs cooking utensils. Imagine, in the European context, a bunch of Vandals raiding a Roman army camp and opting to run away with the pasta makers).
Through the millennia, the galette-like savoury ๐ซ๐ช๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ has become a favourite Chinese breakfast snack. And what was once cooked on battle shields is now prepared on a creperie griddle.
We ordered those filled with Spam, sausages, ham and cheese, with crisp, shredded lettuce, mayonnaise, chili paste and what tasted like Worcestershire sauce - modern takes on an ancient snack. A large piece of crisp wafer called baocui (่่) will be added to the crepe before itโs being folded into a galette-like rectangle.
Jian bing is a Northern Chinese snack, more specifically Shandong, which was why itโs not well-known in the West, where the Chinatowns were traditionally peopled by Southern Chinese from Guangdong, especially Toishan. My first encounter with jian bing was as recent as back in 2001, in Beijing. I took to it right away - itโs like having a burrito, and weโd never seen anything like that in Singapore or Hong Kong then.
At ๐๐ฝ๐ผ๐ต ๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐๐ถ๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด last weekend, we ordered:
Jian bing with sausage and cheese
Jian bing with Spam and cheese
Jian bing with ham and cheese
Iced lemonade and Ipoh white coffee
Very addictive - you simply canโt stop at one.
๐๐ฝ๐ผ๐ต ๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐๐ถ๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด (ๆกไฟ็ฌฌไธ็
) is located on 194 Jalan Lim Chwee Leong (intersection with Jalan Sungai Ujong).
Opening hours: 12 noon - 3pm, 5pm to 11pm daily, except Thursdays (closed).
