''Bing'' ( zh, 餠) is a

wheat flour Wheat flour is a powder made from the grinding of wheat used for human consumption. Wheat varieties are called "soft" or "weak" if gluten content is low, and are called "hard" or "strong" if they have high gluten content. Hard flour, or ''bread ...

-based

Chinese food Chinese cuisine encompasses the numerous cuisines originating from China, as well as overseas cuisines created by the Overseas Chinese, Chinese diaspora. Because of the Chinese diaspora and historical power of the country, Chinese cuisine ha ...

with a flattened or disk-like shape. These foods may resemble the

flatbreads A flatbread is a bread made with flour; water, milk, yogurt, or other liquid; and salt, and then thoroughly rolled into flattened dough. Many flatbreads are unleavened, although some are leavened, such as pizza and pita bread. Flatbreads ...

, pancakes, pies and unleavened

dough Dough is a thick, malleable, sometimes elastic paste made from grains or from leguminous or chestnut crops. Dough is typically made by mixing flour with a small amount of water or other liquid and sometimes includes yeast or other leavenin ...

foods of non-Chinese cuisines. Many of them are similar to the Indian

roti Roti (also known as chapati) is a round flatbread native to the Indian subcontinent. It is popular in India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Maldives, Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Guyana, Suriname, Jamaica, Trini ...

, French

crêpe A crêpe or crepe ( or , , Quebec French: ) is a very thin type of pancake. Crêpes are usually one of two varieties: ''sweet crêpes'' () or ''savoury galettes'' (). They are often served with a wide variety of fillings such as cheese, ...

s, Salvadoran

pupusa A pupusa is a thick griddle cake or flatbread from El Salvador and Honduras, made with cornmeal or rice flour, similar to the Colombian and Venezuelan arepa. In El Salvador, it has been declared the national dish and has a specific day to c ...

, or Mexican

tortilla A tortilla (, ) is a thin, circular unleavened flatbread originally made from maize hominy meal, and now also from wheat flour. The Aztecs and other Nahuatl speakers called tortillas ''tlaxcalli'' (). First made by the indigenous peoples of M ...

, while others are more similar to cakes and cookies. The term is

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

but may also refer to flatbreads or cakes of other cultures. The crêpe and the pizza, for instance, are referred to as ''keli bing'' (可麗餅) and ''pisa bing'' (披薩餅) respectively, based on the sound of their Latin names and the

flour tortilla A flour tortilla (, ) or wheat tortilla is a type of soft, thin flatbread made from finely ground wheat flour. It was originally inspired by the corn tortilla of Mexican cuisine, a flatbread of maize which predates the arrival of Europeans t ...

is known as ''Mexican thin bing'' (墨西哥薄餅) based on its country of origin.

Types

''Bing'' are usually a casual food and generally eaten for lunch, but they can also be incorporated into formal meals. Both

Peking duck Peking duck is a dish from Beijing (Peking) that has been prepared since the Imperial era. The meat is characterized by its thin, crispy skin, with authentic versions of the dish serving mostly the skin and little meat, sliced in front of the di ...

and

moo shu pork Moo shu pork (木须肉, also spelled mù xū ròu, moo shi pork, mu shu or mu xu pork) is a dish of northern Chinese origin, originating from Shandong. It invariably contains egg, whose yellow color is reminiscent of blossoms of the osmanthus ...

are rolled up in thin wheat flour ''bao bing'' with scallions and

sweet bean sauce Tianmian sauce (), also known as sweet bean sauce, sweet flour sauce or sweet wheat paste, is a thick, smooth, dark brown or black paste with either a mild, savory or sweet flavor. It is commonly used in Northern Chinese cuisine, Northeastern ...

hoisin sauce Hoisin sauce is a thick, fragrant sauce commonly used in Cantonese cuisine as a glaze for meat, an addition to stir fry, or as dipping sauce. It is dark-coloured in appearance and sweet and salty in taste. Although regional variants exist, ho ...

. ''Bing'' may also have a filling such as ground meat. ''Bing'' are commonly cooked on a skillet or griddle although some are baked. Some common types include: *'' Cong you bing'' (蔥油餅; scallions and oil ''bing'') *'' Fa mian bing'' (發麵餅; yeast-risen ''bing'') *'' Laobing'' (烙餅; pan fried ''bing'') *'' Chun bing'' (春餅; spring pancake), a thin, Northern bing traditionally eaten to celebrate the beginning of spring. Usually eaten with a variety of fillings. *''

Shaobing Shaobing (), also called huoshao, is a type of baked, unleavened, layered flatbread in northern Chinese cuisine. Shaobing can be made with or without stuffing, and with or without sesame on top. Shaobing contains a variety of stuffings that ca ...

'' (燒餅; baked ''bing'') *''

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 o ...

'' (煎餅; fried egg pancake, similar to crepes), a popular breakfast streetfood in China. *'' Bó bǐng'' ( 薄饼; literally "thin pancakes"), a thin circular crepe-like wrapper or "skin" (薄餅皮) wrapping various fillings. This is sometimes called "Mandarin pancake" or "moo shu pancake" (木须饼, mù xū bǐng) in

American Chinese food American Chinese cuisine is a cuisine derived from Chinese cuisine that was developed by Chinese Americans. The dishes served in many North American Chinese restaurants are adapted to American tastes and often differ significantly from those ...

contexts. *''Luóbo si bing'' (萝卜絲餅, shredded radish bing), a type of panfried bing consisting of a wheat dough skin filled with shredded radish *'' Rou jia bing'' (肉夹饼), also called '' rou jia mo'' refers to a ''bing'' that is sliced open and filled with meat, typically stewed pork or lamb meat. Some variants, such as ''niu rou jia bing'' (腊牛肉夹馍) use sesame bread and are filled with beef meat and pickled carrots and daikon, similar to a banh mi. *'' Hé yè bǐng'' (荷叶饼; a foldable ''bing'' made to represent a lotus leaf), used to accompany many rich meat stuffings and popularized by the

gua bao The ''gua bao'' (), also known as pork belly bun, ambiguously as bao, or erroneously as bao bun, is a type of lotus leaf bun () originating from Fujian cuisine. It is a popular snack in Taiwan and is commonly sold at night markets and restaura ...

, a variation with red-cooked pork belly. *''Jin bing'' (筋饼) is a layered ''bing'' that is made with high-gluten flour (''jin'' (筋) meaning gluten) popular in Northern China. It is also known as ''zhua bing'' (抓饼) since its layers can be grabbed (''zhua (抓)'' meaning grab) at with hands. * Guokui (锅盔) The ''Yuèbǐng'' (月餅;

mooncake A mooncake () is a Chinese bakery product traditionally eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋節). The festival is about lunar appreciation and Moon watching, and mooncakes are regarded as a delicacy. Mooncakes are offered between ...

s), whilst sharing the name bing, is really a baked sweet pastry usually produced and eaten at the mid-autumn festival. Some other dessert bings are "Wife" cake (老婆饼), which contains winter melon, and the sweetened version of 1000 layer cake (千层饼) which contains

tianmianjiang Tianmian sauce (), also known as sweet bean sauce, sweet flour sauce or sweet wheat paste, is a thick, smooth, dark brown or black paste with either a mild, savory or sweet flavor. It is commonly used in Northern Chinese cuisine, Northeastern ...

, sugar, and five spice or cinnamon. ''Bing''s are also eaten in other East Asian cultures, the most common being the Korean '' Jeon'' () which often contain seafood. In Japan, the character 餅 usually refers to ''

mochi is a Japanese rice cake made of , a short-grain japonica glutinous rice, and sometimes other ingredients such as water, sugar, and cornstarch. The rice is pounded into paste and molded into the desired shape. In Japan, it is traditionally ma ...

'' (glutinous rice cakes), but is also used for some other foods including ''

senbei are a type of Japanese rice cracker. They come in various shapes, sizes, and flavors, usually savory but sometimes sweet. Senbei are often eaten with green tea as a casual snack and offered to visiting house guests as a courtesy refreshment. ...

'' () rice crackers, written with the same characters as but quite different from

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 o ...

. Most Japanese ''bing''-type cooked wheat cakes, both sweet and savoury, are instead called ''yaki'' (), as in

dorayaki is a type of Japanese confection. It consists of two small pancake-like patties made from castella wrapped around a filling of sweet azuki bean paste. The original dorayaki consisted of only one layer. Its current shape was invented in 1914 ...

taiyaki is a Japanese fish-shaped cake, commonly sold as street food. It imitates the shape of , which it is named after. The most common filling is red bean paste that is made from sweetened adzuki beans. Other common fillings may be custard, choc ...

okonomiyaki is a Japanese savory pancake dish consisting of wheat flour batter and other ingredients (mixed, or as toppings) cooked on a '' teppan'' (flat griddle). Common additions include cabbage, meat, and seafood, and toppings include ''okonomiyaki' ...

, etc.

References

{{Chinese bread Chinese breads Flatbreads

Types

See also

References