MELBOURNE | Jianbing aka Chinese crepes, originated in Northern China’s Shandong province over 2,000 years ago. Today, they’re one of the most popular street food breakfasts in China, enjoyed all over the country. Hidden in the food lover’s gem that’s Melbourne CBD’s K-Mart Centre, you’ll find 五福煎饼 Wow Crepes. They specialise in jianbing, and I recently visited for What’s On Melbourne.
Jianbing are made by quickly cooking a batter of wheat and grain flour, eggs and sauces on a flat hotplate. Fresh chopped veg like carrots, spring onion, and cabbage, combine with bao cui (deep fried crackers), a few sweet and savoury sauces, and other ingredients are added, before the crepe is folded and served.
The result is a complex snack that’s diverse in flavour and texture. At Wow Crepes you’ll find traditional flavours like shredded potato, Sichuan bean curd, and luncheon meat. There’s a few house creations too, like a chicken Schnitzel jianbing. My favourite is the ham sausage version, which adds two Chinese ham sausages, and you tiao (Chinese donuts) into the mix.
Beyond Jianbing, the menu at Wow Crepes contains a few other delicious delights. Things like roasted cold noodles with egg and sausage; sweet, custard-filled buns; and one of my favourites, douhua. It’s a sweet or savoury silken tofu dessert soup that can be served a variety of ways. The version at Wow Crepes is the savoury Northern Chinese-style, with soy sauce and things like dried radish, fried garlic, coriander, and mushrooms.
五福煎饼 Wow Crepes
Shop 16, K-Mart Centre
222 Bourke Street
Melbourne
Victoria 3000
Australia
Telephone: 0411 527 918
E-mail: n/a
Website: n/a
Open
Mon – Fri: 8:30am to 5:30pm
Sat: 9:30am to 6:30pm
Sun: 10:00am to 4:30pm