Dan Bing Recipe – Taiwanese Egg Pancakes (蛋餅)

Bursting with flavour, this Dan Bing Recipe with tuna and egg makes the perfect savoury breakfast crepe or quick snack. A light batter made with cornflour (cornstarch) ensures these Taiwanese egg pancakes are crispy and fluffy, yet light and totally delicious!

Why We Love This Recipe

• This Dan Bing recipe makes delicious savoury pancakes with the perfect blend of crispy outside + soft and chewy inside. 
• These rolled Taiwanese pancakes are super easy to whip up – you can prep and cook them in around 10 minutes with simple and inexpensive ingredients (that you probably already have at home).
• Slice and slather with sauce, or eat them by hand straight out of the pan. Just like a quick and easy no-fuss breakfast burrito or tasty snack on the go!

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What is Dan Bing?

Dan Bing literally translates as “egg” and “cake”. These traditional Taiwanese egg pancakes are the ULTIMATE street food breakfast. In Taiwan you’ll find them at cafes and breakfast joints sprinkled across the cities, or more often from busy street vendors serving long lines of hungry customers.

They’re designed to be cooked and eaten FAST, and once you get the hang of it, you’ll be whipping them up in no time!

What You Need To Make Taiwanese Egg Pancakes (Dan Bing 蛋餅)

This recipe is super easy – all you need to make your own dan bing are a handful of ingredients that you can easily find at your local supermarket (or ready to go in your pantry!):

• Eggs
• Cheese
• Tuna
• Green onions – also known as spring onions or scallions
• Plain flour
• Cornflour / cornstarch – this gives your pancakes that subtle crispy crunch
• Sesame oil for cooking – for an extra delicious flavour zing

The sauce is a simple blend of equal parts sweet chilli sauce and soy sauce, which is so delicious I can’t believe we’ve never thought to mix the two before!

How to Make Dan Bing at Home

For the Sauce:

• Pop your soy sauce and sweet chilli sauce in a small bowl, then give them a good stir and set aside.

For the Pancake Batter:

• Place plain flour, cornstarch/cornflour and salt into a large mixing bowl and add the water. Whisk until the batter has a nice runny consistency with no lumps.

• In a separate small bowl or pouring jug whisk 1 egg with 1/3 each of the green onions, tuna and cheese and mix well. Pop aside.
• Now heat the sesame oil in a small to medium frypan. Pour in a small amount of batter and quickly swirl until it reaches the edges. Cook for 1 minute until the pancakes starts to cook, then top with the egg mixture and spread across the top in a thin layer. Avoid the edges if you can.

• Continue cooking until the egg just starts to set, then slide the spatula around the edges to loosen the pancake and flip it over. Continue cooking for another 30 seconds before flipping it back. Now you can fold in two edges to create a yummy rolled pancake!

• Remove from the pan, then repeat for your remaining pancakes.
• To serve, transfer your freshly cooked and rolled pancakes to serving plates, slice into 2-3cm strips and drizzle with your blended soy and sweet chilli sauce. Alternatively, you can serve them whole and wrapped in a piece of paper.
• Enjoy!

Tips

• The consistency of your homemade crepe batter may vary until you get the hang of it. For the tastiest, crispiest pancake, aim for a super runny batter with no lumps. 
• When pouring your egg mixture onto the pancake, try avoiding the edges if you can. 

FAQs

How do you make the perfect dan bing batter?

After lots of experimenting, we found the simple blend of plain flour, cornflour (cornstarch) and water in the recipe below makes the perfect batter. It should be light and fluffy with a subtle crispiness, yet soft enough so the pancake doesn’t crack when rolled up. 

What ingredients can I use in dan bing?

Traditional dan bing ingredients often  include tuna, cheese and sliced green onion, but we’ve also seen them packed with sweetcorn, ham or bacon, fermented tofu or even chilli bean paste. You’re only limited by your imagination and your flavour preferences. Go nuts and experiment, and let us know your favourite combos in the comments below! 

Variations & Substitutes

• If you’re feeling experimental, why not try these dan bing sauce ingredient substitutes – different combos of hoisin, oyster sauce, worcestershire sauce or even ketchup would work perfectly!
• If you don’t have (or enjoy) sesame oil you can substitute with vegetable oil

P.S. Before you go, be sure to check out our Taiwanese Breakfast Burger recipe. If you’re not already on our mailing list, don’t forget to sign up and get your fix delivered straight to your inbox. 

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Dan Bing Recipe - Taiwanese Egg Pancakes (蛋餅)

Bursting with flavour, this Dan Bing Recipe with tuna and egg makes the perfect savoury breakfast crepe or quick snack. A light batter made with cornflour (cornstarch) ensures these Taiwanese egg pancakes are crispy and fluffy, yet light and totally delicious!

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Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: Taiwanese

Servings: 3 pancakes

Calories: 327kcal

Author: Wandercooks

Cost: $5

Equipment

• Large mixing bowl for batter
• Small pouring jug or mixing bowl for tuna egg mix
• Small bowl or dish for sauce
• Whisk
• Small to medium frypan

Ingredients

• ½ cup plain flour
• 2 tbsp cornstarch cornflour
• ½ cup tasty cheese grated
• 3/4 cup water
• 100 g tuna canned
• 3 eggs
• 1-2 green onions finely sliced
• 1-2 tbsp sesame oil for cooking

For the sauce

• 3 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
• 1 ½ tbsp soy sauce

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

For the Sauce:

• Pop your soy sauce and sweet chilli sauce in a small bowl, then give them a good stir and set aside.

For the Pancakes Batter:

• Place plain flour, cornstarch/cornflour and salt into a large mixing bowl and add the water. Whisk until the batter has a nice runny consistency with no lumps.
• In a separate small bowl or pouring jug whisk 1 egg with 1/3 each of the green onions, tuna and cheese and mix well. Pop aside.
• Now heat the sesame oil in a small to medium frypan. Pour in a small amount of batter and quickly swirl until it reaches the edges. Cook for 1 minute until the pancakes starts to cook, then top with the egg mixture and spread across the top in a thin layer. Avoid the edges if you can.
• Continue cooking until the egg just starts to set, then slide the spatula around the edges to loosen the pancake and flip it over. Continue cooking for another 30 seconds before flipping it back. Now you can fold in two edges to create a yummy rolled pancake!
• Remove from the pan, then repeat for your remaining pancakes.
• To serve, transfer your freshly cooked and rolled pancakes to serving plates, slice into 2-3cm strips and drizzle with your blended soy and sweet chilli sauce. Alternatively, you can serve them whole and wrapped in a piece of paper. Enjoy!

Notes

Tips

• The consistency of your homemade crepe batter may vary until you get the hang of it. For the tastiest, crispiest pancake, aim for a super runny batter with no lumps. 
• When pouring your egg mixture onto the pancake, try avoiding the edges if you can. 

 

FAQs

• How do you make the perfect dan bing batter? After lots of experimenting, we found the simple blend of plain flour, cornflour (cornstarch) and water in the recipe below makes the perfect batter. It should be light and fluffy with a subtle crispiness, yet soft enough so the pancake doesn't crack when rolled up. 
• What ingredients can I use in dan bing? Traditional dan bing ingredients often  include tuna, cheese and sliced green onion, but we've also seen them packed with sweetcorn, ham or bacon, fermented tofu or even chilli bean paste. You're only limited by your imagination and your flavour preferences. Go nuts and experiment, and let us know your favourite combos in the comments below! 

 

Variations & Substitutes

• If you're feeling experimental, why not try these dan bing sauce ingredient substitutes - different combos of hoisin, oyster sauce, worcestershire sauce or even ketchup would work perfectly!
• If you don't have (or enjoy) sesame oil you can substitute with vegetable oil

Nutrition

Calories: 327kcal | Carbohydrates: 31g | Protein: 19g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 190mg | Sodium: 939mg | Potassium: 176mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 423IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 125mg | Iron: 3mg

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Where We Learned This Recipe

We touched down in the Taiwanese Capital City of Taipei with pretty much ZERO ideas of what to expect from this tiny country, its local people, or their culture. Turns out we’d timed it perfectly to be there during Chinese New Year. Which, of course, meant that almost everyone had skipped town to visit their families. The streets appeared empty. Shops and restaurants were closed, and there wasn’t a soul to be seen on the streets. Until we ventured into laneways and alleyways, and stumbled across foodie gold.

One such find was a local stall tucked beneath an apartment building near our home base. Opening at 8.00am, it would disappear behind a nondescript roller shutter around midday.

One morning we spied the assembly line – husband, wife and son working together at a massive grill – churning out piping hot burgers and dan bing to lines of hungry people. Such enticing aromas emanating from that grill… One whiff had us wandering in for a closer look.

Despite not speaking any Taiwanese, we managed to point and communicate. ‘We’ll have what they’re having.” 

Our Dan Bing Discovery

Success! Taiwanese Pork & Egg Breakfast Burger + Dan Bing Pancake + (massive) Chinese Coffee INBOUND. We took a seat inside the tiny restaurant beside other neighbours tucking into their food, no doubt fooling no one by casually reading the local paper. 

Next there was a tap on my shoulder. Mr Husband gestured to his massive coffee kettle offering us a refill. After filling our cup to the brim he gestured repeatedly towards the grill with a rapid-fire stream of words that went straight over our heads. Drawing us over to the grill, he pointed to his signboard (where not a stroke of English could be seen). I knew the same thoughts were whizzing through both our minds. What is he saying? What do we do? Eeeeep.

Whack!

Saved by Mrs Wife, who gave Mr Husband a good slap and yelled out something that could only mean, ‘They don’t speak Taiwanese!’

She held up her sauce bottles and everything became clear.  After nodding our heads enthusiastically, with a deft hand Mrs Wife slathered our Dan Bing with a tangy sauce blend that we later realised was a mix of soy and sweet chilli.

Delish!