Bing (bread) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Bing

Type	Flatbread or pancake
Place of origin	China

Bing (Chinese: 餠) is a popular Chinese food made from flour, usually wheat flour. It has a flat or round shape, like a disk. You can think of bing as a type of flatbread or pancake.

Many kinds of bing are similar to flatbreads from other countries. For example, they might look like Indian roti, French crêpes, or Mexican tortillas. Some bing are even more like cakes or cookies. The word bing is Chinese, but it can also describe flatbreads or cakes from other cultures. For instance, a pizza is sometimes called pisa bing in Chinese. A flour tortilla is known as Mexican thin bing.

What are the main types of Bing?

Bing is often eaten as a casual meal, like for lunch. But it can also be part of bigger, more formal meals. For example, thin wheat flour bao bing are used to wrap Peking duck or moo shu pork. These wraps often come with scallions and sweet sauces.

Some bing types have tasty fillings, like ground meat. Most bing are cooked on a skillet or a flat griddle. However, some kinds are baked in an oven.

Here are some common types of bing:

• Cong you bing (蔥油餅): This is a savory pancake made with scallions and oil. It's very popular!
• Fa mian bing (發麵餅): This bing is made with yeast, which makes it light and fluffy.
• Laobing (烙餅): This is a simple bing that is pan-fried until golden.
• Chun bing (春餅): This is a very thin bing. People in Northern China traditionally eat it to celebrate the start of spring. It's usually served with different fillings.
• Shaobing (燒餅): This type of bing is baked. It often has a crispy outside.
• Jianbing (煎餅): This is a fried egg pancake. It's similar to a crepe and is a very popular breakfast street food in China.
• Bó bǐng (薄餅): This means "thin pancakes." It's a thin, crepe-like wrapper used to hold various fillings. In America, it's sometimes called a "Mandarin pancake."
• Luóbo si bing (萝卜絲餅): This bing is filled with shredded radish and then pan-fried.
• Rou jia bing (肉夹饼): This is a bing that is cut open and filled with meat. It's often stewed pork or lamb. Some versions use beef and pickled vegetables, similar to a banh mi sandwich.
• Hé yè bǐng (荷叶饼): This bing is shaped like a lotus leaf and can be folded. It's often served with rich meat dishes, like the famous gua bao (a bun filled with pork belly).
• Jin bing (筋饼): This is a layered bing popular in Northern China. It's made with strong flour, which gives it a chewy texture. It's also called zhua bing because you can grab its layers with your hands.
• Guokui (锅盔): A thick, round, and often crispy bing.

Sweet Bing and Bing in other cultures

The Yuèbǐng (月餅), also known as mooncakes, are a type of sweet baked pastry. Even though they share the name bing, they are usually eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival as a special treat. Other sweet bing include "Wife" cake (老婆饼), which has a winter melon filling, and a sweet version of 1000 layer cake (千层饼).

Bing-like foods are also enjoyed in other East Asian countries. In Korea, they have Jeon (Hangul: 전; Hanja: 煎), which are often savory pancakes with seafood.

In Japan, the character 餅 usually refers to mochi (sticky rice cakes). However, it's also used for some other foods like senbei (煎餅) rice crackers. Many Japanese cooked wheat cakes, both sweet and savory, are called yaki (焼き). Examples include dorayaki, taiyaki, and okonomiyaki.

See also

In Spanish: Bing (pan) para niños