Jianbing revisited

Today I ate my first jianbing in 15 (maybe 14) years. whoa. And they are still amazingly delicious. What is jianbing, you ask? it is a little slice of heaven that consists of a very thin batter poured onto a hot round flat griddle (think crepes) and with added elements of egg, green onions, cilantro, some hot sauce and then all wrapped around some crispy fried dough. this Beijing street food at its best and it can be found around town for a whopping 25 cents. In 1991-92, when I was a student in Beijing studying Chinese these were a staple part of my diet as there was a woman who made them on her mobile cart which was often parked outside my school. We were all addicted to them and, for awhile, convinced that we needed to find a way to bring them to the U.S-- "should we learn her technique and steal it? what's in that sauce? Or maybe we just bring the whole cart over and go from there? there must be a way!" I have been back to beijing many times since but the jianbing has always eluded me, perhaps because they are no longer made using the mobile cart setup and now can be found in small storefront stalls. Well, today I finally made good on my promise to find one. Aside from the fact that they longer wrapped in brown paper (vast improvement in terms of the unsightly grease factor), the jianbing hasn't changed a bit. it is every bit the tasty savory breakfast treat I remember. Strange though, because I never knew that a taste could take me so far back in time. Uh oh, I am starting to get nostalgic...