Dan Bing — Photo:
Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Maggie Ruggiero / Prop Styling by Christine Keely

Total Time:

1 hrs 30 mins

Servings:

6 servings

A popular Taiwanese breakfast, dan bing calls for cooking eggs onto a crêpe, then rolling and slicing it. Wrapped around a thin, delicate crêpe, well-beaten eggs seasoned with shiro dashi and toasted sesame oil give this popular Taiwanese breakfast a deep savory flavor and an aromatic finish. 2020 F&W Best New Chef Trigg Brown of Win Son in Brooklyn, who shared this recipe, slices dan bing into bite-size pieces and scatters it with sesame seeds and gochugaru for a tasty snack. (He also likes to take it over-the-top: “I like to cook a scallion pancake, put two pieces of American cheese on it, then use it like a sandwich casing to encapsulate the sliced dan bing for a carb-on-carb situation that makes me really happy,” Brown told F&W.)

Glutinous rice flour is a fine-textured flour made from short-grained sticky rice, aka glutinous rice. (Despite the name, it’s gluten-free.) Including it in the crêpe batter helps ensure the crepes are tender and supple. Glutinous rice flour and shiro dashi is available at most Japanese grocery stores or online at japanesetaste.com. Soy paste, an umami-rich Taiwanese condiment, is available online at yunhai.shop.

Ingredients

15 large eggs, divided
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon whole milk
1/2 cup all-purpose flour (about 2 1/4 ounces)
1/4 cup glutinous rice flour (about 1 1/4 ounces)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, divided
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup plus 4 teaspoons neutral cooking oil (such as soybean oil), divided
3/4 cup packed fresh Thai basil leaves (about 3/4 ounce), torn, plus more leaves for garnish
6 tablespoons shiro dashi (such as Ninben Shiro Dashi Sauce Concentrated Soup Base) (see Note)
2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
Fried shallots, toasted sesame seeds, gochugaru, and sliced scallions, for garnish (optional)
Soy paste (such as Traditional Firewood Soy Paste) (optional) (see Note)

Directions

Whisk together 3 eggs, milk, all-purpose flour, glutinous rice flour, butter, and salt in a medium bowl. Cover crêpe batter, and chill until liquid is absorbed and mixture thickens slightly, at least 1 hour or up to 12 hours.
Heat a 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium. Add 1 teaspoon neutral oil, and swirl to coat skillet. Remove crêpe batter from refrigerator, and stir well. Ladle about 1/3 cup batter into skillet, and tilt skillet until batter evenly coats bottom of skillet. Cook until batter is set and crêpe begins to pull away from skillet edges, about 45 seconds. Flip crêpe, and cook until fully set, about 30 seconds. (Crêpe will be pale; it will brown further in step 4.) Remove crêpe from skillet, and set aside. Repeat process 3 times to make a total of 4 crêpes, using 1 teaspoon neutral oil and 1/3 cup batter for each crêpe. Wipe skillet clean.
Whisk together remaining 12 eggs in a large bowl until frothy. Whisk in torn basil, shiro dashi, and sesame oil.
Return skillet to heat over medium, and add 1 tablespoon neutral oil; swirl to coat skillet. Pour 3/4 cup egg-basil mixture into center of skillet; immediately top with 1 cooked crêpe. Cook, undisturbed, until eggs are set, about 45 seconds. Flip entire mixture over. Quickly fold 1 side in toward center of egg mixture, and fold remaining side in toward center, slightly overlapping (like folding a letter). Flip folded dan bing so seam is facing down. Cook until lightly browned in spots, about 45 seconds. (Cooking seam side down first allows the uncooked egg mixture to act as an adhesive and seal the folded omelet.) Flip and cook until light golden brown, about 1 minute, reducing heat as needed if dan bing browns too quickly. Transfer dan bing to a cutting board, and tent with aluminum foil to keep warm. Repeat process 3 times with remaining 3 tablespoons neutral oil, remaining egg-basil mixture, and remaining 3 crêpes.
Slice each dan bing crosswise into 6 pieces. Garnish with fried shallots, toasted sesame seeds, gochugaru, scallions, and basil leaves as desired. Serve with soy paste for dipping, if desired.