I grew up eating crepes, the Jiangsu (a province in China) style. At my parents’ home, it was served as a side dish (supplement) to congee. Back then, the crepe only had flour, water, veggie oil and was decorated with chopped green onion.
There are other crepe styles in China. One of the most widely received is Jianbing guozi, a Tianjin style crepe. Unlike my hometown’s plain crepe, the Tianjin one is sophisticated. The crepe itself uses mung bean flour. After the crepe is formed, it is topped with sweet bean sauce or chili sauce, egg, and chopped green onion. A fried dough stick (youtiao) or crispy “dragon” is, then folded inside the crepe. It is a very popular street food in China. There are several places that serve Jianbing guozi in New York City.
Compared to these two crepes, the French crepe is considerably different. When roasting the batter containing milk, egg, and butter, the aroma is so satisfying. To make it as healthy as possible, I cut back the sugar and butter usage. Since I make it almost every week, to make it as simple as possible, I skip the straining step by stirring the batter longer. This is not something I grew up with. I don’t have the constraint of an “authentic” recipe. The simplified ingredients and cooking process do also give me a tasty crepe.
French Crêpe法式薄饼
Equipment
- 10.5“ frying pan
- large mixing bowl
- whisk
- small bowl
- thin spatula
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour (no need to be full)
- 2 cups whole milk (could be 2¼ cups)
- 3 large eggs
- 2.5 tbsp butter
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt (optional)
Instructions
- Warm up the milk in a microwave for 45-60 seconds, and set it aside for the future step
- Add two cups of all-purpose flour to the large mixing bowl. Make a "well" in the center with a hand or spoon
- Crack open the eggs, and add them to the flour "well". Slowly stir the egg in a circle to gradually incorporate the flour into the egg liquid. Continue the process until the liquid is still flowable but about 60% of flour has been mixed with the egg
- Add about 1/3 of cup of milk to middle of the egg/flour batter. Slowly stir in a circle to continue to bring flour to the batter
- After all the milk is added, add the sugar, and continue to stir for about 2 mins
- Put butter into the small bowl, cover it with a small plate or wrap, and warm it up in the microwave for 45-60 seconds
- Add the molten butter to the batter, and mix for 3-4 minutes
- Cover the mixing bowl with a wrap, and let it rest for 60-75 mins. Stir for 1-2 mins before toasting
- Place the pan on the stove, and turn the heat to high. Once the pan is hot, turn the heat to medium. Take the pan off the heat
- Hold the pan with one hand and tilt the pan to lower one corner. Scoop 1/3 cup of the batter and pour it to the lower corner. Lift the lower corner and quickly move the pan swirly to make sure the batter covers the entire pan
- Place the pan back onto the heat. For about 10-15 seconds (or when the edges turn golden brown), use a spatula to pop up part of the edge. Continue to insert the spatula underneath the crepe and flip it
- After about 10-15 seconds, flip the crepe. Toast both sides for 10-15 seconds
- Continue the process until the batter runs out
- Serve with a drink or other dishes
Video
Notes
- A lot of recipes either run the dry flour through a fine strainer or let the batter go through the strainer to remove/avoid lumps. Using the process in this recipe and with a good mixing, the resulting batter is pretty smooth without straining.
- Depending on the flour you use, you might need to add more milk or liquid to make the batter thinner to flow better.
- Most recipes also add some salt. I didn't notice the difference when I skipped the salt.
- Vanilla extract, rum, and lemon zest are pretty common and easily available ingredients used in crepe recipes to bring additional flavor. I don't have any of these ingredients.
- Some people like to make salty crepes instead of sweet ones. You simply reduce or take out the sugar and replace it with some salt.
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