Can anyone identify this thin pizza-like food?

[Friday]

When I was studying in Hangzhou, there was a food stall that sold a delicious pizza-like dish. I doubt it is local to there, as I only knew of one stall. It was very simple. They had a huge flat stone to cook the food on, probably 1 meter across. They used a trowel (for construction) to spread a thin batter on it. The batter was the color of pancake batter, and they spread it just a bit thicker than one might spread a crepe. After it cooked a bit, they spread on a spicy red sauce, which had round bits it, perhaps chopped peppers. They sliced it into pieces, about 1/2 meter long and 1/4 meter wide, and put it in a clear bag for customers. Does anyone have any idea what this dish might be called? I want to use the name to find a recipe.

[somethingfunny]

I've never been to Hangzhou, so I can't be sure, but it sounds like you're describing a type of 饼.  There are a large number of variations, but I also used to get a type which they would "fill" with a spicy paste and then put into a clear little bag to eat.

 

Did it look like any of these pictures?

[Friday]

From the link, it most resembles this one. Does it have a specific name so I can track down a recipe?

[somethingfunny]

Thats the same link I used.

[Publius]

Thin batter cooked on a surface, that's 煎餅. But the size you described is ridiculous. Flat stone 1 meter across? 1/2 meter x 1/4 meter pieces? That's larger than A3 paper. Are you from one of the three countries that don't use the metric system?

[Jim]

There was a craze for some pizza-like 饼 in Beijing some years back, my memory says it was a Hubei speciality but can't find it on a quick search and maybe I've got that wrong. Think their time has passed now but it was a smallish griddle-cooked spicy bing from one of the regions jokingly referred to as a Chinese pizza. 

[abcdefg]

 

7 hours ago, Friday said:

Does it have a specific name so I can track down a recipe?

 

Like Publius said, it's a 煎饼。That's the search term to use. "Jianbing" is the Pinyin, using the English alphabet. Google will recognize it. (I just tried to be sure.) You will find hundreds of variation. None might be exactly as you remember, because each vendor makes his own version. 

 

I posted a recipe here yesterday for a type of Jianbing, although it was one with more and different ingredients. https://www.chinese-forums.com/forums/topic/56335-chinese-chives-griddle-cakes-韭菜煎饼/?tab=comments#comment-435506

 

Quote

I want to use the name to find a recipe

 

If you come up empty with your internet search, I can tell you how to make these at home using a skillet or a wok. They are real easy. 

 

Here are two reference articles:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jianbing 

 

https://www.seriouseats.com/2015/08/jianbing-chinese-savory-breakfast-crepe.html

 

 

[abcdefg]

Here's another very nice post about the sort of thing you're looking for.

 

https://www.chinese-forums.com/forums/topic/51848-chinese-scallion-pancake-cong-you-bing/?tab=comments#comment-398637 

[roddy]

Sounds a lot like a really massive  煎餅 

 

7 hours ago, Jim said:

There was a craze for some pizza-like 饼 in Beijing some years back, my memory says it was a Hubei speciality but can't find it on a quick search and maybe I've got that wrong. Think their time has passed now but it was a smallish griddle-cooked spicy bing from one of the regions jokingly referred to as a Chinese pizza. 

Your memory does not fail you, sir. I used to love those things. 

[somethingfunny]

@Friday - that looks to be the exact same stuff I used to get in different places in the Southwest.  If I remember correctly, it would be sold stalls advertising 山东大饼 but I think this is more likely to be referred to as 千层饼.

 

As far as recipes go, I always assumed it would be impossible to make because I didn't have one of those one metre diameter frying pans with the lid they used to make.  The closest thing I've seen in the west is 印度飞饼 - I bought some chilled/frozen ones at a Chinese supermarket once, fried them up and they were not quite the same but still delicious.  As far as recipes goes, the link abcdefg provided appears to be a closer approximation.