Vegetarian Street Foods in China (Part 1)

Click on the blue word to follow us!

Study Mandarin，come to Mandarin Morning

A wide variety of vegetarian street food is available at your fingertips!

While street food may not be the best option for daily meals, it can make for a delicious snack or the occasional breakfast or lunch. Chinese street food is cheap, tasty, and can be found just about anywhere.

Chinese Pancakes (饼)

There is an enormous variety of Chinese pancakes (bing, or 饼), many of which are vegetarian or have the option of not adding meat.

As a Westerner, the word “pancake” conjures up a sweet, fluffy breakfast item, but many Chinese pancakes are actually savoury! One of the favourite styles of pancake is the Jian Bing (煎饼).

Jian bing is hugely popular in China, and it’s quite similar to a crepe, made with flour and spread thin on a griddle until crispy. You can then add whatever fillings you like, so get creative!

Another common type of pancake is fried, and thicker than a jian bing, often with flaky layers. A couple of these include scallion pancakes, or Cong You Bing (葱油饼), and Jiang Xiang Bing (酱香饼).

Last but not least, there is also Shao Bing (烧饼), which is a baked, layered flatbread, usually with sesame seeds on top.

Tea Eggs (茶叶蛋)

Tea eggs are a great source of protein for vegetarians! These eggs are hard-boiled and soaked in a mixture of water, tea, soy sauce, and spices.

The eggs soak up flavour and simultaneously develop a distinct web-like design caused by the tea mixture seeping into the egg through the cracks in the shell.

Baozi (包子)

Baozi (包子), a type of stuffed, steamed bun, is a very common throughout China. Baozi can be both sweet and savoury.

In Shanghai, some of the savory baozi include mushroom and vegetable baozi (香菇素菜包), transparent noodle baozi (粉丝包, stuffed with clear noodles made from starch), and sour and spicy potato baozi (酸辣土豆包).

Maybe you wouldn’t expect to find noodles or potatoes inside a bun, but these fillings are actually extremely flavoursome! The soft, fluffy bun and savoury stuffing make a fantastic snack or meal!

Sweet baozi might be one of the best Chinese foods! Favourites include custard baozi (奶黄包 or 流沙包), red bean baozi (豆沙包 or 红豆包), and black sesame baozi (黑芝麻包).

Sweet baozi are great for on-the-go breakfasts, and you might find some soymilk (豆浆) to go with them. While technically not baozi, Man Tou (馒头) is also a steamed bun, but without filling. They’re often sold at the same places that sell baozi.

# Our teachers #

# About us #

# Contact us#