润饼潤餅
rùn bǐng jeon6 beng2
In Fujian, Taiwan and the Chaoshan coast, Qingming means rolling runbing — a paper-thin wheat wrapper piled with cold, pre-cooked vegetables. Because everything is assembled without a fresh fire at the table, it carries on the old Cold Food custom in the most hands-on, family-style way.
The story behind it
Runbing descend from the cold-food tradition that merged into Qingming, when households ate dishes prepared in advance rather than lighting the hearth. The skill lies in the wrapper: a stretchy ball of high-gluten dough is smeared across a hot griddle and peeled off in seconds as a translucent crepe, a craft still demonstrated at old market stalls in Quanzhou and Tainan. Families lay out bowls of separately cooked fillings and each person rolls their own, which is why the dish doubles as a centerpiece at spring gatherings. In Taiwan and Fujian a sprinkle of sweet peanut sugar and crumbled seaweed or dried pork floss is the signature finishing touch.
Ingredients
- 8 ready-made runbing/popiah wrappers (or thin wheat spring-roll skins)
- 200 g cabbage, shredded
- 1 carrot, julienned
- 100 g bean sprouts
- 2 eggs, made into a thin shredded omelette
- 150 g firm tofu or fried tofu, sliced
- 3 tbsp ground roasted peanuts mixed with 1 tbsp sugar
- Soy sauce, salt and a little white pepper to taste
Steps
- Stir-fry the cabbage and carrot with a pinch of salt until just soft, then drain off excess liquid and let cool; a wet filling tears the wrapper.
- Quickly blanch the bean sprouts, and separately fry the tofu and the thin omelette, then slice both into strips; keep each filling in its own bowl.
- Gently warm the wrappers (a brief steam or a few seconds in a dry pan) so they stay soft and pliable.
- Lay a wrapper flat and dust a line of the peanut-sugar across the lower third — this layer also keeps the skin from going soggy.
- Pile on a little of each filling in a neat log, not too full, leaving room to fold.
- Fold the bottom edge up over the filling, fold in both sides, then roll up snugly; eat at room temperature, fresh from your hands.