xianbing
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ʃjænˈbɪŋ/
Forms: form: xianbing
form: xianbings
Etymology: From the Hanyu Pinyin romanization of Mandarin 餡餅 /馅饼 (xiànbǐng).
Senses: examples: text: As a Beijing worker commented, at best a hamburger is the equivalent of xianbing, a type of Chinese pancake with meat inside, which no one would treat as a daily meal.
ref: 2001, Yunxiang Yan, “McDonald’s in Beijing: the localization of Americana”, in Daniel Miller, editor, The History and Regional Development of Consumption (Consumption: Critical Concepts in the Social Sciences; volume II), London; New York, N.Y.: Routledge, →ISBN, part 8, “Far East”, page 340:
text: Niangao, Xianbing, Doufunao and Wandouhuang, all freshly made, are laid on the counter.
ref: 2008 August 8, Milo Lee, “He who has never eaten Jiumen Snacks is not a true man”, in Beijing Today, number 375, page 18:
text: We also had sweet and spicy pine nut crispy fish (I devoured the head for the cheeks and eyes) and a cumin lamb quesadilla called xianbing, super-crunchy with an almost Mexican-tasting filling.
ref: 2008 August 27, Ming Tsai, “Ming Tsai finds some good eating in Beijing”, in The Boston Globe, volume 274, number 58, Boston, Mass., page E2, column 3:
text: An Die An Niang This no-frills Shandong eatery at Chaoyang Park West Gate makes great down-home zhou (rice porridge), stuffed pies (xianbing) and some of the biggest baozi in town.
ref: 2010 February, “Shandong”, in The Beijinger, page 49, column 1:
text: Field notes: Cousin to xianbing (餡餅), which are wider (palm-sized), flatter and often stuffed with meat, chives or eggplant.
ref: 2010 November, “Circles”, in The Beijinger, section “mending roubing (门钉肉饼 doornail pie)”, page 20:
text: Grain or bean salads, boiled dumplings, savory muffins and even Beijing snacks such as xianbing or shaobing are worth consideration.
ref: 2010 December, Olivia Lee, “Food Flight: Eating healthy on long distance flights”, in beijingkids, page 24:
text: …xianbing 餡餅 / Think of xianbing (literally “stuffed pancake”) as big, portable potstickers.[…]Xianbing are common throughout northern China, particularly in Chinese-Islamic communities, where fillings made from beef or lamb mixed with onion are common.
ref: 2017 September, “Wokipedia”, in The Beijinger, →ISBN, section “X”, page 27:
text: An inordinate number of street food legends begin with Emperor Such-and-Such sneaking away from the palace for a forbidden snack. Xianbing is no exception.[…]The tale of xianbing must be true, since it’s the only filled pancake in the Chinese universe of filled pancakes to earn the literal name xianbing, or “filled pancake.”[…]When he finally got up to the front, the aroma was so intoxicating that he bought up all of the xianbing.
ref: 2018, Howie Southworth, Greg Matza, “Zhurou Xianbing 豬肉餡餅 (Pan-Fried Pork Pockets)”, in Chinese Street Food: Small Bites, Classic Recipes, and Harrowing Tales Across the Middle Kingdom, New York, N.Y.: Skyhorse Publishing, →ISBN:
text: 餡餅 xianbing (stuffed bun) / Similar to a large, round pan-fried dumpling, xianbing come stuffed with a variety of different fillings, such as pork and dumplings or egg and chives.
ref: 2018 September, Robynne Tindall, “Flipping Delicious: China’s Most Beloved Pancakes and Breads”, in The Beijinger, →ISBN, page 27:
text: Even though it is often referred to as the Chinese meat pie, xianbing is, in fact, more similar to an over-sized, seared jiaozi-style dumpling. Both are made with the same, basic flour-and-water dough, except the one for xianbing is layered before being rolled out, and unlike jiaozi dumplings which are steamed, xianbings are pan-fried.
ref: 2023, “Xianbing”, in TasteAtlas, archived from the original on 28 May 2023:
glosses: A traditional kind of Chinese stuffed pancake.