Scallion pancake rolls and noodles (北平鄉味)

When you take thinly sliced strips of beef, a thick sprig of scallion, a light brushing of traditional 甜麵醬 (not that awful bright orange duck sauce takeout places give you), and wrap it all inside a tastefully fried sheet of thin and crispy, yet chewy, scallion pancake, you end up with a dish called 牛肉捲餅 (niu rou juan bing)... which is basically the Northern Chinese equivalent of a burrito. Actually, maybe that comparison isn't the best. If you can think of how traditional Peking duck is served, sub out the thin paper like wrap with a deep-fried scallion pancake, and swap out the crispy duck with delightfully soft beef drenched in sweet sauce, then you'd get this. Whatever, I'm bad at making comparisons... I get it, but however you want to describe it, this shit is bananas.

For 65 NT ($2) from a place on 和平東路 118巷, you can get the aforementioned pancake beef roll thinger. That's like Taco Bell pricing... sooo sick. A single Andrew Jackson could get me 10 of these babies! I suppose I could eat 10 of them, but I probably wouldn't enjoy it... it's nice to be presented with the option though. It is as good as it sounds (at least it sounds good in my head). The scallion pancake is probably good enough to be sold individually. Despite being no more than dough + scallions + oil, it manages to bring out the flavors of both the scallions and sesame oil without sacrificing one or the other in the process. The beef is soft and dry (to good effect), so when coated with a light layer of traditional duck sauce, there's a nice contrast in texture as well as a slight hint of beefiness. That scallion? Well it's kind of like a pickle, it's just there to be refreshing.



Yeah, I'm a fat ass, so what? I also ordered mushu pork cooked with knife cut scallion pancakes, also known as 木須炒餅. I also really love scallion pancakes apparently? Not quite as good the one from 一品, but it's also a way bigger bowl for 80 NT (~$2.50), which is about the same price, so hey... it's fine with me. Moral of this post? Hm... mixing scallion pancakes with just about anything is a fail proof combination. Fact.

Shh... I know I already wrote about this place last year, but it was good enough for me to revisit (multiple times), so it's good enough to write about again.