Chinese Omelette with Lettuce is another one good breakfast dish that I love with passion. More than 20 years ago, the traditional Chinese Omelette (蛋餅) is as simple as a rolled out flat dough cook with a egg spreaded out on it, rolled up and cut into several pieces. As time progresses, it slowly evolved to having more varieties People add cheese, ham, or corn in their Chinese omelette. However, nothing is more innovative than Chinese omelette with lettuce. The crunchiness of the lettuce makes the omelette a very different kind of food. It has become the most famous snack that is served all day, everywhere, not just for breakfast. I still remember when I was in high school, one thing that helped me survive the ridiculous school schedule, is that the street next to my cram school is full of food vendors! There was one old shop that sells Chinese omelette with lettuce which always has a long long line. I would always go there even with the price of being late to cram school, it’s that delicious! And it’s not hard to make, super easy! Don’t believe me? Let’s see!
Ingredients
- 1 uncooked flour tortillas
- 2 eggs
- 1 cups of shredded lettuce
- ½ tbsp of minced garlic
- 2 Tbsp of soy sauce paste
- 1 Tbsp of water
- ½ Tbsp of sugar
First, chop the lettuce into strips. Usually breakfast shops will chop lots of them beforehand and mix with eggs mix first so they can quickly make Chinese omelette with lettuce and serve to the students or office workers. The ratio is about 1 cups of lettuce with 2 beaten eggs. However, you can change the ratio as you like, just remember you need to at least have some eggs to make it stick.
Now heat up a pan at low heat with 2 tbsp of oil. Place a raw tortilla in it. I used to buy some expensive Chinese omelette skins from Chinese supermarket. I even brought back a few packs whenever I visit SoCal. Until one day I found this treasure in a Costco refrigerator. It’s called “Tortillas Land”. It’s organic also. They provide a whole bag with a lot cheaper price. I will never go to Chinese supermarket for expensive Chinese omelette skins! Put one down and let’s move to the next step!
The whole concept is this: we want to cook the egg well while maintaining the crunchiness of the lettuce and making the tortillas crispy. At the same time, you want to make egg stick to the skin so the whole dish won’t fall apart as you fold them. It might sound hard but it’s actually quite achievable. First, you turn to low heat and put down a tortillas. The low heat will not burn the tortillas but will transfer the heat across the skin. Therefore, you want to use the low heat to cook the egg on your tortillas! Put down half of your egg/lettuce mix on top of your tortillas, spread evenly. Once the egg is cooked, it will stick to the tortillas perfectly. It takes about 5 min and you don’t want to heat up too quick otherwise you might likely burn it. Now crank up the heat to crisp up the skin for 1 min!
After it’s done, flip it over and cook for 1 more min. This is to ensure the egg is cooked and also cook the lettuce a little bit. After it’s done, flip it back and roll it up. Usually, street vendors or breakfast shops cut them on the griddle directly with their steel spatulas. We use good non-stick pans at home so please don’t sacrifice your cookware in order to be culinarily correct. Simply transfer your Chinese omelette with lettuce to a cutting board and then cut it.
That’s it! It’s that simple. However, the secret ingredient is not yet revealed! If you want to have good Chinese omelette in general, you want to have tasty garlic sauce. Simple mix the following ingredient together: ½ tbsp of minced garlic, 2 tbsp of soy sauce paste, 1 tbsp of water and ½ tbsp of sugar. It’s the best match of the world, only second to Romeo and Juliet!
- 1 uncooked flour tortillas
- 2 eggs
- 1 cups of shredded lettuce
- ½ tbsp of minced garlic
- 2 Tbsp of soy sauce paste
- 1 Tbsp of water
- ½ Tbsp of sugar
- Chop lettuce into fine strips
- Crack 2 eggs and beat well
- Mix 1 cups of lettuce shreds with 2 beaten egg
- Heat up a pan at low heat with 2 tbsp of oil
- Place a flour tortilla in pan
- Pour egg/lettuce mix on top of the tortilla
- Cook at low heat for 5 min until egg mix is cooked and sticks to the tortilla
- Turn to high heat for 1 min to crisp up the tortilla
- Flip it over to cook for 1 min
- Flip it over again to wrap into a roll
- Cut into three chunks
Oooh I want to try making this. Whenever I make dan bing, I just put pork sung in the middle, but I bet lettuce would be very tasty. The tortillas are a genius idea. I make my own dough, but this would be easier. Thanks for the ideas!
It helps to add some veggies to the dish and using tortillas saves a lot of time!
Looks awesome! I haven’t tried putting lettuce in dan bing before. Now I want to try it. We always put pork floss in. Thanks for the idea!