中國煎餅風靡海外，有人擔心它失去了靈魂

在什么情況下，煎餅不是煎餅?

The unassuming jianbing, an eggy street-food snack from China that resembles a French crepe, is increasingly trendy abroad — a symbol of Beijing’s growing soft power. It even inspired the creation of a superhero character in a hit Chinese comedy, “Pancake Man.”

煎餅是中國的一種街頭小吃，表面裹著一層蛋液，類似于法國薄餅。但現(xiàn)在，在國內(nèi)頗為低調(diào)的煎餅在國外越來越流行，成了北京與日俱增的軟實力的一個象征。中國喜劇大片《煎餅俠》甚至還受它的啟發(fā)，創(chuàng)造了一個超級英雄人物。

But in the Chinese city of Tianjin, a local trade association sees the snack’s soaring popularity — and variety — as a threat. Over the weekend, it imposed rules that attempt to standardize the jianbing, apparently as a way of saving the soul of northern China’s quintessential street food.

但在中國天津，當?shù)氐囊粋€行業(yè)協(xié)會認為，煎餅越來越流行且種類越來越多是一種威脅。周末，它出臺了一系列規(guī)定，試圖將煎餅標準化。這似乎是為了拯救這款典型的北方街頭小吃的靈魂。

The rules have prompted head-scratching among Chinese eaters, and even some metaphysical speculation about what makes a jianbing in the first place.

新規(guī)令中國食客感到不解，甚至引發(fā)了一些關于煎餅起源的形而上的推測。

The rules say that Tianjin’s jianbing vendors should hew to a fixed recipe and a precise pancake-diameter range of 15 to 17.7 inches, according to photographs of the rules that were posted online by Chinese state media outlets. The rules also say that a jianbing should be served in packaging that lists its expiration date and the name, address and phone number of its creator.

從中國官方媒體機構發(fā)在網(wǎng)上的照片來看，相關規(guī)定要求天津的煎餅攤販采用固定的配方和嚴格的煎餅尺寸，即直徑在38至45厘米之間。規(guī)定還要求煎餅有包裝，且包裝上要注明保質(zhì)期和加工方的姓名、地址和電話號碼。

Song Guanming, the chairman of the Tianjin Catering Industry Association’s jianbing branch, told local news outlets that the rules would not be strictly enforced. But he also said the association would establish model jianbing stands to help raise industry standards and boost the city’s pancake-slinging reputation.

天津市餐飲行業(yè)協(xié)會煎餅馃子分會會長宋冠鳴告訴當?shù)匦侣劽襟w，這些規(guī)定不會強制執(zhí)行。但他也表示，該協(xié)會將設立煎餅示范攤位，以便幫助提高行業(yè)標準，提升該市攤煎餅的聲譽。

“As we make the ingredients and cooking method public, we guarantee that the costs of jianbing will not increase, the flavors will be authentically delicious and business will definitely improve, if practitioners follow the standard,” Mr. Song was quoted as saying.

“但把煎餅馃子技術和配方公開告訴大家后，只要從業(yè)者遵從標準，成本不會增加，味道正宗好吃，生意肯定會更好，”宋冠鳴說。

But on Sina Weibo, a Twitter-like social media platform, some said that part of the fun of eating jianbing was that its flavor varies by vendor.

但在類似于Twitter的社交媒體平臺新浪微博上，有人說吃煎餅的樂趣部分就在于它的味道因攤販而異。

“The nonstandard pancakes are the ones I like eating,” one user wrote.

“我就是喜歡吃不標準的，”一名用戶寫道。

“Everyone’s tastes are different,” another wrote. “Is there even a need to standardize?”

“每個人的口味都不一樣，”另一名用戶寫道。“有必要標準化嗎?”

Several vendors in Tianjin told a local newspaper that they were unsure whether to follow the new rules. One said that he viewed them as an affront to his art.

天津的幾名攤販對當?shù)氐囊患覉蠹埍硎?，他們不確定要不要遵守新規(guī)定。其中一人說，他認為新規(guī)定是對他手藝的侮辱。

“We’ve always used other ingredients,” the vendor said, referring to a rule that declares mung bean batter the city’s official jianbing base.

“我們制作的煎餅馃子還加入了其他的食品，”這名攤販提到其中一條規(guī)定時說，這條規(guī)定宣布綠豆面是正規(guī)天津煎餅的主要原料。

The jianbing rules were first reported on in English by The South China Morning Post.

《南華早報》(The South China Morning Post)最早用英語報道了有關煎餅的規(guī)定。

Xinhua, a state-run Chinese news agency, says that the jianbing’s origins lie in Tianjin, Beijing and Shandong Province. Mr. Song of the catering industry association has said that one of the snack’s two primary strains, the jianbing guozi, has a 600-year history in Tianjin.

中國官方通訊社新華社報道稱，煎餅起源于天津、北京和山東。前述天津市餐飲行業(yè)協(xié)會煎餅馃子分會會長宋冠鳴表示，煎餅主要分兩種，其中之一煎餅馃子在天津有600年的歷史。

People.cn, another state-run news outlet, reported that brick murals and pottery remains show that the Chinese could have been rolling thin pancakes on flat, heated griddles for about five thousand years.

中國另一家官方新聞機構人民網(wǎng)報道說，磚畫和流傳下來的陶器顯示，中國人在平整的、經(jīng)過加熱的鏊子上攤煎餅的歷史有大約五千年。

According to Mr. Bing, a jianbing business in New York, legend has it that the snack was invented by a third-century official in Shandong Province who needed to feed an army of wok-less soldiers. The company says that the official’s bright idea — cooking on a copper griddle — drove his army to victory “on a tummy full of bings.”

據(jù)紐約的煎餅店“老金煎餅”(Mr. Bing)稱，傳說煎餅是三世紀時山東省的一名官員發(fā)明的。這名官員要養(yǎng)活一支沒有炒鍋的軍隊。“老金煎餅”稱，這名官員想到了一個好辦法——在銅鏊子上做飯——幫他的軍隊“用餅填飽了肚子”，取得了勝利。

While the original jianbing is still hugely popular as a street snack, gentrified versions can now be found from Beijing to Brooklyn. It now comes with a quirky range of toppings, complementing the standard ingredients of eggs, scallions, cilantro, chili and sweet sauce and a deep-fried dough wafer.

盡管老式煎餅仍是一款大受歡迎的街頭小吃，但現(xiàn)在從北京到布魯克林，都能找到被中產(chǎn)階級化了的煎餅?，F(xiàn)在除了雞蛋、蔥、香菜、甜辣醬和油炸薄脆這些標準配料外，還出現(xiàn)了一系列稀奇古怪的配料。

In New York, for example, Mr. Bing serves bings à la kimchi. And in Hong Kong, the semiautonomous southern Chinese city, the bubble-tea shop ThirsTea offers them with condensed milk and peanut butter.

比如在紐約，“老金煎餅”有一款泡菜煎餅。在中國南方實行半自治的城市香港，珍珠奶茶店喝·茶(ThirsTea)將煎餅與煉乳和花生醬結合在了一起。

Fuchsia Dunlop, a London-based cook and food writer who specializes in Chinese cuisine, said that as people in China become more interested in food as a marker of cultural heritage, culinary associations see an opportunity to lure tourists and are moving in some cases to enforce allegiance to traditional recipes.

常住倫敦的鄧扶霞(Fuchsia Dunlop)是一名專門研究中國飲食的廚師兼美食作家。她說，隨著中國民眾對食物作為文化遺產(chǎn)標志的興趣增加，烹飪協(xié)會看到了吸引游客的機會，并且在一些事例中，它們正在采取行動，強迫人們忠于傳統(tǒng)做法。

China, long a haven for piracy and counterfeiters, has worked hard to strengthen its intellectual property laws in recent years. Chinese leaders want its companies to invest in new technologies and new brands — investments that could be easily undermined by copycats.

中國長期是盜版和造假者的天堂。近年來，中國努力加強知識產(chǎn)權法律。中國領導人希望中國公司投資新技術和新品牌——這些投資容易遭到山寨產(chǎn)品的破壞。

China has also moved to open more courts to hear intellectual property cases and has increased penalties. Foreign brands, such as New Balance sneakers and Michael Jordan, the basketball star, have won high-profile infringement cases in recent years.

中國還著手設立了更多審理知識產(chǎn)權案件的法庭，并加大了處罰力度。近年來，新百倫(New Balance)運動鞋和籃球明星邁克爾·喬丹(Michael Jordan)等外國品牌在備受矚目的侵權案件中勝訴。

But Ms. Dunlop said there was now a debate in China about whether efforts to strictly preserve culinary heritage were going a bit too far. “It’s a living form of culture that is always changing and being influenced,” she said by telephone from the western province of Sichuan.

但鄧扶霞說，中國現(xiàn)在圍繞嚴格保護餐飲遺產(chǎn)的行動是不是有點過分出現(xiàn)了爭論。“它是一種活的文化形式，永遠都在變化，被其他因素影響，”身在中國西部四川省的她在電話里說。

Ms. Dunlop pointed, as examples of evolving culinary heritage, to pizza, which came from Italy and is now beloved by Americans, and to Sichuan’s regional cuisine, which is world-famous for an ingredient — the chili pepper — that hails from the Americas.

鄧扶霞以披薩和川菜為例，證明飲食遺產(chǎn)在不斷演變。披薩發(fā)源于意大利，現(xiàn)在深受美國民眾的喜愛，川菜則憑借原產(chǎn)自美洲的食材辣椒而聞名于世。