Transit: Sichuan in Beijing that was so so fine

I cast my memory back to my "send off" meal I had in Beijing early this year. Almost an impossible gig to select a place which gives you the final flavour snapshots of an incredible journey. So I let my expectations down thinking that it was just hopeless to expect too much. And then, by some lovely workings of the universe I wasn't let down at all.

Beijing Memories: A Restaurant with No Name over the Houhai Lake

One of my favourite regional Chinese foods is Yunnanese. Why? Because it has the most unique and beguiling marriage of Chinese peppery spice and sweet, tangy, fruitiness. No wonder as the province borders Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam. Chinese "fusion" has been going on for a long, long time.

My heart is still in 798 & "Noodle" 我的心还在七九八 & “面”

A cheeky side-step from food for a little moment: from the moment I walked into the 798 Art District in Beijing I was obsessed. These former electronic components factories often draws very mixed response from its visitors. Some find it bizarre, others don't understand. Most are often just amazed at the sheer scale of their quirky and provocative gargantuan sculptures. I just wanted more and more.

Karaiya Spice House: Hoowah to Hunan!

The bright lights of Sanlitun Village (or "Saannliturrrrr" as per our beloved Beijing taxi drivers) at first seemed tacky to me. I love old buildings, small lanes and charms of a former world. Home to everything mainstream trendy and designer, I quickly wrote off the area as worthwhile for a quality bite. But Asia is different like that: the shiny malls often have the restaurants worth visiting. As each weekend passed, I found myself down at the Village (as coined by my fellow laowai 老外, foreigners) and frequenting the obvious spots (Nali Patio, Apothecary, 1949 and D Lounge nearby. Uh-huh I'm only human too).

(image from Sanlitun Village)


Like many others within the Village, Karaiya Spice House's food lives up to it's good looks. And it's very good-looking. 

And I also love Jiao Zi 我也爱饺子

Don't we all love watching how jiao zi 饺子 go from random dough shapes, to....

...soft, plump mouthfuls of goodness? I love all forms of dumplings, and in Beijing grew to love the boiled ones the best.

I Love Bao Zi 我爱包子

I had completely underestimated the Great Chinese Firewall. A few months later and I'm now only able to post on food I had ages ago. I do apologise, for anyone who's been kind enough to stop by, I'm back!

So my adventure in Beijing was nothing short of fantastic.Words can't describe how blown away I was by the Chinese language, culture and of course the food. My eyes have been opened, my palate expanded. I will try to relay the incredible discoveries I made over the last few months. 

So rewind. I reminisce the humble looking though nonetheless much-loved staple food, the bao zi 包子. It's plain, puffy white exterior often belies the warm and wholesome filling which can be made of almost anything. Anything tasty of course. Bao zi's are always made fresh, steamed in bamboo trays that are stacked high. During my frosty Beijing mornings the billowing steam clouds rising from their vessels was a comforting sight.

Sweet Thoughts in Sanlitun

I know this looks ridiculously girly but on this day, I needed a break from sub-standard coffee and makes-me-pee-green-tea.

Biáng Biáng Mian

In week 2 of my Mandarin course here at BLCU, we had a cultural lesson to explain the basics of Chinese characters. No prizes for knowing that like many other ancient scripts Chinese characters are pictograms, their current form represents what man thought the word looked like. But what on earth did the Chinese see when they came up with this character…

A Jujube a Day

I first called these small fruits "funny little Chinese apples" because that's exactly what they look like. Sweet, crunchy and available from street-side fruit trucks in Beijing these are jujubes or zao. I see carefree grannies dip into plastic bags filled with these green and brown skinned fruits, spitting out the stone oh-so elegantly into their palms whilst mid-gossip.

Jian Bing (Egg-Drop Pancake)

On my morning cycle to college (there's nothing like dodging various vehicles in wild traffic to make you feel alive!), I see about 3 or 4 of these food carts on a small 2.5km stretch. They are purveyors of breakfast street food favourite jian bing, which literally translates into "egg-drop pancake".

The dish that put Peking on the map: Roast Duck

As cliche as it sounds, when in Beijing a Roast Duck has got to be done. After considering these luminary eateries known for their version (Duck de Chine, Made in China, Da Dong), I decided to go less upscale and check out Liqun Roast Duck, tucked up in the Beixiangfeng hutong.

Off the Tian'an Men drag, we ambled over loose bricks and a dusty path led by handpainted ducks on the brick wall towards the restaurant.

Feeling the heat and dancing with noodles at Haidilao hotpot

The world has fallen in love with Szechuan cuisine. At least on the London, New York and KL circuit (which is some distance) everyone's going on about the yin-yang hotpot (or steamboat as us Malaysians call it). We seem addicted to the fiery, peppery, numbing concoction which is achieved by mixing exorbitant amounts of Szechuan peppercorns (or prickly ash, according to mainland Chinese) to give us ma (numbing, tingly); and dried chillies for la (heat). Other key ingredients are fermented chilli bean paste, black beans, ginger and garlic to add different layers of spice and heat.

Qin Tang Fu: Introducing the Shaanxi Province

So here I am in Beijing. Even just after 3 weeks, it’s been one helluva ride. This city is a whirlwind of excitement and activity and I’m lured in by everything I can see. And of course, eat.

I always knew that mainland Chinese food would blow me away, though of course I was never to know the extent. Being Malaysian Chinese, I think of Chinese food staples as rice and noodles. Here in North China, they are very much a noodle and bread bunch. In literally all shapes and sizes.

Shaanxi province, west of Beijing is China’s noodle specialist. Cast away any preconceptions that noodles are long, thin strips – in Shaanxi they can be wide, flat and short, rough blobs that look like play dough or tiny cubes. And made from all types of wheat/flour/bean/legume!

I Am Hungry

As of next week I'll be starting an exciting new chapter in my life: I'll be starting an immersion course to learn Mandarin at the Beijing Language Cultural University. It's something I've wanted to do for a while and have waited to do, and now that it's come round I feel a mixture of excitement and anxiety.

Why Mandarin and China? Well, it's really about time I learnt the language of my heritage and let's face it, the language of the future (and arguably even the present). Albeit issues around human rights, their aggressive position in the world economy and what it holds for the rest of the world, it's an interesting time to be in China and in Asia. I've got so much to get my head around.

Of course what I'm very much looking forward to is all the UH-MAZING food. I sincerely hope you follow me in my journey to sample the culinary treasures of the Middle Kingdom, I don't think this is going to be a boring ride! I expect to make lots of mistakes whilst grappling with the language and tackling the almighty all-Chinese menu so wish me luck!

A special note to my Malaysian friends, readers and fellow bloggers: I've had the most wonderful time hearing from you, meeting some of you and sharing in our common passion. I'll miss my comfort foods and expect to live through you during my time in China!


*Additional Note posted 1.9.2011* I understand that blogspot may be blocked in China - till I get this sorted out please don't stop following me! I'll find a way to communicate!


Image from orbitchinese.com