Malaysian Midnight Eating: Restoran Damansara Hokkien Mee

I interrupt my Beijing broadcast to bask in the glory of finding black gold in nearby Damansara Uptown. Old to the other residents but new to me, and a find is still a find!

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.