Nothing else in Beijing declares winter like the arrival of the city’s piles ‘o cabbage. My first year here, I thought snowfall on Old Hallow’s Eve heralded the dreaded Beijing winter; my second, no snow in November, but wretchedly freezing winds told me it was time to haul out my down jackets; this year, it’s mid-November, and – dare I say it? – it’s still relatively mild (i.e. I am not clamouring for government heating yet). What has yet to fail me though, as a marker of the season, is the sight, and smell, of the city’s hoard of government-subsidized cabbage.… READ MORE | 6 Comments
Tags: cabbage, leeks, LIFE, winter
Apologies for the long hiatus readers, life has been a whirl of activity of late. I managed to escape the last of Beijing’s summer sweats with a long sojourn in the U.S. The good news is that while we didn’t blog it, I got to eat some amazing meals with Christine. The bad news is that these mealsoffood were in San Francisco, where Christine has returned in pursuit of that pesky phD. And so, the Beijing Haochi team is down one, and we have lost the brains behind the operation, not to mention our food stylist extraordinaire. In the spirit of viewing the glass as half full, we did get to pig out in my favorite food city in America. In honor of Christine, this post is entitled “Ode to Food One Cannot Eat in Beijing.”… READ MORE
In defiance of the revolting pollution soup that we must wade through daily this summer to go about our Beijing business, I resist the temptation to write on cool drinks and icy treats, and will instead talk some hot, steamy mutton. I wish I could claim to be contrairian, but this post on long-time favorite King’s Mutton Soup was actually spurred by some pleasant dinner conversation on … dissecting eyeballs. Talking about anything I’ve eaten, even utterly out of context, always fires up some memories. Besides, why dissect eyeballs for science when you can eat them for sustenance? (Ah, yummy. Ah, sarcasm. See picture above for a preview. ) But I run ahead of myself. Mutton is what this Shaanxi canteen… READ MORE | 3 Comments
Tags: EAT, eyeball, King's Mutton, lamb, mutton, restaurant
Ah yes, unabashed dumpling porn. But seriously folks, this dumpling (jiaozi 饺子) is nothing short of awesome – our instant addiction made clear why a friend dubbed it nothing less than “crack jiaozi.” Not only does this little nugget taste fantastic, the red-cabbage-stained purple wrapper makes it nearly as lovely to look at as to eat. Unlike other parts of China, Beijing dumplings are typified by an astounding variety of fillings beyond the common shrimp-pork-cabbage combo. Most restaurants serving dumplings will have dozens of fillings available, including tomato-and-egg, the Muslim-influenced lamb-and-cilantro, eggplant-and-egg, zucchini-and-egg, preserved vegetable-and-green beans, peanut-bacon-and-green pepper (another favorite), and so forth.… READ MORE | 2 Comments
Tags: Baoyuan, COOK, dumpling, guoba, red cabbage
In a debate over what to eat in Yunnan, it’ll always be a tough call. So many glorious options! So little time. On a recent and tragically food-deficient trip to Yunnan, I was denied the chance to stuff my face in a manner that paid proper respect to this region’s culinary cornucopia. There are, after all, only 24 hours in a day, and much of my five days was spent zooming around in a car looking for commodities and stopping too late to eat, or stuck with a conference buffet. My obvious go-to choice here would be mushrooms, but I won’t speak here of the stunning variety of wild mushrooms that this Southwestern province is famous for. Partly because it’s not the season, partly because it pains me that I didn’t get to eat mushroom hotpot. Instead, in honor of springtime in this land of eternal Spring, I’ll post an ode to the edible art growing about the region that I found plucked and ready to fry. As flowers are fragile, they ship poorly and taste best when cooked the same day – making these ingredients hard to come by in the desert that is Beijing.… READ MORE | 4 Comments
Tags: blossoms, EAT, flowers, LIFE, yunnan
Is there an easier dish to cook that’s this ridiculously addictive? I’d say…no. And will have words with anyone who dare say otherwise. I had a craving for this simple fare one day, bought two heads of cabbage and ate nothing else for three meals straight. Yet after I demolished both heads, I found myself hankering for another plate on day three. A tad embarrassing, but honestly, what’s not to love? The cabbage is sweet and salty, juicy but still mildly crunchy, and it’s even undeniably good for you. But if I am to be honest, the crux of the addiction is the hint of chili – not enough to make the dish spicy, yet leaves a tinge of fragrance on your tongue and in the air. … READ MORE | 7 Comments
Tags: cabbage, chili, COOK
One of the surprising wonders of living here is discovering some things you coveted back home are actually easy to find in China. I’m not talking about Sichuan peppercorns, or a big bottle of beer for 3 kuai (40ish cents). I’m talking Meyer lemons, one of the sought-after treats from my life in Northern California. This little treasure is actually native to China, as I found out last year through the fabulous Hawberries & Kumquats (thanks Shelley!). No one seems quite sure what a Meyer lemon’s origin is, but this luscious citrus is best described as a cross between a lemon and an orange – slightly sweeter, thinner skinned… all the bright lemonosity you’d like yet without the sour pucker or bitter peel you’ve learned to expect. Thin skins means Meyers don’t travel well, so unless you’re lucky enough to live near Meyer lemon trees…… READ MORE | 10 Comments
Tags: COOK, lemon, LIFE, maison boulud
It looks like some kind of Frankenstein-esque health food. Tofu and green peas, two foods that don’t often (ever?) inspire drooling or cravings, decide to join forces. Tofu is most commonly made with soybeans, but this is China, a land full of tofu love, and there are not only countless variations on soybean tofu, but tofu made from other beans as well. Here, in Dali, Yunnan, we encountered the green pea tofu (wandou doufu 豌豆豆腐). It looks like a corpulent hunk of cheese, has the consistency of an overly cooked flan, and little to recommend it by way of looks.… READ MORE | 3 Comments
Tags: Dali, green peas, sauce, tofu, yunnan
Burma. Still quite the land of mystery, with only a smattering of tourists. For those who have been thinking of going, I heartly encourage it. It’s stunning in its beauty, the people unbelievably warm, and there is always the scent of something roasted in the air. Burmese food is not well-known internationally (how many Burmese restaurants have you seen?) and though I enjoyed many meals there, I see why it’s hard to translate. It’s cuisine is influenced by its geography – borrowing flavors from neighbors India, China and Thailand, and centuries of migration between the countries means that in many parts of Burma, the local food will be dominated by one of those cuisines. Here’s a rundown of the best ghetto street food we ran across while running across Burma.… READ MORE | 6 Comments
Tags: burma, EAT, Indian, LIFE, samosa, shan noodles, Thai
Just when you thought I was done waxing poetic about the joyous versatility of a toaster oven, we embarked on a bagel adventure. Probably due to the sudden at-home bagel craze evident throughout the blogosphere, a number of our Beijing friends have recently been pumping out these boiled-then-baked-then-toasted brunch staples at home. We were inspired. We wanted to make our own, schmear on an ungodly amount of cream cheese, and stuff ourselves into an enjoyable Sunday carb coma. I was drawn in by the short baking time (10ish minutes) that seemed so very doable in our toaster ovens, and Christine was enraptured with the aesthetic possibilities of decoration (she was salivating over the visuals of pink Himalayan salt and black sesame). … READ MORE | 15 Comments
Tags: bagels, bread, COOK, toaster oven
