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“Enjoy yourself in Beijing traditional snacks” reads the wall-sized sign next to the modest doorway hiding the courtyard of Jiumen xiaochi (九门小吃). In a little hutong off of the quieter end of Houhai is this treasure trove for those seeking old-school Beijing street snacks. Wangfujing is the famous, bustling, and sickeningly touristy “street food” alley, selling row upon row of deep-fried scorpions on a stick, and other assorted weird looking goodies that neither locals, nor tourists, really want to eat. However, I suppose it makes for a good photo opp.
The Jiumen hutong complex is made up of the street food vendors that were relocated from their old location near Qianmen near Tiananmen, and the recessed entryway… READ MORE | 8 Comments
Tags: beijing, houhai, jiumen, snack, xiaochi
After my Ode To Vinegar post detailing the sour cold dishes at DaGui (大贵), I shall now move onto some hot, vinegar-free but still delicious dishes. Guizhou cuisine is not at all popular outside of China – in fact I’ve never seen these dishes outside of China, but Guizhou borders Sichuan, and the cuisine often combines Sichuanese spiciness with the sourness enjoyed by the many minority groups living in this province. There are many tasty dishes, but instead of talking about the more well-known Guizhou specialties, such as sour fish soup (酸汤鱼) or the insanely delicious but less unique, such as stir-fried-deep-fried eggplant (香菜茄子), I’ll chat up the dishes I find most pleasing and surprising in flavors.… READ MORE | 1 Comment
Tags: beijing, Dagui, Guizhou, restaurant
Hello, magical peanuts. In my pre-Beijing existence, I was never really fond of the peanut. If I felt a nut craving, the stores were stocked with an infinite variation of other nuts – smoked almonds, candied cashews, and the oh-so-buttery chocolate-covered macadamias. However, despite its American heritage, the Chinese love peanuts, and most restaurants have some variation as appetizers, and now, I’m a convert. They are just so damn good. (So good, in fact, that we’ve decided to recreate a bunch of peanut recipes for our next project. But I digress.)
The vinegar peanuts at Dagui (大贵) sparked my new-found adoration for the humble peanut, and I’ve become a devotee of this small Guizhou restaurant tucked inside the hutongs of old Beijing. There are easily a dozen great dishes here, but this post is dedicated to cold, vinegary appetizers (凉菜), which epitomize the winning combination of spicy-sourness that is the key note of Guizhou cuisine.… READ MORE | 8 Comments
Tags: beijing, cucumbers, Dagui, noodles, peanuts, restaurant, tofu, vinegar
Our love and near-obsession with the jianbing is well documented (for a total of six posts on this one simple street food). We’ve made the pilgrimage to Tianjin, birthplace of the jianbing, we’ve pestered numerous jianbing vendors around Beijing for tips, and of course, we’ve discussed amongst ourselves the ins and outs of how to make the magic happen in our tiny, crepe griddle-less kitchens.
We even contemplated the brilliant (we thought) idea of renting our Tsinghua jianbing vendor’s cart for the day to get some practice, learn a few tricks of the trade, and hopefully bag a few kuai in profits. However, seeing as she thinks we are one and the same person, we thought it might try her sanity to show up together with our odd little proposal – and one should never mess with the sanity of the woman who provides one’s daily breakfast.… READ MORE | 12 Comments
Tags: batter, beijing, COOK, crisp, egg crepe, jianbing, recipe, sauce
When devouring a jianbing, the biggest question usually is – just what is that crispy thing in the middle? In Tianjin guozi (果子) is used – usually translated as a Chinese doughnut (youtiao 油条) – but the youtiao recipes were very intimidating. Plus you need a large vat of oil to properly fry the doughnut, leaving youtiao up to the professionals, methinks.
Lucky for us, we quizzed our favorite jianbing vendor at the east gate of Tsinghua University and discovered jianbing crisps are much easier. She proudly displays a little handwritten sign on the side of her cart: “Self-fried fritter (zizha baocui 自 炸薄脆).” How does one create a fritter? Her answer: she goes to a wonton wrapper vendor, who cuts extra-large wonton skins for her. She heats up super-hot oil then lightly drops the wrapper on the oil (“就烫一下”), whereupon it bursts into this lovely, airy confection.… READ MORE | 11 Comments
Tags: beijing, COOK, egg crepe, jianbing, recipe, street food, wonton
How many jianbing photos does a blog need, really?
We think it’s important that the unabated love affair with jianbing on Beijing Haochi continues with these photos from a vendor located off the corner of Jiaodaokou Dajie and Gulou Dajie. She makes her jianbing with exceptional loving care. There’s no slopping here, no hurry, no pressure because of customers lined up during rush hour, just the smooth and practiced caress of jianbing batter over the crepe pan; broad swathes of evenly painted sauces; the use of one.and.a.half crispy fried wonton skins, ending up in one of the best jianbing we have eaten in Beijing.… READ MORE | 14 Comments
Tags: beijing, chili, COOK, hoisin, recipe, sauces, street food
Maison Boulud a Pekin is a happy place in Beijing. Located in the former Legation Quarter at Qianmen, the renovated interior is gorgeous, chock full of delectably tatty antique rugs, hand painted canvas murals, and enviable moderne bulb-shaped white ceramic lamps. At lunch on weekdays there is a very good deal at RMB 188 for a three course prix fixe meal. On the weekends there’s brunch, with a huge selection (perhaps overly broad for perfect quality control) to pick from. If I remember correctly, two courses run RMB 168 and three courses, RMB 238. The service is almost perfect (with the exception of one dirty martini made in a shaker that had been used for a lychee… READ MORE
Tags: beijing, EAT, maison boulud, restaurant
If you haven’t been to the Dongjiao Market, and you are a kitchenware junkie, then you must go now: for the sheer quantity and variety of items available, as well as the lower than low prices. There’s a hotel/restaurant equipment supply shop with two floors of supplies, packed to the brim with ceramic, glass, tin, steel. Lining the walls are uniforms, mostly related to the hospitality industry, which suggest endless Halloween outfit possibilities. There is also a seemingly endless row of vendors devoted to things as useful as toilet paper, ceramic bowls, rope, meat grinders, and stools, should you want to open your own food cart and need to provide seating for your customers.
Many people have that longing for a piece of… READ MORE | 1 Comment
Tags: beijing, cooking gear, dongjiao, market, PREP, shopping
It’s a northern custom to make and eat dumplings on the first day of the New Year (chuyi 初一), and we were determined to do it right, with several kinds of fillings. We went out to Sanyuanli Market (三元里市场) to source goods for dumpling-making in celebration of Chinese New Year. It was packed to the brim with fresh goods, and hopping with people picking up their hot pot meat and auspicious fishes, but all the vendors were calm and patient.… READ MORE | 3 Comments
Tags: beijing, COOK, dumplings, market, PREP, recipe
It’s all about the lamb. On yet another freezing afternoon, I biked over to the Dongsi 东四 area with a friend and gorged on mutton at Crescent Moon Uighur Muslim Restaurant (Wanwan yueliang 弯弯月亮), a Xinjiang restaurant. Quite apropos as Xinjiang, located at the northwesternmost corner of China, is even colder than Beijing, and Xinjiang Uighur food is awfully cozy. Mutton, naan and noodles dominate the menu, with vegetables usually popping up in the form of onions, tomatoes, and peppers. And of course, there’s the famous dapanji 大盘鸡, directly translated as “big plate of chicken.” This is not an aggrandizement nor false advertising. My first encounter with this dish was on my travels in Urumqi, and the big… READ MORE | 3 Comments
Tags: beijing, chuanr, EAT, lamb skewer, mutton stew, naan, restaurant, uighur, xinjiang, yogurt
