Dagui

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A Love for Sweet & Sour: Recipe for Vinegar Peanuts

May 27, 2010 in COOK by jen | 6 comments

What is it about the combination of sweet and sour that is so remarkably appealing? I’ll admit that there is no flavor combination that I love quite as much as that tangy sweetness. I’m one of those people that asks for extra Chicken McNugget sweet and sour sauce to swab my fries in. Hell, I even did that after McDonald’s started charging for it (no charge in China though – hurray!). While Chinese food is not exactly swimming in sweet and sour dishes the way Panda Express wants you to believe (i.e. all sweet and sour pork, lemon chicken/beef, orange beef/chicken, General Tso’s chicken, etc., etc.), it’s still to be found. For instance,  Kung Pao chicken (gongbaojiding 宫爆鸡丁) is a delicious mix of sweet and sour with the addition of a little hot and spicy.… READ MORE | 6 Comments

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DaGui (大贵) Hot Dishes: Because…they are delicious too

May 14, 2010 in EAT by jen | 1 comment

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

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DaGui (大贵) Cold Dishes: Because vinegar is delicious

April 24, 2010 in EAT by jen | 8 comments

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

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