lunch

You are currently browsing articles tagged lunch.

A Break From Grease, an Ode to Liangcai: Shanxi Knife-Cut Noodles (Mianxiang bafang 面香八方)

May 12, 2010 in EAT by christine | 6 comments

Occasionally we get tired of the Tsinghua cafeteria and escape to a Shanxi 山西 noodle restaurant outside of the east gate of Tsinghua for a quick lunch.  Mianxiang Bafang is bustling at lunch, and the menu spans a wide variety of Shanxi specialties, knife-cut noodles, liangcai, stir-fried dishes, and skewers.  Although Shanxi cuisine is known for its million variations on noodles, especially those delightfully irregular and wonderfully chewy knife-cut noodles (daoxiao mian 刀削面), for a healthy lunch we like to order several cold vegetable dishes (liangcai 凉菜).

Packed with micro-vitamins ostensibly found in green-type foods, the liangcai are usually relatively light, making it the perfect break from a pork-grease heavy Beijing diet.  (A sidenote.  One morning we… READ MORE | 6 Comments

Tags: , , ,

Tsinghua Cafeteria Series: Students

February 11, 2010 in LIFE by christine | 3 comments

Cafeteria no. 7 at Tsinghua University is incredibly crowded.  The space issue is compounded by the reservation system, which is a fancy way of saying that students stake out seats with a mitten, hat, or notebook.  Walking into the cafeteria at rush hour – 12 pm sharp – is an entire lesson in strategery.  Otherwise you may find yourself with a full plate of whatever RMB 4 buys you these days, no seat, and nowhere to go but the -2 C weather outside.  Groups complicate the issue; it’s really best just to go with one other friend to lunch.  On a particularly crowded day, I once saw a guy chowing down on his plate of… READ MORE | 3 Comments

Tags: , , , ,

Tsinghua Cafeteria Series 2: small hot pot station

December 24, 2009 in EAT by christine | 2 comments

Sadly, there is no way even Jen can make this small hot pot 砂锅 station look delicious. The presentation of the ingredients was the most saliva-inducing part of this experience.

This is the first station when you enter cafeteria no. 7. Shaguo 砂锅 refers to a small earthenware pot (in this case, tin, which is probably the first issue) in which the soup-like stew is cooked.

You pick your ingredients, which top a mix of mung bean noodles and cabbage. I went for the safely vegetarian egg and mushroom; Jen was braver and had mushroom and lamb. We handed over RMB 3.6. It’s cooked on a gyrating… READ MORE | 2 Comments

Tags: , , ,

Recipe for a Quick Ten Minute Lunch, or Tomato and Egg Noodles (xihongshi jidan mian 西红柿鸡蛋面)

December 4, 2009 in COOK by jen | 14 comments

Tomato and egg is a common homestyle dish in China, but in Beijing, I’ve also seen it stuffed into dumplings and ladled on top of noodles – both are delicious. So, a week after watching Christine eat a giant tin plate of tomato and egg noodles at the cafeteria [link], I got a craving this morning and decided to have a go at it for lunch. It’s great tasting, pretty healthy, and only took me about 10 minutes to put together, which is eggcellent (sorry, it was just begging to be said).

RECIPE (2 bowls)

2 tomatoes
2 eggs
1 clove of garlic, chopped
handful of green onion, chopped
2 servings of Chinese noodles (white flour-based)

1/2 tsp… READ MORE | 14 Comments

Tags: , , , , ,

Tsinghua Cafeteria Series 1: noodle station

November 30, 2009 in EAT by the ladies | No comments

Noodle station at Tsinghua. Tomato and egg noodle soup, with hand-cut broad noodles.

READ MORE

Tags: , , ,

Tsinghua University Cafeteria Series 清华大学食堂

November 29, 2009 in EAT by the ladies | No comments

We used to eat at the Tsinghua cafeteria (shitang 食堂) everyday. There are lots of options, the turnover is tremendous, and sometimes it can be nutritious, filling, and warm on a cold day. Sometimes it is completely disgusting. Here, we eat our way around cafeteria #7, because we hear tell that it is the most delicious among the options on campus. Either way, it’s one of the cheapest: meals average 4-6 RMB each. Food is served (slopped?) on a tin plate, and with a swipe of a card, we sneak our plates out to eat outdoors, near a small jungle gym.


Each cafeteria has different stations, including… READ MORE

Tags: , , ,

Follow me