http://beijinghaochi.com We eat, cook, and shoot in Beijing. Thu, 17 Nov 2011 12:41:58 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.3 http://beijinghaochi.com/vinegar_peanut_recipe/ http://beijinghaochi.com/vinegar_peanut_recipe/#comments Thu, 27 May 2010 03:35:23 +0000 jen http://beijinghaochi.com/?p=1296 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]]> http://beijinghaochi.com/vinegar_peanut_recipe/feed/ 9 http://beijinghaochi.com/dagui_cold_dishes/ http://beijinghaochi.com/dagui_cold_dishes/#comments Sat, 24 Apr 2010 01:17:17 +0000 jen http://beijinghaochi.com/?p=1181 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]]> http://beijinghaochi.com/dagui_cold_dishes/feed/ 8