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/liangcai-shanxi-noodles-mianxiang-bafang/ http://beijinghaochi.com/liangcai-shanxi-noodles-mianxiang-bafang/#comments Wed, 12 May 2010 08:00:42 +0000 christine http://beijinghaochi.com/?p=1143 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]]> http://beijinghaochi.com/liangcai-shanxi-noodles-mianxiang-bafang/feed/ 6 http://beijinghaochi.com/tsinghua-cafeteria-series-students/ http://beijinghaochi.com/tsinghua-cafeteria-series-students/#comments Thu, 11 Feb 2010 04:37:20 +0000 christine http://beijinghaochi.com/?p=738 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]]> http://beijinghaochi.com/tsinghua-cafeteria-series-students/feed/ 3 http://beijinghaochi.com/tsinghua-cafeteria-series-2-no-7-cafeteria-small-hot-pot-station/ http://beijinghaochi.com/tsinghua-cafeteria-series-2-no-7-cafeteria-small-hot-pot-station/#comments Thu, 24 Dec 2009 03:00:01 +0000 christine http://beijinghaochi.com/?p=256 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]]> http://beijinghaochi.com/tsinghua-cafeteria-series-2-no-7-cafeteria-small-hot-pot-station/feed/ 2 http://beijinghaochi.com/tsinghua-cafeteria-series-1/ http://beijinghaochi.com/tsinghua-cafeteria-series-1/#comments Mon, 30 Nov 2009 12:13:28 +0000 the ladies http://beijinghaochi.com/?p=35 Noodle station at Tsinghua. Tomato and egg noodle soup, with hand-cut broad noodles. READ MORE]]> http://beijinghaochi.com/tsinghua-cafeteria-series-1/feed/ 0 http://beijinghaochi.com/tsinghua-university-cafeteria-series/ http://beijinghaochi.com/tsinghua-university-cafeteria-series/#comments Sun, 29 Nov 2009 08:46:28 +0000 the ladies http://beijinghaochi.com/?p=93 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]]> http://beijinghaochi.com/tsinghua-university-cafeteria-series/feed/ 0