Beijing Blog: Chinese Food for Thought
Posted by Tania Tchea on Jul 20, 2008 | Print | Email | Bookmark | Free Subscription
Despite being born and raised in Australia, I have grown up on Chinese food and eating it everyday is not an issue for me. My family is in the restaurant business and our dumplings (steamed or fried) and spring onion pancakes are definitely hard to beat.
Going out for dinner in Beijing is not easy when trying to pick out a place to eat. I am all about cheap, quality food and often, all you have to go by is word of mouth.
My friend works at the Australian embassy here in Beijing and he took me to a restaurant specializing in Xin Jiang cuisine. Walking in, the waitresses were dressed in their traditional wear. It was rowdy and colourful, almost fully booked out – ‘It was usually like this’, my friend commented. Like most eateries in China, the menu was choc-a-block with choices.
We had the pineapple rice (which was actually served in a hollow pineapple), a delicious potato dish (similar to a cheesy gratin) and a spicy rice noodle that would put any chow kwai diow to shame.
When headed to the Workers Gymnasium over the weekend, a colleague (who is a Beijing local) recommended the spring pancake house. And no – we are not talking maple syrup and ice cream. One selects from a list of savoury dishes and these are wrapped in steamed, paper-thin pancakes. You wrap these yourself, which is part of the experience.
Discussions about food fill the halls everyday – mostly at the start of the day, as we reminisce over last night’s meal and at the end of the day, when we are deciding what to have for dinner.
I was off to tea with a few Americans two nights ago and we finally decided on… get ready for it… tex mex. Mexican food in China. Go figure. It was surprisingly good. I’d recommend the beef burritos and the bean dip. ‘Luckily I’m not sharing a room with you’, my Canadian friend remarked afterwards. My favourite to date is the bitter melon salad. It is refreshing and complements any meat dish nicely – in particular, pork.
I am yet to do dumplings. When I was in the country three years ago, a relative took me to a fantastic dumpling house near Wong Fu Jing and I have been told there is a great place off the 2nd ring expressway. Don’t think they’ll be as great as my mum’s, but I’m willing to give them a shot. That should be the attitude to food when visiting the Mainland.
None of this Mexican food in China business . . .
Tania Tchea is a tennis enthusiast and aspiring sports writer / presenter from Melbourne, Australia. She has experience working at the Commonwealth Games, FINA World Swimming Championships and other National Football Clubs, however her passion is tennis.
She has often been described as a Human Almanac of Tennis due to her strong knowledge of the game at a national and international level. Tania has previously worked for the Australian Open and Tennis Australia.
If you enjoyed this tennis article, please sign up for a free subscription!
Prairie Dogg | Jul 21, 2008 | Reply
I’ve lived in Beijing for six years and have recently started a small website to help foreigners like you have great dining experiences in Beijing. The website is called chinabites.com and it has bilingual picture menus and contact information for the restaurants that you can show to your cab driver or waiters. Good luck in Beijing!
Dawn | Jul 21, 2008 | Reply
I’ve got another website for you - just in case you want to make your own Chinese food. They have a great video how to, tutorials, and instructions on how to prepare great tasting Chinese food. You can get some or their free recipes to try out. If you have problems with proper cooking your food with the recipes, they have instructional videos that take you from start to finish, too. If have a spare moment to take a look at this, visit http://www.youtube.com/wokfusion, or go to them directly at http://www.wokfusion.com.
Tania Tchea | Jul 24, 2008 | Reply
That is awesome Prairie and Dawn! I shall hit the websites for sure.
Don | Aug 6, 2008 | Reply
Hello,
May I suggest a link related to the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games?
Our site:
URL: http://www.2008chinaolympics.com
Title: Beijing Olympics
Please let me know if you want a link back.
Many thanks for your reply.
Best Regards,
Don
chinaolympics8@gmail.com