LuckysticksPRC

Hey Basquecook, I've been on these boards off and on for a few years and I don't he was trying to be adversarial. All of your meals don't necessarily look like they were ordered in a hotel, but "hotel food" in China is a word I've heard used to mean basically anything that is served in a private room that has been decorated with gold, glass & leather. I think this is more of an expat saying, and Liuzhou has probably just been in China too long and has unwittingly included this bit of jargon. I will agree that, with the exception of the Pinghu pictures, all of these look like very fancy restaurants that common Chinese people either couldn't (or wouldn't be willing to) afford, or would only go to on special occassions. Especially, the seafood hotel - I went to one just like it in Xiaoxing, and while the prices seemed more than reasonable to me, they would have been hilariously extravagant to my in-laws. You were definitely being treated as a guest, and were taken to places meant for showing off. While smaller, more simply decorated specialty places (like a place that serves tripe hotpot and very little else) might have better dishes, the places you went usually do have some awesome, well-prepared and presented food. Also, fancier places in China are were you're going to see more experiemental dishes, whereas the small neighborhood places tend to stick to what they're known for with almost no deviation. The only sentence I want to point out is, "...depressing trip down incredibly poor alley..." You were in Jiangsu province, which has very little real poverty compared to other parts of China (try Anhui or Ningxia), and especially other countries (or how about Detroit?). That alley is what most of urban China looks like, and probably housed a restaurant better than the one you were on your way to. Those areas are incredibly safe (compared to the US), and would not be considered poor by most Chinese folks. If you meant the traffic situation was depressing; well then, I totally agree. Regardless of everything else, you definitely had some awesome food on your trip, and that's what's great about China - great food is literally everywhere! Next time you're there, tell your hosts you're looking for something a little less fancy and more local. Or tell them you want to go to a night market and eat some food from street stands - you will have a blast and walk away with even better pictures.

Cheers, I'm happy to share. With Suzhou's incredible growth I just hope those places are still there. My wife and I were discussing the quantifier used when ordering Sheng Jian Bao in some Suzhou shops. Just like some places will give you dumplings by the "liang" (两, and is usually about 6 or 7), sheng jian bao, last time I was there, were being served in batches with some bizarre quantifier. Do you know what it is?

The stuff in your picture actually is la rou, specifically Tian Rong La Rou (天荣腊肉). Made in Shanghai. The "la" (4th tone) in "la rou" just means cured. My own experience with the stuff came on my second week in China, living alone, and hankering for bacon. Tried to cook it up as such and ended up drinking a lot of water that day.

Did they serve it to you hot and in a bag after forming into a kind of ball? I've seen that done on the street in Guilin (Guangxi Province) with glutinous rice, chili, sausage and little fried crispy bits, which is traditionally called Nuo Mi Ji (糯米鸡). Since it's street food, the variations on a theme can be too numerous for even mainlanders not from the immediate area to recognize, as was the case with my Nuomiji in Guilin and possibly your mutton matter in Xi'an. Btw, I used to live there. Have you tried the Lamb Soup garnished with ripped up pieces of pita/nang bread? Very tasty.

I lived in Suzhou for about a year before moving on to Guilin in the south. Great city to eat (and live) in, especially if you learn to appreciate the subtler flavors of the Jiangsu/Zhejiang region, maligned as they are by most Chinese. But please, please, please, sacrifice an hour of sleep on at least one day of the week to get out there and try what the city has to offer. Suzhou, more than any other Chinese city I've spent time in, is best viewed in the early hours of the day. Sure, the baozi there are particularly good, but the Xiao Long Bao (soup dumplings) restaurants are numerous, distinct and almost all fantastic. Go to the corner of Jing De Lu (景德路)and Xue Shi Jie (学士街) and look north across the intersection. There on the right side of the street (what should be the northern continuation of Xue Shi Jie but has now become Wu Qu Fang 吴趋坊) is one of the best places in the whole damn city for xiao long bao and wonton soup. From that intersection you could also continue west on Jing De Lu, cross the bridge, turn left at the first intersection and immediately stop. On your right will be a small Sheng Jian Baozi (soupy baozi that are seared crisp on the bottom and sprinkled with sesame and scallions) place that is and always will be my 1st stop for breakfast when in town. If the weekday mornings are just too much, at least plan to hit up one of Suzhou's tea houses, and plan to spend 4-5 hours. You'll be treated to everything from the finest, local Biluochun tea to homemade strawberry ice cream, chicken wings on a skewer or boiled peanuts (served randomly and usually all included in the price of the tea). And most of all, keep up the vivid posts. You have a real skill for capturing the sensory overload that is the daily hustle and bustle of a typical Suzhou morning (thankfully,minus the bike horns).

Did you check the bottom of the bottle ? Any cloudy sediment? Sometimes I see that with the vinegars, so I just toss them. ← I don't remember if the Chiangkang had any sediment in the bottom, but by the end of an aged Shaanxi vinegar there's usually a little (which doesn't seem to bother the flavor). Any thoughts on the primary difference between the two? -SZ

Just a thought/comment on the Chiangkang (sp?) Vinegar everybody's been talking about on this thread. Having tried it as well as other "black" vinegars that weren't labeled more specifically, I was just wondering if anybody else out there thinks it a poor substitute for real Shaanxi aged vinegar (老陈醋)? I use the latter mainly for use in noodles, dumplings and XLBs, and find it to be way better than that other stuff. Did I just get a bad bottle, or is there really a difference? Thanks, Sloppyzhou

Here's a twist on the international Chinese food topic: http://www.dfjb.com.cn/ This is Yum Foods (Taco Bell, KFC, etc.) newest franchise opening in China. It's called Eastern Dawn or East Dawning or something, and the idea is to take their "western" fast food business model and apply it to traditional Chinese-style cooking. The style looks kind of pan-Chinese with maybe a few more northern style dishes, and I guess they would be competing with some of the Taiwanese chains already doing something similar. Interesting price point though, considering that RMB 20 (what they charge for that shrimp noodle bowl) will get you some pretty decent dishes at a sit-down restaurant. The question is, though fairly unlikely, will they be successful enough to then sell the same brand back here, and if so, how much internationalization of their menu do you think would happen?

During my time in Guangxi Province I saw people eating/drinking, as well as tried myself: -lots of brains (still not fond of) -lots of congealed mammal blood (became very fond of) -bamboo rat (ok, i guess) -softshell turtle - 水鱼 but not a fish at all (never liked) -stinky tofu (i love this) -periwinkles 螺蛳 (love these) -snake blood with baijiu (the worst thing I've ever ingested in my life) -snake bile with baijiu (bad, but not as bad as the blood) -pangolin (still feel guilty, but didn't know what it was at the time) -smoked toads (in Zhejiang, but liked them all the same) -spicy duck heads (ok) -dog hotpot (tasty) -cat hotpot (never tried, and still wouldn't) -several kinds of lizard (not worth the price to pocket and environment) That said, I know plenty of Chinese who wouldn't touch half the stuff on this list. Then again, my girlfriend thinks bleu cheese is one of the foulest culinary inventions known to man. My next business venture will be exporting MD-style Scrapple to China. I'm going to open stands all over China selling scrapple 肉夹馍 with Vietnamese iced-coffee.

Though I've never had HK teahouse coffee, I've had quite a bit of Vietnamese coffee which you guys seemed to cover as being the major technical similarity. In Thailand recently, I noticed that in the afternoons a bunch of iced coffee carts came out and sold huge cups of iced Vietnamese-style coffee as well, but as you said with the long bag of beans, they too were suspending giant cheesecloths (tied around a stick, resting on the brim of the container) full of of grounds, submerged in what appeared to be air-temperature water probably for many hours. The coffee was rich, smoky, smooth-finishing and strong. Next time I think I'm going to ask for it w/out the condensed milk, just get the full coffee taste. Have you ever tried the Tiawanese UBC or Mingdian coffeehouses all over China (and, I'm assuming Taiwan)? Though their coffee is expensive (appr. $3-5/cup), it is usually very, very good. I've watched them prepare it: usually hand ground to order and then boiled in one of those transparent double boiler, percolator things. Fresh tasting and excellent.

I lived in China for close to 5 years, and I can tell you that Kung Pao Chicken 宫爆鸡丁 and anything Sweet and Sour 糖醋 (though as covered in numerous threads here, the Colonel is now far more ubiquitous than the General ever was in mainland China) can be found at many big banquet restaurants, with the differences being marginal at best. There was even a cheap, student lunch place near my apartment that served single dishes like the ol' Kung Pao or Pepper Beef (青椒肉丝) on top of a mountain of rice. Chicken was boneless, and the overall flavor was, aside from the higher chili heat value, basically the same. What I don't understand (and any Chinese or Chinese-Americans please, please weigh in on this) is why, why on earth, aren't dumplings (and by this I mean the water boiled 水饺 kind) more popular here in the US (or UK, EU or AUS)? Talk about mid-western, rib-stickin' food. I think a place that served 7 kinds of boiled dumplings (could offer steamed and seared for early converts) and some cold northern dishes would take off once people realized it wasn't China Garden Buffet or Panda Express. I once knew a foreigner working in China for his American company who almost never partook of anything other than McD's, KFC, and UBC Coffee House type fare, but ate dumplings at least once a day without fail.

My girlfriend's mother always gives her a couple of jars of these to take home to me whenever they get a chance. Her father makes lots of sour dipping sauces for his poultry dishes, a custom he claims is unique to his style of Zhuang cooking. Zhuang cooking is basically absent from cooking discussions in China, but I think what they do with poultry deserves recognition...also for kourou 扣肉. If you're in Nanning, go to the printing street behind the giant discount clothing mall downtown. At the end of the street, at the corner, is small 老友粉店 that has good noodles, but possibly the best kourou in all of Guangxi Province. Served on sticky rice with a little sweet Chinese sausage 香肠 cooked into it, and just a touch of the kourou sauce poured over the whole thing. Absolute country comfort fillin' food, Zhuang-style.

I post some of my own lessons on this site: www.nciku.com, under the name "sloppyzhou." I'll try to add these, as well as others to a comprehensive and easy to index list. And sorry in advance to all the non-国语 speakers and 繁体字 readers out there. Btw, for anyone wanting to write Chinese on their computer, download either google or sogou's pinyin or stroke input apps. They are really easy to use even if your pinyin isn't so good. Don't know how they work for the 粤语 speakers - maybe hzrt8w can explain (maybe something like m'h = 霉香). The website above also has a hand-write input function for those of you with all those mystery cans and jars you've been afraid to open.

Been living in China for about 4 years now, I eat anything (more or less), and have tried the following: - dog hotpot (very, very popular down in Guangxi where I live) - snake soup (looked cool, tasted very unspectacular) - raw snake blood and rice wine (the worst thing I have ever tasted in my life) - raw snake bile and wine (not as bad as the first, but pretty bad) - smoked toads (I tried this in Zhejiang - surprisingly, most non-Zhejiang Chinese I've talked to think eating these 蛤蟆 would be disgusting) - pangolin (a protected species - I didn't order it was angry that it was surprised on me) - deep-fried scorpions (sounds crazier than it is) - Sweet Wine with Rice 甜酒 (just odd, but you get to liking it after a few sips) - fried pig's penis - those little soft-shelled turtles (水鱼 - "water fish" - nice, incredibly misleading name to someone studying Chinese) - Geoduck (taste like soft-shelled clams from the Chesapeake, only much bigger) - Fresh-water snails (periwinkles? 螺蛳) - Plus tons of Stinky Tofu, congealed blood, fish heads, preserved eggs and every other delicious (and non-endangered) thing Chinese cuisine has to offer Seriously, China really is a country every food enthusiast should visit. And don't worry about language. A smile, a big ol' "NI HAO" and maybe a phrasebook will get you further than you think.

Don't know if these are exported, but if so, try looking for vacuum-packed bag of shelled peanuts called Jiu Gui Hua Sheng (酒鬼花生 Drunkard's Peanuts). These are deep fried usually with a little dried chili and sprinkled with a little sugar. Since moving to China these have become a staple supermarket purchase (along with spicy fermented tofu and Japanese mayo). I like to put them in a covered bowl with some Old Bay Spice, chili flakes and whatever, and then let give them a good shake. The oilyness of the nuts will give them a good smothered in seasonings look.

Though this wouldn't really qualify as fusion, I stopped in to buy a couple 卷饼 on a little back street here in Guilin the other day. The boss asked me if I wanted some "sth. sth. 酱“ with them. He then pulled out a small jar of French's Golden Mustard, spooned some into a little bag and sent me on my way. Seeing as most Guilinese are less than accepting of foreign cuisine, I can say that's probably the most surprising food-related thing that's ever happened to me in China.

Possibly this weekend - maybe just for the day. Have some 螺蛳粉 and go home. I figure its just around the corner and all this time in Guilin and I've never been. I'll check out the spot near the bridge - thanks for the help!

Can anyone give me the names (in Chinese) of some recipes which use siu yook? I've only seen this sliced up and thrown in mi fen, which while tasty, always struck me as a waste of good roasted pork belly. Btw, Tepee, that is a great, gluttony-inducing first photo. The picture in a picture is also very nice.

Also for the Chinese folks on here, do you consider 羊肉泡馍 and 肉夹馍 to be Xinjiang food or Chinese? ← Sorry, I'm aware that I'm falling into that bad habit of separating the two. 中国统一!!!

My local Xinjiang food area is packed every night. The locals queue up for 羊肉串, 牛肉孜然夹馍, 羊肉泡馍. ← I'll be in 柳州 soon - can you tell me where the Xinjiang food area is (road name in Chinese)? Guilin only has 1-2 restaurants and only one is worth the trip. Also for the Chinese folks on here, do you consider 羊肉泡馍 and 肉夹馍 to be Xinjiang food or Chinese? Obviously they're products of the Silk Road, but it seems most Chinese folks I know have a different perception about those dishes. I lived in Xi'an for a while and that stuff was to the locales there, Uyghur and non-Uyghur, what 米粉 is to locales here.

Just sat down to an entire roasted goat meal in our favorite Xinjiang restaurant last night. They cooked it for us for 4 days in a pit and brought it to the table, whole. It was incredibly tender, and for once, no one complained that it was too gamey (how do you say this in putonghua?). I went into the kitchen to watch the cutting and as they opened the main cavity, the kidneys, which had roasted inside, sort of tumbled out. All of the Uyghur guys in the kitchen immediately started hollerin for me to eat one and I thought they were testicles! They gave me some cumin for dippin and only upon chomping in to one did I realize that they were actually delicious, flavorful kidneys. The rest of the meal was great, and I got the name of the mutton and egg pancake: mutton and egg pancake (羊肉鸡蛋饼) I don't think this is a widely known dish, and it seemed like she was making the name up when I asked her. If anyone else can help me out I can only say that it has a lightly crisp, covered in sesame seeds egg pancake on top and bottom (and maybe another layer in the middle), with savory chopped up mutton in the middle. Its also about the same size as a dinner plate. If you're in China and you speak Chinese, ask for 羊肉kah-bob next time you order some 串 from a guy from Xinjiang. They get a kick out of that.

I think it all boils down to 60+ years of marketing savy vs. defenseless (in terms of how they filter promotional messages) children. I live with my girlfriend (who is native to Guangxi) in China. She grew up at a time where there were no KFCs or McD's and thus never received those early, perception-building marketing messages. She tried McD's sometime during college, and while she didn't and still doesn't hate it, she also really doesn't see why its so popular worldwide. She also never suggests it as a meal option (though she does get a hankerin' for their taro pies from time to time), but does like other "western" types of food. Our friend's son, however, is 9 years old, and has grown up in a China full of KFCs & McD's. He and other kids of his generation (and class) have more or less the same appreciation for the golden arches as kids do in America. Combine that with the population and "little emperor" syndrome, and you've got every reason they need to pump big money into the Chinese market. If any of you have the chance to go to China, check out a McD's in a major city (there will probably be 2-4 locations all within 500 meters of each other - no joke). I noticed that the interior and overall environment are much more geared for age groups ranging from 5-12, 13-17 & 18-25. Anything over that, and there's no early perceptual foundation (happy meals, jungle gyms), so why waste money on a demographic that won't drive value long-term (ie. the children's children)? Furthermore, the last time I traveled around the country (Xi'an, Chengdu, Chongqing, Kunming and Nanning in the summer of 2005) I noticed that at every McD's location in every one of these cities, there was, almost nightly, and not coincidentally, huge groups of teens hanging out in front of every McDonalds skateboarding, break dancing, free-style biking, etc. When I asked a kid in Kunming why he was there, he told me that they (the McD's folks) gave he and his friends free stuff whenever they came and performed. Depending on your inclinations, its either evil or genius. Either way, I'd like to see a better ambassador of American cuisine introducing our eats to Chinese people. Considering the vastness of Chinese cuisine, its kind of embarrassing to have our most infamous junk food peddler over here representing us. Now Popeye's on the other hand...

Xinjiang food is spectacular, particularly because of the all the grilling and baking as well as the generous use of cumin. I'm living in Guilin now, and its always a nice change to hit one of the Xinjiang places every so often. There's a dish I've had from a few different places that consists of two crispy layers of fried egg pancake, chopped savory mutton in between and copious sesame seeds on top. Forgot the name, but if you have the chance try to order it. Can anyone on here tell me why so many non-Uyghur Chinese don't like food from that area? I have a very hard time talking my girlfriend into going, though once there she usually enjoys it. Why the aversion? As for the cat meat, it could really go either way. At the Bird & Flower market in Guilin live cats can be purchased for about RMB 4-5. They're skinny and young, but compared to mutton at around 7-8 per pound (斤) or a whole chicken at RMB 25 it could make sense to make the switch. Then again, we also have cat hotpot places where the prices are the same as photographed by Liuzhou. And not that I don't believe the sources, but salacious media is abundant here. Remember the cardboard-filled bao zi? The whole story was created to drive sales. This one out of Shanghai could be especially dodgy as it deals with a repugnant act committed by those swarthy, shifty Uyghurs that everyone knows are mostly criminals...

"To overorder now, sadly, is chic here in China. I've seen overindulgence to no end here. There are many newly minted rich people here in China, and they are not afraid to spend it. For example, I've seen a couple of two order 10-12 dishes at a fairly expensive restaurant. The girl was a toothpick and the guy wasn't too much bigger. I'd say about 1/8 of the food was eaten and the rest thrown away. " Up until this post I thought I was going crazy. After living in China now for about 3.5 years, I've seen more wasting of food than makes sense. This especially true for restaurants and formal events, and probably less so for normal home cooked meals. But the level of waste in restaurants is really unbelievable. I've sat through company meals (I work for a small investment company in Guilin, not a big MNC in Shanghai) of 8 people or less where 15+ dishes were served, practically piled on top of each other. And yet everyone ate sparingly, but went for cheap eats 夜宵 later that night. When some of the other expats here get together for dinner, I've even overheard neighboring diners comment on how stingy we must be! I usually follow the "# dishes = # diners" rule - is this not OK?

Those look incredible. Someday I'm going to post pictures of the sorry bao zi we have here in Guilin. Do they have sheng jian man tou in Xuzhou? They look a little similar to what's in this photo.