Fengyi

The Beijing Jianbing will be hard to make without the deep-fried dough sheet. After talking to lots of people, I reckon that it's just a thin sheet of stretched dough - but wouldn't trust myself to make it at home! But besides that, its just a savoury crepe batter, green onion, egg, coriander/cilantro, and tianmianjiang (and hot sauce if wanted). Assemble in correct way (you can buy the industrial jianbing makers at a market near me ) and eat. But the fried dough bit....hmmm. hard! Good luck! BTW, the Olympics have resulted in the removal of most jianbing makers boo!

OK so I'm being a bore by replying again to my own post, but I thought someone out there might be interested in Hubei mountain food. Sorry for the quality of the photos - they were taken with my crappy camera phone! The main feature was the 'bumper harvest' plate which was present at every meal: which consisted mainly of potato, sweet potato, corn on the cob, peanuts, tomatoes (occasionally) and shanyao (Often translated as Chinese yam). The meals had some lovely surprises like this soft doufu dish, which had a lovely flavour and gentle, soothing texture: One of the most interesting dishes for texture and flavour was the one of stir-fried lotus flowers (the young buds) with chillies (but not too many chillies - just enough to add a gentle heat); at the same meal, we had the braised leaves of some sort of mountain plant - apparently it is only eaten in the mountains of Hubei (I didn't catch the name!). It had a very odd texture, slimy yet tough - but with good flavour: The most delicious dish, though, was one of the mountain mushroom braised in abalone juice. Beautiful texture and flavour! A very cute dish was this little fellow made from sweet potato and sticky rice: For the last meal, we went to a place which was more minority (Tujia I think) and had some food that was slightly spicier like this river fish (whose flesh had a terrific texture!): and one of THE BEST vegetable dishes I have ever had. It was fried, chopped up turnip greens with garlic and chilli. It was like vegetable crack - I just couldn't stop eating it! n all I really enjoyed the food there. It was great talking to people about Hubei dishes! It appears that there is a great difference in Mountain food and that of the area closer to the Yangtze. Three guys who had come up from Wuhan were at pains to explain to me how much more river fish they ate!

Well, to answer my own post, I've found the food in Shiyan to be really suited to my tastes! It's slightly spicy and quite salty- YUM! Having achieved the ultimate dodgy foreigner dream of starring in a Chinese commercial (to be broadcast on Shiyan TV and featuring me picking out bottles of Burgundy and 'savouring it like music - according to the director' ), I managed to enjoy several meals where everyone was eager to explain the intricacies of Hubei cooking. I've taken a few shots on my crappy camera phone (forgot my real camera!), and plan to post them when I get back to the Big Beige of BJ...if I'm not being too much of a bore!!!

Very valiant people have almost perished in an effort to finish a dapanji.... go small

Flour, hot water, salt --> mix into moderately firm dough. Form small balls and then slightly flatten. Brush one flatten side generously with sesame/ordinary oil, stick another disc on the oiled side. Flatten with hand and then roll out very thin. Cook in dry pan over moderate heat until brown. Peel apart the two layers (voila! very thin pancakes!). Can then be kept frozen/prepared immediately for steaming. They're really quite fun to make!

I know this is a long shot, but is there anyone here who has been to Shiyan in Hubei? I am being flown out there to open a wine shop (! Yes, I know it sounds strange!) and will have two nights there. I was wondering if anyone had been there and was there anything special to eat? I'm sure the usual banquet will happening for one night, but I was hoping to squeeze some local eating in. Also, I'll be stuck in Zhengzhou for a while too - anybody with any suggestions for there? Thanks!

Errr.. I don't think that's something that gets the Politburo here all that riled out... In fact, food photography here is even more prevalent than in most countries I've lived in(though that may be something to do with the fact that I hang out with editors of food and wine magazines...). A friend just bought a camera here that actually has a *special function* that is just for food photography! The icon is a little hamburger-like thing. Not to mention that one of the top shows here on local TV is a programme that does nothing but go around Beijing restaurants shooting the food and the comments of the presenter who gets to eat all the food there (and she's tiny and thin! argh!). I love the programme - you sit there watching her eat for 1/2 hour with interspersed shoots of the food as she describes every mouthful that she eats! It's vicariously delightful! Food photography taken to an extreme? Yes, but very useful!

Ah yes! The unknown but huge Beijing Avocado Racket! Actually, I've no idea - but there aren't many Mexican restaurants in town (maybe 4 or 5 in the area?) so demand can't be super-high as I don't know any Chinese Beijingers that eat avocado regularly. . . Though, if you buy them at a 'foreigner-targeted' supermarket here, they can cost up to 30RMB EACH! but those places are for those who are willing to pay about $10 for a box of cornflakes....I'm pretty much an ex-pat cheapskate! If you wanted to faint from the results of a eGullet Shopping Cart - I could go shopping at one of those places!!! {off topic!] As for the "O" factor.... it's resulted in a huge rush of high-end options for dining, but not too much change in the lower echelons. The stakes in the restaurant game have been raised, but I don't know how sustainable this all is... What happens afterwards will be the most aspect for me!

Here in Beijing, I went to a local (quite pricey) market on Saturday for our shop. This is the main market supplying foreign-food restaurants so is more hygienic and pricier than most. Prices generally for food (except rice whose price is controlled by the government) have increased 2fold over the last year and a half. They are set to rise more over the next few weeks due to the 'Olympic effect' (groan!). Large bag of:4 white onions, 4 red, 2 carrots, 1 large cauliflower, 2 large potatoes, large bunch coriander/cilantro came to 30RMB (4.38USD) 4 large (and I mean large! enough for 3 meals for two hearty eaters) chicken legs for 35RMB (5.11USD)- it was nearly a kg of meat. 3 cucumbers, 5 tomatoes, a huge bunch of green onion was 9RMB (1.31USD) Clams are about 5RMB (.73USD) for 500g and live tiger prawns are 28RMB (4.10USD) for 500g. Lunch was 4 cabbage and pork stuffed baozi - the princely sum of 2.4RMB (.35USD) For "foreign" foods: Got 500g of sour cream (local made) for 28RMB (4.10USD) and 500g Italian fettuccine for 11RMB (1.60USD) I managed to get avocados for 8RMB each (1.17USD) - they are from Mexico. Basil is 1RMB (.15USD) a liang (roughly 2 ounces) -grown locally.

Hi! Aria in China World Beijing also has Heilongjiang caviare. :-) but I've not had it (yet). Recently, I've been helping a magazine with an article in Food and Wine matching. We went to the Whampoa Club BJ and the Chinese restaurant in the new Chaoyang Westin. Both were very good - but totally different styles. The Whampoa Club BJ is very interesting in its take on Beijing classic dishes - it's very innovative with a cuisine that's never really been pushed like that before. Downsides is that it's very expensive for what it is - but if price is not an issue, you can enjoy a very good high-end dinner there that is quite exciting. We also went to Zen5es (MUCH better wine list than the Whampoa!) in the Chaoyang Westin. It is very very high end Cantonese. The samples we tasted were all delicious - very deftly executed by the chef Mr. Ho. s'silk road is good - but it won't really blow you away with innovation. I usually regard it as a safe place to bring guests from abroad. It's not what I would call high end though. I don't like Made in China myself - very badly done wine list and the duck is OK but not totally amazing. I much prefer Da Dong for innovative dishes (they do a lovley foiegras and aspic appetizer) and their duck. Tiandi Yijia is supposed to be good (If you're not paying for it yourself!). It comes highly recommended by friends who work in the food and wine magazines here in BJ. I've never managed to swing an invite and it's not the sort of place I can afford. If you're out by the Summer Palace - the newest Quanjude at Tsinghua Science park is surprisingly good with some very interesting dishes. Meli Melo is a new fusion place where I've gone for business lunches - pretty good and interesting food. Dingdingxiang is a MUST - very upmarket hotpot. Amazing foiegras and wagyu beef hotpot with great sauces. A new development you should try and visit is 1949 The Hidden City. It's got quite a few restaurants in the complex with Duck de Chine praised. Have a great visit.

I'm in the throes of organizing a wine dinner with Huaiyang cai. Our cold dish consists of a 4 colour plate with Foie Gras with peas, shrimp salad (but not the Cantonese style one!), radish dressed in green onion oil and mangetout with a spicy mustard dressing 四色凉拼（芸豆鹅肝泥，盐水虾沙拉，葱油萝卜丝，芥辣荷兰豆） which goes to show that you can get quite funky.... (to be paired with two Napa Chardonnays....bit worried about that part...)

On another 'ethnic' note, I took my great auntie out yesterday and we ended up lunching at the newly re-built (well, sort of new) Kaorouwan 烤肉碗. This is a restaurant which dates back to the Qing dynasty and like Kaorouji 烤肉季 in the north, was celebrated for its roast lamb dishes. The last time my Great aunt was there was 52 years ago - she took great delight in telling every waitress in the place that fact! The food seems very much the same as Kaorouji with the famous kaorou available in beef and lamb, roasted lamb leg, the exact same style of sesame shaobing 烧饼 and a range of other non-lamby dishes. The quality was about the same - perhaps a modicum higher and generally it was a nice old-skool place. If you're staying on the west side of town (Financial street or Xidan) or if you're visiting the new Capital Museum (an excellent little trip!), I recommend stopping there for a taste of a true Beijing Laozihao 老字号 (famous old brand). I can't remember the road, but its right next to the Beijing children's hospital, so it's really easy to find.

I've been asking and now I get it!!! (sorry I'm a bit slow on the uptake) - the reason this is also referred to as a Hunan government restaurant is because the Xiangxi Autonomous region is actually a part of Hunan province - its just autonomous so it has a different government restaurant for all those Tujia people who don't want the regular Hunan food. The penny has dropped! This reminds me - about two years ago (I think) - wasn't there a total craze in Beijing for Tujia "pizzas"? I seem to remember something of the kind......

elfin, hope it's going well. Just an update for any doing the Hong Kong- Beijing-Hong Kong train. It's excellent - truly enjoyable. The food ain't great though. About 25 kuai for a set meal if I remember - but do bring a good bottle of wine and some nice glasses and watch amazing scenery go by. The huiguo rou was quite alright, but the other dishes we ordered were disappointing. Breakfast is a bit dire - there are cantonese, north chinese and western versions. We didn't try the western but the chinese ones were gluey and not very good. The supply of drinks is minimal - do bring lots of water. Fruit juice is a good idea. They do not provide glasses for hot water. But a truly wonderful experience besides the food - total comfort and a civilized way of travelling (Note: we went gaojiruanwo - so only two of us in a compartment with private toilet). The food is edible but I would definitely recommend stocking up on nice things before boarding.... Note that in Beijing, the entrance is placed such that you CANNOT buy snacks from the station snack stores before entering the train. Do get all your goodies with you before passing through the entrance to the immigration and customs. Can I recommend Fauchon for some lovely pain au chocolat for breakfast?

BTW, there's tons more types of noodles in Shanxi - they have more than you can shake a very large stick at!! The buckwheat ones are awesome too - great texture! Totally different from Lamian but just as tasty (I'm a daoshao mian fan myself though!)

1. Thin cylinders pressed onto the bottom of the basket - shouldn't be closed, but many times they are. 2. pull them out and dip them greedily. The vinegar is too liquid to fill the hole - it's just to coat. 3. Kaolaolao (A student intern has just changed the Chinese input on my office computer so I can't figure out how to put in the characters - but I have posted about these noodles before). It's a very cool name - I will try and look up the etymology. I ate a magnificent basket of these after a day touring the wonderous Chang family compound in Shanxi. The texture is lovely when done well and the memory is great! Unfortunately, before I went to Shanxi, I used to like going to Loft. Now that I've tasted how good things are in Shanxi.....I haven't been back to Loft and can't seem to find Shanxi noodles like they make them in Shanxi. . . . . Those are GREAT photos, Shiewie!!!! They really capture the Loft guys art in motion! Do post more Beijing photos if you have them - I am miserably bad at photography and would love to see them.

Err...sorry to be a party pooper, but that above isn't the Hunan government restaurant, but the Xiangxi one. Hey, if it's not HOT HOT HOT, it ain't Hunan There's pictures of the restaurant and a map on Xiangxi restaurant It actually specializes in Tu people minority cooking (must be the leading minority in Xiangxi - I've never been there and don't know anyone from there so am not sure on this point). I can't get into dianping.com at the moment, so can't tell you the rating - but it looks interesting. Meanwhile, the Hunan government restaurant is definitely in Haidian area (I checked against another book). And if you go there, prepare to have your head blown off with spices!!! but not numbing - that's why I love Hunan over sichuan. . . BTW why on earth is the business card written in Fanti Chinese - how bizarre!!! it must be a favourite of Taiwan visitors.....

The address is: 海淀区北太平庄七省驻京办大院 电话: 010-82005999-8158 Doesn't rate highly on www.dianping.com but I haven't been there yet.

f anyone's in Beijing - I've just seen classes advertised for hand-pulling noodles. You can take them with the Chinese Culture Club here (I've never been to any of their events, but they're supposed to be quite good). Hand pulled noodle class Just thought it might be useful if anyone was passing through (maybe I'll go!).

Sorry - I didn't make it to the Legation quarter in the end (typical messed up Beijing life...) Most of the governmental restaurants are ace! The Xinjiang one is also good BTW, I finally got to the Quanjude out in the Tsinghua Science park. It was really quite good!!!! Not quite as good as Dadong, but the pluses were cornmeal as well as flour pancakes and the neat touch of having lettuce leaves for the low carb version. They also had good ostrich - which we all talked about as it's not common here, but one person at the table turned out to be from a town in Dongbei that breeds ostriches - so he was an expert. He says that they often stir-fry the eggs with tomato, etc.. just in the regular way and that they're not as tasty as chicken eggs. Anyway, might be a useful stop if anyone is out that way looking at the Old summer Palace/ buying dodgy electronics.

Actually....er.... turns out that I'm going there tonight - so I guess that it's open already! I will write it up when I return.....

It's not open yet - the latest projected date is July 22 2008. I think the Legation Quarter cafe may be open in time for your visit - but don't hold your breath - it's running stunningly behind schedule.

Gosh! I feel really stupid compared to everyone else. I've had three years modern Chinese (including a year at university here) and *10+* years of Classical Chinese and have lived in China for over a year now and I still feel completely pathetic! My recent achievement was learning to operate a Chinese tax receipt machine (so complex it comes with TWO handbooks) but I still feel everyday that my language level is abysmally low, I still regard myself as being at a VERY low level. BUT I will say that job-related vocabulary will be picked up fairly quickly. I can explain wine stuff like malo-lactic fermentation and oak barrel maturation (I do wine education here)...but still struggle with other things (like whatever my accountant is saying to me!).

No fish market to speak of - though there are nice markets around. If you want to see some interesting utensils: try the wholesale hotel and catering market that is located on the south bank of the Tonghui river at the corner of Da Wang LU. Be careful not to get run over, and walk Eastwards from Dawang lu until you hit the absolute end of the market area (about 10 minutes). There's a load of shops selling everything and anything and cash payment and bargaining needed. There's also some cookware stores in the centre of town (on Dianmen street), but many are shut down and don't have the neat stuff at the wholesale market.

i watched the first season of this when we lived in the UK and really enjoyed it, and now a very kind soul sent us the recordings of the second season to watch over here. I was really enjoying the hamburger one...and then we came to the Peking Duck one... I was so so so disappointed! HB doesn't even seem to be clear about the difference between fragrant crispy duck, Peking duck and Cantonese duck, referring to them similarly throughout the programme, talking about the ducks hanging from the windows in Chinatown - when these are about as far from Peking duck as it's possible to get!!! And then to even use a supermarket 'crispy' duck as an introduction...?!?! Good, if not excellent, fragrant crispy duck 香酥鸭 is a doddle to make at home - that's the most important point of that dish! And it is a completely different dish to Peking duck! I have the great fortune to live about 15 mins walk from Da Dong - its duck is indeed extraordinary (having regularly eaten *good* Peking duck for my whole life, I can say that hand on heart). But what raises it into the realm of the sublime is the inclusion of its eight wonderful condiments, the thinness of the pancakes/bobing (though, I have had slightly better bobing - but not duck -at Bianyifang) and the gorgeous, lovely fragile shaobing. Actually, its the last one for me that really really makes eating Da Dong duck a pleasure (beyond the innate goodness of the duck). The full eight condiments (two picked veg, the giant red radish, cucumber, green onion, garlic paste, sugar, tianmianjiang甜面酱) enable you to enjoy the correct seasonings with each different cut of the duck (leg meat + garlic paste+ radish+ shao bing = Heaven). Not to mention them is doing the dish a disservice. I thought that his final dishes were a total disappointment - if someone had served that to me as the 'perfect' Peking duck, I would have just laughed. I mean, at least the other 'perfect' dishes resembled the original! The Whampoa Club here offers a similar 'take' on Peking duck to his, but they at least indicate that it is not the 'proper' Peking duck on the menu. And he didn't even say anything about the bobing or other parts - which is like doing the hamburger programme without mentioning bun, condiments, tomatoes, or any of that! Why do such a great job with other foods and then totally mess up the Peking duck one? Sorry - but I was so so so disappointed that I had to rant somewhere.... *rant over* Sorry - regular service can resume now! and I will watch the rest of the series