China November 2015

[BKEats]

So, a quickie trip this time..  Two cities, Yangzhou and Zhangjiagang in the opposite order.. It's a tough bit of travel (30 hours) as I have stated in the past.. A flight to Beijing, a layover, a flight to Nanjing and then a couple hour drive.. We arrived around 11 pm and we are picked up the following morning at 8 am and the work begins... A straight 7 days of work, a 30 hour trip on the way home and then work starts at 8 am the following day.. This is my life.. But, we are not hear to discuss that, we are here to look at photos of food.. 

 

I was super hungry waking up the next morning as I have now rejected all airplane food.. It's kind of crazy to see how the food has not only declined in quality but, abundance.. The airlines now are pushing their add on meals so, they give you less and spend less on it.  To think they offer chicken on a flight, god only knows what the hell happened to that chicken between egg and plate.   I am sure the beef is just the same.. So, I fill up with what i can at the lounge prior to the flight, i brought a half pound of pistachios and some almonds..  

 

Stupid things like no longer offering soy sauce packets with their noodle dishes. They use to offer turkey sandwiches mid flight, which i never ate but, now they offer these little cheese sticks.. The ice cream use to be Hagen Daaz or whatever, now it's some non branded shit.. I mean, the little ice cream container is so light, it must be 90 percent air.  Even the staff use to hand out waters multiple times through out the trip with trays, they came by maybe 4 times with the carts..   And the staff is just not nice.. But I digress.. 

 

The trip out, was really strange.. I had a broken seat, so i moved.. Obviously pissing off the person that had a row of three to herself.. She was planning on stretching out across three seats.. So, i am sitting with her when, an old lady behind me starts gasping.. then, silence.. Then screaming "someone help, help, my mother, help, she is not breathing"  I get up and can offer no assistance.. I run to get someone.. Doctors come flying all around.. Daughter is asked if she has pre-exisiting conditions.. She starts saying she has a bad heart. They give her nitro, they are doing CPR.. Someone asks the same question, she now offers up the fact that she has a bad heart, she has diabetes.., i hear "she has a pulse" I am now out of the way so doctors can be all around her..

 

I then move seats again.. This time I am sitting next to a dude that was stretched across three seats. his is pissed at me, i tell him, dying woman is laying in my seat.. He proceeds to sit in the middle sit.. The fucking middle seat.. What a dick.. He is now letting me know that I am invading his spot.. He starts in on my space, we have a conversation about how he paid for one seat, i paid for one seat, old dying is in my seat, get over it..   He is upset and huffing.. eventually, he tries to sleep and he puts his socks torwards me and he is trying to lay across two seats.. This isnt working for me.. I tell him to get his feet away from me.. We are children.. I am thinking, if I punch this guy in the face in international waters and there is no air marshall on the plane, where do I get prosecuted?  Is it the perfect crime..  He is a dick..  We come to an understanding, where he doesnt come near me.. The lady infront of me has a cat.. The cat is peering at me over her shoulder.. The cat gets away.. the cat is running around the cabin... The man behind me is laying across three seats barefoot.. His feet are hanging over the aisle.. This man has not washed his feet or cut his toenails in however long he has had feet.. 

 

The ice cream now comes out and we are sitting in a tin can and 80 percent of the plane is lactose intolerant.. This is the relaxing 15 hours where i was supposed to read and chill out.. I am ready to murder someone.  

 

I digress.. 

 

 

 

6 o'clock is some sour green and pork.. 9 o'clock soy beans and a dark green veg,11 is  kimchi, 12 o clock is tofu in soy sauce, dumpling, shredded tofu, 3 o'clock is cold sichuan tripe.. more tofu dead center.

 

 

mushrooms, dumpling, yangzhou rice, kimchi, sour greens, cauliflower and tofu

[BKEats]

Ok well, I will not go in order and I guess I don't need to write up the whole trip as there were some shitty meals.. .

 

 

Here is this awesome sichuan I went to .. One of the best places I have had Sichuan Food.. 

 

 

 

This is what the table looked like when I arrived.. At the table is the chief of police, his minister of technology or whatever and some dude who owns a rice wine factory.. He gave me a few really expensive bottles to take home.. We also drank a few really expensive bottles.. They are all shit to me.. From the worst to best, they all tear up your insides.. 

 

Cold Chicken:

 

 

1000 year old egg: Delicious versions

 

 

Cold wheat noodles.. Noodles made in house.. They were awesome, sturdy and flavorful.. I ate most of this

 

Bamboo:

They have the famous face changer guy who start dancing around and changing is mask face.. He is really awesome and can change his face as you stare at him and the mask slides to reveal a new face.. very cool

 

 

Spicy cabbage and bsoy nuts:

 

 

Mushroom soup"

 

 

Special hard tofu soup: This was beautiful tofu, firm and meaty and tasted of soy.. Really nicely done

 

 

 

Easily the best mao po I have ever had.. In house tofu, the sauce was course with crushed peppercorns. 

 

One of the best fried chickens I have ever had.. In China or out.. So damn delicious.. The only problem, slightly over cooked, I mean, cooked to China perfection but, not to American perfection. 

 

 

Pork chops with a heavy cuminy anise, peppery dry rub

 

 

Shrimp and Broccoli in oil:

 

 

Scallops and mussels with garlic and glass noodle:

 

Cool shell:

 

 

Spring rolls get handed around:

 

 

Spicy beef:

 

 

We ate like champs.. The woman who I do business with felt bad before dinner so, she left the table and went home before the food came.. Which meant, there was feats of strenghth, pissing contests, beer chugging and too much rice wine.. We had dinner for maybe 3 or 4 hours and finished everything on the table.. It was awesome, fun time, great food.. 

[BKEats]

So, I am going out of order as there is no reason for me to go in order..  At this point, I am in Yangzhou.  A few days in, I have been skipping meals here and there as I can no longer eat with the gusto I have had in the past.    After skipping dinner the prior night, i was raring to go.. I specifically requested one of the oldest places in town.. Yechun, not to be confused with Fuchun, is a 138 year old dim sum place... And it is awesome.. 

 

 

It's a cavernous place.. There was multiple floors and multiple private and large dining areas...  We were whisked up a staircase to an elevator, to your private room

 

Here were just some of the options they had:

 

 

collection of freshly made baozi.. You think you have had good baozi but, I have yet to find anything remotely close in the United States to the soft pillowly beauty of a Chinese Made Baozi .  Dumplings are close but, not baozi.

 

 

Our host had ordered a set meal for us.. It was 16 bucks a head.. Out comes an array of banchan type dishes.. I wish I had taken them all on the original tray she brought in but, I was confused.. 

 

Pig head cold:

 

Seaweed and lotus:

 

 

organic eggs on the shell:

 

 

Kimchi with sweet and sour sauce.. A lot better than what i was expecting:L

 

 

criunchy fried wheaty things:

 

 

more crunchy fried wheaty things:

 

 

Spicy cold and garlicky mushrooms not photographed

 

 

 

 

Pickled veg

 

Salt baked eggs.. Pigeon and Goose and a couple other guys 

 

 

These baby shrimp are also all over  yangzhou:

a  yangzhou classic.. Still have not had shredded tofu close to as good as in Yangzhou.. And I have eaten this dish in towns 2 hours away.. Not close... This was in a cold sweet soy

 

Then in the chicken broth with shrimp and pig stomach and mushrooms:

 

 

Then small pork wontons in a broth with seaweed and little fish:

 

 

 

So we are sitting in this big comfortable private room with a huge table and a lazy susan in the middle.. Out start coming the steamed dishes:

 

 

There are pork meatballs, there is a classic yangzhou dish (wine chicken with bamboo) there is this awesome green, there is another type of pork that is almost shredded, there is pork belly, there is sweet bean.. eh i dont like that

 

these are filled with porky sticky rice:

 

 

 

 

 

All I can say is, damn, it's delicious.. Getting treated like royalty.. Eating till stuffed and having tons of leftovers, it was all 16 bucks..   What a wonderful place. 

[BKEats]

Which comes as no surprise to anyone, there is shitty Chinese Food in China.. There are Chinese People who don't care about food.. There is shitty Italian Food in Italy, there is Shitty French Food in France..  Just because you are some where, doesn't mean the food is going to be good.. The same way being from a particular place doesn't qualify you as an expert..   We went out to lunch with some executive who could care less what he was eating

 

Here is crappy  Food wth no real region covered:

 

Clams, some of them were even opened!  Sweet like Cantonese would be 

 

 

Not bad cucumbers:

 

Sour greens and pork..  Hunan

 

 

 

 

Sliced fish SIchuan, not good: Sichuan attempt/ I am looking at all of the peppers and have no idea how they happened to keep it so bland.  One might even guess from a photo that this was a proper dish.. 

 

 

Average Cantonese Meats:

 

 

Gummy:

 

[BKEats]

Another ok meal:

 

 

This was ok.. Goose wings, pig tongue and pig ears:

 

 

Some nice dumplings: pork and greens

 

 

Spicy and sizzling starch.. Almost like a yucca, this was nice:  sweet and spicy and new

 

 

 

garlicky glass noodles with shrimp:

 

 

Well, that's it for now, heading out of town for a little bit.. 

Edited December 1, 2015 by BKEats (log)

[Shelby]

BK, I can't tell you how many times I laughed at your wonderful description of your horrid plane ride.  I know it wasn't funny at the time.....but it sounds similar to a National Lampoon's movie lol.

 

So much good looking food.  1000 year old eggs, those tiny FRESH shrimp (must be quite a feat for the person that peels them), the tofu, the dumplings.....just ....yum.

 

What is the cool looking "figurine" in the middle of the table at Yechun?

[Smithy]

I laughed too. I'd like to know whether those scallop shells and baby abalone shells get reused, or go out with the trash, or did you keep some?  I'd love to have access to baby abalone shells. I'd also like to know about the salt baked eggs.  What happens to them when they're baked in salt?  Are they baked fully submerged in the salt, or on top of the layer as shown in your serving photo?

[liuzhou]

On 12/2/2015 at 7:48 AM, Smithy said:

 I'd also like to know about the salt baked eggs.  What happens to them when they're baked in salt?  Are they baked fully submerged in the salt, or on top of the layer as shown in your serving photo?

 

I'm sure BKEats will answer, but, in the meantime, I can say that salt baked eggs are very common. Many supermarkets carry them. Usually chicken or quail eggs. Sometimes duck.

 

I can't swear to the exact process, but the shell-on eggs are covered in salt in something resembling a wasp's nest shape then baked. The salt crust is then cracked open and the eggs sold.

 

Here are pictures of the nest of eggs (quail) in my local supermarket.

 

 

 

Those are quail eggs （盐焗鹌鹑蛋 (yán jú ān chún dàn, literally Salt Baked Quail Eggs)). I've never come across salted baked goose eggs, but would love to. One local supermarket has fresh goose eggs, but my toaster oven isn't big enough to do a batch and doing one egg seems silly!

 

Most 'pigeon' eggs in China are actually quail eggs, sometimes bleached to disguise them.

 

Here are the salt baked quail eggs.

 

 

(Images previously posted on the Breakfast 2015 thread.)

Edited October 9, 2022 by liuzhou (log)

[KennethT]

Can I ask which airline it was? I've always enjoyed my long haul flights on EVA, Cathay and Singapore Airlines... cattle class was never so good, with friendly service and decent food.

[dcarch]

I'm sure BKEats will answer, but, in the meantime, I can say that salt baked eggs are very common. Many supermarkets carry them. Usually chicken or quail eggs. Sometimes duck.

 

I can't swear to the exact process, but the shell-on eggs are covered in salt in something resembling a wasp's nest shape then baked. The salt crust is then cracked open and the eggs sold.

 

Here are pictures of the nest of eggs (quail) in my local supermarket.

 

Those are quail eggs （盐焗鹌鹑蛋 (yán jú ān chún dàn, literally Salt Baked Quail Eggs)). I've never come across salted baked goose eggs, but would love to. One local supermarket has fresh goose eggs, but my toaster oven isn't big enough to do a batch and doing one egg seems silly!

Most 'pigeon' eggs in China are actually quail eggs, sometimes bleached to disguise them.

Here are the salt baked quail eggs.

 

 

(Images previously posted on the Breakfast 2015 thread.)

 

Runny egg yolk is not common in Chinese cooking.

 

dcarch

[Smithy]

What does the baking in salt accomplish? Extra insulation?  Does the salt penetrate the shell and flavor the egg?

[liuzhou]

On 12/3/2015 at 12:20 PM, Smithy said:

What does the baking in salt accomplish? Extra insulation?  Does the salt penetrate the shell and flavor the egg?

 

I believe the salt is used to protect the eggs from direct heat. Very few.Chinese homes or restaurants have ovens. The eggs are 'baked' on the stove top (traditionally on an open fire). In effect, the salt crust becomes the oven. The baking is done on a low flame to further protect the eggs - if they get too hot they tend to burst before cooking through. 

 

The salt does also flavour the egg somewhat, but not overly so. They are what I would call mildly salty, unlike the salted eggs used in mooncakes, rice porridge (congee) etc. Those can be very salty.

Edited October 9, 2022 by liuzhou (log)

[BKEats]

Thanks all.. 

 

So, this was a really wonderful seafood restaurant with a bootleg Pirates of the Caribbean Theme.. It's truly funny as I ask my host if they get the reference, they had no idea..  But, this is a new restaurant since my last visit and it is wildly popular.. Rightfully so as the food was delicious.. 

 

 

 

 

 

The standard tank room on the first floor:

 

 

We started with cold sea cucumber:

 

 

Seeing more and more salad on menus..  They all have this sesame dressing.. 

 

 

 

I love pig ears so much..  I need to start making them at Mekelburg's as they are the best beer snack I can think of..   It's delicious, they are exceptionally delicious:

 

 

 

Chinese stuffed pizza?:

 

 

 

 

Snails:  This is interesting as when I normally get snails in China they are served with this wicked hot mustard that just rips your nose to shreds.. But, here, they suggested i mixed Black Vinegar with a tube of wasabi..A lot more pleasant experience 

 

 

Spicy Crab:

 

Damn

 

 

Fried shrimp"

 

Fantastic

 

 

 

One of the better Mantis Shrimp I have had.. i have been turned off by them in the past as it's a lot of work with sometimes, limited results.. These guys were juicy and plump and seasoned very well.. not overcooked. :

 

 

 

Octopus was good but, couldn't stand up to the other dishes.. it was stir fried with garlic

 

 

They served those garlic scallops with the glass noodles:

 

 

 

Beautiful flounder:

 

 

Funny sign by the sink:

 

"qulity guaranteed" 

 

 

Seen the table and the damage done:

[BKEats]

A simple lunch in Yangzhou:

 

 

Crispy fried yam with sweet sauce:  The yam is fried so perfectly.. A crunchy shell and creamy middle.. So good:

 

 

 

Celery and pork:

 

 

 

 

Shredded tofu in chicken broth with mushrooms and some processed ham i never eat:

 

 

 

Lion head meatball:

 

 

 

Beef and yucca.. moderately spicy.. the beef i would say is the tail

 

 

They usually order me my very own half of fish head because they know me like that:

 

And because they didn't "over order" we had room for some noodles:  a traditional way to end a meal. well, that or rice depending on where you live

 

 

I use this as an opportunity to pour the sauce from the fish head over the noodles..

 

 

Boom:

 

[BKEats]

his is my favorite dim sum place.. While not as sexy or fancy, this is the best of the best..  I love this place

 

 

 

 

Fuchun:

 

 

 

Tools of the trade:

 

 

 

I seriously can't get over these tofu noodles.. i keep saying it and I am sorry.. They are just so good.. And this is the place that makes them the absolute best.. It's a soup with chicken and crab.. There is shrimp, there are flecks of crab roe.. It's rich and clean and just beautiful... They are served steaming hot and there is often no heat in the place.. So, you are sitting there in your jacket, it is still pretty damn cold and you are eating this beautiful warming dish...  This may be one of the dishes I order on my last meals. 

 

 

This was a starchy threaded soup with something salty in it.. i thought it was bits of fish.. But, i didn't ask,, it was very nice

 

 

 

The best bao zi I have ever had.. The consistency of the bao is light at airy.. The filling is perfect.. 

 

 

 

 

 

Soup dumpling:

 

 

 

You can see the little crab roe sticking out:

 

 

 

And why not a little pork and crab lion head:

 

[liuzhou]

11 hours ago, BKEats said:

Chinese stuffed pizza?:

 

 

Snails:  This is interesting as when I normally get snails in China they are served with this wicked hot mustard that just rips your nose to shreds.. But, here, they suggested i mixed Black Vinegar with a tube of wasabi..A lot more pleasant experience.

 

 

I haven't seen those "pizzas" around here for a while. A few of those restaurants where you order food from various windows and then it arrives at your table had them . They always called them something like Indian pancakes (I forget the Chinese). One place even employed an Indian gentleman to cook them. He told me he had no idea what they were, but it was a job.  I liked them a lot.

You need to try snails here in Liuzhou. It snail cuisine central in China.
 

Edited December 12, 2015 by liuzhou
to insert missing word (log)