They say you're always hungry an hour later when you eat Chinese food. I found this to be true growing up. I lived with my grandparents who lived across the street from my boyfriend Peter's house. He was Chinese, first generation, and his dad was a professional chef for a very famous Chinese restaurant in Los Angeles called "Madame Wu's."
Peter's family ate an hour before we did. So almost every night I'd eat at his house, and then an hour later, eat at mine. Peter's dad was an excellent chef. Because of him I am a bonafide Chinese food snob. I've had homemade Chinese food, cooked by a bonafide Chinese chef, and now I'm ruined for life. Until now.
Living in China, I am anxious to try everything. I was hoping Beijing would be like Tokyo: a mecca of unbelievably good food. And so far it is. But not like Tokyo. In Tokyo you can get any kind of food: French, Italian, Japanese and it's outstanding. The best croissant I've ever had was in Tokyo, which is blasphemous, considering Paris is my favorite city in the world. In Beijing you can only get one kind of food: Chinese. Well, other than McDonalds and KFC. China: welcome to obesity - it's just a matter of time.
But there are all kinds of Chinese food. There are? That's what I said. I mean, I'm semi-familar with Cantonese, Szechuan, Mandarin. But yet there's apparently way more. There are 23 provinces in China. Each province specializes in a different type of Chinese food. That means there are 23 kinds of Chinese food? From the meat laden Turkish influenced rice dishes in Tibet, to the steamy, savory goodness of dim sum in Hong Kong, to the sweet and crispy Peking Duck in Beijing. Hello, Mongolian BBQ.
What? That's like saying there are 50 types of American food, which obviously there are not. In fact, name one actual American dish. Pizza? No, that was invented in Italy. Hot dogs? Hamburgers? These were invented in Germany. I can't think of anything. Wait. I got one thing. Turducken. Ah yes, so American.
The great thing about eating out in China is, everything is amazingly cheap. No I mean it, really cheap. We keep going out to the most expensive restaurants and have problems breaking $100.00. No joke. Geez, we break $100 at Chili's on a Monday night. Hey, buffalo wings and margaritas are expensive. Don't judge.
So far, by far, my favorite Chinese food are dumplings and Peking Duck. These are not served in the same restaurants. There are running arguments on where the best of each of these Chinese delicacies are served. I only have 30 days but I am on a mission to resolve this heated dispute.
The Peking Duck is amazing. My favorite restaurant thus far is called "Made In China." How ironic considering I have a dubious opinion of anything actually made in China. This restaurant is in the Grand Hyatt Hotel and therefore the most expensive place in town. Truth be told, we did break $100 here.
But the duck is so devine. The skin is so crispy it melts in your mouth, literally. In Beijing you dip the skin in either salt or sugar, place it lovingly on your tongue, and let it slowly dissolve into a bouquet of flavors in your mouth. They carve the duck for you table side, slowly, carefully, laying out the choice pieces decoratively while your mouth waters and your stomach growls.
The only downside is, ducks don't have very much meat. The first few times we had duck, Russell thought we were getting cheated, because it always appeared they only cut half the duck and swept the rest of it away. We soon learned there isn't much more meat.
Another good duck joint is 1949 in the Hidden City at Sanlitun. Not quite the grandness of Made in China but less tourists too. The restaurant is in a beautiful courtyard and the duck is great.
Über hip courtyard.
Then there's the dim sum. Ah the dim sum. I steam up just thinking about it. So many fillings. Our favorite so far is a little neighborhood joint in the Embassy district called Baoyuan Jiaozi Wu Dumpling House. There's always a line. They serve over 25 types of multi-colored dumplings. They're exquisite. And the side vegetable dishes are outstanding too.
Not just pretty - delicious!
Like Cartman I do love side dishes.
The other night I tried something new, something truly original, something wonderful. I tried hand pulled noodles at the Noodle Bar in 1949 Hidden City, Sanlitun. There were only two soup choices on the menu. You can either have oxbow or another meat I've never heard of - tendon meat. We tried the Oxbow and it was good, very good. The broth was dense and rich, the way you wish stew really was. The noodles were firm and meaty. This dish warms the soul.
The place is tiny. You sit at a u-shaped counter in a covey the size of Volkswagon Bus. Behind the counter are four guys. Two to ladle the two kinds of soup out. And two to hand-pull the noodles. They start with great lumps of dough, the size of a side of beef. From these they literally pull and twist the dough into smaller and smaller size strands, until finally they have soup noodles. These they boil in broth until they're a'dente and saturated with flavor. Oh my God. Heaven.
Speaking of Heaven. The other night we went to an amazing new restaurant called "Lost Heaven" in the Forbidden City premier restaurant area. This restaurant features Chinese dishes from several provinces of China. We got lost in the expansive menu. It was indeed heaven, starting with their signature cocktails in the richly appointed wood bar. It felt like we were back in Bali for a minute, there was so much wood and so many colors.
Each dish was outstanding. It was like watching the Matrix for the first time, each scene even more spectacular and surprising than the last. We loved it. We loved it so much we didn't take enough pictures. Damn. I guess we have to go back again.
Swirls of goodness.
I can't remember which provence this dish was from.
It was the first and we were so smitten we forgot to take pictures of the other five dishes.
Happy Eater.
Happy to be hungry again in an hour so I can have more!
But if none of this appeals to you, there's always the "Hello Kitty Cafe." Yes, they have a "Hello Kitty Cafe." It's located in the mall adjacent to our apartment building in Sanlitun. I couldn't believe it when I walked by it. I didn't venture in because it reminded me of a Hooters but for pedafiles. But from the outside it appeared to be a frothy confection of pink clad baby doll dresses worn by winsome Chinese girls, serving dreams in a sundae cup, complete with a cherry on top.
It's just a matter of time before we knock this off and bring it to America.
Really?
