Things We Liked About China, Part One

 The Food!

Fact:  Chinese food in China is as, if not more, delicious than Chinese food in America.  Certain Chinese dishes were exhilaratingly new, while others were different enough from what we were used to that we often felt we were getting new food experiences.  At the same time, Chinese food, with or without MSG, was enough like the Chinese-American food we're used to that there was something comforting about it.  We met some travelers who complained that they grew to dislike the food after a few weeks in China.  The grease did get to our tummies at times and we did break up our Chinese food with Western fare (including some great sandwiches in Shanghai, decent pizza in Chengdu, and a fascinating trip to a Pizza Hut in Lijiang), which went a long way to keeping us happy with our Chinese eats.  The noodles, buns, dumplings, and cheap and delicious street food held our appetites for a full month. And since Jeff loves everything made from dough, he was in heaven. Chinese food uses far less rice than Japanese and South Korean cuisine.  The switch to noodles was a pleasant one for us.  And we still managed to get plenty of tasty rice dishes whenever we wanted (fried rice, anyone?).

One of our favorite Chinese meals was in Hong Kong, which is the place for dim sum, apparently.  Our first full day in Hong Kong was a late start and we didn't eat our first meal until somewhere between 1:30 and 2 pm. Late first meal?  No problem!  We rolled out of our hostel after noon and headed straight for a recommended dim sum institution not far away.  There was about a 45-minute wait and the meal turned out to be totally worth it.  Once seated, we found ourselves surrounded by dim sum carts, locals, and a classic English/Chinese hybrid dim sum ambiance.  In a huge banquet room, complete with enormous chandeliers and a full wall of windows overlooking a marina, we stuffed ourselves with little dumplings, amazing (flaky, and new-to-us) pork buns, and all manner of dim sum delights.  The setting was perfect for an overboard dim sum feast. And feast we did - Annette stopped before the pain of being too full set in, but Jeff pushed it to the limit, reaching Thanksgiving fullness levels. Both of us needed only one meal that day, nuff said!

One of our other most memorable and favorite food experiences in China was our half-day cooking class in Yangshuo.

We started the day with a guided tour of the local market, which included helpful tips, identification of items that had been baffling us for weeks, and a brief encounter with dog as food on the meat side of the market.

In class, we cooked cashew chicken, eggplant with oyster sauce, beer fish, (the local specialty), stuffed and steamed vegetables, and Chinese greens with garlic.  We only had one other person in our class, so our experience was personal and extremely hands-on.  The cooking was simple, as one might expect, but the little details of cooking with a wok and the subtleties of  preparing such simple food made the course and the dishes really fun to make and eat. We loved the class and plan on investing in a good wok, a gas stove-top, and steamers when we get home so we can continue to cook Chinese food and share it with you all!

More Food Highlights in Photos:

Wedding banquet, Beijing

Peking Duck, Beijing

Street pancake folded with sauce, green onions, lettuce, and some crispy things inside (Jian Bing), Beijing

  

Upscale vegetarian restaurant with fake chicken, pork, beef, and seafood (a la Bamboo Garden), Shanghai

Eating delicious homemade noodles on low plastic benches from a grimy street-cart with locals, Shanghai;

 

Muslim restaurant as back-up for lost Lonely Planet pick where the food was even better than the photos on the wall made them look, Chengdu

Excellent Portuguese Food with Macanese twist, Macau