Duck de Chine, Beijing

Duck de Chine. Our complements to the chef at this fabulous upscale Beijing duck establishment. Everything was perfect from top to bottom. We entered without reservations and were politely ushered to the bar to wait over drinks. When our table was ready we were escorted by a waitress with a headset (very efficient) to the dining area which was nicely designed in intimate bourdeau colors.

The Beijing Roasted Duck was perfect. Carved in front of our table it was lean, crisp and delicious. Beijing duck is served with an accompaniment of cucumbers, spring onions and plum sauce. These ingredients are rolled inside the thin steamed flour pancakes and eaten.

The restaurant serves its plum sauce with a swirl of sesame sauce, peanut sauce and ground peanuts, which enriches the whole experience.

We also ordered a side dish of green herb salad with cashews and candied walnuts which we liked very much.

Duck de Chine. Courtyard 4, Gongti Beilu, Chaoyang District.

http://www.elite-concepts.com/Promotions/1949/DuckDeChine.htm

Longcheng Tang and Ba Guo Bu Yi, Beijing

Longcheng Tang. We loved this tiny Guangxi grub restaurant with a courtyard setting. We enjoyed a stir fry dish of smoked ham, bamboo shoots and vegetables with a side order of steamed long grain rice.


Our favorite though, was the deep-fried eggplant circles. The eggplants were covered in a thin coat of batter and served on a banana leaf. A dip of mixed dry salt, cumin and chili added a flair.


Ba Guo Bu Yi serves Sichan fare in a second floor venue complete with a dinner performance (avoid sitting in the center of the room as the Chinese like their entertainment loud and cheesy). When the dishes were served they seemed so tame, little did we know they would burn so.

The dried tofu with celery dressed in chili oil was delicious. The strong taste of the chili complemented the crisp celery and the thinly sliced tofu had a smoky flavour.


We were naive when we ordered the Sichuan staple chicken covered in dried chili. The dish came to the table, a mound of shiny red and we anticipated the first bite. A second look revealed the ratio between the chili/peppercorns and the pea-sized chicken bits (about 10:1). We had a few mouthfuls while shedding tears and losing sensation in our mouths and throats. We were brave enough to put it aside and order something milder, an omelet (can't go wrong there).


Longcheng Tang. 28, Huangchenggen Beijie, Dongcheng District.
Ba Guo Bu Yi. 2F Nanhang Hotel, 10 Dongsanhuan Zhonglu, Guomao, Chaoyang District. and other locations around Beijing.

Liu Zhai Shifu Restaurant, Beijing

Liu Zhai Shifu is a small courtyard venue tucked in a hutong. We loved its cosy atmosphere reminicent of old Beijijng with good lighting and friendly local diners. We ordered the roast duck, which takes an hour to make and nibbled some starters and beer while we waited.


The cold asparagus salad with sesame sauce and chili was refreshing and precise. The whole soaked walnuts complemented the sesame flavour and were a nice touch.


We also liked the cornflour "tortilla" covered with a thick layer of stir fried egg and finely chopped chives.

The roast duck was a good value, but a bit too fatty for our refined taste.

Liu Zhai Shifu. 8, Meishuguan Dongjia, Dongcheng District.

Do It Yourself, Xian

The Royals and C. went out for a night market dinner in the Muslim quarter. After a long indecisive stroll through the many eateries we sat ourselves down to a hot-pan table, not knowing what the future of dinner would bring. Lucky for us, all we had to do was point at our neighbors' table and the waiter began to bring our cooking ingredients. This is how it works. The restaurant provides you with raw products to your liking (various meat, seafood, tofu, mushrooms, onions, bok choy etc.) accompanied by cooking fat, sesame sauce, cumin and chili. The waiter turns on the gas and the rest is up to you.

Toss your ingredients, season to taste and dip in the sesame sauce.

Xian Persimmons

Persimmons in all forms are found on many a street corner in Xian come Autumn; fresh, dried and mixed into a pancake batter.

Huanggui persimmon pancakes are a Xian speciality designed to create a tasty desert out of the exotic fruit. The fruit is mixed with flour, walnuts, sugar and rose petals and then fried until golden brown on both sides.



We found the pancake to be tasty on the whole, with a faint hint of persimmon. Nevertheless, as most Chinese deserts go, it was a bit too chewy and we prefer to stay with the fruit.

Xian Lollipops

Xian Street Snacks... Sweet

Eight treasures porridge is a colorful desert on the run. A dried coconut porridge steamed in a mini bamboo cylinder and topped with bits of candied fruit, sugar, raisins, nuts and sesame seeds.

It is then carefully wiggled out of the cup and served on a stick. Very pretty.



Honey Jelly Cake is a gelatinous confection made from a thick rice sheet filled with bean paste and layered with crushed peanuts. The pastry is then sliced into bite size pieces, scooped into a styrofoam container and ladled with plum syrup which adds the sweetness. Eat it with a toothpick straight away on a street corner.



Same desert, different form. This version of Honey Jelly Cake is made in a large round container, topped with plum syrup, sliced and then skewered for your enjoyment.

Xian Street Snacks... Savory

Xian is snack heaven. The Muslim quarter is crammed with eateries and stalls selling different surprises in every corner. We gathered our strength and managed to try almost everything. Here are the two best dishes of our savory culinary adventure, sweets come next.

Cold noodles two ways:
The thick rice noodles with sesame paste, vinegar and chili (to the left) were creamy but a little too vinegary for our taste. The thin buckwheat noodles with vinegar, mustard, salt, garlic sauce and hot chili (to the right) were excellent and had the exact amount of spice.



Filled pancakes are made by sandwiching two round and thin sheets of dough filled with a choice of spread. Options include ground meat and bean sprouts or egg and scallions to name a few. The pancake is then fried on both sides, cut into four and eaten with chopsticks. Don't know why we were surprised to find it too oily...

Grapes and Raisins

September is grape season around the deserts of Western China and at that time Kashgar and Turpan are filled with vendors selling their wares on the sidewalks.


Grapes and grape vine leaves for sale.

Turpan grapes are famous throughout the world for their variety and incredible taste. After the yearly harvest Turpan transforms into an even tastier raisin-making center. The secret is the local drying method. Grapes are hung to dry in mud shacks with brick latticework as to let the desert air flow through.


On our way through Turpan we also encountered sun dried tomatoes.

Chinese Skewer Snacks, Dunhuang

On the streets of Dunhuang we came across this delicious joy. What we see here is deep fried mushrooms on a wooden skewer brushed with VERY spicy chili paste. Gaviem, our Belgian friend, enjoyed his with caution.


You can try many kinds of skewers from vegetable to tofu, they even fry lettuce. Just point and choose and the vendor will fry them to a tea.

Behold the frying pan and the vicious spice.


On the subject of fried skewer delights there is also the simple potato chip. Peeled and thinly sliced in a spiral it is then pierced with a stick, fried and sprinkled with cumin and chili. It can also be made with any array of root veggies and apples. Consume this with caution as well as it tends to break.

Noodle Soup

As we said before, we couldn't get enough and kept on coming back to the same stall at the Chinese Market in Kashgar. This noodle soup straight from the wok took our beloved vendor two minutes to cook up. Watch and learn:

First cook thin rice noodles and bok choy in boiling water.

When the noodles are cooked remove from the flame and strain. Transfer into a bowl and add a ladle of meat broth made with pieces of meat, ginger, garlic and green onions.

Don't forget a spoonful of pickled greens (any cabbage will do), to add that Chinese Market flavor.

Voila!


The same dish comes pre-packaged in styrofoam with lots of additives and MSG. It is a common dinner for the locals on the night train, as they pour boiling water, supplied by the somewhat irritated train staff, and slurp noisily, munching on raw pork sausage on the side. The Royals tried this and were appalled.

Noodles, Kashgar

Noodles are always made by hand. The Central Asian way (as opposed to Chinese pulled noodles etc.) is to flatten the dough into sheets and then to cut it into the desired width. These wheat noodles can be used for lachman.


On the other side of town (the Han part) Chowmein is served for lunch, freshly stir fried in a wok. One day, starving for something new we scurried to the Chinese Food Market and searched the many stalls for a cheap hearty meal. We found this noodle stall at the furthermost northeast corner and kept coming back for more.

The recipe is easy: oil, thinly sliced shitake, ground pork, white cabbage, beansprouts, green onions, egg (already scrambled and fried), sugar, soy and thin rice noodles, all added in this order. Stir fry in a wok and serve hot.

Locals eating noodles on the street.

Places to Eat... Kashgar

In Kashgar, the best way to go is local. The bustling night market is filled with busy stalls and restaurants serving Central Asian specialties with Chinese twists. The lachman may also be served on steamed rice with chopsticks and you can taste the local speciality, a stew of roasted chicken, egg and chickpea.

Alternatively, you can dine Western style at the Xinjiang cafe chain, Eversun Coffee. This place serves quality and pricey tea and coffee with a western menu. After two months in Central Asia, we were delighted to have a piece of cheesecake.

Bread, Kashgar

Every place in Central Asia has its unique form of Nan, simple, round flat bread. It's a staple that made its way even to Western China. The dough (a mixture of flour and water) is pounded into a flat disc and stamped with a pattern. It is then baked on the inner walls of an outdoor tandur oven. The Kashgar nan is particularly large and flat making it crispy in the middle.


A bread stall in Kashgar

Bread stamps.


Another treat from the tandur is a baked roll, bagel shaped filled with a mutton-onion mixture. This one is sprinkled with white and black sesame seeds.