{"id":743,"date":"2015-10-27T08:30:39","date_gmt":"2015-10-27T12:30:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ustoa.com\/blog\/?p=743"},"modified":"2024-02-22T11:05:03","modified_gmt":"2024-02-22T16:05:03","slug":"exploring-chinas-food-scene","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ustoa.com\/blog\/exploring-chinas-food-scene\/","title":{"rendered":"Exploring China\u2019s Food Scene"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Sherry Ott, AFAR Ambassador<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Dumplings<\/a>
Dumplings you eat with a straw!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

My first memory of international cuisine was when I was 12 years old. \u00a0I\u2019ll never forget going to a Chinese restaurant in Peoria, Illinois for the first time. It was darkly lit, with big round tables and little cups for tea. I was fascinated with these cups because they didn\u2019t have handles \u2013 unconventional for my Midwest life. \u00a0My dad ordered some dishes for our table; sweet and sour pork, wontons, egg foo young, and pork chow mien. I remember being that awkward age that hated eating anything that I didn\u2019t know, but wanting to try new things. I had no idea how to use the chopsticks in front of me \u2013 they seemed as confusing and impossible as solving my Rubik\u2019s Cube \u2013 but that was the first of many Chinese dinners I had in my hometown of Peoria. Chinese food reminds me of my childhood and exploration of new things, so when I landed in China<\/a> for my 8 day trip with Wendy Wu Tours<\/a>, I was excited for one thing \u2013 I wanted to eat!<\/p>\n

Eating in China<\/h2>\n

Though China may seem daunting due to the language barriers, your local guide can lead you through all the tough decisions \u2013 like what to eat! They can help you order and work your way through the maze of menus. Most of the restaurants that we went into were gigantic, with big round tables and a lazy Susan in the middle for easy sharing. The menus tended to be the size of an old Sears Catalog and include pictures and English, which made things a little easier. These are great places to eat but it you want to throw caution to the wind and find some restaurants that are smaller and don\u2019t have pictures or English menus, then just ask your guide and they\u2019ll lead you deep into the alleys of China to eat. After all, travel is about going local and exploration of new things!<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
A super thick menu with pictures<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dumplings<\/h2>\n

I quickly learned that dumplings are a staple in Shanghai, little bites of flavorful goodness; but in Shanghai you get something extra in your dumpling – soup.\u00a0 I had my first soup dumpling at breakfast (yes, dumplings for breakfast). I was startled when I bit into what I thought was a normal dumpling and soup came out and subsequently went all over me! I pretty quickly learned that Shanghai dumplings need to be eaten with care. Shanghai is known for 2 main kinds of dumplings: Xiao Long Bao, a dumpling made of wheat dough that is steamed, and Sheng Jian Bao, made of a thicker dough first fried in a cast iron skillet and then steamed. Both are typically made of pork and have a gelatin soup inside that gets heated and liquefied when steamed. Dip them in a vinegar soy mixture and try to poke a hole in it first so that you can \u2018drink\u2019 out the soup or at least let it cool before you bite into it!\u00a0 My favorite way to eat them was with a straw.<\/p>\n

\"Xiao<\/a>
Xiao Long Bao \u2013 or XLB as the cool kids refer to them!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Sheng<\/a>
Sheng Jian Bao \u2013 or SJB<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In Xi\u2019an we not only ate dumplings (jiaozi), we learned how to make them.\u00a0 Our teacher, Chef Jin, makes about 3,500 dumplings a night, which explains why her super power is to make dumplings lightning fast. Seriously, if you blink you\u2019ll miss it and will all of a sudden have a butterfly shaped dumpling in front of you. Chef Jin works at the Shaanxi Sunshine Lido Grand Theatre (and in the time it took you to read that title, she made 4 dumplings). She makes dumplings every night for customers who come to the cultural theater show. Her dumplings are in the shape of butterflies, roses, swans, cabbages, and ducks.\u00a0 However, for teaching purposes she kept the shapes simple and slowed down long enough to show us how to roll out the dough, spread in the filling, and then form them into shapes.\u00a0 Mine didn\u2019t turn out too shapely, which made me conclude that I\u2019d rather eat them than make them.<\/p>\n

\"Rolling<\/a>
Rolling out dumpling dough in Xi\u2019an<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Milk<\/h2>\n

In our quest for local food, our Shanghai guide took us for a traditional breakfast enjoyed by the fast paced business workers in Shanghai \u2013 warm, sweet soymilk and a fried breadstick. Yon Ho is a fast food chain that started as a street stall in Taiwan and now sells their soybean milk all over China. The drink sort of tastes like what’s left in the bottom of a cereal bowl once all the cereal is gone and immediately won me over! It was fun to be the only foreigners in the restaurant and watch a steady stream of young business professionals come in and eat before work. Sort of like the Chinese Starbucks \u2013 a cool (and tasty) view of daily life in Shanghai!<\/p>\n

\"Warm<\/a>
Warm soy milk and fried bread<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Noodles<\/h2>\n

Have you ever heard a noodle? In Xi\u2019an if you listen carefully you\u2019ll hear why the Biangbiang noodle got its name. It is named after the sound of dough being thwacked on the chopping board so it can be stretched into one very long belt-like lasagna noodle. We stopped at a local food court inside the old city in Xi\u2019an and saw the noodles being made and then slurped them down in a delicious broth mixture with soy, peppers, and scallions. And if you are wondering, in China it\u2019s perfectly acceptable to slurp your noodles!<\/p>\n

\"Biangbiang<\/a>
Biangbiang noodles in a soupy broth<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

My other favorite noodle was the Peking noodle dish found in Beijing.\u00a0 The noodles are long, cylinder shaped, and delicious. My favorite part was that the noodles, vegetables, and sauce were brought out in separate bowls and it was up to us to mix the three items together at the table\u2026with chopsticks.\u00a0 Good luck\u2026the taste is worth it!<\/p>\n

\"Peking<\/a>
Peking Noodles is a dish you need to put together yourself!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Peking Duck<\/h2>\n

It might look slightly unappetizing to have a whole duck brought out to your table, but trust me on this and say \u2018yes\u2019 to Peking Duck when in Beijing! The duck is best known for its breeding and roasting process; plus it was once the food of Emperors.<\/p>\n

We went to Da Wan Ju, a small, local restaurant near the Wangfujing night market. Once the duck is carved by your table, you eat it in a pancake with scallions, cucumber and sweet bean sauce all rolled up like a taco. However, I’m not sure what I liked the most \u2013 the duck breast \u2018taco\u2019 or the crispy skin! For pure decadence, try dipping the crispy skin in sugar \u2013 the ultimate treat!<\/p>\n

\"Carving<\/a>
Carving Peking Duck at our table<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Street Food<\/h2>\n

If you want to get a little bolder, then try the street food in China!\u00a0 Don\u2019t get scared away by Beijing\u2019s Wangfujing night market, which tends to cater to tourists more than locals. It\u2019s a market with split personalities \u2013 it has a bunch of great traditional street food such as noodles, dumplings, and soups mixed with creepy crawlies on a stick. It\u2019s definitely worth a visit to see how daring you are!\u00a0 I decided to try dessert there after our Peking Duck dinner, sweet sticky rice \u2018pops\u2019 on a stick were the perfect ending!<\/p>\n

\"Luckily<\/a>
Luckily I was already full when we came across these delicacies!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Sticky<\/a>
Sticky rice pops \u2013 more my speed!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There are plenty of other street markets selling food all over China\u2019s cities that are geared to locals and your guide can help you find. Our guide led us to the Chang li neighborhood in Shanghai to try some local street food.\u00a0 Nestled among retail stores, the market smelled of durian and was filled with businessmen and women stopping to get dinner on their way home from work. The food is cooked right in front of you and I suggest you just pick the stand with the biggest line! The other great thing about local street food is it\u2019s cheap; I had a giant noodle and veggie dish for only $1.20 USD.<\/p>\n

What About the Fortune Cookies?<\/h2>\n

If you are looking for those crispy sweet fortune cookies at the end of you meal in China, you\u2019ll be waiting forever. In fact 90% of Chinese people don’t even know what they are.\u00a0 One of my biggest surprises was learning that fortune cookies aren\u2019t really from China<\/a> at all; they are from the United States, created in San Francisco.<\/p>\n

The food in China was nothing like what I grew up eating at my family\u2019s favorite Chinese restaurant in Peoria; instead it was infinitely better. And like most things in the world of travel, it\u2019s even better when you can get out and explore the local scene, because it\u2019s all about the journey.<\/p>\n

Sherry Ott is a long term traveler, blogger and photographer without a home. She spent a year living in Vietnam, hiked the Annapurna Circuit, did cultural exchange programs in the Middle East, drove 10,000 miles from London to Mongolia, and walked across Spain on the Camino de Santiago. She seeks out adventurous opportunities to inspire people to overcome their fears and reap the benefits of travel. Hear more about her journey to China with Wendy Wu Tours at AFAR.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Sherry Ott, AFAR Ambassador My first memory of international cuisine was when I was 12 years old. \u00a0I\u2019ll never forget going to a Chinese restaurant in Peoria, Illinois for the first time. It was darkly lit, with big round tables and little cups for tea. I was fascinated with these cups because they didn\u2019t […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[101],"class_list":["post-743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-china","tag-food"],"yoast_head":"\nExploring China's Food Scene - USTOA Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Explore China's culinary scene with AFAR Ambassador Sherry Ott\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ustoa.com\/blog\/exploring-chinas-food-scene\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Exploring China's Food Scene - USTOA Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Explore China's culinary scene with AFAR Ambassador Sherry Ott\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ustoa.com\/blog\/exploring-chinas-food-scene\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"USTOA Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-10-27T12:30:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-02-22T16:05:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/ustoa.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Dumplings-you-eat-with-a-straw.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ross Evans\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ross Evans\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"8 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ustoa.com\/blog\/exploring-chinas-food-scene\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ustoa.com\/blog\/exploring-chinas-food-scene\/\",\"name\":\"Exploring China's Food Scene - 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