Hello I am Barbara I have 35 years economist currently living in England but always giving a little twists and turns around. tireless traveler and passionate about photography and history.
A friend of mine spoke of steemit and told me that as I am a person who like to travel and take pictures to the places I visit it would be a good option for me to post my experiences and now here i am posting my experience in China.
One of the most common comments I heard from tourists and Chinese friends before the trip was always in relation to food - how much Chinese food in China is so different from what we are accustomed to in the West as eating poorly there, this and that.
I always like to explore the cuisine of the places where I travel (mostly in Asia), but went to China without any expectation. In fact I was afraid of what would find there.
After all, who ever heard those stories that involve exotic ingredients like monkey brains, dog meat, fried scorpions and several others that seem emerging from a magical potion recipe of Harry Potter.
It's just fiction. Ranging from famous restaurants in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing, the street stalls, grocery stores and restaurants without a single word in English, we eat a lot, but VERY well in China!
I confess that even for me it was a surprise, because really expect high emotions nutritional and I considered taking a stock of granola bars in my bag!
But of course, that from the point of view of two people with humility, and we like even venture in the table and always prove WHAT a destination has to offer.
Dim Sum:
The first step in my check list was the Dim Sum because although I like enough to Asiatica food in general, I knew the ritual of Dim Sum was something very typically Chinese, who do not see in other regions of Asia.
My first introduction to the Dim Sum was actually in China Town in London, with a Chinese friend - then at least at first glance, was not so intimidating!
Trying to be as simplistic as possible, Dim Sum could be compared to the Spanish Tapas - nothing more than food served in small individual servings, with the goal that each person can eat and taste the greatest possible number of options.
The tradition of Dim Sum started along the road of the Silk Road, where travelers stopped in guesthouses for the ritual of tea Chines. However, originally the people do not have the custom of eating and drinking tea at the same time, so only small servings were served.
What was the exception has turned out to rule, and little by little the custom of serving small portions of food with tea, was spreading across China.
Today, being possible to find Dim Sum in Chinese and Asians restaurants in the world, in China this custom is still attached to small meals, such as a snack after doing exercises in the morning, to accompany the tea in the afternoon or else brunch on the weekend.
We had the opportunity to eat Dim Sum in two fantasticos places in China: first in the restaurant Tim Ho Wan in Hong Kong, one of the world's best, and winner of the Michelin star!
In Shanghai we had the privilege of staying at the Westin Bund which to our delight serves Dim Sum brunch most famous of Shanghai!
The ritual of Dim Sum is pretty cool: you receive a list of the various options of food and servings - try not to cringe at the names and translations of the ingredients (which were always somewhat scary!) - And will then choosing what want to eat.
Soon after a waiter passes with a cart full of stacked bamboo and will spread through the table its various options.
Everything we tasted was delicious and we were trying to focus on the main ingredients since translations not make much sense.
And I think that is precisely why so many people are scared of the food in China - it is not that the food is bad or different quite the contrary. But the names and descriptions are terrible
But who is afraid to try you will not find that in fact this dish it is a delicious dough of rice with spicy chicken filling.
And gradually we found that almost all food and restaurants in China suffer from the same problem - and there is no Google online translator to help these people to give more appetizing names to your dishes!
Peking Duck Beijing:
Another delicacy that I knew I could not go back home without the taste was the Peking Duck Beijing.
I'm not a big fan of duck, but this style roast Chinese duck is a good thing!
So that was the dish we chose for our Christmas dinner in Hong Kong on December 24!
What makes the Peking duck is different is the roast process where the ducks are roasted whole in a special vertical furnace (then each duck is roasted hanging, so that all areas are baked evenly).
Of course, the spices used (each restaurant swears to have the perfect blend of the combination of ingredients and herbs) in preparation duck, which also are created and fed especially for this purpose.
The duck is served individually cut by the chef directly on the table to be served - and part of the duck is considered delicacy is only skin.
With what remains of the duck (basically the whole bird) you can choose to eat too, and different dishes using duck meat are cooked, after his duck already been sliced at your table.
The duck skin is then served with some complementary accompaniments, like a mini pancake, we used to wrap the duck with a sauce and vegetables, which make the perfect combination of flavors
And is only making a roll with its ingredients, and voila!
And when we arrived in Beijing, of course I could not pass up the opportunity to eat a good Peking duck in Beijing!
On the recommendation of our hotel and the Time Out Beijing, we chose the restaurant Da Dong, super-winning (although not be very trendy) and recognized as one of the best and most traditional restaurants specializing in Peking duck in town.
And all the rest? The food everyday?
This was without doubt my main surprise. We ate from the market stalls to restaurants in the middle of nowhere that just decided to get in and risk - and it was precisely in those places where we eat better.
Deep down if you like Chinese food can go without fear. The dishes are basically the same and very similar options.
Taking a inventions and blends with more Western name (like "Chicken Chadrez" and "sweet and sour sauce"), the basic is exactly the same that would see the menu of any China Town the world.
The main dishes, always include some kind of meat sauces vegetables and you have the option to choose different types of rice or noodles to accompany.
Fact that the menus of the restaurants in China include some dishes and some options that would not succeed in the West (duck foot or pig's face, but that does not mean that they only eat it.
We eat a lot of stir fry meat and chicken with vegetables - both with soy sauce, or bean sauce, or simply grilled in garlic.
Always, always, always delicious!
Dumplings type Gyosa and spring rolls also are always available as input, and of course the various types of noodles and rice that you can imagine!
And as I said above, try to focus on key ingredients and not be frightened both translations ( because some of the ingredients include feet and heads of different animals!) That you will see in the restaurants!
And as they say, sometimes "ignorance is a blessing" and not knowing exactly what you are eating, you might end up tasting a delicious new thing that did not know existed!
That was our policy in the street grocery - always endeavored and bustling stalls, to ensure a good turnover ingredients, options too "explicit" as the pig face or bird (literally) on a stick - but even having sought rather not seen skewers of cockroach or fried scorpions and even barbecued dog ...
You know?! Those weird things you spent your whole life hearing people in China eat.
When making the request it was all always on the basis of mimes. Luckily almost all restaurants have a way to include photos of the dishes so we were going to choosing the image of each dish and pointing WHAT wanted. In the stalls was only pointing to your choice.
Even imagine that within China and more remote cities the scheme really is different but agree that you my dear friend tourist for more adventurous it is you will probably travel more industrialized and tourist regions and will have difficult to live with families who spend difficulty and eat scorpion on the border with Tukmenistao
Then you can go to China with the mind and mouth wide open and I guarantee that your stomach will not be disappointed!
Thanks for your Time!
Welcome to Steemit Barbara. Good to see that you had a really nice experience in Hong Kong. Thanks for sharing the experience. Hope that you have a good experience in Steemit as well. Keep us posted and keep up the grind :)
My biggest dream is visit Asia. I love asian food but in my country i can't try real asian food. Sometimes, when i am hungry, i watching street food videos from china. I love them. My fav video:
FAKE AND GAY! Haha j/k.
Some of that food looks incredible! Welcome to the site :)
So much food porn! Love this post