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INDIVIDUAL VOYAGE THROUGH CHINA DURING 7 WEEKS PEKING XIAN CHENGDU CHONGQING YANGTZE RIVER MOUNTS HUANGSHAN HANGZHOU SUZHOU SHANGHAI PEKING
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
On the Street and Cooking
Peking is not only a city-temple, a city-palace, not at all. We even prefer to wander up and down the streets among the common people. We note there are neither beggars, neither tramps, neither drunkards, nor rubbish however here live a ten million of inhabitants and daily 250.000 Chinese tourists visit the town.
Small run kitchens on the street attract me particularly. I have to taste all their specialties. The corn-wafers with sesame seeds are delicious; candied fruit perched on sticks too, fritters…and other Chinese knick-knacks. We usually have dinner at a snack where lines of people are waiting to buy tickets. Sometimes hesitating what to order they take us to the kitchen where simply we have to point out the dishes we want.
Taste the Peking duck is a particular story. They serve it up in specialized restaurants. We stay in a row and pay 50 Yuan (about 10$) for both of us. Dinner begins when no more free place. We sit in the company of ten Chinese tourists around one of the numerous turning-tables. Nothing to order, it will be the same for everybody. It begins with cold appetizers: cold liver with very small boiled corn, fine sliced roasted duck meat, crispy skin wrapped in thin pancakes; follow hot appetizers: black mushrooms, bamboo’s shoots in plum sauce, salad made of cucumber peel, two hot sauces and then a half (or whole) warm duck roasted over a fruitwood fire. It’s really delicious. A duck soup is served at the end “to wash the food down”!
The Mongolian hotpot is also one of our favorites. In a brass pot on the table we cook strips of lamb meat and vegetables just like the fondue fashion. We have the opportunity to experience it in a numerous young company what’s very amusing.
Mongolian hot pot
Peking is not only a city-temple, a city-palace, not at all. We even prefer to wander up and down the streets among the common people. We note there are neither beggars, neither tramps, neither drunkards, nor rubbish however here live a ten million of inhabitants and daily 250.000 Chinese tourists visit the town.
Small run kitchens on the street attract me particularly. I have to taste all their specialties. The corn-wafers with sesame seeds are delicious; candied fruit perched on sticks too, fritters…and other Chinese knick-knacks. We usually have dinner at a snack where lines of people are waiting to buy tickets. Sometimes hesitating what to order they take us to the kitchen where simply we have to point out the dishes we want.
Taste the Peking duck is a particular story. They serve it up in specialized restaurants. We stay in a row and pay 50 Yuan (about 10$) for both of us. Dinner begins when no more free place. We sit in the company of ten Chinese tourists around one of the numerous turning-tables. Nothing to order, it will be the same for everybody. It begins with cold appetizers: cold liver with very small boiled corn, fine sliced roasted duck meat, crispy skin wrapped in thin pancakes; follow hot appetizers: black mushrooms, bamboo’s shoots in plum sauce, salad made of cucumber peel, two hot sauces and then a half (or whole) warm duck roasted over a fruitwood fire. It’s really delicious. A duck soup is served at the end “to wash the food down”!
The Mongolian hotpot is also one of our favorites. In a brass pot on the table we cook strips of lamb meat and vegetables just like the fondue fashion. We have the opportunity to experience it in a numerous young company what’s very amusing.
Mongolian hot pot
Posted by: jeanette / 1:46 AM 
