China was a great experience for me in both food and education. I chose China for higher study because it is rich in scenic beauty and culture. I love travelling and this travel for study gave me lots of things. I gathered knowledge about new languages, clothes, traditions, festivals and experienced new foods.
Chinese cuisine is one of the oldest in the entire world. Reaching all the way back to this ancient culture I was overwhelmed with all their techniques for managing to survive, grow and acquire and capacity for holding the rules of their forefather. They are not only maintaining their fashion trend, traditional herbal medicine, and theory of living but the uniqueness of their culinary also.
China has a reputation for its cuisine. Its unique geographical environment, local productions and ingredients, customs, traditions, ethnic inheritance, and some of the popular local authentic flavours have played an important influence over the development of Chinese cuisine as it is today.
So, while I was in Beijing I met some local friends. They were interested to introduce me to the local delicious Chinese cuisines and their origin as I wanted to try some. So, our first place was a little breakfast cafe. It was incredibly decorated with unknown food and honestly, if I wasn’t with Sunjin, I think I would struggle to order anything. We ordered Jian bing (Chinese Pancakes) then. Jian bing is one of the most beautiful creations. It is a combination of millet flour, soy milk, Chinese black bean sauce, oil, chili pepper sauce, two eggs, onion and two whole crackers. Baozi (Steamed buns) was another type of food. Its ingredients are yeast, sugar, salt, flour to make dough. The filling of Baozi contains ground meat (beef), spring onion, garlic, soy sauce, oil and black pepper.
THE GREAT WALL
Our next place was ‘The great wall of China’. The great wall is over 2300 years old and it’s visited by 10 thousand people every day but we were completely alone on the wall for almost 4 hours we spent hiking. We went to a restaurant for lunch. We ordered Peking duck (kaoya). Beijing duck is called ‘The first dish to taste in China’. It used to be a royal dish in medieval China and gradually spread to civil society later. Beijing duck was appointed as one of the National dishes for the reception of foreign guests by Premier Zhou Enlai (The first Premier of China) in the 1970s. A fresh duck is made grilled over a wood or charcoal fire. This dish contains duck, hoisin Sauce, maltose, sugar, garlic, ginger, white papper, five-spice powder, honey, water, vinegar, lemon, citrus peel, licorice, cucumber and onion. The duck was amazing there. The atmosphere was fantastic. My mouth was watering with the wafting smell. It was the best food I had ever eaten.
FORBIDDEN CITY
Next, we went to Forbidden City. It’s one of the best historical places in China. We visited ‘Dashilan Street’, a famous street in Beijing. I enjoyed that area where lots of stores were selling traditional foods and crafts. After the Forbidden City, our next stop was the best shopping mall to get some food for dinner. We went to a Hotpot place which was 10 out of 10. Hotpot is also known as soup food or steamboat. This is a Chinese cooking method, prepared with a simmering pot of soup stock at the dining table, containing a variety of East Asian foodstuffs and ingredients. We ordered sliced beef, lamb, meatballs, sliced fish fillet, squid, minced shrimp slide, sprouts, mushrooms, tofu and noodles. It was a wonderful and healthy dinner for us.
I wish I could stay in China longer because there are many things to see and learn. This wasn’t enough for me to explore this completely different tradition. But the food I experienced there will always be in my memory.
