Traditional Food in Beijing

Beijing(北京), the capital of P.R. China is located in northern part of China. Beijing is the second largest city in China and it has a large population of 17 million people. It is the political, educational, and cultural center of China. In china's over 5000-year history, Beijing served as the capital city for majority dynasties. It has rich culture heritage-palaces,temples,royal gardens,stone walls and gates. It is also called "Forbidden City" (紫禁城) where the emperor lived. After the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, there are many modern architecture. It is a "must" destination for all tourists: it demonstrates both the historical and modern aspects of China. Its food culture is also very special due to its "royal root". There are so many great dishes and snacks to introduce. Let's discover and try the most representative ones!

1.Preserved Chinese cabbage with mustard (芥末墩)

I still remember the first time when I ate this dish,I almost cried! I did not expect the cabbage was so spicy. The cabbage leaves are preserved with mustard and made into a roll when serving. Since it is a roll, you must eat a whole roll at one time. Image the feeling of eating mustard. The first feeling is definitely spicy! If you can't stand spicy, you probably will cry. You may ask now: "Then why this dish is so popular in Beijing?" Because the spicy taste will fade soon and afterwards you will feel your breathe moves smoothly.It is a great appetizer and especially recommended in summer.





2.Fermented soybean drink (豆汁)

It is a "magic" drink that will surprise you the first time you drink it. It smells stinky and the soybean seems has rotted. Nearly all people don't like it for the first time, but will gradually love it. It is always local seniors' favorite drink.It has a great taste afterwards: kind of sweet and it is very difficult to express in words. Just like coffee, some people like it and are addicted to it, but some people don't like the bitter taste. Anyway, it is a great experience to taste it and you probably can't find a suitable word to describe it.




3. Peking Duck (北京烤鸭)

Peking is another name of Beijing used by foreigners.It is translated from the Chinese pronouciation of Beijing to English.Peking duck is regarded as the trademark of Beijing and also China's national food. The duck used in this dish requires special way of raising: newborn ducks are raised in a open field for the first 45 days and then forced fed 4 times a day for the next 15-20 days, resulting a duck weighting around 7 kg. This special way leads a both al dente and fatty meat. When cooking, the duck is stuffed with dried jujubes and and roasted in a closed oven. When serving, different parts of the duck are cut into small pieces and then eaten seperately. The skin tastes best when eating directly without any other sauce.It is very thin and crispy. The meat is usually eaten with pancakes, spring onions and sweet bean sauce. Meat,onion and sauce are put in the center of the pancake and then the pancake is made into a roll shape. The bone with meat left is usually made into duck soup. The most reknowned restaurant that serve this dish is called "Quanjude" (全聚德). It has two centuries-old history and now developed into chain stores that can be found in many cities of China.





4. Soy bean paste noodles (炸酱面)

This is a typical traditional Beijing cuisine. Soy bean paste noodles consists of four main ingredients: wide hand-tossed noodles, vegetable pieces as well as minced pork and bean paste sauce. According to different seasons, vegetable pieces are served in various types but always no less than seven kinds. Minced pork and soy sauce paste are first fried together and the noodles are cooked separately in hot water until done. Finally, the paste, sliced vegetables and noodles are mixed together.Local people, especially seniors like to eat hot noodles in the cold days and to eat cold noodles in hot weather.



5.Crispy sugar-coated berry on a stick (糖葫芦)

It is a very popular dessert in Beijing. You can find them on the street corners in autumn and winter. They are made of various kinds of small fruits: haws,apples,jujubes or oranges etc. First the fruits are trimmed and cleaned, they are then stringed one after another on a thin bamboo stick and coated in a bath of rock-sugar syrup. As soon as the toffee hardens, the "sugar coat" become crispy. It has different colors: yellow, red or green etc. It look bright and inviting, and it generally tastes sweet and sourish.





6. Glutinous Rice Rolls with Sweet Bean Flour (驴打滚)

This is another representative local dessert. Its basically a glutinous rice roll that contained sweet red bean paste in the middle and wrapped with soybean flour.The dessert tastes soft, smooth, sweet, and savory. This dessert has a interesting Chinese name "驴打滚" meaning "donkey rolling on the ground". The origin of its name is not clear, probably when dipping the glutinous rice rolls in bean flour, just looks like a donkey rolling on ground!