Favorite Type Of Chinese Food?

[sbk]

Having lived in Taiwan for awhile I have to say I love their style fried rice and jiaozi but I also like Szechuan food (spicy!). I know alot of people love Cantonese food with the dim sum and tbh, am not a huge fan of the overly sauced and sweet American style Chinese food.

Whats your preference?

[Jingthing]

I like almost all of it.

If pushed for favorites, they would be Sechuan, Hunan, Chinese Muslim, and clay pot cuisine which I can't really pinpoint to a specific Chinese region.

[tutsiwarrior]

I've found that the best chinese food is to be found in China and you usually eat the local cuisine when you're there...I've had good eats in Beijing, Harbin and Chanchung; I had heard that the best szechuan food is/was served at a government restaurant by grumpy middle aged women in Beijing and that closes at 8pm (I ate there in 1992); when served properly the spicyness creeps up on you, none of the mouth-full-of-fire at first bite that you get with thai food or other spicy cuisine...

One of the most memorable meals was at a truck stop between the Ming Tombs and Beijing where the contractor's guide for the day had taken us; typically dirty and grubby (one of my western colleagues said 'no way I'm gonna eat in that place')...what a feast with each dish superbly prepared, they must've had all the lovely fresh ingredients on hand as the meal was served up without too much delay and there were about a dozen of us...

then there was the time with the young engineers from the design institute in Chanchung when I queried the preparation of one of the dishes served (poultry of some kind); everyone had their own way of preparation and there was an argument and almost fisticuffs...later I said that I liked Harbin beer and they then demanded a pepsi challenge with the local brew...both equally tasty; one was just drier than the other...

China has the best local food I've tasted anywhere...even the simple dumplings served in Harbin in a drafty 'no-lantern' restaurant at lunchtime in winter (NE China in January...brrrr)

didn't have no dumplings when I returned the next spring; apparently dumplings are a seasonal dish in the colder regions...

Edited July 17, 2010 by tutsiwarrior

[sceadugenga]

I liked the food at Kunming, being a cooler mountainous region the local products include hard smoked ham and goat's cheese.

I had a roast chicken in an amazing tomato sauce that I found easy to cook myself.

Fry onion, garlic and chilli, then stir through peeled and chopped fresh tomatoes. Don't cook them, just heat them through and add fresh coriander.

Brilliant.

[zaphodbeeblebrox]

Schezuan mostly, but I enjoy weekend dim sum brunches.

[tutsiwarrior]

I also wanted to mention the 'mom and pop' place where we went on a back street in Beijing right off the main drag that runs in front of the Forbidden Palace with the big square across the road down about 2km to the west(?)Located in an old neighborhood that they hadn't torn down yet (1992)...my manager dragged me along as we were the only westerners...

crispy duck was the specialty of the house and it appeared that nothing was prepared in the building where we dined; everything was brought in from outside...an outstanding meal with copious amounts of beer. What was memorable was that a broth was prepared from the duck carcasses to consume at the end of the meal; an excellent aide to digestion...never seen that done anywhere else...

[sbk]

mmm... I do love crispy duck!

[tutsiwarrior]

yeah...and the dining companions were great as well; my western manager was apprehensive as these were local business associates but they loosened him up as this was a place that they had known fer years apparently...I got right into it...

the best thing was that there was none of that moutou...the stinkin' rice wine that's used for ceremonial toasts in China, that stuff puts you right off yer food...we were just out for a meal and a good time...it was a single purpose place and the accompanying dishes were to complement the duck...

we needed that duck broth at the end as duck is very rich and we must've each of us had a whole one or more: no bones just meat and skin...

sorry to say that that old traditional neighborhood was probably torn down for a new high rise soon after...close to the Beijing main drag would be inevitable...I haven't been back since then...

alas...disappearing China...or newly emerging?

Edited July 18, 2010 by tutsiwarrior