Kelly the Culinarian: China Recap: What We Ate

Saturday, June 23, 2012

China Recap: What We Ate

China was such a whirlwind! We were there, we saw a million things, then we left. Before we knew it, we were leaving our hotel for the airport. But a girl has to eat, and I only had one snack that didn't settle well with me.
A snack I snagged on the trip was from McDonald's, strangely enough. The McDonald's are all McCafes with with counters where you order specialty coffees and desserts. This one was a square of white cake wrapped in a soft chocolate layer and rolled in coconut. Yum!

One of the nights we ventured out, we went to a restaurant called Tai Wan. We ordered beer and it came out looking like a spit of champagne.

The beer was excellent - it's very light and has a minimal amount of carbonation.  I got the "steamed vegetables and mushrooms in a nutritious sauce" with rice.  Whatever nutritious sauce means, it's tasty. It was a savory sauce and the mushrooms were tender and flavorful.

At the Summer Palace, we were starving and had to eat whatever came out way. We went to a food stand and ordered steamed buns and hot dogs. The hot dogs were not our cup of tea and did not get finished. The steamed buns were really good. I always find the color of steamed buns off putting, but the flavor here was excellent. I normally don't eat meat, but a girl has to do what a girl has to do. These were filled with seasoned ground pork and onions.

Another place we tried was a traditional Chinese hot pot place. Kelly and I both opted for the vegetables with noodles, along with a side order of Chinese-style pancakes. Again, excellent choices. The noodle dish featured thick, wide pasta-style noodles along with glass noodles and assorted vegetables and mushrooms in a hot broth. It was hard to eat with chopsticks, but we managed. The pancakes were great. It was just a bit of fried dough with salt, but the end result was flaky on the outside and chewy on the inside. It was a combination appetizer/dessert, even though it was savory instead of sweet.
The final place we stopped was a bakery chain near our hotel. Kelly got a mushroom pizza stick and I got a pastry called a strawberry sweetheart. I also picked up my favorite iced coffee of the trip, which was the perfect combo of sweetness and creaminess. I couldn't read the menu, but I think they added coconut milk. The pastry was OK - the filling was strawberry jam, but i would have preferred really strawberries. The exterior of the pastry was almost too perfect to eat, so maybe I just ordered the wrong type of filling. The answer is chocolate, I should always order the chocolate option.




1 comment:

Xaarlin said...

All those choices look delicious! I think sometimes I was born on the wrong continent because ramen or pho are truly my comfort foods. :)