China in 2013. We traveled around on a private tour, just my wife and I, a different personal guide in each location: Shanghai, Huangshan, Beijing, Xi’an, Guilin, Yangshuo – in that sequence. We explored Hong Kong for a few days on our own, on the way back to Canada.
One of our principal aims was to learn what Chinese cuisine should be. What better place to discover this apart from China herself? Coming back to Canada, we discovered that the China experience transformed us gastronomically-speaking: it became difficult to enjoy once again the local restaurant fare – that which we knew and liked beforehand was no longer adequate. It just wasn’t the same.
Here are some of that which we tried and loved.
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In Shanghai, large versions of the soup dumpling Xiao long bao. The straw is critical to eating this unique food!
Streetfood vendor in the Muslim sector of Xi’an. Distinctive cuisine.
A very popular restaurant in The Ancient Tunxi Street, Huangshan City, Anhui. One orders food displayed on the counter. The waiters deliver your dinner to your table. Anhui cuisine – out of this world!
Delicious meals always begin with the freshest ingredients. At Guangxi.
At the “Cloud 9 Restaurant Cooking School” in Yangshuo, our teacher Kathy at the centre. Lots of fun!
A seemingly unending variety of colourful pickles at the local market in Huangshan.
The exquisite vegetarian meal served at the Wild Goose Pagoda in Xi’an includes this durian-filled and durian-shaped dessert.
Fascinating! In Guangxi, the chef preparing our delicious meal.
A very warm and welcoming ambience in this home-atmosphere restaurant in Ping’an Village, Guangxi. The rice cooked in bamboo was such a treat!
Fish artfully presented in this manner may not be to everyone’s liking, but this dish offered what mattered the most – the taste. Delicately fresh. The Imperial Cuisine tradition at the Fangshan restaurant in Beijing.
At the Tea Cozy Hotel in Yangshuo. We asked for “beer-fish” for lunch. They then caught a fish in the pond beside their open-air restaurant and prepared it immediately. Incredibly and deliciously fresh.
In our minds, the Da Dong restaurant in Beijing deserves a special section for their spectacular specialty, roast duck. We used to call this dish “Peking Duck.” What better way to savour this delicacy, this Peking Duck, than in Beijing (formerly spelt Peking) itself.
To begin, lychees on ice. Artfully presented, it creates anticipation for great things to come.
Next course: Bamboo shoots delicately prepared. The bamboo cups, a nice aesthetic touch.
After the bamboo shoots, eggplant! Very tasty. Great to see this vegetable prepared and presented so appetizingly well.
The main course: Peking Duck, roast duck, or JinBao Hui. Brought to the table and then carved in almost surgical manner. It was surely fascinating to watch the creation and presentation of this extraordinary dish.
One must go to Da Dong in Beijiing to experience this dish. No where else outside of China did we find a restaurant the equaled Da Dong.
Even the duck fat was sliced carefully and then presented in a most appealing manner. A culinary experience of a lifetime.
A great way to finish a truly rich dinner experience – a sorbet!
Paradoxically, Hong Kong was both familiar and new. Familiar because Cantonese cuisine is predominant in North America . New because never before have we seen and tasted dim sum so excellently prepared and presented.
Nothing better than gazing at Hongkong’s Victoria Harbour over a fine late morning dim sum.
The popular shrimp dumpling har gow. The cultural centre’s dim sum along the Victoria Harbour waterfront. Transparent as they should be.
These crystal clear dumplings are as delicious and tasty as they look. At Hongkong’s cultural centre dim sum along Victoria Harbour.
Perfectly put together: the Lo Mai Gai (sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaf). Hongkong’s cultural centre dim sum does everything excellently.
We were in China in 2013. Since that time, we haven’t yet found a local restaurant that is truly able to elevate us to relive those moments. The closest one to do so for us when it comes to dim sum just opened in Brossard, south of Montreal: the Imperial.
My wife Grace now prepares excellent Chinese-style cuisine. My true opinion at the risk of sounding biased: Grace’s creations are much better than what we would be served in a local restaurant. Grace is learning a lot of excellent Chinese culinary skills from the Lau family’s youtube channel: MadeWithLau or their website. Highly recommended.
Just one example of Grace’s creations: the sticky rice in lotus leaf. Best I’ve had anywhere. For comparison, check the photo of the Hong Kong version above.
