Birthday

The icing skills of Chinese bakers are unparalleled.

Hunan Restaurant

Hong shao rou - Mao's favorite dish. Braised pork, cooked with sugar and soy sauce, with little bits of bamboo shoots hidden in the bottom of the pot. 80% fat, 20% meat.

Gan bian si ji dou - dry fried green beans flavored with garlic and small pieces of salty pork.

Sizzling deep fried tofu in a thin oily sauce with little bits of red and green pepper.

Fancy chuar place

So we tried a new chuar place today. It's really quite fancy - all the seating is inside. It seems that restaurants in our area specialize in chicken wings, and this place offers ten flavors. This is curry-flavored.

Amazing grilled potatoes on skewers, sliced super thin and coated in salt and hot pepper sauce. Crispy around the edges, a bit oily in the middle.

Fried rice with red peppers and sliced beef.

Takeout Dinner

Takeout dinner for two from the alley near our house. Roast chicken ($2.18 for a whole), stir-fried green beans and potatoes ($.58), grilled flat bread with green onions ($.44).


This is the cart that sells the chicken. You will also note that whole ducks cost $2.91 and a duck head costs $.14.



The chickens. The meat tastes a little bit smoked.

Afternoon Office Snack

So this Friday afternoon, the secretary walked through the office to see if anyone wanted to order some snacks. What were the snacks? Bags of spicy duck neck, of course! There's not much meat on the bone, but it's well-spiced and tender.

Xinjiang Government Office

Clay-oven baked bread covered in cumin, salt, and chili powder.

Fried hot green peppers and beef(?) surrounded by steamed buns.

Ban Mu Yuan

Cucumbers in hot oil and vinegar.

Zha jiang mian - chewy homemade noodles topped with sliced cucumbers, bean sprouts, and this sweet-salty meat based sauce.

Plain old pork dumplings. Instead of foil or paper wrappers, they sit on carrot slices.

Mima Cafe

Baked eggplant with cheese and pesto shrimp, topped with clovers or something. The food at this place was not stellar, but the restaurant itself was really enchanting.

We ate in this garden filled with trees and mirrored structures.

This is the exterior of the bathroom.

The bathroom's interior was lined with a smooth plywood surface. Fish swim overhead in a shallow aquarium.







The bar inside the main building, constructed mostly of old computer science books.

The real chuar place near our house

The spiciest chicken wing ever. Rolled in hot pepper flakes and cooked over a long, narrow charcoal grill.

I'll post more pictures of this place soon. The restaurant is made up of about twenty plastic tables next to a huge dirt pit. They only serve grilled lamb, chicken wings, pickled vegetables, fried rice, and beer. The vibe in the place is just great.

Restaurant near work

Deep fried doughy bread to be dipped in sweetened condensed milk. Maybe they're Beijing doughnuts.

Sizzling spicy Yangtze River shrimp.

Thinly sliced lotus root stuffed with meat and deep fried.

Rou Bing

Pancakes stuffed with meat and vegetables, topped with pickled turnips.

Corn porridge, which comes for free with the rou bing.

Chuar place near our house

Grilled chicken wings on metal skewers.

Cold shredded potatoes in hot vinegar and oil.

Quanjude Roast Duck

At Quanjude, our duck being prepared.

The first plate on the table, crispy duck skin.

More duck.

Thai Thai

Pad thai with smoked tofu, pineapple fried rice, garlic prawns, and sizzling beef.

Mango pudding.

Sticky rice with mango.

Mysterious Fruits

I'm not sure if these have an English name. They have a hard seed in the middle, and the red outside is soft and slightly sweet.

On the street

Grapes in sugar on a skewer, from Wangfujing snack street.

Official Urumqi Restaurant

Homemade yogurt with green raisins and sesame seeds. Meant to be eaten before the meal.

Da pan ji - Stewed chicken, peppers, peppers, and chewy flat noodles in spicy sauce.







Chao pianr - Chewy white noodles with bits of lamb in a tomato-based sauce.

Muslim restaurant near work

Fried strips of beef rolled in sesame seeds with hot peppers.