Step one. Put a ladle of batter on the griddle.
Step two. Smooth it out with a wooden squeegee.
Step three. Crack an egg on top.
Step four. Hit it with a paintbrush full of hoisin sauce and lajiao jiang.
Step five. Put a deep fried crispy thing on top.
Step six. Fold it up with a metal spatula.
Ta-da! A delicious Beijing treat, served in a thin plastic bag. When you bite into it, you go through eight layers of delicious.
We chose hui yu - this is a two-pounder.
The fish is placed in a sour-spicy broth with vegetables, and boils at your table.
This is a mix of cilantro, fermented tofu, raw garlic, and crushed peanuts for adding to your fish soup.
This fish is cooking!
You order side dishes, like tofu skin and potatoes, to drop into your soup.
Piles of ribs.
Women making little chewy noodles.
A woman making...
tiny dough animals!
A half-wall made of corn.
Some performers came into our room to sing and dance for us. Olympic fencing playing in the background.
Breakfast from Wuxi to Shenzhen. Noodles fried with ham and carrots, little hot dogs, and a greasy fried egg.
Lunch from Shenzhen to Beijing. Chicken and snap peas in a brown sauce, rice, lychees, marinated mushrooms, and a chocolate coated wafer bar. The stewardess brings by a container of hot sauce and puts a daub on your tray.
Xue cai baozi - steamed bread stuffed with finely chopped sour leafy greens.
Tofu in broth, cooked with soy sauce and cornstarch. Believe it or not, you drink it through a big straw.
Pork, greens, eggs, and rice vermicelli.
Soya noodles with peanuts and chilis.
Gan guo si ji dou - green beans on top, lots of garlic and chilis, and onions on the bottom. By the time you reach the onions, they have been fried senseless, and are incredibly delicious.
Tomato and egg soup.
Christine made this for our opening ceremony party. Blue powerade, black coca-cola, red strawberry juice, yellow peach juice, green kiwi juice.
The spread, including guacamole, Thai food, spinach dip, salami, cupcakes, brownies, and eight kinds of cheese.
Crisp fried bread with pickled turnips and a fried egg inside.
Bread being made. They sit in oil for a couple minutes on each side.
Toothpicks made of rice.
Fresh watermelon juice.
Cubes of pumpkin cooked in peanut paste.
Tofu in a smooth curry sauce.
Soy bacon, mushrooms, and potatoes in a sizzling hot pot.
Now this is a real grocery store. This is a relatively uncrowded aisle, I think. You should see a Carrefour on a Saturday afternoon.
Most large grocery stores use ramped escalators to move between floors.
Grocery stores tend to have amazing selections of prepared foods, including all of these pickled vegetables and kimchee, ranging from 2-4rmb, or about $.43.
Regular chickens and black chickens, ranging rom 16-25 rmb, or about $3.00.
A sampling of dried meats, packaged like candy.
I stumbled into this strange fancy grocery store that caters to foreigners. I was one of two customers.
Among their wares were these monsters, which I thought were lobster tails, but which turned out to be gigantic shrimp. Only 434rmb, or $63.00.
They sold a huge collection of American canned goods.
Now, most Chinese grocery stores sell some cheese, but this was an astounding selection. The bag of shredded mozzarella is a great value; it's only 110rmb, or $16.00.
Strangest pretzel ever.
Tu dou qiu - deep fried mashed potato balls.
Meant to be dipped in vinegar-soy-chive sauce.
Xiang yu yu - Delicately fried soft white fish, covered with heaps of ginger.
Some kind of amazing chicken cooked with plums, maybe? I have no idea what's going on here, but it's good.
Baby bamboo shoots lightly stir-fried with red and green peppers.
Bo luo fan - sticky sweet pineapple rice.
Mi jiu - sweet rice wine served in a tall bamboo cup.
