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Published: January 13th 2012
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Jian Bing
Otherwise known as the Chinese Crepe. Street food is one of those things that's unique to a region and often overlooked when describing a culture. Yet, it's an essential part of life for many. It's cheap, fast, made to order, and tasty. Even in movies, how often do you see New Yorkers stopping at the hot dog cart, or people in some Asian country slurping a bowl of noodles with chopsticks? China is no different. Tonight my friends and I went out for a sampling of some of the street foods right by our school.
First up is my favorite, jian bing. We usually call it a wrap, but it's more like a Chinese crepe. At 4 kaui (70 cents) each, it's a bargain and I have it for lunch a few times a week. It's also possible to have extra eggs or some scary looking hot dog meat added for an extra kaui. I've eaten this in various cities all over China and, while they're all a bit different, I'm never disappointed.
Next to the jian bing stand is an herbal tea shop. These are all over China. It's tea that's medicine, not the tea you sip and enjoy with friends. This one looks
Step One
Spread out the batter for the wrap. It should be really thin. like most with the painting of an old wise man overlooking the whole operation. Just tell them what's wrong (in Chinese medicine terms) for example, "I have too much internal heat," and they'll mix up the correct beverage for you. Most are bitter and I drink them as quickly as I can. There's another shop down a bit from here that I go to more. In that one, I show the man my tongue and he can tell what I need. It sounds a bit far-fetched, but I always do feel better after I drink the tea. Most of these herbal teas cost from 2-6 kuai a cup.
Street BBQ, or shao kao, is another personal favorite. Choose what you want from the array of meats, seafood, tofu, and veggies, all skewered before you arrive. Put them on a plate and put the plate in the plate line. Some places make you stand and wait but most will bring it to your miniature table. Likewise, some stands smother the food in MSG while others only put on a little. It's common to share bottles of cold Tsing Tao beer or the local brew while you wait and while you
Add the goodies
Then you add and spread an egg, cook, then green onion, pickled stuff, dried hot peppers, and lettuce. Fold. Then spread on savory sauce and add crunchy fried bread. Roll, cut, put into plastic bag for easy consumption. YUM. feast. The eggplant is my personal favorite. Prices vary depending on what you get, but I think the most I ever paid was 15 kuai, but I usually pay closer to 10 kuai. Sadly, tonight they shao kao was out of eggplant and fish balls (most meats are put into ball form and then skewered.)
Hot pot is a favorite food. Usually served in restaurants, the pot of boiling broth is in the middle of the table and you order what you want to cook from a menu. It's a bit like fondue in the west. The hot pot at my school is the street food, outdoor kind and a bit different. The foods are lined up and waiting to be chosen: 5 kinds of tofu, various green vegetables, skewered meats and veggies. Things are skewered only until cooked, and I suspect this helps the purveyors keep track of prices more easily. At this stand, you give them your basket of selected goodies and then they cook it in a spicy broth. A few minutes later they bring the goodies and a bit of the broth to your table. On a really cold, windy night (like tonight) this hits
Herbal Tea Shop
Herbal tea shops like this are everywhere. Just tell them what you need and a cup of brown tea that reminds me of tree bark is handed to you. the spot and stays hot all the way until you're finished eating. While most of me was starting to go numb from the wind, my lips felt like they were on fire from the food. Most importantly, my belly was quite happy.
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