Shaanxi

Seeing as this is my last week in China, I have made it a priority to go out and eat with my friends as much as possible. Not only is this to enjoy all the food I will miss, but also as a sort of festivity with my friends for being so helpful and hospitable. One of the restaurants I got to go to in order to complete my goal was one from the Shaanxi province. This province is famous for its noodles and vinegar, and after eating here I can see why. All vinegar in China is incredible, but the one served at this place is impeccable. And seeing as I’ve become such a fan of noodles, I can also say that the ones specified to be from this region stand out from the rest.

The first plate of food we got was something that was called Four Bowls. It is basically four little bowls filled with different foods from the region. The four bowls included pork belly, tofu, meatballs, and millet. The pork belly was incredible. I usually shy away from pork belly because I find the amount of fat to be too overwhelming, but this one was cooked so properly, that it tasted like butter. The tofu was great as well, along with the meatballs. The millet was served in some sort of citrusy thick sauce, which led me to not like it as much.

The next plate of food was two small pieces of braised pork shank in Chinese spices. It was a bit dry and could have been braised for a couple of more hours, but the flavors were there. Eating it alone though got old a bit quickly though.

The star of the meal was the noodles. You basically get a plate of whatever noodles you want, garnished with vegetables like carrots and bean sprouts. Then you head over to a sauce bar and dress your noodles however you want. They have eggplant based sauces, meat sauces, and vinegar sauces. I got hand sliced noodles with a mix of pork sauce and vinegar. I used to think that hand pulled noodles were my favorite, but after trying the texture of hand sliced I may change my mind.

This meal was incredible and I am glad I got to try food from a different region. Although my time in China is coming to an end, I will definitely remember all the great meals I had with friends.   

Sichuan

A couple of months ago, I went out to have lunch with a couple of my Chinese friends and they refused to let me pay. They have this idea that just because I am visiting their country, I am a guest to them. Most of the Chinese people I have met here have this mindset so it always makes it an awkward situation when I go out with them and it comes time to pay for the bill. I would have it the other way around and just pay the bill myself, but they should at least let us split it. Anyway, today my friends agreed to be my guests. I was relieved to go into this lunch knowing that I wouldn't have to worry about them trying to pay.

We went to a restaurant called Sichuan Mianguan, which not surprisingly specializes in Sichuan cooking. This type of cuisine is one of the Eight Culinary Traditions of China, so you know it’s a big deal. Sichuan food is known for being mouth-numbingly spicy (instead of heat spicy) through the use of different peppers and peppercorns. I love spicy food so this is probably one of my favorite cuisines in China, compared to other sweeter ones. On top of that, out of the top dishes which I have come to learn about in China, around three of my favorite five come from this style, so I may be a little biased.

Between four of us, we ordered 5 dishes. This may not seem like a lot of food, but when you come to China, you quickly learn that more often than not, there will be food left over. This was definitely the case in this occasion, seeing as the portions we received were quite huge. Instead of letting my guests order like I usually would, I ordered today. I feel comfortable enough with a Sichuan menu that provides pictures in order to know the dishes that I like.  

First came what we know in America as Kung Pao chicken. It’s basically stir-fried chicken with peppercorns, onions, garlic, and peanuts. It is extremely delicious and one of the milder dishes that I ordered when it comes to spiciness.

While we were munching on the chicken, the waitress brought one of those dishes that have become my favorites; Mapo Tofu. This is a popular tofu dish set in a chili sauce and peppercorns. Although I wished the tofu would have been a bit more firm, I absolutely loved the traditional way this restaurant served theirs

Next came the noodles with fermented vegetables in a chili sauce. The vegetables included spinach, cabbage, and lettuce. I have had better noodles but you could tell that they were prepared in house. I always appreciate this and would order this dish again. This is another thing that I have fallen in love with in China.

The third dish that I have fallen in love with in China is an unexpected one. It was an eggplant dish that will probably always taste better than it sounds. I’m surprised I like this dish as much as I do because I did not even like eggplant to begin with before coming to china. My favorite part about this dish is that it is sweet and spicy and if prepared correctly, actually tastes like it has meat in it. If you don’t know what you’re eating, you wouldn't be able to tell me that this is a vegetarian dish.

The last dish that came is one that the restaurant is popular for. Unfortunately for me, I did not enjoy it as much as most people do. It is a spicy chili stew with beansprouts that basically has a whole fish (head and all) thrown in it. Then, the fish is cooked until it is basically breaking apart from how tender it is. The reason I did not like this dish too much was because the fish was a river fish (which I do not prefer) and because the hot pot stew was a bit too greasy for me. Although I did not like it, I was glad I got to try it and recommend that you do too. It just wasn't for me.

Overall, I really enjoyed my meal. I got to eat three of my top five dishes in China, and that always makes me happy. On top of that, my friends actually let me treat them so it was overall a good meal. Now they’re saying they want to take me out one last time though. We’ll see who ends up paying that time.  

Cha Ca

I’m not going to lie and say I had a vast understanding of Vietnamese cuisine before going to Vietnam. Honestly, I only knew about Pho and Banh Mis. This may seem like next to nothing, but that’s two more dishes than most people in America can recognize. Basically, knowledge of Vietnamese cuisine is virtually none. So it was to my amazement that the food there was as incredible as it was. It was extremely complex in the depth of flavors that were achieved, yet the dishes themselves were very simply made. It takes true comprehension of the ingredients being used in order to do that.

The second best dish I found in Vietnam was something called Cha Ca, at a restaurant named Nha hang Cha Ca Thang Long. Basically, it’s a fried river fish in lemongrass in thyme, served with vermicelli noodles and seasonings. At first it may look very similar to Bun Cha, but it is completely different. The way the fish is prepared and the herbs that it is made with make this dish a whole different thing. The concept may be the same, but the outcome is different.

When you order, they begin by bringing you your herbs, noodles, fish sauce, and peanuts. Then you wait while the waiter brings a pan full of already fried fish and hot oil. He places this pan on a hot plate that is already on the table and waits for it to heat. As it heats, he begins placing the thyme and lemongrass with the fish so it can sautee. As it sautees, the smell that is coming from the pan is absolutely incredible. It literally makes your mouth water and makes you want to dig into the pan as it is cooking.  

Once the fish is ready, you basically prepare yourself a little bowl of food very much like Bun Cha. It tastes incredible and makes me wish I had more time to try it again at a different location. I can’t see it being better than it already was, but maybe different places use different methods. This was a great dish, and it definitely opened my eyes to the one of the dishes I had no clue even existed prior to having it.