China in 2015: The Food — A day in the life of Azianmike

So I went to China in July of 2015… and the food there is 1) cheap 2) amazing 3) easy to access 4) cheap. The food there is sooooooooOOOo cheap. Why? Mainly because its “lower” quality and the standards of cleanliness are not as high. But when I say lower quality, I don’t necessarily mean that it’s bad, just that its not like all the certified crap that the US has. It’s a LOT of street vendors and side shops in China and they aren’t your “artisan, gourmet, gluten-free, five star” chefs. They just buy whatever at the local market and cook it right there for you. And although it’s not great quality, you can bet that it’s COOKED right to order as they usually do it in front of you.

In general, the food scene in China is still very much ingrained in the “old way” of doing things. Still lots of traditional dishes, use of the spinny middle plate, and a strong emphasis on “cheap”. There are over a billion people and most of them are poor, which means cheap street food is the norm. In America, we go to restaurant establishments with fancy booth seats and what not. In China, you get a small plastic, colored stool that looks like it came from the dollar store to sit on and that’s about it. It’s not about the experience, that’s for sure.

There are more fancy restaurants popping up more and more with China growing wealthier but really, the people don’t go to these places for the food but for the experience and the company. Heck, it’s the norm to bring your own alcohol at these places since the restaurant charges exorbitant prices. If at all possible, I’d recommend going to a “specialty” fancy place, one that serves hot pot or other special dishes.

Without further ado, here are some of my top moments in pictures of my food experiences (almost everything was about 5–10 yuan, which is about $1–2:

First off, this is in my dad’s hometown of Wuhan (which is one of the largest cities in China). What you’re seeing here is called “you tiao” which kind of literally translates to “oil stick”. It’s literally just a fried stick of dough. And for a lot of working class people, this is the go-to breakfast of choice. It’s ubiquitous, kind of like what the bagel is for American breakfast. Cheap, quick, and relatively tasteless (unless you add spread/sauce). I highly recommend you only try this once unless you want all your pores to be clogged with oil. Also goes great with “dou jiang” which is warm soy milk!

Here’s another good one that’s specific to Wuhan. It’s called “Re gan mian” which literally translates to “hot dry noodles” and it’s pretty much how it sounds. Very dry and gritty texture with a sauce made of some sesame paste or something. Good for the first few bites and then it makes your mouth…dry. It’s one of those dishes where you kind of have to grow up with it to enjoy it.

Another one of my favorite “street snacks” to pick up, it’s usually just straight up grilled lamb cooked fresh on the grill, seasoned with spices like cumin, salt, pepper, etc. It was about $1 a stick, so a McDouble or a stick of grilled lamb meat? No brainer. Walking around the night market and chowing down on a few sticks of lamb meat, you really can’t beat it.

This is probably what a “normal” lunch looks like, a bunch of rice and mixed veggies with some bits of meat strewn about. Not much meat in Chinese dishes and when I was there for a month, I lost about 5 pounds. But their veggies they do really well! Lots of sauce that the veggies and tofu soak up for maximum flavor.

Not really food, but this is a variant of how they served traditional tea in Xi’an. The long neck of the tea pot is for show but also to (kind of) cool the tea as it travels into the cup. Tea was relatively sweet and had a lot of big leaves that made it hard to drink.

A classic Xi’an dish, it’s essentially composed of broth slow cooked in meat, veggies, and wide, slightly thick cut noodles. It’s really fun to slurp until your mouth gets unbearably spicy and you start breathing fire. Highly recommend, as its filling and full of flavor (and cheap!)

Probably one of my favorite things that I ate in China, these are called “Tang Bao” which translates to “Soup bun”. It’s essentially just a bunch of shredded meat and veggies wrapped in a bun with a special “soup” filling that I still have no idea how they get inside there so perfectly. The bun part holds the soup inside and when you bite into it, it’s an explosion of meat, soup, and spices in your mouth. There’s a technique to eat it properly without spilling any soup and let me tell you, it takes a while to perfect the technique. The definition of “savory” flavor!

Originally published at www.azianmike.com.