Street snacks
Night food marketsSome of my favorite places to eat in China are night food markets. They’re good places to sample local specialties or when you don’t want to eat very much.
The beauty of night food markets is you can see the food and how it’s cooked before you eat it. This is unlike restaurants where you have to struggle with menus in a strange language. I’ve eaten at night food markets all over China. I particularly enjoyed the dumplings at Chengde, the lianpi (spicy noodles) at Taiyuan and the hui mian (lamb and noodles) at Kaifeng. But my favorite night food market remains the Wangfujing night food market in Beijing. When I lived at Beijing I used to eat there a couple of times a week if I didn’t have to work nights. It was a lot different then, not as organized and clean as it is today where the vendors wear uniforms and work out of tented stalls. Still, I never got sick on anything I ate there. Eating at a night food market can make for a pretty cheap dinner. Each dish costs three to five yuan ($.45 to $.60), although exotic dishes like deep-fried scorpions cost more. You just walk down the line of stalls and if you see something, buy it to eat as you continue walking by the stalls. I usually like to walk by all the stalls first to see what’s available, then come back and order. |
Night food markets usually open in late afternoon and stay open until all the food is sold. This is usually around 8 or 9 p.m. |
Morning snacksOK, I’ll admit it: I’m a street-food junkie. When I lived in Beijing I probably was on a first-name basis with every street vendor in the capital, and it didn’t make any difference as to the time of day, either.
Youtiao is probably my all-time favorite street snack, maybe because I ate it for the first time back in 1984, when members of our tour group used to sneak out in the early morning for a walk. Youtiao is made from a dough similar to our deep-fried donuts. It’s incredibly greasy, also incredibly delicious. My second favorite street snack is a jianbing or egg burrito as I call it. Batter is poured on a round grill to make a thin pancake. After one side is done, the cook turns it over, then cracks an egg and spreads it around. This is followed by spreading at least one kind of chili paste over the egg, a sprinkle of chopped green onions and maybe some peppercorns. A large square cracker which looks like a very airy, delicate Rye Krisp is placed in the middle, and the pancake folded around it. Very tasty and very filling. |
WARNING: Since street snacks can give you nasty tummy aches or worse, before eating any street food, be sure the preparation area is clean. It’s a good sign the food is good/safe if there are Chinese lining up to buy the snacks. I didn’t worry that much because I’d been vaccinated for Hepatitis A before I moved to China. Check with your doctor about this. While street snacks are a fun part of China for visitors, it's not worth eating them if they'll make you sick and unable to see the sights. Eat them at your own risk.
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Copyright 2012 by Cheryl Probst. All rights reserved.
Copyright 2012 by Cheryl Probst. All rights reserved.