Hi everyone! You may have noticed I’ve been away. I was back in China and got sick immediately after. But at least I wasn’t sick during the trip. Which means more time for food and family (the two most important things in life). We were mainly in Beijing and Chengdu, so if you ever find yourself in those areas, I highly recommend trying these.
Part 1. Beijing
Believe it or not, I’ve only been in Beijing two times in my life. Aside from Peking Duck, here’s what I recommend trying!
Personal bowl hot pot
It’s perfect for when everybody has different tastes! It’s better to go to a place where you order the food instead of all you can eat. The ingredients tend to be higher quality and you’re not eating too much.
Personal hot pot restaurants are a great place to chat over food in a causal setting. If you had a spicy hot pot like me, you can wash it down with Beijing style yogurt.
Beijing Crepe
This is one of my favorite breakfast foods that I also make at home. It’s considered a street food and the places will make it fresh right in front of you. You can get it for less than $2!
It has egg, a savory sauce, green onion, sesame seeds, and dough fritters (or something else crunchy) wrapped in.
Part 2. Chengdu
My hometown in the land of spicy food! It’s not a super common tourist destination, but if you’re ever here please give the following a try:
Mapo Tofu
Perhaps the most popular dish of Szechaun province. Several places in Toronto got the recipe pretty close, but nowhere does it better than home. There has to be a balance of the salty spice and numbing spice!
Definitely eat this with rice to save your taste buds. In most restaurants, you have to order rice separately.
Spicy Beef in Chili Sauce
The correct term for it is “Fuqi Feipain”. Please don’t ask me what it literally translates to.
Growing up, this was (and still is) my favorite dish to order at Szechaun style restaurants. It’s served as an appetizer, but please don’t eat it on a completely empty stomach.
The leftover chili sauce is great for cooking with it you take it home!
Spicy Tofu
This tofu is a lot softer than Mapo Tofu. They top it with dried soybeans so you have something crunchy too. From what I know, this dish is specific to the Chengdu area so it could be hard to find elsewhere. You can get it at street food markets.
What makes this really good is that the vendors make the tofu at home!
Noodles!!
You can find noodle places wherever you go. Most places make their noodles in house and spend a lot of time on the broth. A specific restaurant in Chengdu I recommend is called “Zhang Fei Beef Noodles”. They also have their own brand of beef jerky you can try!
We’ve eaten at so many noodle places throughout the trip.
Bonus: Have as much bubble tea as you can
Once again, currency conversion makes this so much cheaper than in Canada! Bubble tea is on a whole new level in Asia. There is so much more selection and unique flavors. I had cheese foam bubble tea here before it became a thing in North America.
This month has been strange since I’ve been away and I usually do an OOTD post on the last week. But I’ll be back to my regular posting schedule next week!
Hugs and kisses,
~ Jin
You can also find me on my personal blog
Life Outside of Design Studio 
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