Chinese Chinese Food: 灌饼和肉夹馍

I don't think I want to eat rape.
That cant be good for you. Lol

Living in a foreign country can be challenging in ways you might not think about. The signs are in another language, so is the radio, TV, and sounds of the city. On a pretty basic level, ordering food gets to be a hassle when you cant read the menus and there is not English, or pictures. You don't know what is what, and even if you know what it is, not knowing what to call it makes trying new things scary. At first I had no idea what to eat for at any meal if there were no pictures. The dishes you learn in class like 红烧牛肉 and 酸辣汤 become the bulk of your diet. Some restaurants will have pictures on their menu, but if you are out on the street looking for a tasty bite to eat you wont find such luxuries. Even those that do have pictures aren't always helpful. You'll find menus riddled with Chinglish, which is at least amusing.

Recently I've tasked myself with breaking out of my shell and try new things. Lunchtime has become a great opportunity for this! Luckily my campus is adjacent to a bustling market with streets filled with street food vendors. The fear of food poisoning kept me away from them for the better part of a month, however, fear can only last so long until you stomach overrules your mind. There are so many wonderful treats for cheap if you take the time to look. Most for under a dollar!

Isn't that just pretty!

Step by Step How-To make available at
http://tinyurl.com/n4jlxz3

The first thing that captured my attention is sold at the store right next to campus. 鸡蛋灌饼 (Jīdàn guàn bǐng) is freaking amazing! A thin pasty dough is rolled out and placed onto a hot griddle upside down for several minutes until golden brown. It is flipped and pulled to make a thin crust with a puffed up center. Break open the pocket and pour a beaten egg into the steaming pastry, brush on some 辣酱(hot sauce), top with chopped lettuce, and within a minute you have a fresh, crispy, hearty breakfast that is truly addicting! You can spruce up the filling with shallots, green onion, and herb if you like or simply add more eggs to the filling for a more full pastry.

If you want this tasty wrap you better get up early. Seeing as it is fall break right now, getting up early doesn't seem very appealing to me. For four days in a row I got up progressively earlier just to get my hands on this miraculous egg filled pastry, and each time was left empty handed. Service starts around 7:30 and those tasty 灌饼 are sold out by 10:00am! For 3 kuai each, this baby gets an A+ for breakfast!

Spicy Pork Rou Jia Mo

肉夹馍(Ròu jiā mó) is something you can see on plenty of street food vendor's menus, and apart for 肉 (meat) you might not have any idea what it is. I certainly didn't. I did remember 夹 which basically means to lift up (food), and 膜 is similar to the character that means to touch. Doesn't sound very appealing does it? Meat, lifted and touched? Saying it like that it sounds pretty silly, but until you try this meaty morsel you wont know what you are missing! Roasted meat is chopped up with parsley, green onion, and chilies (if you like it hot) and placed inside a split bun. Top it with sauce if you want, but this shredded meat bun stands up by itself! 

Seeing it you might think that it resembles a pulled pork sandwich, and you'd be right! This sandwich is bursting with flavor, and the combination of roasted meat, chopped vegetables, and tender bread will leave you begging for more! I bought one with chicken, sauteed cucumber, and "BBQ" sauce thinking it would be enough. Oh boy was I wrong! Not wanting to get the same thing twice, I went to a neighboring stall and got fatty roast pork, parsley, and green chilies. O-M-G! The party in my mouth as I ate these two little sandwiches was akin to a frat house rager after a college football home-game win! Coming in a 5 kuai a piece, 肉夹馍 garners a place in my top 5 favorite Chinese foods!

Chicken Rou Jia Mo

Eating in china can be an intimidating process, but once you start breaking away from the Kung Pao Chicken you'll discover a myriad of wonderful culinary gems that have more in common with Western food that you might think! It is good to have favorites to fall back on, but with so many options available why put up your culinary blinders? Variety is the spice of life, and in Beijing the vittles are anything but bland!

Eric
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