What in the World are you Eating?

One of the biggest questions anyone has when coming to China is "What will I be eating?" Before I came to China, I thought that I had Chinese food figured out. With a relative from China, having hosted Chinese people in my family's home, as well as having a dad as a chef (who taught an international foods class), I thought that I had a pretty good idea of what I was going to be eating.

WRONG.

I hadn't really thought about how crazy eating food in China really was going to be like. I hadn't expected the breakfasts to be so...dinnery. And I hadn't expected street food to be the greatest thing on earth and I don't know how I'm going to be able to go back to the states and not be able to pick up a bowl of fried noodles for a buck.

So for those who may be considering coming to China, or are just simply curious as to how exactly I am surviving on Chinese food, I have for you a list (with pictures) of all the Chinese food I have been eating.

Breakfast:

Breakfast in China is pretty bland. It's a lot like dinner in the idea that they sell the exact same thing for breakfast that they do for dinner. Some places do sell a little variety in the food but if you were expecting cereal, you weren't going to get it. But here are a few things that you can find...

Fried Sticks:

Personally, my favorite breakfast food are these fried sticks. It's basically just fried bread in stick form. But for some reason, I can't get enough of them! Here in Suzhou, I get them for 1 yuan (about 15 cents) each.

In fact, the place where I get them knows me so well, if someone else is running the stand, they already know what I am going to get. All they ask now is how many I want.

Steamed Dumplings/Buns:

These are very popular and you're bound to find them wherever in China you go. You can get them filled with meat or vegetables and eggs (for what I have found in the mornings) or if you stop by a steamed bun stand, you can find just a plain

one.

They usually sell them by ten and depending on the city and the seller, you can get them anywhere from 3.5 yuan to 10 to 15 yuan. Thank goodness that I live in the cheap part of Suzhou because I have a dumpling guy that sells 10 for 3.5 yuan.

Larger steamed buns I have found sell for 1-2 yuan. They are filled with the same stuff as the smaller buns and dumplings but 1 or 2 can be filling. Personally, I like mine plain. It's basically just steamed bread, but I still like it.

My steamed bun guy waves at me every time I see him, even though I don't go to him a lot. Today I went and got the bun you see in the picture and he gave it to me for free! I tried to pay but he closed my wallet and forced me to put it away. It's awesome what people do for you in China.

Lunch:

There isn't a whole lot I can show you for lunch since we don't get a lot of food stalls out at lunch time. And even if I showed you lunch, it's basically the same thing as dinner. However, I have started eating lunch at my kindergarten so I can show you some of the food that I eat there.

I have noticed that the school lunches in China definitely do look like school lunches. Compare it to even street food and you know that the food you are eating at the cafeteria isn't as good as anything else. However it is still better than anything I have seen in any cafeteria (mostly).

You can run into some pretty bizarre food items. My first day eating in the cafeteria, I ate Seaweed, Scrambled Egg Something, and Rice. (Rice is something you can almost always count on) There have definitely been better lunch days since that day. None that I have taken pictures of unfortunately. Just yesterday, we had a kind of laomien. It was delicious.

However, there are still bad days in the cafeteria. As you can see, meat surprise, seaweed (again, I swear, they live off of it at the kindergarten), and purple rice (?). The chefs there are pretty creative to say in the least.

Dinner:

My second favorite time of day (the first being teaching my students) is dinner time. We go out to the alley next to our apartment complex-neighborhood, and we find a restaurant or food stand that has something especially tasty that night. I do have a few preferences, of course...

Fried Noodles/Rice:

This was the second food stall I ever went to in China. It is basically hypnotizing to watch them make the noodles and it smells delicious at the same time. You pick your choice in noodles or rice (or both--rice noodles haha) and they throw in an egg and some vegetables, sprinkle some spices and vinegar and voila! Fried Noodles just for you! I crave it constantly and it's terrible for me because it's the most expensive street food so far. 7 kuaiiiiiiiii you've got to be kidding meeeee!!! (still cheaper than anything in the stores) This stuff may just be my favorite and I'm making myself hungry as I type it. If you come to China, find it!!!

Eggs and Tomatoes:

I can guarantee that you will find this anywhere. Anywhere in China you go, any restaurant you go into, if you ask if they have tomatoes and eggs they will have it.

And it is delicious. It is the one Chinese food that I knew back in the states that I was able to find here. And it tasted (genereally) the same.

It depends on the restaurant how much you will find it for but it is fairly inexpensive. And if you don't want to buy it, you can even make it yourself! (It is literally just scrambled eggs and tomatoes. If you can't figure it out, I am shocked) I would suggest eating it while it is hot, however, because it doesn't taste quite as good cold.

Potatoes:

I haven't found these anywhere besides my little street food alley by my apartment complex but these are fantastic. I cry with joy at how delicious these things are.

I found them when I was buying a Chinese wrap next to their stand. My roommate was curious and I told her to try it. (My reasoning was it could be your favorite food and you won't know until you try it. It works every time.) She bought some, discovered how delicious they

are, made us try some, and we have been buying them ever since. I swear, I keep that stand in business.

They are savory and a little spicy and then throw some parsley and green onions on top and you have bliss. Sometimes, you can find something similar to them in french fry form but they are also deep fried there. This stand simply fries the potatoes, puts them in a bowl and mixes it all up. If you ever see anything like this in China, don't hesitate, buy it. You will never regret this decision.

Laomein:

By far my favorite meal in all of China is Laomein. I will get it dried up and in a bag at the RT Mart. I will get it cold. But if you can get it in any kind of restaurant, It is delicious. They either handpull the noodles (which is aweing and hypnotizing at the same time) or shave the noodles off of a block of dough. They will top it off with a sprinkle fresh parsley and green onions. I've gotten it with beef, chicken, and tofu. Occasionally, you can even get it with bok choy (another china favorite).

It is perfect for a cold day. It is perfect for a sick day. It is even perfect for a hot day. There was an especially hot day during our tour in Beijing and for lunch we had Laomein. I was a little uncertain about hot soup on a hot day but when I had it, that whole idea changed. The broth was hot but still so refreshing and the green onions and parsley just made it so much better. The noodles tasted fresh and the meat was perfectly cooked. I haven't tasted anything better in my whole life.

Family Style:

The best way to eat in China is Family Style. In fact, the best way to eat period is family style. You all sit around a circular table with your little rotating disk in the center. They offer you a menu with a variety of food and you basically just pick something that looks good. (Be sure to ask for

rice). It is a more expensive dining option for Chinese, but compared to America, you wouldn't find this quality food for the price you will get

if for here in China.

You can get anything from duck to Kung Pao chicken, steamed bok choy and tomato and eggs. Sometimes you may accidentally get a part of the pig you don't necessarily want. Or perhaps a vegetable that you thought was chicken. The possibilities are endless but you will definitely have an adventure when you eat Family Style.

Chinese Wraps:

You will most definitely find these everywhere. And they aren't all the same either. Some of the wraps have a crescent like shell. Some have a crepe like shell. And others have a thicker shell with egg cooked on the inside. They will come with a fried egg, lettuce, potatoes, cucumbers, fried bread, and vegetables and meats that I'm still not sure about. You choose the filling and sauces and generally end up siginifcantly satisfied. Here in Suzhou, the sauces are either sweet or spicy. I like to get a little bit of both to balance it all out.

ETC:

There are always a variety of foods that you can find here in China. Ba

rbeque Chicken. Dumpling Soup. Seaweed Soup. Chicken Feet (yo

u may think I'm joking but it's totally a thing). There's a lot of stuff I haven't tried yet. Restaurants with whole menus of foods that have yet to be tasted.

I went into this one restaurant and basically told them to bring me out a dish of whatever they wanted to make me. They came out with what I can only describe as a spicy teriyaki stew. It was delicious. Extremely hot but fantastic. You never know what you're going to get, but undoubtedly, it is going to be good.

#trynewthings #suzhou #streetfood #food #china