Four signs you’re an incurable foodie:
1. You consider a local market in a foreign country to be a tourist attraction.
2. You can name at least 3 chefs that don’t have their own TV show.
3. Your life isn’t a series of outstanding achievements – it’s a series of outstanding dinners.
4. You’re reading this.
Yes, we know your type. The entire world is just one big banquet to you isn’t it? Well you are going to LOVE our new Signature Beijing Experience. With cuisines from all over China in one city, and a handful of its own to-die-for signature snacks and delicacies, this tour of one of Beijing’s hidden-gem snack streets and a vast open-air market will give your taste buds plenty to get excited about.
Even better, we asked Beijing’s biggest foodie, Lum Dim Sum’s Kristen Lum, to lead the tour, so you’re in great company. We asked Kristen (or K-Lum, as she’s known around here) to whet your appetite with a few facts we’re quite certain you didn’t already know…
Quirky China Food Fact No.1
Donkey meat isn’t just delicious, it’s prestigious. In China, the saying goes that “Nothing tastes better than dragon meat in heaven and donkey meat on earth”. The reason? During the Ming dynasty, while stationed in nearby Hebei province, Prince Zhu Di’s army began to starve. In desperation they killed and ate their horses but realised that they tasted pretty good. Horses were a bit too useful to eat however, so they went to the local villages and found the next best thing. Turns out they were on to something. Donkey meat is in fact much more nutritious than beef, chicken or pork – full of protein, calcium and iron. Just don’t think about their little faces and you’ll be fine…
Quirky China Food Fact No. 2
The humble jian bing (the Chinese breakfast pancake) is so respected that on a visit to China two years ago, world-renowned chef Jean Georges Vongerichten described it as ‘the best breakfast in the world’.
In case you were still in any doubt about its excellence as a snack, he explained to the Wall Street Journal that it was so special he had failed to replicate it himself when he returned home. The Michelin-Starred chef said – and we quote – “I tried to do it, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t figure it out. There are five elements to it, and it must have a flat stove. You can’t make it in a pan. I couldn’t get the balance.”
So there you have it: one of the best, most-difficult-to-make snacks in the world, for less than a dollar, right on our doorstep.
Quirky China Food Fact No. 3
Chinese liquor, or Baijiu, often sits for weeks in glass jars stuffed with all sorts of herbs and occasionally animals too. The idea is that the liquid becomes infused with the positive, qi-boosting properties of the herb, insect or animal, so you’ll reap the benefits when you drink it too. In China it is believed that eating or drinking a certain part of the animal will improve the strength of the equivalent organ in your own body.
So gentlemen, what do you think drinking snake-infused baijiu will do for you? Yeah, so did we. Turns out the answer is that it will make you more flexible and less arthritis-prone. Now get your mind out of the gutter please, this is a family tour.
Quirky China Food Fact No. 4
Bizarrely, China’s black chickens, or ‘Silkies’ only have five toes on each foot, rather than the usual four. We can’t tell you why, but we can tell you another interesting fact: the Chinese never cook and eat the meat of black chickens, but instead value it highly in soups (when it’s usually cooked with wolfberries, orange peel and yams) for its ability to cure common ailments. Look out for them on your snack tour – and don’t forget to count those toes!
To find out more about Bespoke’s Beijing Street Food and Market Tour, see our website or get in touch at [email protected] to book.