thread of pictures of real chinese food

I remember sweating profusely, my vision getting dizzy, stumbling across a city square during a very cold winter day with a starbucks frappuchino in one hand, a bottle of water in the other, double fisting. took about 20 minutes for the spiciness to wear off. jesus.

that blog post about chengdu is otm though - as china's people get wealthier the food is getting shittier. I had more disappointments in my most recent trip to beijing (this past winter) than I did in all the previous times I had been back. china should look to hong kong as a warning to what happens when your city gets overrun with franchises.

otoh taiwan is still great and they are pretty rich! taiwan has the best street food in the world.

in fact taiwan may have the highest concentration of great chinese food in all of the world. love taiwan.

I mean, I get it! when you become middle class you don't have time to worry about food. you are staring at a computer screen all day. and you can actually afford a house and to create a good environment for your kid to live in. but it still makes me sad, a little bit. china makes me sad, sometimes. godspeed

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Um_rXMBXAs

good intro to xiao long bao making skills at 3:38

chef dude is a DUDE

http://bestvacationdealstoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Hong-Kong-Night-Street-Snacks.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/98seg.jpg

if i wanted to be reminded of stupid shit i said years ago, i'd get married

― https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_i_qxQztHRI (Princess TamTam), Saturday, September 3, 2011 12:00 PM (3 days ago) Bookmark

http://metcn8.com/001-home-cooking/005-steamed-fish.jpg

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zAw58ivw-TA/TKf-YGz4tMI/AAAAAAAAEEM/6keokGRE9ao/s1600/DSCN1768.JPG

http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQjKmjjT6bLhCVMDyJ7U7lNWDOdBAP5R5U0OfUxp85hX6NgqpICXQ

http://www.seriouseats.com/images/20080321eggquarters.jpg

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_rzfOlRkWCUY/R_ETLH6grII/AAAAAAAAARU/eHyztVD7H68/s320/P1030554.JPG

http://otherpics.wcgame.ru/data/2011-07-03/singaporean-hainan-chicken-rice.jpg

http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTocHldP0xJsjgRREi0ysZRKp3OLt0M5XE-DIWgREDwcUeTDyAP

http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/31363_385707692516_659427516_4489206_2309958_n.jpg

http://i56.tinypic.com/15s39lg.jpg

http://images.travelpod.com/users/aniemi/1.1301652070.fish-tank-in-dim-sum-restaurant.jpg

no idea wtf that thing is that's looming in the top left booth

errr.. that was the wrong pic
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1274/4669499606_7561ebd551.jpg

http://thumbs.ifood.tv/files/images/food/clam-with-black-bean-sauce-01.jpg

http://theinput.net/2008/02/14/beagle_wins_westminster.jpg

it looks like a picture from a dog show or something

http://i56.tinypic.com/6zopid.jpg

aaaah damn sorry

oh, wait, i just got it

你这个死美国佬胖怪物，回去把自己的小鸡鸡切了算了.

回去把自己的小鸡鸡切了算了.
http://www.foodnut.com/i/Saigon-Seafood-Harbor-Sunnyvale/Saigon-Seafood-Harbor-Steamed-Chicken.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/Soy_Sauce_Chicken.jpg

http://www.palacechinese.com.au/images/big/b_Chicken_Feet.JPG

I’ve been so obsessed with Szechuan cuisine lately it’s redic.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_stock

Apparently I did not take any pictures of the amazing food I had in Chengdu :(

would love to go there.

There are claims of master stocks in China that are hundreds of years old, passed down through generations of cooks in this way

wau

I am really fucking hungry now

Like Thailand made me think "this is fantastic, but some Thai food in the US is also decent"

China: "I have never had anything like real Chinese food before"

I guess Thai food travels better than Chinese food for some reason? idk

dayo, what was the name of that place you were repping for by philly?

someone told me it's that the thai food most tourists have is the one that's served in tourist destinations, which is... tailored to fit the tourist's tastes.

I've been to an area north of phuket where no tourists go, and the thai food was definitely different than what I had experienced, but it wasn't that mind blowing. could be that that area was relatively impoverished

aerosol http://www.yelp.com/biz/e-mei-restaurant-philadelphia-2#query:emei

not really sure if they offer just one menu or an american menu and a secret chinese menu. I would be happy to take you there next time I am in the philly area! and any other philly ilxors

dude! south jersey/philly chinese food FAP would be awesome

probably another reason for the lack of great chinese food in america is that the model of a chinese-american restaurant as profitable business has already entered into the fabric of the US. americans already have a fixed idea of what chinese take-out is and recent immigrants are more than happy to provide that experience. it takes creative rebranding to break out of that rut, i.e. by labeling your restaurant as a 'sichuan/szechuan' restaurant specifically instead of as a 'chinese' restaurant.

someone told me it's that the thai food most tourists have is the one that's served in tourist destinations, which is... tailored to fit the tourist's tastes.

yeah probably true. also i was staying with a local in chengdu, not so in thailand. not so mysterious i guess.

chengdu has a reputation of being a foodie paradise in china. no mistake that the three blog posts dylannnn referenced were all about chengdu. my own tour of chengdu was def pretty amazing, that's where I had 干锅 (pictured somewhere in this thread). probably the only other place I thought comparable to chengdu in food terms is taipei.

http://jessieandthegiantplate.com/media/blogs/a//potsclosed.JPG

The real, slow-baked deal, however, can be found just outside Chengdu in Pixian, where the Zhao Feng He company has been producing doubanjiang using only traditional methods since 1666. In their courtyard, thousands of earthen-ware pots are neatly arranged according to their level in the fermentation process. The doubanjiang here is mixed everyday, the lids of the pots taken off in good weather, and the product is left to ferment for at least two years before being sold to private customers only. Various ages of doubanjiang are available at Zhao Feng He, including an eight year-old, limited vintage - the finest and most unadulterated doubanjiang in China.

http://jessieandthegiantplate.com/media/blogs/a//douban.JPG

by the person I stayed with in Chengdu

salivating

I think the best meal i had in China was in a cheap restaurant somewhere like Guiyang which was just a huge plate of vegetables i've never subsequently been able to identify, soy sauce, garlic and something that looked like cumin seeds but wasn't. Brought in a sizzling, spitting iron pot. Cost 12 RMB, as far as i can remember.

Another reason Chinese food tends to taste better in China, certainly in smaller towns and cities, is the link with fresh local produce. I can buy any number of Chinese vegetables in London but most have been out of the ground for a week by the time they get to me. English vegetables aren't much better. Most of the places i went to in Yunnan or Guizhou were cooking stuff that was still growing earlier that day.

12 RMB sounds expensive!

dude! south jersey/philly chinese food FAP would be awesome

I would definitely be down for this if I were in the area (about a 1/4 chance)

^^^would get on a train from DC for this

ive definitely had my eyes opened abt chinese food since some places serving more regional food have opened up in london

http://i.imgur.com/1bdwm.jpg

红烧狮子头

also people who complain about the saltiness of chinese food, ever eat a big bag of potato chips in one go? my tongue is swollen