Silkworms and Scorpions in Wangfujing (Beijing)

YES. REALLY.

Wangfujing is a night (snack) market that was created in anticipation of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and is a place where you can find very interesting* snack foods prepared by street vendors. Of course, they also have normal food like noodles, cuttlefish, crayfish, etc.

*Some of the more interesting food items: starfish, testicles, duck tongue, centipedes, snake, etc.

Suffice to say, we decided to get the more "normal" among all the weird things and got fried silkworm larvae and scorpions. To be honest, they looked disgusting when they were on the tables and raw, and I nearly did not want to eat them (especially when thinking that maybe the scorpions would still be poisonous if not prepared properly), but when the vendor fried them in his big vat of oil and sprinkled both sticks liberally with salt, they looked safe to eat and rather appetizing (see picture below--Mindy in the middle has the scorpions, I have the silkworm larvae).

Silkworm larvae: Tried these before I tried the scorpions, and I found them to be texturally interesting, because biting into the silkworm larvae was like biting into a crunchy layer and into a dense, protein-like center--overall, you had to chew the larvae quite a bit, and its inner layer was like tightly-packed string (perhaps the silk part, since silkworm larvae is where they get the silk threads from). I know it sounds a bit disgusting, because it sounds like I'm eating crunchy silk balls...you have to trust me that these fried and salted larvae were pretty good.

Scorpions: These tasted like a cross between the fried small crabs that are common in the Philippines, and shrimp--crunchy and soft-shelled. Yum. Would've asked for another stick, but we were in a hurry to get to our next destination.

Peking Duck in Beijing

Sorry for the long hiatus. Posting pictures on Blogspot is such a pain at times, and formatting can be quite annoying at times. Also, I have a full day-to-day schedule and I don't have as much time as I would like to blog.

In any case...I just got back last week from Beijing where I went on a one-week trip with family, which was overall very fun, as my friends on Facebook can likely see evidenced in my 2 album's worth of pictures (believe me, there were a lot more but I got tired of rotating all the photos manually).

The day that we arrived in Beijing, my mom's relatives took us to Da Dong Restaurant, which specialized in Peking Duck (as a lot of restaurants in Beijing claim to). Even though I've had Peking Duck multiple times, the Peking Duck in Beijing was totally different (as what you would likely expect). It was very...interactive.

First of all, when you order a Peking Duck, the restaurant tells you to go inside the kitchen and pick your own duck from their roasting ovens. Even if I didn't know how to pick ducks, I volunteered for this challenge (but picked wrong, because the people in the kitchen ended up picking another one for me).

Secondly, the condiments were much more...abundant than normal. Normally, the Peking Duck I've had comes with hoisin sauce (brown stuff), leeks (white stalks), and cucumbers (light green stalks), so I personally found the addition of condiments such as white sugar, red radish, white radishy sauce and the 2 "unknown" things at the bottom left of the plate (pickled plums and pickled radish I think) interesting.

Below is the guy who was cutting up our duck tableside.

Peking Duck was pretty good. Like I said, I've had it several times before, but there was just something very different about this duck. The skin (which we were told to dip in the white sugar crystals) was crisp and not that greasy; its combination with the sugar allowed a beautiful harmony of textures to be created--crispy skin with crunchy sugar crystals. Moreover, I've always been a bit partial to the pairing of salty things with sweet things, and this was a good example of that.

As you can see in Kei's picture below, her plate has 2 kinds of Peking Duck--one being the "crepe" style, and the other being the "bread-cracker" style.

Traditionally (according the the waitress who demonstrated for the entire table), these are the condiments that go with each "style"--

crepe style (below on her plate): duck, leeks, hoisin sauce

bread-cracker style (top one on her plate): duck, white radish sauce, red radish, cucumber

I really liked both ways of Peking Duck...eating, because overall, the duck was lean and tender (though a bit dry). What made it superior in comparison to all the other duck I've eaten is that the crepe that they served as a wrap for the duck was exceptionally good. In the past, I've eaten wrappers that are more floury and dry (thus also breaking easily while you ate the duck), but this one in particular was soft, chewy and held up quite well when you wrapped the duck. In any case, yum. Kei's face says it all.

*Side Note: am not going to go into detail about all the other food we ate at this restaurant because (given that this is China), there was just SO MUCH OF IT. It was all very delicious though, and included things like traditional Beijing snacks, deer and a milky, slightly acidic fish soup. Sadly, no remnants apart from memories (and body fat) remain of these.

Restaurant Martin (Extreme Gastronomy)

Spanish restaurant that opened in Shanghai by Martin Berasategui, a Spanish chef with award-winning (if I’m not mistaken, he has either 2 or 3 Michelin stars) restaurants in Spain. His location in Shanghai is in an old office building from the 1930’s that has French architecture style, and supposedly has a ghost on the second floor (which is why we stayed on the first floor).

There were some pretty sublime dishes here, and surprisingly, the restaurant was relatively consistent—most of their dishes were amazing. Unfortunately, the restaurant’s ambience wasn’t conducive to picture-taking, as it had dim lighting and candles to give a romantic mood; given this, I can only but describe the dishes, and direct you to look at their website. The food was excellent, and it was at times mind-blowing to taste how the cooking techniques brought out the complete idea of the dish, and the complex flavors of the fresh ingredients.

Set menu: all of us got one of each of these things...

From their regular menu: we had one each to share...

Sopa fria de almendras con Boqueronos “Ortiz” (Cold almond soup with Spanish white anchovies): Very…mellow, and the different components added simple yet interesting insights into the dish. The almond soup was thick (crushed/blended almonds) yet milky, and flavored very delicately with olive oil, garlic and a bit of wine. Placing the pickled anchovies in the dish, added a bit of a vinegary-salty taste to it, which balanced out the mild milkiness of the soup itself. The grapes that were served on the side added a nice refreshing break from the soup, yet still in some way complemented it, adding a fruity touch to everything.

Gazpacho de melocoton con pan “tomaca” y Jamon (Peach Gazpacho with tomato bread and Iberian ham): Refreshing, and was an interesting contrast to the almond soup, because both took different approaches to the theme of cold soup. This soup, unlike the almond soup was more fruity and fresh, and adding the salty Iberian ham to it only highlighted the refreshing characteristics of the soup.

Plato de embutidos ibericos con hojaldre relleno de piperrada (Iberian cold cuts served with piperrada stuffed puff pastry): Not bad. I googled up piperrada and it said that it is an egg dish sometimes served as a tapa, or as a brunch. It is composed of different bell peppers, garlic, ham, egg and tomatoes. This dish was very simple—it was essentially a plate of 3 different salamis (lamb, ham and beef I think?) with a puff pastry which was filled with some roasted peppers and tomatoes.

Huevo con patata rota al aceite de oliva y emulsion ahumada (Soft egg with broken potatoes and smoked bacon cream): Such a rich dish. Honestly couldn’t eat that much of it just because it was pretty heavy. The yolk of the soft boiled egg oozed out when you poked it with a fork. Eating the egg with smoked bacon cream and potato was goood.

Esparde a la plancha con esparragos trigueros y aceite de hierbas (Grilled sea cucumber with green asparagus and herb oil): Perhaps one of the simplest and most unassuming dishes of the night, yet was the most surprising because of it. The asparagus was grilled in the herb oil very precisely, such that it was slightly crunchy and had a nutty flavor from the olive oil; when paired with the grilled sea cucumber (I think it was the stomach of the sea cucumber), which was so soft yet had a nice crunch to it. Such a deceptively simple dish with such clean flavors that maximized the potential of each ingredient—this dish could be described as poetic, and epitomized the restaurant.

Cuttlefish salad with tomatoes: One of the memorable dishes, because it was so extremely simple yet executed so well. It was basically cuttlefish served over halved cherry tomatoes, with a simple vinaigrette. Tomatoes were extremely fresh, cuttlefish was so delicately grilled, and the vinaigrette was uncomplicated (and didn’t mask the flavors of the rest of the dish’s components). Total combination while eating it was pretty beautiful. The tomatoes were so fresh and sweet that they burst in your mouth when you bit them, the cuttlefish was tender, savory yet had a nice chewy texture, and the vinaigrette just tied everything together and brightened up the dish.

Cochinillo asado (Roasted suckling pig): I thought the portion was so big (I was pretty full already), but the suckling pig was roasted to perfection. The conchinillo was hot and you could feel it melt in your mouth as you were eating it. In addition, there was no sauce (not much salt/pepper either) at all that went with this dish; it was served with a lettuce and olive oil salad. Overall effect was that the delicate flavors of the suckling pig were shown to their fullest capacity. I was a little sad that I was pretty full while eating it, so could not fully enjoy it.

Seafood Paella: Extremely disappointing, given the other dishes. Did not like it because the seafood in the paella was on the disgusting side—shrimp was mushy, salmon pieces were extremely overcooked and clams were a bit dry; in addition, there was not much flavor to the Arborio rice, least of all the saffron that I expect in paella. Moreover, there was close to none of that burnt rice crust that I love in paellas—this “paella” felt more like a risotto.

Torrija caramelizada de brioche casero (Caramelized homemade brioche): Wasn’t too bad. I didn’t care too much for the overall texture of the brioche, which I felt was a bit too densely spongy, yet I liked how the caramelized part of it went together with the nutella ice cream that topped this dessert.

Soffle de chocolate caliente con helado de caramelo y canela (Hot chocolate soufflé with caramel and cinammon ice cream: So extremely rich, that I couldn’t handle one spoonful of it anymore, as I was full to the brim already. Dark chocolate was pretty intense.

I think I am becoming more Asian in China.

As hinted at by the title (rather obviously, don't you think?)...I think I am becoming more Asian in China, specifically Shanghai, even if I've only been here for around a week and a half. And by Asian, I don't mean that my eyes are getting smaller and smaller (hopefully also not because of the increased amount of food that I've been consuming over the last few weeks), but that I am becoming what my friends (and other people) call "azn." Since I can't really describe this phenomenon, I shall enumerate some things from my own experience that point to its existence.

1. Went kind of crazy over the Asian snack food aisle in the grocery, because of all the cute little characters (especially pandas) that are featured on the cookies and crackers. Bought a bunch of panda and bear cookies and crackers, and caramel popcorn in a bag that looks like it has a face on it.

2. Made a very funny and random video about eating panda crackers, where my sister and I were eating the crackers in a cutesy, Asian way, talking in high-pitched voices and smiling at our vain selves every few seconds.

3. My aunt has a dog, and we talk to it in high-pitched Chinese, telling it that it is "hen ke ai de."

4. I was going to say thanks to my sister and nearly spoke to her in Mandarin to say "xie xie ni." Just to clarify, we don't speak Chinese at home. Also my brain is starting to think in Chinese in small flickers.

5. Vain pictures of ourselves? No. Even worse--vain MOVING pictures of ourselves, thanks to Photobooth. And yes, we sent these out to other people, just to broadcast our Chinese proficiency and (to some degree, I must confess) our cute, random Asian-ness.

Din Tai Fung and Amazing Xiao Long Bao

According to my mom, I’ve had this before when I went to Taiwan, but since that was a loooong time ago (maybe 8-10 years ago?), I don’t remember. In any case, went here with my sister and my friend from college, Kevin (same friend who came and ate at the Nueva Leon foodventure, and the Ethiopian foodventure). Since it was Kevin’s last full day in Shanghai, we decided to go eat xiao long bao (literally: small dragon bags). Xiao Long Baos are very fragile—you take them carefully with your chopsticks and place them on your soup spoon, then bite a small hole in them, let some steam escape (optional), suck out its juices/broth, dip the dumpling in vinegar-ginger sauce and eat it. Ironically, even though Shanghai is known for their xiao long bao, many people say that Din Tai Fung has the best xiao long bao, even though it is a Taiwanese restaurant that has branches all over the world.

Xiao Long Bao

The menu had at around 6 (maybe more) different kinds of xiao long bao, and they all looked generally the same (which is why I only took pictures of one set). We ordered the Pork Xiao Long Bao and the Chicken and Foie Gras Xiao Long Bao, one the classic xiao long bao, and the other more of a fusion. Both were pretty amazing, as the skin was really thin, yet stayed intact when we transported the xiao long bao with our chopsticks; moreover, the broth was excellent and the meat filling was juicy. Won’t really say much about the pork xiao long bao except that it epitomized the classic preparation of xiao long bao, but the chicken and foie gras xiao long bao was really surprising, as I didn’t expect the combination to work as well as it did, but the addition of (I think) white wine made the foie gras xiao long bao less heavy (since foie gras is quite heavy/filling as it is), yet still preserved its rich flavor really nicely.

(Note on photo: all the xiao long bao basically looked the same, so I only took a picture of one kind of xiao long bao)

Other things. Aside from the xiao long baos, we (and it was truly a collaborative effort) ordered the Drunken Chicken, Vegetable Dishes, Spicy Shrimp and Pork Wontons, Pickled Black Fungus, and for dessert ordered the Tapioca Balls and Taro with Coconut Milk and the Red Bean Dessert Xiao Long Bao. I thought everything else that they had wasn’t bad—it all tasted good—but wasn’t operating on the same (high, and “godly” in Kevin’s words) xiao long bao. In particular, I didn’t like the Spicy Shrimp and Pork Wonton too much (too much oil) nor the dessert xiao long bao (too dense and heavy).

(Note on photos: didn't have all of the pictures of the food for some reason, but will upload as time goes on and I can steal them off of people's Facebooks--also, the vegetable dishes generally looked the same. In any case, the food itself looked like standard Chinese food--so not much of a stretch to imagine any of them I would think...)

Overall—amazing xiao long bao and outstanding service (no joke); even if their other menu items were relatively average, still a must-go wherever you may be that has a Din Tai Fung location*.

*In addition, I really liked their bathrooms, which had a button that you could press and a sound effect of "running water" would play so you could not hear yourself peeing. WOW TECHNOLOGY.

Jean-Georges, nearly a three-hour brunch.

Totally deserves its own entry. Went here for a two-hour long Sunday brunch/lunch with my sister and aunt. So, a little background on Jean-Georges—he’s a French chef based in New York who has restaurants all over the world in places like New York, Hongkong and Tokyo; also, his New York restaurant has received 3 (the maximum) Michelin stars. In any case, Jean-Georges himself does not cook, but it his concepts that are executed in the Shanghai branch of his restaurant by a Chinese chef.

The Menu: since we came here for brunch, the menu was different from their regular one—a bit cheaper, but also a bit less extensive than their dinner menu. My sister and I ordered from their prix fixe menu, while my aunt ordered from their 5-course menu, so we could all taste each other’s food.

First off, the bread. Amaaazing. I’ve had good baguettes but their baguette was a different story—note the blisters on the bread, which emphasizes the perfect crusty-chewiness of the crust; when the bread was broken off into smaller pieces, the inside was soft, chewy, buttery and warm. The seed bread wasn’t bad either—it had a variety of seeds and raisins, yet was still moist.

Tuna Tartar. As you can see in the picture, the tuna came on a bed of avocado and was topped with slices of radish; the sauce that the server poured onto the tuna was a citrusy-ginger vinaigrette. I really liked this dish—the total combination of flavor was refreshing, and the addition of ginger to the citrus sauce (tasted a bit like yuzu) went really well with the spicy radish slices (radish was slightly peppery) to add a layer of flavor to the dish.

Foie Gras Brule with Slow-roasted Strawberries. One of my sister’s dishes that I tried, I thought that this dish was an interesting use of foie gras, which when paired with the strawberries became almost dessert-y in flavor. I thought this was a pretty heavy dish for an appetizer as well, even though the foie gras was rich and creamy. When paired with the bready thing below it, the foie gras brule reminded me of a shortcake. My aunt also had a foie gras dish (sorry, no picture)—this one with sour cherries and nuts instead of strawberries—and I liked that better, because the savory richness of the foie gras came out, which I felt was more suited to it.

Grilled Lamb with Baby Vegetables and Olive Crumbs. My second dish—the lamb rubbed with olive crumbs was grilled to perfection, and the baby vegetables served on mashed peas were tender. I did not like this dish that much however, when comparing it to my tuna tartare, because I felt that there was just too much fat on the lamb. This fat, while allowing the lamb to stay juicy, was not really something that I wanted to eat, and since it consisted of ¼ of the meat, made the entire dish not really worth it, because there was less of it to eat overall. My second comment with this dish was the mashed pea bed that the baby vegetables were on—I felt that even though it added a touch of color to the plate, it didn’t really add much to the overall idea of the dish itself and was more of a separate component that didn’t interact too much with the lamb.

Fish dishes. My sister ordered the Roasted Cod with Snow Peas and Scallions, with Almond Milk and Chili Oil, while my aunt had the Steamed Garoupa with Shitake, Asparagus Juice, Avocado and Herbs. Tasting both of them, I found that my sister’s dish was interesting. The almond milk gave the fish a milky flavor, and even when paired with the snow peas and scallions that topped the dish, everything had a subtly sweet and milky flavor. I didn’t taste any chili oil in this dish, and wish that I did, as I believe that its addition would’ve elevated it to make it more complex, instead of its overall one-note mildness that I felt it had. I liked my aunt’s dish better—the garoupa was steamed to perfection, and the flavor of the herbs nicely complemented the natural flavor of the fish, which had very clean, herby flavors overall.


Dessert. Even though we were sufficiently full after our main courses, the prix fixe menu included dessert, so dessert it was for all of us. I ordered the Meringue with Citrus Fruits (I think passionfruit, tangerine/orange and pineapple) and Honey Sorbet, while my sister got the Grand Marnier Souffle and Sorbet, while my aunt got the Chocolate Sampler, which included four different small portions of dessert (I think—am pretty sure—that I will gain weight in Shanghai this summer). My dessert was okay…didn’t really love it that much, but I have to admit that the plating was really beautiful and the dish was executed well. What I didn’t like with this dish was that the sorbet and the citrusy flavors dominated the dessert too much, such that the meringue was left out of the dish somewhat. Mindy’s dessert wasn’t bad either, but it wasn’t really love that I felt for it from my end of the table (more like appreciation I suppose), and it’s the same complaint that I have for it—the Grand Marnier was the only overriding flavor of both the soufflé and the sorbet, such that there was no contrast, no interplay of flavors between the different components. Unlike both of those desserts, I really liked the Chocolate Sampler of my aunt, because it utilized chocolate in so many different applications, textures and flavors (i.e. clockwise from top right: Cold Spanish Chocolate, Chocolate Mousse with Cookie Crust, Lime Gel and Sorbet to cleanse the palate and Chocolate Lava Cake with Vanilla Ice Cream), which allowed chocolate to be showcased in its different forms. Everything on this plate was excellent (although I didn’t like the lime gel and sorbet as much as everything else).

Complimentary End-of-meal Treat. As if everything wasn’t enough (it was waaayyy enough), there were free chocolates at the end of the meal (apparently, according to my cousins, this end-of-meal treat changes from time to time). They were pretty good, but could not (and did not want to—too full) finish them all (we couldn’t finish the dessert either—that’s how full we were).

Also may be called, “Megan Eating her Childhood”

I’ve always been of the opinion that part of the joy of food, as well as eating, is its power to trigger memories long past—of a happy tummy and the events, as well as the ambience surrounding the moment. In such cases, taste may take a backseat to nostalgia…yet, knowing me, taste does not completely disappear from consideration.

KFC and Jollibee

MMM. Was going to meet up with my cousins for dinner, but got to the mall a few hours early to go have some lunch and walk around. First stop was the food court, where we immediately picked out Jollibee and KFC as our cheap eating destination. One might question the need for even going to KFC, given that it is available everywhere, especially the US, yet I still wanted to go because of one item in their menu that I’ve only ever seen in the Philippines—KFC Hotshots. Hotshots are crispy and spicy chicken nuggets that you eat with KFC’s delicious gravy. I remember craving for these every so often when I was living in Manila—even though I was allergic to chicken at the time (a further testament to how satisfying they are). The combination of crisp, spicy batter and tender chicken with the salty KFC gravy is delicious.

Jollibee on the other hand is the top fast food chain in the Philippines, a triumph over the ubiquitous McDonalds that is number one in most countries all over the world. Although I’ve tried the Jollibee in California (pricey and quite dirty in my opinion), nothing beats eating Jollibee in its home country and we split on the Spaghetti and Chickenjoy combo, which came with a drink. One thing to note about Jollibee spaghetti, or Filipino spaghetti for that matter, is the sweetness of the bright red sauce—they add sugar to it, as Filipinos like the sweet-salty combination. The Chickenjoy on the other hand was just as I remembered it—every bite came with a loud crunch.

Via Mare

Probably one of my first stops in Manila for good Filipino food, as I have food memories eating here since elementary school—maybe even younger (my dad’s office had this restaurant on the 4th floor and sometimes we would come here for lunch).

Filipino Breakfast—Crispy Tapa with Garlic Rice, 2 Eggs and some Atchara (pickled vegetables) As I’ve said before, I CRAVE Filipino breakfasts every once in a while in the US. I’ve been used to eating relatively savory foods for breakfast, and dislike eating pastries and the like in the morning. In any case, a traditional Filipino breakfast consists of the following components: (1) sinangag, or rice tossed in a pan with garlic, egg or some meat; (2) a meat/fish component—bangus (milkfish), tapa (marinated beef steak), longganisa (sweet/salty pork sausage), tuyo (salted fish), tinapa (smoked milkfish), Spanish sardines, or corned beef sautéed with garlic and onions, etc.; (3) eggs—or sometimes also a sarciado, which is like scrambled eggs with tomatoes and onions. The traditional beverages that come with a Filipino breakfast are Spanish chocolate or coffee.

For dessert, we ordered the bibingka, which is a cake made out of rice flour, coconut milk and sugar. Traditionally, bibingka is cooked in a pan lined with banana leaves, which is placed over a charcoal heating source for it to rise—similar to a pancake. For bibingka in Via Mare, they let you pick what type of toppings you want on your bibingka between salted egg and queso de bola (“ball cheese”: salty Edam cheese); however, I discovered that you also could put in quesong puti (“white cheese”: milky, spongy cheese), because I said quesong puti instead of queso de bola before, so my special bibingkas come with all three toppings. Also, bibingkas come with desiccated coconut. Eating my bibingka was like heaven—fluffy, subtly sweet and coconut-y bibingka with the salted eggs and salty, melted cheese on top. The contrast of textures between fluffy bibingka and spongy cheese with the cheese and coconut topping was also yummy. I had my “happy food face” on—closed eyes, small smile on my face, me savoring my delectable food. What can I say—I don’t know if it was just my feelings of nostalgia and comfort, but I felt that the bibingka was pretty much perfection.