I still remember how surprised I was when I asked a German student what was her favorite breakfast in China. Her reply was Baozi.
Baozi is a steamed bun stuffed with vegetable or meat. It looked to her that Baozi represents all Chinese breakfasts and there was nothing better than Baozi. Today, I will share with you more variety of typical Chinese breakfasts and let’s see if Chinese people all eat Baozi in the morning.
Beijing – 炒肝儿chǎo gānr
肝 gān means liver in the Chinese language. But this dish is more than liver in it. It actually is a boiled intestine and liver soup mixed with corn flour. As a real Beijingese (is there such a word?), you would drink the soup up without chopsticks or spoon. Unglam, yeah I know.
Tianjin – 煎饼果子 jiān bǐng guǒ zi (pancake with twisted cruller)
There is always a debate between Northerners and Southerners how 煎饼果子 jiān bǐng guǒ zi should be made with. Northerners believe it should only be made with pancake, together with fried egg and twisted cruller. They would say a煎饼果子jiān bǐng guǒ zi with sausage ( in South China) is not a real one.
Is 煎饼果子jiān bǐng guǒ zi very popular ? Definitely. An American guy who fell in love with it when he was traveling in China even went back to New York and opened his own stall.
Wuhan – 热干面 rè gān miàn
The look of it already tells you that it’s delicious, isn’t it? Same as its name, 热干面 rè gān miàn is a hot and dry noodle with sesame sauce, sesame oil, light sauce and pepper. Yummy!
Shanghai – 上海大馄饨 shàng hǎi dà hún tun Wonton soup
On a cold winter morning, having a warm prawn or pork wonton soup with seaweed and pan-fried egg sounds nice, isn’t it?
That’s it for today’s Chinese Culture lesson. Learn more about Chinese culture and Chinese language in the next post!