Going bananas in 2016!

It’s been over a month since I last updated my blog. I feel like I have neglected a good friend, so it’s time to get reacquainted. As my first entry of 2016, I could easily have posted some New Year resolutions or a to-do list. But I don’t really feel that beginning a year with hard-to-keep promises is a good idea. Instead, I prefer to consider ways in which I can live a happier and healthier life and become an improved version of myself, without having to reach a set number of goals before the end of a year.

So with that in mind, I plan to continue with changes that I began making in 2015. For example: joining the gym, travelling, learning a language and making better decisions about what I eat. I have already noticed these choices making a positive impact on my life.

In 2015, I was lucky to visit Chong Qing, Tianjin, Xi’An, the UK, Cambodia, Fujian and Hong Kong. I also made a conscious effort to visit more places around Beijing. I hope that I can continue exploring my surroundings both near and far.

Last year, I persisted with studying Chinese. Due to the nature of my job, I do not need to speak Chinese, so it would be easy for me to “get by” on the Chinese skills that I currently have. However, I want to improve so that when the time comes for me to move on from China, I can leave with an official certification in the Chinese language, such as HSK. Gaining a language skill as well as cultural experiences is certainly a reason for me staying in China for over three years.

2015 was also the year that I joined a gym. Living in a terribly smoggy city is clearly not good for my health. Therefore, looking after my body became a priority. Furthermore, I wanted to cook more meals at home. When you are hungry, going to a restaurant or getting food delivered is an effortless and often cheap option. Despite being convenient, it is not always a healthy choice. Of course, I will continue to enjoy the food here, but I wanted to find a balance between enjoying restaurant meals and creating dishes in which I know exactly which ingredients have been used.

I still have things from last year that I want to write about on this blog, but for my first post of 2016, I decided to share a recipe that I found online and adapted to my own personal preference. It is simple, healthier than the biscuits I usually binge on and the ingredients can easily be found in supermarkets here. In addition to sharing the recipe in English, I wanted to use this opportunity to expand my knowledge of both Chinese and Vietnamese, so I will be explaining the method in three languages (apologies if there are mistakes with any of the languages used!) 

Banana oat biscuits  3 mashed bananas 1 cup of oats 1 handful of raisins Peanut butter or chocolate spread 1. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl until well combined. 2. Take the mixture and form biscuit shapes. 3. Place the biscuits on a lightly greased baking tray. 4. Put half a teaspoon of peanut butter or chocolate spread on each biscuit. 5. Preheat the oven to 175℃. 6. Bake for 15 minutes.

香蕉燕麦饼干  三个碾碎的香蕉 一杯燕麦片 一把葡萄干 花生酱或者巧克力酱 1.把将原料放在盆里调匀。 2.把混合物滚成饼干的形状。 3.把混合物放在已涂油的焗盘上。 4.把半茶匙花生酱或者巧克力酱放在每一个饼干上。 5.预热焗炉至175℃。 6.烤15分钟。

Bánh quy yến mạch chuối 3 chuối nghiền 1 cốc bột yến mạch 1 nắm nho khô Bơ đậu phộng hoặc mứt sôcôla kem hạt dẻ   1. Hãy trộn tất cả các thành phần vào một cái bát. 2. Sử dụng hỗn hợp để làm những bánh quy. 3. Đặt bánh quy vào một cái khay đã bôi ít dầu. 4. Thêm nửa muỗng cà phê bơ đậu phộng hoặc mứt sôcôla kem hạt dẻ, trên mặt cái bánh quy. 5. Đốt nóng lò đến nhiệt độ 175 độ C. 6. Nướng khoảng 15 phút.

Mike's Chomping Cheesy Chinese Chow Challenge #7 – Donkey Burger

August has been a very busy month so far, I have been settling back to life in Beijing and beginning a new school year. However, I was able to celebrate my 3 year Chinaversary with a traditional snack while also keeping up with my mission of adding cheese to Chinese cuisine.
I decided that the next snack to get the cheesy makeover treatment would involve donkey meat. I had already tried donkey meat last year in the form of donkey meat soup. The soup was really tasty and had a peppery tang to it. I also tried a donkey burger (驴肉火烧). When I think of a burger, I picture a fluffy bap, with a sprinkling of sesame seeds on the bun. But a donkey burger is quite different; the donkey meat is served inside a flaky bread pocket and usually has green peppers inside. The meat was quite nice although there were some jelly bits that I was less appreciative of. Nevertheless, I felt that the donkey burger would be the perfect addition to my cheese challenge.

Donkey soup

There is a saying in China, "天上龙肉，地上驴肉" which roughly translates to, "In Heaven there is dragon meat, on Earth there is donkey meat." With donkey meat being held in such high esteem, I knew that adding cheese to such a delicacy could leave me red-faced if I didn't take this seriously. I didn't want to make an ass of myself by ruining a donkey burger. A mule fool is not cool.
After buying a freshly made donkey burger, I carefully cut up some Monterey Jack cheese with jalapeño peppers. But looking at my donkey burger, I knew that I could add even more to make this mule munching experience even greater.

While preparing the cheese, I noticed the roasted pepper and paprika chutney, patiently waiting to be used. Not only could I add another alliterative word to my challenge, but I could also add some more flavour. I had unintentionally raised the game. Mike's Chomping Chutney, Cheesy Chinese Chow Challenge just got even more interesting!

Once all the added ingredients were sitting nicely in the soft, flaky bread pouch, I knew that I held a wonderful creation in my hands. The heat from the chutney and cheese was a delicious accompaniment to the bread, meat and peppers.

This could well be my greatest achievement in China since learning how to top-up my electricity meter all by myself.

But how am I going to top this deliciously delectable donkey delight? I will need some time to mull (mule?) this one over...

Mike's Chomping Cheesy Chinese Chow Challenge #3 - Baozi

Despite being immensely busy with the end of academic year looming, I have gallantly continued on my adventure to add cheese to Chinese food. I shall not leave any snack “un-fromaged” until I have found the perfectly delicious combination. 

Following the successful yet rancid research into the unification of stinky tofu and blue cheese, I decided to try a slightly less nauseating experiment. 

Baozi (包子) are steamed bread-like buns which can have a variety of fillings. My personal favourite filling has to be pork. What is not to like about a bready, porky, cheap snack. But what harm could come from adding cheese into this equation? 

I carefully escorted my newly purchased baozi back to the safety of my apartment and cautiously placed it on a plate. Then I realised I had almost committed a rookie mistake and still needed to remove the nappy-like paper from the bottom of the bun. 

I didn’t just want a cheese-coated baozi, so I decided to get all up in that baozi and cut it in half, allowing me to stuff some grated cheese inside.

After much deliberation, I came to the conclusion: the perfect ratio of meat to cheddar is achieved by taking half of the baozi and filling it until it is completely crammed with a cheesy-pork mixture. 

Had I transformed this fluffy baozi into a cloud-like burger? A baoger perhaps? 

I had no doubt that the cheese would taste great with the pork filling – after all, I was playing it safe after my previous stinky experiment. However, I hadn't prepared myself for how delicious it really was!

This will not be the last time I grate some cheese into my baozi...

Tháng trước tôi đã ăn bánh bao nhân thịt và phô mát bào. Nó rất đậm đà!

Mike's Chomping Cheesy Chinese Chow Challenge #2 - Stinky Tofu

Spurred on by the success of my previous cheesy endeavour, I decided to take the Cheesy Chinese Chow Challenge to a new level. 

First of all, let me set the scene: If you walk around the streets of Beijing, it is highly likely that at some point you will encounter a smell that is displeasing to the nose. The unfriendly, uninviting and unenticing odour could stem from a smorgasbord of sources, but one strong contender for the overpowering smell may well be the unforgettable fragrance of stinky tofu. 

Stinky tofu (臭豆腐) is given its name for a good reason. The smell of the fermented tofu can be considered unappealing to many people. I have eaten it on a couple of occasions and the taste is far better than the smell suggests. It could almost be likened to the oxymoron of a terribly delicious smelly cheese. 

This idea got me thinking. Why just add cheddar to this smelly snack? Why have a stink when you can have a stench? I knew what had to be done. I bravely took the stinky tofu back to my apartment and carefully added slices of smelly blue cheese to the bowl. This experiment was not for the faint-hearted…or anyone with a sense of smell. 

As the cheese began to melt in the stinky tofu soup, the pong was almost unbearably overwhelming. My nose did not appreciate the situation I had created. I gingerly took a bite of tofu and a sip of the broth. To my astonishment, I had struck malodorous gold. It may have had a putrid aroma, but the taste was peculiarly palatable.

It has certainly given me food for thought. I will continue on my quest to add cheese to Chinese street food and snacks. Although perhaps next time, in order to give my poor nose some respite, I will try something with a slightly less offensive reek.

Gần đây, tôi đã ăn đậu phụ thối và pho mát xanh. Hôi quá...nhưng ngon =))

Mike's Chomping Cheesy Chinese Chow Challenge #1 - Jian bing

After sampling many of the Chinese street food snacks that Beijing has to offer, I have acquired an understanding of what I enjoy and what I should avoid. I quite often indulge in tasty market food or get a hankering for some fried nibbles when I suffer from hunger pangs. 

On the weekend, I woke up craving a jian bing (煎饼) which is a savoury egg pancake. This crepe-like delicacy can have a variety of fillings but usually contains spicy sauces, spring onion, coriander and a crispy cracker.

I have come to realise that this pancake makes a great breakfast, lunch or dinner. However, this time I wanted something more. Something groundbreaking. I wanted to push the boundaries of everything I had come to know and understand.

What if this time, I didn’t just accept the fillings I was given inside my delicious jian bing package? What if I wanted to improve on perfection? It was then that I made a drastic decision that was to change my eating habits forever. I was going to grate cheddar cheese onto my jian bing.

I have yet to discover a jian bing stall in Beijing  that offers cheese. It dawned on me that I could be uncovering something that would rock the very core of the street food world. Experimenting with cheese should not be taken lightly. I anxiously collected my jian bing from a nearby location and hastily returned to my apartment where my block of imported Irish cheddar awaited.

Usually, I eat the jian bing straight from the bag but this time I presented it carefully on a plate while I got the cheese grater. The burden of responsibility weighed heavily on my shoulders as I sprinkled a generous amount of cheese on top of the pancake.

What happened next can only be described as a breathtaking moment of bliss. The cheese began to melt slightly and as I munched on the jian bing, I felt that the cheddar was the yang to the spicy sauce’s yin.

As a culinary pioneer, I now feel that it is my duty to continue on this experimental quest. I cannot stop now that I know the treasures that lay within a cheesy jian bing. Many questions remain unanswered. What would happen if I added a smelly cheese to a stinky tofu (臭豆腐) concoction? What if I sprinkled some brie on a Chinese meat sandwich/肉夹馍 (ròu jīa mó)? What about if I paired meat kebabs/串儿 (chuanr) with some tasty cheese pieces?

I don’t give edam about what people may think of me, I understand this journey will be a grate one. But enough of the cheesy puns, I have a gouda amount of snacks to eat and perhaps some will not taste so pleasing. I must Caerphilly select my next experiment. You can expect more updates to the ‘Chomping Cheesy Chinese Chow Challenge’ soon. 

Tôi rất thích thức ăn nhẹ ở Trung Quốc. Bây giờ tôi muốn dùng thử một số thức ăn Trung Quốc và thêm một ít pho mát. Thức ăn nhẹ và pho mát sẽ ngon không ? Tôi đã ăn bánh đa mặn và pho mát. Nó khá là ngon!

Wangfujing

王府井（Wángfǔjǐng）

Recently I visited the snack street and night market at Wangfujing. I first visited the area last summer, when my parents came to visit. It is famous for selling a smorgasbord of strange and striking street food. It’s popular with Chinese tourists from outside of Beijing and there are usually a handful of foreigners meandering through the hungry crowds.




There is something about the market that appeals to my curious nature. Food that I would never consider trying in a restaurant, suddenly becomes intriguingly appetising when displayed on kebab sticks and presented to me by persuasive vendors. It is almost as if I have to accept the challenge of gorging on bizarre refreshments.



On a hot summer's day, my dad and I decided to try deep-fried scorpion(蝎子xiēzi) and seahorse (海马 hǎimǎ). From what I can recall, they tasted rather salty and crunchy. Mum did not want to try such exotic delicacies, so ended up eating candied fruit and tteokbokki.










On my latest visit to the market, it was time to finally try stinky tofu (臭豆腐chòu dòufu). I was pleasantly surprised that the taste was far less repulsive than the smell. Following that, I thought it was necessary for me to reward my adventurous culinary experiment, by trying deep-fried ice cream. It was rather sweet and after being deep-fried, the ice cream melted into a fruity, creamy substance. It wasn’t such a terrible ordeal. The best part of this edible escapade is not necessarily devouring the nibbles on offer. Just taking in the market atmosphere and viewing the wide variety of “treats” on offer is quite an experience.


                   Stinky tofu

          Deep-fried ice cream

Pineapple fried rice

Silk worm, squid and innards on sticks

Quail eggs

Too cute to eat?

Spiders and other creepy crawlies

After walking around the stalls, Liz and I ended up at the main street flanked with large shops and malls. We then stumbled across the Beijing Foreign Languages Bookstore. Since getting a Kindle, I have downloaded a rather large catalogue of ebooks to keep me busy. However, I had just read about the author Yu Hua (余华) and was unable to download his books. So I seized the opportunity and bought his novels “Brothers” and “To Live”.



Wangfujing is definitely a place that visitors should see and I will make sure to return there next time I am feeling adventurous and hungry.

Cuối tuần trước, tôi đã đi đến một chợ đêm. Ở chợ đêm này, tôi đã ăn bọ cạp, cá ngựa, kem chiên giòn, và đậu phụ thối. Thức ăn vặt ưa thích của bạn là gì?