Mike's Chomping Cheesy Chinese Chow Challenge #10 - Xihongshi Chao Jidan

A food experimentalist’s work is never done. It may be a new year, but my role as a cheesy Chinese food visionary cannot be quelled. I decided to shake things up a bit; by taking a dish that any self-respecting foreigner or Chinese citizen would enjoy and then adding almond and apricot cream cheese.

The dish in question is none other than the simple yet delicious staple: stir-fried egg and tomato (西红柿炒鸡蛋). It is always a welcome addition to any meal. The scrambled egg is the perfect friend to the soft tomato chunks as they swim around in a tasty sauce.

The addition of soft cream cheese melting amongst the egg and tomato created a blissful moment with each bite. Stir-fried tomato and egg will always be a necessity for me when ordering Chinese food and I think that adding a cheeky portion of cheese will be a treat I repeat in the future.

Nom nom nom!

Phnom Penh Pals

Today was a bitterly cold day in Beijing, with temperatures of -17°C and a cruel wind-chill factor of -27°C. In fact, it was so cold today, the condensation on the inside of my windows turned to thick ice. Brrrr!

These plummeting temperatures are the coldest I have ever experienced in Beijing and it has resulted in me swaddling myself in a blanket and thinking back to warmer times.

Last year, towards the end of September, I travelled to Phnom Penh in Cambodia to see Kate and Becky. It was a great holiday because I had missed them so much since they had left Beijing. Plus I was able to spend the holiday with Omar, Lyra and Warner who had also arranged to visit. It felt wonderful to have the gang back together again.

I first visited Cambodia in 2006, so I was lucky enough to have already seen Angkor Wat, Siem Reap and places around the capital city. Cambodia is a friendly and welcoming country with so much history and culture to experience. I would definitely recommend a visit to the Killing Fields and the Tuol Sleng Museum Of Genocidal Crimes. It is a harrowing and disturbing experience, yet extremely educational and worthwhile in understanding the history of the country. Since I had visited both these locations in 2006, I did not feel the need to see them again this time.

I don’t have access to many photographs from my first visit to Cambodia, as most of them are stored at home in Wales. But I do have a photograph taken at Angkor Wat, one of a tuk-tuk driver and another of a child at an orphanage in which my friend Kendell and I visited. 

Angkor Wat 2006

Tuk-Tuk driver near the backpacker area.

I also have a lasting memory of the phrase “powms oi na?” (Excuse my crude anglicised spelling of the Khmer language) which translates to “who farted?” In 2006, I decided that this would be a crucial phrase to add to my arsenal in as many languages as possible; so I asked my Angkor Wat guide to teach it to me in Khmer.

My visit in 2015 was very different to my my trip in 2006. I was no longer a backpacker (now I travel with a suitcase!) and this time focused more on relaxing and catching up with close friends. Not long after we arrived, I decided to give everyone a small gift from China – a plant sprout hair clip. At the time, these were inexplicably popular with both children and adults in Mainland China. The clips came in many varieties and you could frequently see both men and women walking around with flowers and shoots sprouting from their heads. So once I had given everyone their very own sprout, it was only fitting that we took a selfie.

Sporting sprouts - note that Lyra is absent in this photo due to being asleep.

During our stay in Phnom Penh, Becky and Kate booked us places on a cookery course. Cambodian food boasts some delicious dishes, including my favourite – amok. We made this along with some other dishes on the course. It was a fun yet exhausting day (tiring due to the heat and my general laziness).

Cooking up a storm!

While on the course, I was overjoyed that I had correctly remembered the Khmer phrase that I had learned almost ten years ago. Our teacher happily confirmed that it did indeed mean “who farted?” although I think any bad smells were actually coming from my poor attempt at recreating Cambodian food.

Kate and Becky also took us on an evening river cruise. I was super pleased with myself for capturing the moment of a lightning strike by chance on my old phone. During late September/early October there were frequent thunderstorms but this did not hinder our holiday, as they were generally short downpours. The views of the sunset were spectacular and the silhouettes of the temples and buildings were stunning.

Cruisin' and boozin'

Although we were on holiday, Kate and Becky were working during the day, so Warner and I decided to visit Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Centre. After a rather long tuk-tuk drive we arrived at the centre. There were so many animals there and we were happy to see that they appeared to be well cared for and lived in good conditions.

Getting snap-happy at the sanctuary

Monkeying around at the sanctuary

The whole experience was wonderful and it’s so nice to think back to that time last year. Kate and Becky were the best hostesses and I cannot wait to see them again soon. I still miss their presence in Beijing, but it's great to have such good friends in Cambodia as it gives me the excuse to visit them again in such beautiful surroundings.

Memories of the hot climate and fun times are definitely keeping me warm on this chilly January evening!

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.

Tianjin

What do I know about Tianjin? Until recently, my knowledge of the city was quite limited. I was aware that it is a short train journey from Beijing and that it’s located near to the coast. Tianjin is now synonymous with the tragic explosions in August 2015, which killed and wounded hundreds of people. Typing ‘Tianjin’ into a search engine shows that currently, three of the top ten Tianjin-related searches are about the catastrophic blast.

I had a fleeting visit to Tianjin in 2013, when my flight from Inner Mongolia to Beijing was diverted due to bad weather. I was taken to a pretty swanky hotel for a few hours sleep but did not have enough time to see the city before I caught the connecting flight to the capital.

On 3rd September, there was a national holiday to mark the 70th anniversary of victory over Japan. Jensen and I decided to take this opportunity to visit Beijing’s neighbouring metropolis. I was surprised by how quickly the high-speed took us to our destination. In fact, it took us longer to get to the Beijing railway station than it did for us to get from Beijing to Tianjin. In just thirty minutes we were in a different city.

The national holiday resulted in pristine clear skies and fresh air. It ensured that we could enjoy the interesting scenery of our new surroundings. I was impressed by the European-style buildings. The colonial architecture is a popular tourist attraction in Tianjin.

While roaming the city, Jensen and I were able to sample some delicious food, including the famous Tianjin jianbing. These savoury crepes are different to the ones I have eaten in Beijing, as they include extra fillings such as youtiao (a deep fried dough stick). We tried a jianbing from a street vendor and later visited a famous jianbing seller who attracts queues of hungry customers. Jensen and I both agreed that the jianbing from the street vendor was actually more delicious. We also ate lamb noodle soup and 烧饼夹牛肉, a flaky pastry filled with beef and egg. 

In the evening, we walked around the streets and stopped to take some photographs near the river and Tianjin Eye. Being so close to the sea, Jensen was keen to try some fresh seafood so we stopped off at a restaurant and gorged on prawns, clams, fish and vegetables.

Tianjin was a nice break from Beijing. I didn’t realise that two months later I would be seeing a completely different, luxurious side to the city...

Jensen’s friend, Lisa, was organising a José Carreras music concert and invited us to stay at the Tianjin Shangri-La and attend the show on the 15th November. The weekend itself was a huge contrast to our previous trip to Tianjin – this time the air pollution levels were extremely high.

But the smog was not too much of a concern - we were far too busy enjoying the hospitality in the Club Lounge, which allowed us to snack continuously throughout our stay and remain hydrated with a plethora of beverages. We only ventured out to visit a nearby Hai Di Lao hot pot restaurant in the evening.

Before the concert, Jensen and I were able to meet José and had our photographs taken with him. During the performance, I was surprised by how powerful his singing voice is. It was a fantastic way to spend a smoggy weekend and I appreciate Lisa’s kindness and generosity.

What do I know about Tianjin now? It is a city that is trying its best to move on from a dreadful catastrophe. It has enough attractions and interesting locations that make it a perfect weekend getaway and I am sure there is plenty more to enjoy on future trips.

Mike's Chomping Cheesy Chinese Chow Challenge #9 – Sweet Potato

Disclaimer: That is a sweet potato and not a Christmas poo...

The temperatures are plummeting and the Beijing skyline is full of feathery white snowflakes. The city may be transforming into a winter wonderland, but of course that will not stop me from continuing my cheesy Chinese chow challenge.

At this time of year, you would be foolish not to seize the opportunity of scoffing a baked sweet potato. There are a number street vendors selling these winter warmers all around Beijing. If you see someone standing next to a metal drum, then it’s likely they are baking a batch of sweet potatoes! Once you choose the potato you desire, the seller will weigh it and tell you the cost - but don't worry, you can buy a spud the size of your face and it will still be a pretty cheap snack.

Many happy customers can be seen gnawing on a freshly baked potato straight out of the serving bag. I decided to give my sweet potato a cheesy challenge upgrade. After I selected the most scrumptious-looking spud, I took it back to my apartment. I then sliced it open and added baked beans with grated cheese on top.

I was instantly transported back home to the UK, with memories of jacket potatoes, bonfire nights and cosy autumnal evenings flooding back in a delightful nostalgic daydream.

The baked beans and melting cheese were the perfect companions to the fluffy, warm potato. This is a seasonal treat that cannot be limited to just once a year. I feel confident that a cheesy baked bean sweet potato will be a regular item on my winter menu.