We took a trip to Taiwan and China in June 2019. Like most of our trips, I began writing about it shortly after. However, I got distracted somehow and never gotten around to finish it. Over a year later, picking this project back up is providing me with a nice boost of vacation memories while home-bound under COVID.
Like more and more of our trips nowadays, we made plans to visit Chengdu and Chongqing around their famed street food. Sichuan and Chongqing cuisines have always been among our favorite, and of course there are dishes you just can’t find in restaurants in North America. The idea was we’d go, pig out, and come back heavier.
It didn’t work out as well as envisioned. The kids could not handle anything spicy and my parents didn’t eat meat, so that kept us from trying many of the local specialties. I was bummed out for not having a single meal of authentic Chongqing hot pot, but being perfectly honest I was afraid of how intensely spicy it might be, anyway. Another thing I put in a lot of research for was yak meat, supposedly quite a thing in the Tibetan cuisine available in Chengdu. We took a cab to what seemed to be the best restaurant for yak, only to learn that it had recently closed. Although I was able to find yak jerky from Ci Qi Kou, it was still a net disappointment.
Despite these setbacks, the trip was still filled with delicious experiences that we continue to talk about today. Some highlights below.
Lunch at the dine-in theater in Kuan Zhai Xiang Zi, ChengduPink soft serve from McDonald’sDuck neck, a newfound favorite snack for the kidsDuck neck and rabbit headRabbit head, a unique street snack found throughout ChengduIf you ever wondered what cooked rabbit skull looks like…Tang You Guo Zi 糖油果子, sweet fried dough on a stick, is a local specialty. This skewer wasn’t good at all.Not local but instead Xian cuisine – biang biang noodles from a department store food court. It was so good though.Numbing and spicy goose intestine. The chewy texture was the best part.Sour and spicy yam noodles 酸辣粉. This bowl wasn’t that great.Bing fen 冰粉, an icy dessert from Southwestern China, was fantastic on hot summer days.Chongqing Xiao Mian 重慶小麵, is something I have the privilege of eating frequently in the Bay Area. I had craved trying the authentic varieties (there are lots of different styles), as well as having it for breakfast like real Chongqing people do. This bowl was one of many on this trip.Two dishes at Qiu Jin Xiao Guang 秋金小館, a highly rated restaurant in ChengduFamily dinner after my failed attempt at eating yakHome styled Sichuan dishesSpicy fish soupKFC’s two-toned pickled chili 絕色雙椒 chicken, a great product unique to the region and a funny play on words associated with a famous story. This is the subway adAnd this is the sad reality…Home style Chongqing dishes for lunch, found randomly at the bottom of the super-long escalatorsMore Chongqing Xiao Mian, with pork intestine and from a rated place in central ChongqingWe came across a Fuzhou wonton hole-in-the-wall in central Chongqing, that served Hong’s favorite couple of meals on this entire tripDining on the sidewalk at Tao Lin 饕林, another highly rated restaurant in Chengdu. it was so popular that we couldn’t get indoor seatingSliced pork hanging from a rackBoba timeTang shui mian 糖水麵, a snack portioned sweet noodlesXiang Cun Ji 鄉村雞, a Chinese fast food joint in a department store food court. This chain claims to serve over 100 million customers annually, but it’s funny/sad how much it looks to be a KFC knockoff
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