Latimer: I’ve said this before (a lot!!), but honestly one of the best things about going to a different country is getting to eat their food! And I’m the sort of person who takes photos of the food they eat and Instagrams them – hence this post is photo heavy!
I love Asia food but I wouldn’t have ever said I particularly liked Chinese food. As with most countries, we have Chinese takeaways in Ireland and they’re fine. But having been in China, I don’t think they are making proper Chinese food (I think it’s Westernized to suit our palettes). But, I wish they weren’t, because as it turns out, proper Chinese food is so freckin’ good!
I was asked a lot about the food when I came home – people would grimace, ‘what did you eat?!’ Well, okay, to be honest in Chinese food, they use everything and the food is always fresh (i.e. the fish is alive in the tank then cooked and put on your plate). It’s harsh to look at, but you have to respect that Chinese people know where their food is coming from; we eat the steak and the pork and we don’t think about how it got there.
Weighing the fishAnd here the fish is cooked moments later (it’s called Beer Fish a dish from Yangshuo)
And they have some amazing food markets! The Muslim Quarter in Xi’an was one pretty cool food spot…
Muslim Quarter Xi’anThe yellow stuff is rice cakeThey are making this sticky bar type stuff from peanuts and honey… beating the crap out of it with mallets!A prune, fungus drink… wasn’t nice! 😦Roasted walnutsKitchen in the Muslim QuarterA kitchen in the Muslim QuarterMaking fried wrapsYummy fried wrapsSquid on a stick!
From hotpots to noodles, to taro chips… I ate well in China!
Meet in a bun… sooo good… and spicy cauliflowerNoodles in Xi’an (they’re known for their noodles – this was the only time I had noodles actually! wow)Spicy beefYummy spicy cabbageSweet and sour fish in BeijingDumplings in Xi’anSome seriously spicy hotpot in Chengdu (they have the best hotpots apparently!)Do you see the brains? Yup… I did not try that! ah… ha… nooo…Spicy potato… Love me some spuds!
We stopped off at a local woman’s house for lunch in Yangshuo. This green stuff (a type of lettuce I think?!) was soooo tasty… I could have ate the whole plate!These were homegrown in the above woman’s garden… yummy!Taro chips…. They could give potatoes a run for their money!!I went to a cooking class and this was my end result…. not too bad?!
If you ever go to China know that you are going to eat well!
And to round things off you’ll find some nice drinks too!!
This beers quite nice… and bloody massive – I could hardly hold it for this photo!Strawberry sodacoffee art… how can you drink it now!!More coffee art… so cute!!
The best looking food was from the woman’s house you visited in Yangshuo! Some of the other food tasted better than it looked, I’m sure. That beer is huge, but that prune thingy looked weird. Tasted that way too eh?
Looks like you had a great time!
Ah, it was the best time, Laura, I definitely recommend visiting! China’s such a fascinating place, very inspiring – and the food was so tasty! The home cooking was the best. But the prune thing… yeah, that wasn’t very nice!!
Carwicky 
The best looking food was from the woman’s house you visited in Yangshuo! Some of the other food tasted better than it looked, I’m sure. That beer is huge, but that prune thingy looked weird. Tasted that way too eh?
Looks like you had a great time!
Ah, it was the best time, Laura, I definitely recommend visiting! China’s such a fascinating place, very inspiring – and the food was so tasty! The home cooking was the best. But the prune thing… yeah, that wasn’t very nice!!