A Taste of Beijing

By Wendy Chan

It is very frustrating for me to watch some of the culinary segments on television meant to be the cultural backdrop for the Olympic Games in China. Too much air time has been devoted to the weird scorpions on a stick which is certainly not a staple for the average Chinese. This only adds to the wrong impression that people in China are uncivilized, an image the government is trying hard to correct with ultra modern buildings and super highways. With some five thousand years of history, through famine and wars, people have adapted to find food in all places to survive, and ingeniously turned every part of an animal, and some exotic ingredients like jelly fish into gourmet. This is not unlike many other foreign cultures.

Drama makes good television, so instead of focusing on how to find a welcoming path to appreciate the Chinese food culture, producers favor the usual shock value through highlighting something that is drastically different from our mainstream culture, with the “I dare you” approach. Perhaps that is entertaining. But it is an opportunity lost.

It would have been educational and interesting if a reporter would try some legendary dishes at Wu Ming Jui (literal translation is “No Name House”), a restaurant frequented by former premier Chou En Lai, a foodie who spent many years studying in France and is known for his appreciation for gastronomy. This particular restaurant, now a chain of four in Beijing, is unpretentious, inexpensive, and a destination where the locals will go for a proper and enjoyable meal. Foreigners will not be intimated there, as they have the point-and-order picture menu like in sushi restaurants. The well-known “Lion’s Head” dish, popular in much of Northern China, is made actually from pork meat balls in broth and vegetables, and the version served here is uniquely clean, delicate and flavorful.

For a more ostentatious eatery, the camera can capture plenty of colorful footage in Dai Jai Mun (literal translation is “Big Mansion Door” – where the door theme is very evident from its design, with welcoming greeters in traditional imperial garb for added pomp). There is no shortage of authentic and interesting dishes such as marrow served with a straw. To entertain guests, they even have nightly shows, including performance of musicians using ancient Chinese instruments to acrobats doing gravity-defying acts and kung-fu style shows.

Such reporting could be a perfect entrée for American food lovers eager to learn the finer points of a rich culinary heritage. Thankfully, last Saturday Ming Tsai came to the rescue on the Today Show where he showed how user-friendly, delicious and appealing Chinese food can be. He demonstrated a hot pot, which can technically be classified as a Beijing favorite. To view the segment click the image below.