Foodie Tour Resumes - Shaanxi Food!

Mike and I resumed our Beijing foodie tour today!! Craving a hot bowl of noodles and hearty food, we decided to check-out a Shaanxi restaurant for lunch. Where is Shaanxi and what is Shaanxi food? Well, for those of you who don't know, it's a region in Northwest China, where Xian is the capital. According to Wikipedia, "Shaanxi is considered one of the cradles of Chinese civilization. Thirteen feudal dynasties established their capitals in the province during a span of more than 1,100 years, from the Zhou Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty." Back in March 2007, I traveled to Shaanxi on a volunteer trip with Cross-Cultural Solutions and spent 3 weeks teaching English in Xian...oh, those were the good old days!

Me and the little 4-year old munchkins in Xian

So what is Shaanxi cooking? Well, here's the description according to Savour Asia - "Wheat flour features prominently in Shaanxi cooking (also called Qin cai 秦菜), with many types of noodles from thick hand-pulled ribbons, to thin buckwheat ones, and a variety of dumplings and biscuits (bing) as well. Shaanxi is also famous for its dark vinegar, so this is found on every table and added to enhance the flavors of most dishes. Slow cooked pulled pork is another core ingredient, and is used in little Shaanxi “hamburgers” sandwiched in a dense white biscuit or crumbled over spicy wide hand-pulled noodles. "

Slow cooked pulled pork...spicy hand-pulled noodles & biscuits...MMMMM...drooling yet? Well, for our foodie adventure, we checked out 黄河陕西面名小吃, a small local restaurant located near the Beijing Fine Arts museum on a quiet street of hutongs and siheyuans.

The store front wasn't anything impressive. All it had was a 24-hours sign (good to know for late night snacks!).

Quiet street of hutongs

When we first walked in, we spotted the makeshift oven where the biscuits (bings) were being made.

Lunch started off with an order of 肉扎某 (rou zha mo), the typical Shaanxi hamburger described above. See the freshly baked biscuit stuffed with chopped fatty pork and green chilies? The "burger" was mouthwatering and delicious, and the juices spilled out when we bit into it. In fact, I'm craving one right now, haha.

We also ordered a side dish of 皮蛋豆腐 (pi dan dou fu) - tofu with thousand year old egg, minced scallions, drizzled in sesame oil. The tofu was really fresh!

Next came our main dish - 肉拌面 (la rou ban mian) - wide noodles served with bok choi, bean sprouts and pulled pork. We mixed the noodles up with some chili oil and chili flakes. I have to admit - I didn't think this dish was the star of the show. In fact, the burger and the tofu dishes were more impressive, but I did like the texture of the noodles and how you can taste the fresh dough!

Here's the vat of slow cooked pork at the front of the restaurant.

What was the total damage for lunch? 70 RMB for the entire meal ($10 USD), including 2 cans of Wang Lao Ji (herbal tea). With good food, awesome prices and friendly service, this restaurant has moved up our restaurant rankings and is now one of our favorite Chinese spots!