Peking Duck

This past week in Beijing has been amazing. I never thought I would eat so many different parts of a duck. Chinese cuisine has continued to stretch and surprise me.

While in Beijing I wanted to have Peking duck. Along with the roast duck which is served with scallions and a sauce in a thin pancake, we had duck feet, which were rubbery though tasty, but the large serving of mustard that went with them made my nose feel like it was on fire; duck intestines, which I was hesitant to try, but ended up being my favourite; and a duck broth, which was incredibly rich.

Also on the menu, but didn't get a chance to try, were duck liver, heart, neck, and head. I guess there only so many parts you can have at one time.

I did try duck tongue, when my travel companion wanted to grab some snacks one afternoon. When I heard snacks, my mind didn't immediately go to duck tongue, but I gave them a shot and ended up eating a few.

There was a psychological barrier I had to get over before biting into it, I usually like to get to know someone before I allow their tongue in my mouth. They were spicy and savoury, but a bit of chore to eat with some inedible cartilage.

I'm starting to remove any limitations on the type of food and how it is prepared that I may have had in Canada. It has opened up a world of flavours, and I'm starting to understand how little I knew about Chinese food before I came to China.

Hutongs in Beijing

So I ran into some difficulty posting my blog, as it turns out the google blogger website is blocked, forcing me to send my posts to my sister in Canada to put them up. Just another interesting part of life in China.

In Beijing the hutong alleyways that are being slowly replaced by new developments, are full of small family run restaurants, many of which are packed at peak hours. The hutong restaurants often spill out onto the sidewalk where you find groups of people playing poker on their table following their meal.

I have never seen so much traffic on such tiny streets. You have to be aware of your surroundings or risk being hit by a scooter carrying a family of three, or a government issued Audi that may only give you a quick honk before running you over.

Once you've come to terms with the fact that you may have to risk your life to get to one of these tiny restaurants, it is amazing. The hutong have an old-school charm and the food is incredible. 

We found one little place near our hotel that serves Sichuan style food. We joined several other people outside that were waiting for a table, before finally being asked if we minded being seated at a table with two other people.  We were shown to our table, which was down another alley beside the restaurant, in a small room barely big enough to fit the two tables inside.

The meal was incredibly spicy. I think my tongue reached its breaking point, and just felt numb soon after we started eating. I was told that our meal was only the medium spice level, which was great but still painful. I couldn't imagine going up to the spiciest. I think it is a good warm up for when we travel to Sichuan.