This is the third post of a weeklong series recapping my August trip to the western Chinese provinces of Gansu and Qinghai. See the first and second posts in the series.
Many of the foods we encountered in western China bore little, if any, resemblance to what one thinks of as “Chinese food”. Yes, we ate our fair share of stirfries and rice. But the highlights were far, far removed from the pork-and-peppers and stirfried eggplant that I eat on a nearly daily basis in Changsha. Honorable mention goes to the cinnamon rolls we ate after our trek in Langmusi and the amazing peaches we found everywhere. But the top 5 were rather more unique:
5. Tsampa: The mix of barley flour, yak milk, butter and sugar had an earthy flavor, particularly when it had been lovingly squeezed by our trekking guide in Langmusi. It was better when served as a beverage, and best when accompanied by piles of old family photos belonging to our new Tibetan friend, at right.
4. Bus-stop yogurt: About halfway between Xiahe and Tongren, our bus stopped in a small one-street town. Everyone got off the bus, heading straight for a small, unmarked storefront. We followed, naturally curious, and found that they had led us into a tiny yogurt shop. 2 RMB bought a generous serving of the creamiest yogurt I have ever tasted, topped with a generous helping of sugar. I was so busy scarfing it down that I didn’t stop to take a picture. Suffice it to say: Delicious.
3. Lanzhou beef noodles: Lanzhou‘s pulled noodles — Lanzhou la mian, 兰州拉面 — are justly famous across China. The tender wheat noodles, served in broth or fried, make a reliable, quick lunch or dinner no matter where you are. We ate them at the source, where they were served in a spicy beef broth and garnished with cilantro leaves and just a few pieces of beef.
2. Veggie momos: If tsampa is not, perhaps, the ne plus ultra of cuisine, momos — boiled or steamed dumplings — are where Tibet’s food culture shines. The two non-vegetarians enjoyed the gamey yak momos we were served during our trek in Langmusi, but the real highlight was the plate of veggie dumplings we found in Xiahe. The mix of zucchini, green onions and other unknown vegetables was satisfyingly hearty without being heavy in the way of so many dumplings.
1. Roujiabing: I’ve already written about the roujiabing in some detail. The best was not the cumin-flavored lamb sandwich served in Lanzhou (depicted at right), but rather the juicy medley of pork and green peppers served in the market in Jiayuguan. If I could eat only one sandwich for the rest of my life, this might just be it.
And on the other end of the spectrum, the worst thing we ate: strange yellow bread products in Linxia, Gansu Province. We still don’t know what made the bread this color, but it certainly didn’t add anything to the flavor.
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Ditto on the one sandwich for the rest of your life. Maybe you didn’t make it as far as Urumqi but it was either there or Turupan where I had the best fresh, adorned with only a little rock salt bagels of my life.
Going to Vietnam next week and appreciated your post on the tunnels near Saigon.