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Monthly Archives: December 2011

Chinese Loquat – A Sichuan Delicacy

30 Friday Dec 2011

Posted by Kiri W. in China, Fridays - First-time Food Experiences

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China, Chinese, Fruit, loquat, pipagao

One of the fruit we saw everywhere in Sichuan and almost nowhere else in China was pipagao, or loquat.

Pipagao, also known as Chinese plum, is not technically a plum but rather the fruit of a shrub, Eriobotrya japonica, that grows all over Sichuan province. The fruit are yellow to orange, grow in clusters and are slightly smaller than plums. They are sweet, srcumptuos and juicy, and contain one to five dark brown seeds the size of small marbles.

In Sichuan, you can buy them from the roadside, from fruit vendors and street carts, for almost nothing at all. They are considered a great delicacy and are available in 10 pound boxes that were everywhere at airports on inner-Chinese luggage carts – everyone was bringing them where ever they went as presents or for family members. Once packaged in these decorative boxes, the prices skyrocket to substantial even for Westerners, by the way.

Since we were in Sichuan, where they were budget-friendly, I indugled.
Oh, I did.
Boy, did I ever.
I even bought some on the way up the sacred Buddhist mountain Emei, and ate them on temple steps while petting a temple kitty. Absolutely perfect. I’d describe the flavor as something like a peach-plum mixture with a bit of acidity that manages not to take away from their incredible sweetness.

Nutritionally speaking, loquats are excellent sources of Vitamin A, fiber, potassium and manganese, while also being extremely low in sodium. A win-win situation when something so healthy tastes so good! And even better? 8 calories per fruit. Yep. I promise, you won’t regret trying them if you can ever get your hands on them!

Chinese Soups – A Tiny Sampling Of A Vast Menu

28 Wednesday Dec 2011

Posted by Kiri W. in China, Wednesdays - Travel Log

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Beijing, Breakfast, China, Chinese, Eggs, Meat, Sichuan, Soup, Vegetables

Soups, or tang, play a huge role in the Chinese menu – they are served at breakfast and every other meal. Typically, there is a whole soup section on even a small street eatery’s menu, and contrary to the concept of a soup as a starter, it is treated as a main dish and comes in a huge bowl that will serve 2 to 3 people, if not more.

Ingredients and the level of spiciness vary widely between each soup, although there appear to be some favorites. I’ll present a brief sampling that contains most of the soups I had while in China:

1) A dish you will find almost anywhere (including Chinese textbooks!) and that is a traditional, homey meal all across China, is xi hong shi ji dan, or tomato & egg soup. Some are essentially egg drop soup with cubes of tomatoes, others have whole omelets in broth, and yet others are almost more of a tomato bisque with some egg swirled in.

Here’s a version I had in Beijing, which started my love affair with this dish:

In Chengdu, I got the slightly bizarre omelett-in-soup variety:

In Leshan in Sichuan province, I got a much more tomato-soup like version:

2) In Chengdu, I had a lovely soup consisting of broth with baby bok choy leaves – sounds plain, but really wasn’t! Plus, I did the Chinese thing and added some dark rice vinegar 🙂

3) Also in Chengdu, we had a lovely pork and mushroom soup that was earthy and flavorful:

4) In Beijing, in a tiny restaurant near Beihai Park, we got what I think is pretty much hot and sour soup with pork, as one knows it from Chinese restaurants around here:

5) In Emeishan, we had another batch of kelp soup, or hai dai tang, similar to a breakfast dish we had in Wenchuan. This was slippery to eat with chopsticks, and only for those that like chewy seaweed, but I loved it:

6) And finally, from Tangshan, a dish called yun nan guo qiao mi xian, or “noodles that cross the bridge”. This is a specialty containing extremely long rice flour noodles with meat of seafood balls (my version had shrimp balls) as well as some vegetables in a mild, clear broth that can be spiced up with pepper-oil. This is super filling, super cheap, and delicious dish!

So, as a bottom line, tang, or soup, is always a great, warming, filling option you’ll find anywhere, it’s low in calories, healthy, and flavorful, and you can hardly go wrong (Well, except maybe that omelet-soup…). Since you most likely will face many a menu that has no English whatsoever (or random English, with dishes translated as “not food”!), finding the character for tang can be an easy way to point and always get something good, with a surprise element.

What are some of your favorite soups? Are soups strictly a winter food for you? I didn’t expect I’d love hot soups in the heat of China, but it was actually really refreshing and helped me adjust.

Apple Cider Vinegar Braised Leeks And Green Onions

26 Monday Dec 2011

Posted by Kiri W. in Mondays - Healthy Foody Eats Locally, Recipes

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Apple Cider Vinegar, CSA, Food, Green Onions, Leeks, Local, low-calorie, Vegetables

When my CSA share contained leeks and green onions, I knew I wanted to braise them. And what better for a cold weather side dish than apple cider vinegar? Intensely flavorful, warming, and almost too low in calories to count at all, this one of my new Winter favorites!

Recipe adapted from Greene on Greens by Bert Greene

Ingredients:
– 1 large leek
– 3 large green onions
– 2 cloves garlic
– 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
– 1 packet sweetener
– 1 pinch salt
– ground black pepper to taste

Steps:
1.
Spray a pan, then finely dice or crush garlic and brown slightly in pan.

2. Slice leek and green onions and add to pan. Cook over medium heat for about 3 minutes.

3. Add apple cider vinegar, sweetener and salt, stir well, cover and cook for about 15 minutes, until leeks and onions become tender.

4. Add pepper to taste and adjust sweetness if desired. Cook a few more minutes until liquid is reduced. (This version yields a very flavorful dish, but if you prefer it less vinegar-y, reduce apple cider vinegar and add water or apple cider to obtain 1/2 cup liquid total).

5. Enjoy!

Do you ever braise? I feel like braising gets forgotten way too often!

Freeze-dried Fruit – Chinese-Style

23 Friday Dec 2011

Posted by Kiri W. in China, Fridays - First-time Food Experiences

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China, Chinese, Fruit, jackfruit, rambutan, Snacks

In a candy store in Beijing I found dried, unsweetened fruit, including some that I had never had before! The first one I tried was dried jackfruit, which was incredibly popular fresh as well, but with such an overpowering scent that it was reeeally a problem (there is a reason it is nick-named the “stinkfruit”).

This reminded me somewhat of banana chips, though with more tartness, but I don’t think it’ll ever become my favorite food in the world. At least I didn’t feel compelled to try the fresh fruit afterwards!

The other variety I tried was rambutan, a gorgeous looking fruit in a wild, red peel that is related to lychees. I had really wanted to try it fresh, but it was unfortunately not in season when we were in China.

Holy cow, this was delicious! Incredibly sweet, melting in your mouth. I’d definitely recommend rambutan to anyone interested!

I have to say, I’m getting tired of the apple/pear/peach/banana freeze-dried fruit snacks I find here (though I highly recommend my favorites, strawberry-banana
and apple cinnamon
!), so these were a really welcome change. The rambutan I’d get here any day if I could!

How do you like your fruit chips? Fried? Baked? Freeze-dried? Sugared? Or can’t you warm to them at all?

Airport Food in China

21 Wednesday Dec 2011

Posted by Kiri W. in China, Wednesdays - Travel Log

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Airport, China, Chinese, Food, Fruit, Vegetables

Since we just spent a whole day traveling from Ohio to Germany to see my family over the holidays, airport food and airplane meals are on my mind. We took some inner-Chinese flights between Beijing and Chengdu when we were in China, and so we spent some time at airports there. Naturally, we ate.

Now, don’t get me wrong, airplane fare is just as mushy, bland and lukewarm as on American flights, but airport selections were stellar in terms of healthy options. There were KFC and the like, but there were both Chinese fast food and regular restaurants that offered non-fried vegetable dishes and the like.

Observe, for example, my lunch at Beijing airport in the inner-Chinese terminal at a fast food chain called Flavor Tang, which was adjacent to KFC:

That’s right, bok choy in a light broth and a melon cup.

I mean, can you *imagine* fast food like this at an American (or German, for that matter) airport? I was in awe. It was really tasty, too.

Then on our last day, we grabbed lunch at Beijing airport in the international terminal before flying home, and I went to a restaurant called “Acting Halal”, which, as you can guess, offers halal choices (again, how impressive is that?). Here’s what I got:

A mix of mushrooms, cucumbers and peppers stir-fried in a mildly spicy, light brown sauce. Again, very tasty, and wonderfully low calorie and balanced.

Bottom line? European and American airports sure could learn something from the options offered at Chinese airports. Hands down win for China there.

Curried Vegetarian Cauliflower Stir Fry

19 Monday Dec 2011

Posted by Kiri W. in Mondays - Healthy Foody Eats Locally

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Cauliflower, CSA, Curry, Food, Indian, Local, Vegetables

The last few weeks that my CSA was going always included a head of cauliflower, so I tried my hand at some variations of what I normally would do with this vegetable.

Curried cauliflower is wonderfully spicy, warming and substantial and can be a main or a side dish, depending on your mood.

Ingredients:
– 1 head cauliflower
– 4 to 6 oz soy crumbles
– 1 tbsp ginger
– 2 garlic cloves
– 1 tbsp Madras Curry powder
– hot pepper to taste

Steps:
1.
Remove central stem of cauliflower head, careful not to break up the florets

2. Steam covered with a wet paper towel for 5 minutes in the microwave
3. Meanwhile dice garlic, pepper and ginger and toast them in a pan over medium high heat with a pinch of curry powder
4. Add soy crumbles

5. Add cauliflower florets and a shot of water, stir fry for 10 to 15 more minutes, stirring frequently until cauliflower is tender

6. Enjoy!

Curried anything is a comfort food for me in the colder seasons of the year, and this works great with cauliflower. Feels hearty, is very healthy and low calorie. And vegetarian to boot! If you’d prefer, simply swap in lean ground meat of your choice.

What do you like to do with cauliflower? Is it a necessary evil or the star of your meal? Do you like to experiment with different cuisines?

Chinese Grapefruit – Surprisingly Sweet!

16 Friday Dec 2011

Posted by Kiri W. in China, Fridays - First-time Food Experiences

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China, Chinese, Fruit, Grapefruit

On one of my many fruit-stall trips in Beijing, I pointed at a large, pale yellow, melon-sized fruit and asked what it was. Grapefruit, I was told. Grapefruit? That large? That color? Yes, grapefruit. Fine, I thought, I am a wuss when it comes to even the slightest amount of tartness, I don’t need strange Chinese giant grapefruit. Oh, no, I was reassured, these are much sweeter than what you are thinking of. Fine! I thought, and bought one, just to say I’d tried it.

Of course I’d never really eaten a whole grapefruit (I’d be crawling on the floor, spitting and yowling, from the sour taste!), and didn’t even get the concept of grapefruit spoons. Nevertheless, I bravely cut my Chinese grapefruit, which turned out to be a pomelo, a milder citrus fruit, open and attacked it with some sweetener (xylitol) and a regular spoon.

True to what I had been told, it was much sweeter than a Western grapefruit, though still tart enough for me to need sweetener and a break between halves. I am not made for tart foods… If I had to choose between eating a pomelo and, say, walking the plank, I’d definitely go for the pomelo, but for once one of my fruit experiments in China did not leave me with a craving once I got home.

What fruit can’t you abide? For me it’s grapefruit and pineapple. Do you like tartness? My wife sucks on lemons for fun, while I whimper at sour candy!

The Noodle Loft In Beijing

14 Wednesday Dec 2011

Posted by Kiri W. in China, Restaurant Reviews & Eating Out, Wednesdays - Travel Log

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China, Chinese, Food, Fruit, Meat, Noodle Loft, Noodles, Restaurant, Review, Soup, Sweets, Vegetables

On our final night in Beijing, we went to the Noodle Loft, a wonderful, stylish and definitely pricy restaurant focused entirely on many types of noodle, especially Shaanxi-Province-style noodles. Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations show visited the restaurant, which is how we’d found out about it.

The interior is very sleek and modern, with a nice color palette supported by chrome and elegantly clad waiters:

The menu was huge, and we decided to start with a napa cabbage soup before the noodle courses:

The broth was light and vinegary, perfect as a starter.

Now to tackle the many noodle options! Noodle Loft offers knife-cut noodles that are thick and chewy in texture, sort of like udon, “cat’s ears” noodles which are small, shaped like cat ears and reminiscent of gnocchi in texture, hand-pulled noodles, and “noodles made with one single chopstick,” which are extremely long.

My friend went with a buckwheat version of the cat’s ears noodles (a Shaanxi specialty) stir fried with vegetables and sauce. These had  lovely bite to them and were quite different from any other Chinese noodle dish I’ve seen.

My wife opted for the hand-pulled noodles with a spicy beef dipping sauce. These noodles tasted essentially like udon, but weren’t eaten in a soup:

Personally, I ordered vegetable noodles made with a single chopstick, which were green from the vegetables and so long, I felt like I gave half my plate away when I let the others at the table taste one noodle! I chose a typical Shaanxi-style dipping sauce consisting of a lot of vinegar with some dried spices. These noodles were wonderful, filling and just luxurious to bite into!

Now for dessert, Noodle Loft offers a variety of Western-style cakes (cheesecake, chocolate torte, etc), which my friend and wife went for. I on the other hand was determined to have a Chinese dessert on our last night in China, which left many obscure herbal jelly options (one had the character for turtle in the name…), as well as cooked birdsnests (outrageously expensive delicacy). I had initially settled for double-boiled hashima served in a papaya cup, because I love papaya:

The menu depicted it like this:

I figured hashima might be some fruit mash, or glutinous rice meal, but became slightly nervous. My friend’s smart phone and Google rescued me, as we quickly found out that hashima are frog fallopian tubes. Yes. Frog fallopian tubes. They are supposed to cure anything from a headache to tuberculosis in Chinese medicine, and they are a popular dessert.

Let’s just say I quickly regrouped and went with steamed Chinese yam, or hui shan yao, the air root of a climbing vine, with a sea-buckthorn, or sha ji, berry sauce.

I can’t even begin to describe how delicious this warm dessert was! The yam was buttery soft and sweet, melting in your mouth, and its starchiness was wonderfully contrasted bu the almost gelee-like consistency of the sweet but refreshing buckthorn sauce. I was already very full, but couldn’t stand the thought of leaving a single bite behind. I would do anything to get my hands on the ingredients and a recipe!

Bottom line? While somewhat difficult to find, Noodle Loft is definitely worth the trip. The noodles are amazing, and a special treat you won’t find many places outside Shaanxi province, and all other dishes we tasted were simply wonderful as well. On the downside it is certainly pricey, and we had some misunderstandings with the wait staff despite my Chinese-speaking friend doing the ordering. Meat in the sauces/noodle dishes is very sparsely used, so don’t expect Italian meatball sized amounts! I would say it’s a great treat for a special night – 4/5 from me.

Mushroom And Cabbage Stir Fry

13 Tuesday Dec 2011

Posted by Kiri W. in China, Mondays - Healthy Foody Eats Locally, Recipes

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Cabbage, Chinese, CSA, Food, Local, Mushrooms, Recipe, Vegetables

One day late because yesterday was dedicated to cookie devouring!

I’d mentioned that lovely baby bok choy and mushrooms stir fry I had in Beijing last week, and here is the promised recipe attempting to re-create it.

Now, baby bok choy isn’t available easily everywhere, and my CSA share contained green cabbage as well as some cooking greens, so I used those instead. The result wasn’t quite as buttery in texture, but still plenty tasty.

Ingredients:
– 1 small head cabbage
– 1 bunch cooking greens
– 10 oz sliced mushrooms
– 4 cloves garlic
– 2 tbsp ginger root
– 1/2 onion
– 1 hot pepper
– 1/3 cup low-sodium soy sauce
– 1/3 cup dark rice vinegar or balsamic vinegar

Steps:
1.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
2. Chop cabbage and cooking greens into bite size strips and boil for 10 minutes

3. Finely dice garlic, pepper, ginger root and onion

4. Brown in a large pan

5. Add mushrooms, soy sauce and vinegar and simmer for 10 minutes.

6. When mushrooms are tender, add drained cabbage/greens and toss in the sauce mixture to re-heat.
7. Enjoy as a side, or pack lunches for the week that you can easily microwave! Makes about five 2 cup servings.

Are you a cabbage lover, or is it not for you? I’ll take bok choy over green cabbage any day, but I suppose my German nature will take any cabbage more than gladly. What’s your favorite way to highlight/disguise cabbage in a dish?

Food Blogger Cookie Heaven!

12 Monday Dec 2011

Posted by Kiri W. in Recipes

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FB Cookie Swap, Food, Meringues, Snacks, Sweets

That’s right, I participated in the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap 2011, and just look at my awesome haul!

From XXX I got YYY

From XXX I got YYY

From XXX I got YYY

I sent out these cinnamon-spiced butterscotch-chip pecan chocolate cookies that I lightened up to get an amazing 40 kcal per cookie treat! In case you try to keep the cookie damage low over the holidays, like me, here are the nutritional stats to my best estimate: 40kcal, 1.75g fat, 5g carbs, 0.5g protein per cookie. Sound too good to be true? It kind of is, if I may pet myself on the back.

Ingredients:
– 3/4 cup sugar
– 1/4 cup margarine
– 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
– 1/4 cup fat-free egg product like Eggbeaters
– 1 1/8 cup all-purpose flour
– 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
– 1/4 tsp baking soda
– pinch salt
– 1/2 cup butterscotch chips
– 1/2 cup chopped pecans
– 2 tbsp baking cocoa
– 3 packets sugar substitute like Splenda or Sweet’N Low
– 1 tsp ground cinnamon

Steps:
1.
Heat over to 350F
2. Combine egg substitute, sugar, margarine and vanilla in a large bowl and beat on medium speed until you have a creamy consistency.
3. Add flour, baking soda and cream of tartar and stir well.
4. Stir in the pecans and butterscotch chips and divide into 1-inch balls (I used a tablespoon for portioning). You should get about 3 dozen cookies.
5. In a small bowl, combine sugar substitute and cinnamon, then roll the dough balls through the mixture.
6. Place the dough balls about one inch apart from each other on ungreased (!) cookie sheets.
7. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. The cookies should be lightly browned and set into a cookie shape. Immediately move them to a cooling rack.
8. Congratulate yourself on being “good” this Holiday season and dig in.

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The Foodie

  • Kiri W.

Welcome to Healthy Foodie Travels!

This is a food blog focusing on my food experiences while traveling, as well as my recent ventures into locally produced food while at home. I always try to keep health and weight maintenance in focus, but there will be treats!

Currently I'm going through my China adventures, but keep an eye out for soon-to-come entries featuring the holiday season in Germany/Europe.

This blog updates every M/W/F with local food/travel log/first time food experiences.

I hope you enjoy the blog, and I'd love to hear feedback and suggestions, or to try and answer any question you may have!

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