Monday January 30, 2012
"Don't eat strawberries in China" my friend Tim said during our trip to North Korea in 2010. "You'll catch polio because of the unsanitary farming techniques"
Those words have since echoed in my mind whenever I've travelled overseas. Tim is a wise fellow and I'm sure he's offered me much more profound advice, but strawberries in China are all I think about.
Notwithstanding the anxiety with fruit I've certainly had no reason to disagree with China's reputation as a gourmand's paradise. And naturally I've had people back in Australia ask me about the food in Harbin.
Manchuria is less rice orientated than the warmer southern regions of China, so dumplings ("jiaoxi") are well presented as typical indigenous fare in Harbin (In fact I'd only eaten rice once over the five days here). Thanks to the guide book I found a dumpling restaurant which had an English menu. Although upon arrival it was apparent they literally have only one copy of it - the only white people in the packed restaurant had their menu ripped out of their hands when I asked for one.
I'd now been to the the Orient King Of Dumplings multiple times and enjoyed the shrimp, pork & chives and "three meats" dumplings there. A meal takes less than AU$3 to feed me which, if you've seen me eat, is some effort. Moreover the place has free wi-fi, so I can check my e-mails on the phone during the interminable wait for my order. Bravo for value!
There are many Russian restaurants in the old part of town, reflecting their erstwhile contribution to Harbin. Cafe Russia 1914 is popular with locals and tourists alike, and is always crowded. When I visited for lunch the scramble for tables was so fierce a Kiwi family and I decided to consolidate as one table. When the owner saw this he made sure we were in no doubt that separate bills would not be provided. Yes, yes, we understand - please let us eat, we are cold and hungry.
The Russian dishes we tried were all terrific, not that I'm an expert on eastern European cuisine. The borscht looked authentic, the thinly sliced Russian sausage was smoky heaven, and my favourite - bread pockets stuffed with meat and onion - were perfectly spiced. Later I found out those pies were called "pirozhki" in Russian - a complete mystery at the time as the English menu described them as "fried bags". Mmmm, bags.
In Iran a couple of months ago tour mate Gabrielle warned "Don't eat ice cream whilst travelling". She then began to tell of an epic personal story of how foreign ice cream could devastate one's body, the details which I will spare you of (as much for Gabrielle's dignity as your enjoyment of reading).
Incredibly people of Harbin can't get enough of this yellow paddle pop ice cream, despite the -25C degree temperature. Seeing the frenzy I thought "I'll ignore Gabrielle's advice just this once. It must be good if people are going mad for it in this weather."
Indeed it was excellent - one of the creamiest things I've ever tasted and surprisingly refreshing under the warmth of all the clothing. However it did give me an ice cream headache that lasted four hours.
I should have taken it home - it's not like it would have melted!
The bitter cold constantly tempts one to eat and as with other Chinese cities there is plenty of street food to grab one's attention - lamb kebabs (80c for two sticks!), Harbin sausage, freshly baked bread. All absolutely delicious and WARM.
Competing with the paddle pops as the most popular street food is jujube covered with toffee served on a stick. I'm not sure whether this snack is particular to Harbin, but they seem to be everywhere. I'd never tasted fresh jujube before - only dried - and didn't even realise what they were until I looked it up online afterwards. I had no idea Chinese dates tasted like apples, I was impressed. There are also many other fruits sold on sticks covered in toffee - Kiwi fruit, pineapple, bananas, STRAWBERRIES - but jujube seems to be the original and the best.
It sounds like I've been delighted by everything. For the sake of balance I'll mention that wheat noodles are also a speciality in this part of China but I've not had a satisfying dish yet. The hand made noodle houses in Sydney's Haymarket do pretty well! Hot pots are also meant to be a delight in this weather and region but it's unlikely I'll be indulging in that.
Harbin is a modern cosmopolitan city, and as such there is plenty of other cuisine available - Cantonese, Shanghainese, Korean, Taiwanese eateries are abundant. I even saw a Middle Eastern kebab outlet, which I've promised myself to visit later.
Unfortunately as with much of the world the young people love visiting the multinationals - KFC, McDonald's, and the western pizza restaurants are all jam packed at all hours. Starbucks opened its first Harbin branch just six weeks ago and already there are two within 200m of each other in the old part of town. Shoot me now!
With all this going on outside the apartment the groceries I bought on the first morning are going to waste. I'm especially having trouble tucking into the apples as I keep hearing Tim's voice:
"Don't eat strawberries in China" my friend Tim said during our trip to North Korea in 2010. "You'll catch polio because of the unsanitary farming techniques"
Those words have since echoed in my mind whenever I've travelled overseas. Tim is a wise fellow and I'm sure he's offered me much more profound advice, but strawberries in China are all I think about.
Notwithstanding the anxiety with fruit I've certainly had no reason to disagree with China's reputation as a gourmand's paradise. And naturally I've had people back in Australia ask me about the food in Harbin.
Manchuria is less rice orientated than the warmer southern regions of China, so dumplings ("jiaoxi") are well presented as typical indigenous fare in Harbin (In fact I'd only eaten rice once over the five days here). Thanks to the guide book I found a dumpling restaurant which had an English menu. Although upon arrival it was apparent they literally have only one copy of it - the only white people in the packed restaurant had their menu ripped out of their hands when I asked for one.
I'd now been to the the Orient King Of Dumplings multiple times and enjoyed the shrimp, pork & chives and "three meats" dumplings there. A meal takes less than AU$3 to feed me which, if you've seen me eat, is some effort. Moreover the place has free wi-fi, so I can check my e-mails on the phone during the interminable wait for my order. Bravo for value!
 |
| Orient King Of Dumplings, Harbin |
There are many Russian restaurants in the old part of town, reflecting their erstwhile contribution to Harbin. Cafe Russia 1914 is popular with locals and tourists alike, and is always crowded. When I visited for lunch the scramble for tables was so fierce a Kiwi family and I decided to consolidate as one table. When the owner saw this he made sure we were in no doubt that separate bills would not be provided. Yes, yes, we understand - please let us eat, we are cold and hungry.
 |
| Cafe Russia 1914, Harbin |
The Russian dishes we tried were all terrific, not that I'm an expert on eastern European cuisine. The borscht looked authentic, the thinly sliced Russian sausage was smoky heaven, and my favourite - bread pockets stuffed with meat and onion - were perfectly spiced. Later I found out those pies were called "pirozhki" in Russian - a complete mystery at the time as the English menu described them as "fried bags". Mmmm, bags.
In Iran a couple of months ago tour mate Gabrielle warned "Don't eat ice cream whilst travelling". She then began to tell of an epic personal story of how foreign ice cream could devastate one's body, the details which I will spare you of (as much for Gabrielle's dignity as your enjoyment of reading).
Incredibly people of Harbin can't get enough of this yellow paddle pop ice cream, despite the -25C degree temperature. Seeing the frenzy I thought "I'll ignore Gabrielle's advice just this once. It must be good if people are going mad for it in this weather."
Indeed it was excellent - one of the creamiest things I've ever tasted and surprisingly refreshing under the warmth of all the clothing. However it did give me an ice cream headache that lasted four hours.
I should have taken it home - it's not like it would have melted!
The bitter cold constantly tempts one to eat and as with other Chinese cities there is plenty of street food to grab one's attention - lamb kebabs (80c for two sticks!), Harbin sausage, freshly baked bread. All absolutely delicious and WARM.
 |
| Street food in Harbin |
Competing with the paddle pops as the most popular street food is jujube covered with toffee served on a stick. I'm not sure whether this snack is particular to Harbin, but they seem to be everywhere. I'd never tasted fresh jujube before - only dried - and didn't even realise what they were until I looked it up online afterwards. I had no idea Chinese dates tasted like apples, I was impressed. There are also many other fruits sold on sticks covered in toffee - Kiwi fruit, pineapple, bananas, STRAWBERRIES - but jujube seems to be the original and the best.
 |
| All sorts of toffee-covered fruit! |
It sounds like I've been delighted by everything. For the sake of balance I'll mention that wheat noodles are also a speciality in this part of China but I've not had a satisfying dish yet. The hand made noodle houses in Sydney's Haymarket do pretty well! Hot pots are also meant to be a delight in this weather and region but it's unlikely I'll be indulging in that.
Harbin is a modern cosmopolitan city, and as such there is plenty of other cuisine available - Cantonese, Shanghainese, Korean, Taiwanese eateries are abundant. I even saw a Middle Eastern kebab outlet, which I've promised myself to visit later.
Unfortunately as with much of the world the young people love visiting the multinationals - KFC, McDonald's, and the western pizza restaurants are all jam packed at all hours. Starbucks opened its first Harbin branch just six weeks ago and already there are two within 200m of each other in the old part of town. Shoot me now!
With all this going on outside the apartment the groceries I bought on the first morning are going to waste. I'm especially having trouble tucking into the apples as I keep hearing Tim's voice:
 |
| I don't like polio. |
