Beijing cuisine is characterized by its elegant, mildly flavoured dishes with a liberal use of garlic and spring onions. The capital city has lots of affordable and interesting food choices.
In this post, we share our gastronomic experience in Beijing. We tried the following:
- Peking Roast Duck 北京烤鸭
- Douzhi 豆汁
- Bao Du 爆肚
- Da Lu Mian, 打卤面
- Zha Jiang Mian 炸酱面
- Wonton Soup 云吞汤
- Chinese breakfast 中式早餐
- Chinese egg pancake 鸡蛋灌饼 and grilled cold noodles 烤冷面
- Cold Tossed Salad 凉拌菜
- Dessert 甜品
Peking Roast Duck 北京烤鸭
We enjoyed dinner at Quanjude Qianmen shop(全聚德烤鸭前门店) on our first night in Beijing. There are about 10 Quanjude branches in Beijing with this restaurant being the oldest with a history of nearly 150 years.
We ordered their signature peony set consisting of 1 duck, 1 appetizer and 1 soup. The duck is sliced with meat and arranged artfully like a peony on a specially crafted plate. The sliced roast duck is served with thin pancake, cucumber, spring onion and sauce.
The Peking roast duck served in Singapore usually has its skin carved out and served with pancake. The duck meat is then served cooked with noodles or rice, or stir-fried with other ingredients. At Quan Ju De, the duck skin and meat are served together. Besides sweet sauce, the duck is also served with white sugar and minced garlic as condiment. Something unusual.
Douzhi 豆汁
We tried douzhi 豆汁, bao du 爆肚and Da Lu Mian, 打卤面 at Yin San Dou Zhi 尹三豆汁, a Michelin Guide Restaurant.
Douzhi 豆汁 is a traditional fermented drink from Beijing cuisine made from mung beans. Similar to soya milk, douzhi is made as a byproduct of glass noodles 冬粉 production. It has a light grey colour and a distinct, slightly sour smell and more of an acquired taste.
Douzhi has a recorded history of over 300 years and enjoyed as a popular breakfast staple by residents of Beijing. By the Qing dynasty, douzhi’s popularity had even reached the imperial court. In modern Beijing, Douzhi is more than just a drink—it is a symbol of local culinary tradition and an experience for those seeking to connect with authentic Beijing culture.
Some believe douzhi to have cooling and detoxification effects due to the properties of mung beans in traditional Chinese medicine.
It’s usually paired with jiao quan 焦圈. At Yin San, they served douzhi with 5 side; jiao quan, peanut sesame balls, crackers, pickles and hawthorn cake. There are some other free-flow sides for diners to self-serve.
Bao Du 爆肚
Bao du is a tripe dish that is part of Beijing cuisine. The beef (or lamb) tripe is sliced and blanched in boiling water, then mixed with seasoning. The seasoning is mainly a mix of fermented tofu, sesame paste with other seasoning added according to taste.
Da Lu Mian, 打卤面
Da lu mian (打卤面) is a type of northern Chinese comfort food prepared with noodles and any type of gravy or sauce. It is a noodle dish that is prepared with common ingredients in every household pantry.
Zha Jiang Mian 炸酱面
Zhajiangmian is a dish consisting of thick wheat noodles topped with zhajiang, a fermented soybean-based sauce with ground pork. It is usually served with cucumber and carrot strips.
We had zhajiang mian at Qianmen’s Fang Zhuan Chang 方砖厂, a Michelin recommended restaurant.
We ordered their signature zhajiang mian and a side dish to go. Their zhajiang mian is served with meat sauce and 13 toppings.
Wonton Soup 云吞汤
Wontons are Chinese dumplings, usually filled with meat, seafood and vegetables, wrapped in yellow square dough wrapper. Wontons are served either boiled or deep-fried.
We had wonton soup (¥18 to ¥28 each) at one of the local eateries for dinner. Wonton soups here are usually paired with pork buns or bao zi. So we got a puzzled look when we ordered white rice to go with them. We also ordered 2 side dishes: celery with beancurd stick and peanuts (¥8), and Emperor Qianlong’s cabbage (¥12).
Emperor Qianlong’s cabbage 乾隆白菜 is a rare raw vegetable salad in Chinese cuisine. Made by tossing Chinese cabbage in a sesame sauce dressing, the salad has a crunchy bite.
Chinese breakfast 中式早餐
Local style breakfast at Si Xi Bao Zi 四西包子 before visiting Forbidden City. We ordered a stir-fried liver + pork buns 炒肝+猪肉包子 (¥58), a red bean soup (¥8) and a millet porridge to share .
Stir-fried liver or chao gan evolved from stewed pork liver 熬肝 and stir-fried pork lung (熬肺), folk foods from the Song Dynasty (960-1279). It consists of chopped chitterlings cooked in a thick stew.
Both stir-fried liver and pork buns are part of Beijing’s intangible heritage and landmark food.
My red bean soup is not served seasoned so neither savoury or sweet. Guess we had to do it on our own, but I had it as it was.
We had breakfast at Nan Cheng Xiang (南城香) before visiting Mutianyu Great Wall. The Chinese style fast food is inexpensive. We chose to have two tea leaf eggs at ¥2.50 each and top up ¥3 for the simple buffet. We were given a bowl to help yourselves with porridge, hot and sour soup, soy milk and pickles at the buffet corner.
Our breakfast before heading back to Singapore.
McDonalds breakfast of Sausage (pork) McMuffin with egg 猪柳蛋麦满分, youtiao 油条and coffee. Diners get to choose between the traditional hash brown or youtiao.
Chinese egg pancake 鸡蛋灌饼 and grilled cold noodles 烤冷面
We had street food for dinner on one of the nights.
Our choice from the menu: Chinese egg pancake with chicken floss 鸡蛋灌饼+鸡肉丝 (¥11) and grilled cold noodles with sausage 烤冷面+烤肠 (¥9).
Grilled cold noodles usually cooked with thin noodles that somewhat resemble pieces of paper, and with eggs, onions, and other ingredients and condiment. The grilled noodles tasted kind of chewy.
Chinese egg pancake is a snack similar to a wrap, prepared with choice of ingredients.
Cold Tossed Salad 凉拌菜
Cold tossed salad sold at one of the supermarkets along Dongsi North Street 东四大街. We got to pick our own ingredients and tossed with spicy dressing before weighing (¥15.80 per 500g). Ingredients include shredded vegetable, sliced root vegetables, soy bean products, cooked noodles, kelp and peanuts. We like it so much we had it twice in a row.
Dessert 甜品
Tanghulu is traditionally a Northern Chinese dessert consisting of several malt sugar coated Chinese hawthorn fruits on a bamboo skewer.
Tanghulu is said to have originated in Southern Song dynasty. It is typically made by skewering hawthorn fruits and coating them in heated sugar syrup, which hardens in the cold. In modern times, the fruit choices are more diverse, such as grapes, strawberries, cherry tomatoes, etc.
During our visit to Forbidden City, we visited one of the restaurants and enjoyed their dessert.
We chose to have a walnut paste 宫廷核桃酪, bayberry (yang mei) lychee drink 馥郁红梅妃子饮 and Chinese pear drink 清润雪梨羹, together with a persimmon mousse cake 柿柿如意 (柿子口味慕斯蛋糕). The prices of the cakes range from ¥32 to ¥38, and the cold and hot desserts are priced at ¥28 each.
We had hot snow fungus and pear soup (¥20) at Qianmen. In traditional Chinese medicine, this combination is believed to nourish the lungs, sooth the throat and dispel any heatiness.
Bubble Tea & Beverages 泡泡茶/饮料
Ordering food and beverages via Meituan app is very easy so we had bubble tea and beverages every night. Some of the unusual flavours we tried included coriander lemonade, avocado sago.
