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Home » City specials » Qingdao
City that's good enough to eat
By Tan Weiyun |
August 2, 2011, Tuesday
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QINGDAO seafood and cooking are famous, and popular dishes include shrimp noodles, seaweed jelly, pig's trotters, sea cucumber and purple clams. Tan Weiyun samples the fare.
Coastal Qingdao City in Shandong Province is a cool summertime destination, and not only for its golden beaches, clear sky and the deep blue sea. The city is literally good enough to eat. In a poll of the 100 best Shandong dishes, eight dishes from Qingdao made the list. They range from main courses appearing in brand banquets to light snacks, sea cucumber to pig's trotters.
For most Qingdao locals, there can be no real breakfast without big Qingdao buns. The steamed buns of soft dough contain rich, tender fillings - including minced pork, fresh vegetables, black fungus and the city's famed seafood.
During the 1980s, the buns were especially popular and it was common to see long lines of people waiting early in the morning for the first batch of steaming hot and fragrant buns.
"I often took my daughter to buy the buns at 6 o'clock when the savory pork aroma filled the street," recalls 65-year-old native Chen Xiunan.
A big bowl of shrimp noodles is popular for lunch throughout the Shandong Peninsula. It's easy to make with big succulent shrimp.
In Shandong, many people make noodles themselves - from making and kneading dough to finally slicing or pulling - instead of buying ready-made noodles in a market. Handmade noodles are softer and more elastic than store-bought.
The shelled and cleaned shrimp from Bohai Sea are first steamed, then cooked with noodles. Leeks, sesame oil, pepper and caraway seeds are added.
The shrimp noodles are sometimes served with a pot of steamed bayu (mackerel) balls. Mackerel is often used in local cooking; it's braised, fried, salted, sauteed and made into stuffing for dumplings, wonton and pastry.
For the fish ball soup, fresh-caught mackerel is mashed, combined with minced pork and seasoning and shaped into balls. After being simmered for hours, the soup stock is savory, the high-protein fish balls are tender and not greasy.
Seaweed jelly is another popular summer snack and side dish in Qingdao. Made from Shihua seaweed growing near the shore, it can be prepared in many ways.
The jelly can be seasoned with mashed garlic, topped with sweet vinegar, soaked in sesame oil or dipped with soy sauce.
Seaweed is fat-free and contains many important phytonutrients, such as polysaccharides that help detoxify body and absorb toxic metals such as mercury and lead.
For supper there are main dishes such as red-braised Liuting pig's trotters, sea cucumber stewed with minced pork and tongue-shaped Xishishe clams.
The red-braised pork, famous for more than 100 years, is known for its jelly-like meat. The recipe was developed by Fusheng restaurant now operated by a fifth-generation of owners. It also offers the authentic recipe of Liuting pigs' trotters seasoned with ginger, onions, garlic, anise, cassia, rock sugar and various other herbs. The washed trotters are boiled with herbs until it becomes tender; then it's simmered for an hour until it thickens. The froth and oil is skimmed from the surface and it's cooled overnight. The next morning, there's jellied trotters.
Sea cucumber was once rare and a delicacy for ordinary people, but today it is farmed and quite common.
For sea cucumber stewed with pork the most important aspect is selection of the right pork that's very fatty, 70 percent fat. The pork should be minced and quickly dipped in boiling water to blanch it. Then water, soy sauce, sugar and sea cucumber are added to the pork; it's all simmered until the seasonings are fully absorbed.
The slightly sweet and gelatinous dish is usually served to special guests.
Purple, tongue-shaped Xishishe clams live in deep water and can grow to a length of 8 centimeters.
After cooking, the clam meat turns white and tasty. It's a must at barbecues.
For seafood lovers, Red Island All Seafood Banquet is not to be missed. All kinds of fish, crustaceans, clams, conches, sea snails, scallops and other creatures are prepared in a variety of ways - quick-fried, sauteed, red-braised, served raw, or any other way.
The island also features wild vegetables and fungus that can be steamed, sauteed or served raw with mashed garlic and sweet bean sauce.
Coastal Qingdao City in Shandong Province is a cool summertime destination, and not only for its golden beaches, clear sky and the deep blue sea. The city is literally good enough to eat. In a poll of the 100 best Shandong dishes, eight dishes from Qingdao made the list. They range from main courses appearing in brand banquets to light snacks, sea cucumber to pig's trotters.
For most Qingdao locals, there can be no real breakfast without big Qingdao buns. The steamed buns of soft dough contain rich, tender fillings - including minced pork, fresh vegetables, black fungus and the city's famed seafood.
During the 1980s, the buns were especially popular and it was common to see long lines of people waiting early in the morning for the first batch of steaming hot and fragrant buns.
"I often took my daughter to buy the buns at 6 o'clock when the savory pork aroma filled the street," recalls 65-year-old native Chen Xiunan.
A big bowl of shrimp noodles is popular for lunch throughout the Shandong Peninsula. It's easy to make with big succulent shrimp.
In Shandong, many people make noodles themselves - from making and kneading dough to finally slicing or pulling - instead of buying ready-made noodles in a market. Handmade noodles are softer and more elastic than store-bought.
The shelled and cleaned shrimp from Bohai Sea are first steamed, then cooked with noodles. Leeks, sesame oil, pepper and caraway seeds are added.
The shrimp noodles are sometimes served with a pot of steamed bayu (mackerel) balls. Mackerel is often used in local cooking; it's braised, fried, salted, sauteed and made into stuffing for dumplings, wonton and pastry.
For the fish ball soup, fresh-caught mackerel is mashed, combined with minced pork and seasoning and shaped into balls. After being simmered for hours, the soup stock is savory, the high-protein fish balls are tender and not greasy.
Seaweed jelly is another popular summer snack and side dish in Qingdao. Made from Shihua seaweed growing near the shore, it can be prepared in many ways.
The jelly can be seasoned with mashed garlic, topped with sweet vinegar, soaked in sesame oil or dipped with soy sauce.
Seaweed is fat-free and contains many important phytonutrients, such as polysaccharides that help detoxify body and absorb toxic metals such as mercury and lead.
For supper there are main dishes such as red-braised Liuting pig's trotters, sea cucumber stewed with minced pork and tongue-shaped Xishishe clams.
The red-braised pork, famous for more than 100 years, is known for its jelly-like meat. The recipe was developed by Fusheng restaurant now operated by a fifth-generation of owners. It also offers the authentic recipe of Liuting pigs' trotters seasoned with ginger, onions, garlic, anise, cassia, rock sugar and various other herbs. The washed trotters are boiled with herbs until it becomes tender; then it's simmered for an hour until it thickens. The froth and oil is skimmed from the surface and it's cooled overnight. The next morning, there's jellied trotters.
Sea cucumber was once rare and a delicacy for ordinary people, but today it is farmed and quite common.
For sea cucumber stewed with pork the most important aspect is selection of the right pork that's very fatty, 70 percent fat. The pork should be minced and quickly dipped in boiling water to blanch it. Then water, soy sauce, sugar and sea cucumber are added to the pork; it's all simmered until the seasonings are fully absorbed.
The slightly sweet and gelatinous dish is usually served to special guests.
Purple, tongue-shaped Xishishe clams live in deep water and can grow to a length of 8 centimeters.
After cooking, the clam meat turns white and tasty. It's a must at barbecues.
For seafood lovers, Red Island All Seafood Banquet is not to be missed. All kinds of fish, crustaceans, clams, conches, sea snails, scallops and other creatures are prepared in a variety of ways - quick-fried, sauteed, red-braised, served raw, or any other way.
The island also features wild vegetables and fungus that can be steamed, sauteed or served raw with mashed garlic and sweet bean sauce.
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