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    Home » China

    Happy Birthday Bryan - an Ode to Noodles and Ducks

    Published: Oct 6, 2010 · Modified: Oct 22, 2014 by Jennifer Che

    IMG_3280
    Today is Bryan's birthday, so I've dedicated this post to him and the foods he loves.

    My husband Bryan absolutely LOVES noodles. Fresh, handmade noodles. The fatter, the chewier, the better. Pictured above? Biang biang noodles. I'd never heard of them, but they are among the widest handmade noodles I'd ever seen. We tried them in Xian, China. They were delicious, and only cost like $2.

    He also LOVES Peking duck. And guess what? We were in Beijing for the first week of our trip.

    So guess what we ate everyday?

    NoodleBar_China
    Thick, Chewy, Hand-pulled Noodles
    Northern China is totally known for its noodles, so of course we had to seek out la mian, hand-pulled noodles. It's been depressing in Boston ever since the one and only hand-pulled noodle place, Noodle Alcove, closed years ago. Since we have no access to la mian normally here in Boston, we had to maximize our noodle opportunities in Beijing.

    One the second day of our trip, we walked to this cute little noodle bar (called Noodle Bar) in Beijing that made fantastic, hand-pulled noodles. We had a great time sitting at the bar watching the noodle master pull noodles right in front of our eyes. Of course, the soups were delicious.
    EatingPekingDuck
    Best Peking Duck?
    People will argue forever about the best Peking duck in Beijing, but I consistently read fantastic reviews about  a restaurant called Made In China. I'll post a more detailed review later, but look how happy Bryan looks eating his Peking duck!
    BryanHoleInWall
    Hole In the Wall
    We met up with some friends in Beijing who took us to this restaurant they affectionately called "Hole-In-the- Wall." More details to come in a later post, but are you surprised that we ordered dao xiao mian (knife cut noodles) and Peking duck?
    BryanDaDong
    Da Dong
    In my research, this other Peking duck restaurant called Da Dong popped up a lot as a favorite. Even though Bryan still maintains that Made In China makes the best Peking duck, I personally had a lot more fun at this restaurant because they have a huge extensive menu with lots of other interesting dishes. More pictures from that meal coming soon!
    _MG_5212
    World Expo 2010 Shanghai
    When we finally landed in Shanghai I told Bryan I was sick of Peking duck and I really wanted to try some other food! Ha ha . . we moved onto trying lots of xiao long baos (soup dumplings), one of Shanghai's specialties.

    But wait! While at "Chinese Food Street," a huge food court at the World Expo showcasing all the different foods from China's various provinces, we stumbled upon the Beijing section, which, of course, was featuring Quanjude, the most famous Peking duck place in Beijing.

    Quanjude was established in 1864 during the Qing Dynasty. The first Quanjude manager, Yang Renquan, took the imperial recipe for Peking duck and used it to open the first Quanjude in Beijing, thus introducing this amazing dish to the common folks.

    So of course, Bryan had to squeeze one last Peking duck dish into our trip! Look how happy he looks!
    _MG_4484
    Great Wall of China

    I have so much more to share from our amazing trip. This is just a tiny peek. Look out the next couple weeks for posts related to some fantastic meals we had in Beijing, Xian, and Shanghai!

    Happy Birthday Bryan!

    It's still not to late to vote for Project Food Blog, Round 3. You can see my entry and vote here.

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    Reader Interactions

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    1. Tao Asian Bistro at the Venetian in Las Vegas - Tiny Urban Kitchen says:
      January 13, 2017 at 1:11 am

      […] loves Peking Duck. In fact, we sought it out almost every meal when we were in Beijing. It’s much harder to […]

      Log in to Reply
    2. Mott32 Dim Sum Hong Kong - Tiny Urban Kitchen says:
      May 8, 2018 at 5:23 am

      […] first learned about it while research best Peking duck places in Hong Kong. Bryan is a huge fan of Peking duck (as is evidenced by our daily consumption of the dish when we were in Beijing), and […]

      Log in to Reply
    3. Man Wah Hong Kong - One Michelin Star - Tiny Urban Kitchen says:
      October 22, 2018 at 1:05 pm

      […] be a couple meals where everyone would be in Hong Kong together. Because Bryan has always been a huge fan of Peking duck, I began my search for the perfect restaurant by focusing on Hong Kong’s best places for […]

      Log in to Reply
    4. Mott32 Peking Duck - One of the best in Hong Kong - Tiny Urban Kitchen says:
      October 28, 2018 at 11:34 am

      […] first learned about Mott32 while researching best Peking duck places in Hong Kong. Bryan is a huge fan of Peking duck (as is evidenced by our daily consumption of the dish when we were in Beijing), and […]

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    Jennifer Che Tiny Urban Kitchen
    Jennifer Che Tiny Urban Kitchen

    Hi, my name's Jen and welcome to my cooking, eating, and travel site! I am an expat who moved from Boston to Hong Kong 5 years ago. Born and raised in Ohio to Taiwanese immigrant parents, I am a chemistry nerd, patent attorney by day, blogger by night, church musician on weekends, and food enthusiast always. Feel free to explore away, maybe starting with the Recipe Index or one of the travel pages! I hope you enjoy this site!

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