Spirit 'It' cocktail class

Bob Louison informs me that he and Ariel will be holding a cocktail class this Saturday, 21st February, in the Grand Millenium's Havana Bar from 6-8pm. The cocktail list is still to be finalized but will likely include creative variations on the Martini, Mojito, Bloody Mary and a few surprises. The cost will be 220 RMB. You should contact Bob to reserve a place.

Bob
Mobile: 15010352077
13811787292
Email: bobariels@gmail.com

Grand Millenium
Fortune Plaza 7, Dongsanhuan Zhonglu, Guomao
东三环中路7号财富中心
8587-6888

Update: photos from the class

Beijing's Top Five Watering Holes

Beijing Boyce, the man behind the essential blog for making the most of Beijing's night life, was kind enough to post on my picks for Beijing's Top Five Watering Holes. While you're there be sure to check out the other Top Fives, you might just find a new favorite.

Anyone have a favorite that's not on the list?

Also, Diana Kuan recently posted a cool interview with Boyce on her Appetite for China blog.

Time Out's Neighborhood Nibbles

I just picked up the February issue of Time Out, and it has a cool special feature called "Neighborhood Nibbles - The greatest restaurants you've never heard of". There are about 28 restaurants on the list, sprinkled around Beijing, some chosen by the likes of model and restaurateur Li Ai, Hanggai lead singer Yi Liqi and Made in China Chef Jin Qiang.

Some of my favorites made the list (Qintangfu, Guomao Kaochi and Greedy Chicken Wings), and there were plenty of new-to-me hidden gems I'm looking forward to checking out.

It can be hard to find copies of TO this late in the month, so reader's can go here for the E-edition.

In high spirits

A few weeks ago Grace and I went to a cocktail making class at JW Marriot's Loong Bar, which turned out to be a blast. The class was put on by Bob Louison, former China Doll 3.3 Manager, and Ariel, who now run Spirit 'It' bar consulting and events company. Beverages were supplied by Grand Marinier and Identity Fruit, a Beijing based juice and smoothie company.

The class learned to make a Cosmpolitan, Sidecar, Margarita, B52, and a creation called Blueberry Night's which featured Identity Fruit's blueberry and apple juice. The class was hands on, and best of all, we got to drink all of our creations.

Bob and Ariel plan on holding regular classes and I'll post about them here in advance for those who are interested; the class is highly recommended for anyone in Beijing who wants to learn how to make cocktails, have a fun date, or just try something new.

Loong Bar has a classy, yet comfortable atmopshere

Each participant had their own set of professional gear

Beijing Gourmand demonstrates proper shaking technique

Grace making a B52 (Kahlua base, then Bailey's, then Grand Marinier -- all poured carefully so they don't mix)

Bob Louison wants to see you behind bars

One down, six to go

image source

The year is only five days old and already one of my seven possible surprises from China in 2009 has come true: Two Chinese companies plan World's largest solar plant.

Here is a recap of the list:

- China captures Osama Bin Laden in Xinjiang
- China rolls out large scale, commercially viable, desalination
- Breakthroughs in applying nanotech to solve everyday problems
- NGOs begin to play a major role in China's social and political spheres
- China announces it will build the world's largest... (solar plant, theme park, airplane)
- Chinese basketball team signs Denis Rodman
- A Chinese designed car wins worldwide critical acclaim


Bonus: China produces a beer that actually tastes good (I plan on doing a post soon on Yanjing's 'Special Brew')

An inconvenient truth about the Japanese diet & The decline of traditional farming

Besides providing insight into the effects of modernization and globalization on the Japanese diet and agricultural system, the above video is remarkable in that it is a rare example of an effective and interesting communication from a government body, the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (h/t to The Global Small Business Blog). While Japan has its own unique dietary and agricultural practices, the general trends outlined in this video can be seen from Bordeaux to Baoding.

For more on the decline of traditional agriculture in Japan, see this National Geographic piece: "My neighbor Totoro" ecosystem declining in Japan. The sad thing is that this holistic and balanced approach to agriculture is disappearing at a time when it has never been more relevant.

Guijie - Not just for hotpot

Guijie on a chilly night is one of the quintessential Beijing experiences. To the untrained eye the neon lights will appear garish, but to those in the know they give a warm, at-home feeling. And there's something satisfying about walking along the street trying to choose a restaurant, deciding only after a judicious weighing of options, perhaps amongst a group of friends, or sometimes impulsively going into the first joint that piques your whimsy ("Hey, we've never been here before!"). Unlike at Houhai, even the touts aren't enough to spoil a stroll along Guijie, and if anything, they add to the atmosphere.

We normally choose one of the many hotpot options on Guijie, but the week before had tried, and been disappointed by, the Dongzhimen location of Huajia Yiyuan (花家怡园）, a restaurant serving "contemporary Chinese cuisine", popular among locals and expats alike. Huajia Yiyuan's wannabe chic design, shabby furniture, and exceedingly mediocre food left me feeling like the emperor has no clothes. Perhaps the original courtyard location on Guijie proper is better, but personally I'd rather spend my money at any of the Da Dong restaurants.


Trying to put the previous week's disappointment behind us, and wanting to break the hotpot routine, we set out on the south side of the street. The first place of interest we came to was a gift-shop type store selling local delicacies from the grasslands of Inner Mongolia. For readers who have been to either of the Mongolias and picked up a taste for milk tea with butter, horse-milk alcohol, or beef jerky （牛肉干）, then this is the place to stock up. We got a small bag of the latter and a Yanjing to wash it down with.


Next we went to Zaizai Heiya (仔仔黑鸭), a store specializing in duck and duck offal. These types of stores are usually no more than small windows selling to passerby, but this store had some flair, and even a celebrity following.

Zaizai Heiya sells whole ducks and duck wings, along with duck necks, gizzards, feet, livers, stomach, heads and tongues. We opted for the spicy duck tongues （鸭舌）. Duck tongues may gross out some readers, but I didn't choose them for their shock value (I'll leave that to the pros over at Weird Meat). Duck tongues, which are brined, are simply delicious. Hangzhou cuisine has a very lightly flavored version, but these Wuhan style spicy duck tongues were even better. Duck tongues are surprisingly meaty, and unlike duck or chicken feet are relatively easy to eat, with only a small core of soft cartilage putting up token resistance.

Having whet our appetite, we headed across the street to Shougan Mianguan (手擀面馆) for hearty hand-pulled noodles, and the best ganbian siji dou (干煸四季豆) I've ever tasted.

Pssss....Beijing Thanksgiving Secret

Want to know how to get the best Thanksgiving meal in Beijing? The secret isn't where, but when. Wait until the day after Thanksgiving and then head over to Steak & Eggs for leftover turkey sandwiches. You get your turkey fix without all the fuss. And a true gourmand knows a cold leftover turkey sandwich, preferably with a slice of cheddar and a slather of mayo, is better than the bird with all the trimmings.

Steak & Eggs home page

Turay's Place - Heart of Deliciousness

Beijing is blessed with human and culinary diversity. Residents have the good fortune to not only sample all of China's regional dishes, but can also eat their way around the world without ever leaving the city. One hidden gem exemplifying this is Turay's Place, which serves pan-African home style cooking. Turay's, the eponymous brainchild of a long-term Beijing resident hailing from Sierra Leone, has a down-to-earth atmosphere which is a cross between a local diner and your own living room.

The make yourself at home comfort of Turay's isn't surprising given how the restaurant got its start. Turay and other friends craving the flavors of home regularly host dinner parties which can attract more than 20 people. It was the encouragement of these friends, and their need for a larger venue, which led Turay to open his own restaurant. Turay began by finding a quiet, out of the way, location so that the intimacy of the home dinners wouldn't be lost. Then, his wife trained their cooks until they could flawlessly reproduce African dishes from her own family recipes. His wife has done such a great job that many of their friends mistakenly think she's in the kitchen preparing the dishes herself.

Turay shows me the difference between a yam and a sweet potato — about 5 kilograms.

One of Turay's biggest challenges is that he must satisfy cravings for home-style food for people from all over Africa. Someone from the meat loving south of Africa might not appreciate the vegetable focused dishes of the east, those from coastal regions will prefer a fish dish, and someone from West Africa will want a spicy kick to their meal. To provide his patrons with food like their mom used to make, Turay is constantly asking for customer feedback and getting recipes and tips from friends. Judging from the rave reviews of other patrons, he has succeeded; when an African diplomat at a neighboring table took a bite of a yam dish he said, "Turay, where'd you get these yams!? I feel like I'm back home". Surprisingly, yams are one of the few items Turay imports from Africa; an Asian variety is available, but it doesn't meet his customer's high standards for authenticity. Chili pepper and palm oil are some other ingredients which must be imported.

Left to right: cassava fufu, maize fufu, and peanut butter & oxtail soup

Since we were novices, Turay divided Africa for us along culinary lines. From North Africa was couscous; from West Africa was spicy rice, chicken wings, peanut butter and oxtail soup, and also ndole, which was my favorite dish. The national dish of Cameroon, ndole is made primarily from bitterleaf, peanuts, onions, garlic and palm oil. From Central Africa was fufu, a white starchy ball made from the cassava plant, along with a type of fufu made from maize. A ball of fufu, which can be quite hot to the touch, is pinched off and used to scoop up the soup.

We were fortunate enough to be joined by Emmy, Turay's very friendly and precocious daughter. Emmy recommends the chicken wings, originally a Senegalese recipe which is now a West African favorite. Be sure to try them if you visit!

Turay says that for people from Sierra Leone, "a meal without rice isn't a meal at all". Turay's uses only long-grain rice, because of its fragrance.

Rating (out of five): 串串串串

The dining experience at Turay's is unique to Beijing; the friendly service will make you feel at home whether you've come for oxtail soup like mom used to make, or if you don't know your fufu from your ewedu.

Turay's Place
朝阳区幸福二村幸福村宾馆旁
010-64160600

Selling Steak to China & China's Cow Town

From andystoll's flickr photostream

I just came across two Time pieces on the nascent, but booming, beef cattle industry in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, a city which was already benefiting from China's growing thirst for milk. Both pieces are more than a year old, but well worth a look.

In my opinion, there is a dearth of quality journalism covering food before it reaches our kitchens and our plates. Selling Steak to China is an exception; and the accompanying slide show, China's Cow Town, brings the story to life, showing the beef industry from newborn calves, to bloody slaughterhouse, to the new buildings made possible in part by the burgeoning beef industry.

As a bonus, here are my favorite cow/China pictures from flickr.

From fortes' photostream

From nOr's photostream

From skoller's photostream

From Ewster's photostream