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I tried historic Beijing food so YOU DON’T HAVE TO…

Blondie in China

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I'm BACK IN BEIJING!!! And today I'm exploring the historic cuisine of this historic Chinese capital. Problem is... not sure I'm the biggest fan!

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20 Comments

@TheShadowbrand 1 year ago

One of my favorite things about Amy, is her ability to completely ignore all the people staring at her, with that WTF is that lady doing look on their faces.

@Steve-bw9bs 1 year ago

Admitting that she doesn't like something does wonders for Amy's credibility. It gives me faith in her opinions and judgements. Far too many food vloggers act like every dish is great and, as a result, they shouldn't be taken seriously. I've been to China many times, most recently to Xi'an and Harbin. I've eaten at places she's enjoyed and can say she's a reliable source when it comes to where to go and what to order.

@achillesarmstrong9639 1 year ago

Funny enough, according to the autobiography of the last emperor, he described the imperial cuisine tasted awful. He said it is because: 1 the chefs need to offer the food whenever the emperor want to eat. So the chefs would cook the next meal right after the last meal, and kept warming the food. So all the food when serving was cook too long, which made them taste awful. 2 All the chefs are inherit the job from their ancestors, they don't like there job, and they are not afraid being fired, so they just finish the job, and they don't love cooking. 3 all the cuisines are focus on looking good, and with special meaning, not focus on taste good.
The last emperor wrote, when there was a chance to eat the outside restaurant food. He felt like those food tasted wonderful.

@柑-n6p 1 year ago

There's this saying among the youngsters in Beijing: the best place in Beijing to get good food is the Daxing airport cuz from there you can get to Guangzhou as soon as possible.

@lequinntessential 1 year ago (edited)

Amy, I might sound like a broken record here, but aside from your openness to new foods, experiences and strangers, your palpable passion for travel and food, exceptional clarity of narration and vulnerability with your viewers, the thing I love most about you and your content is arguably your honesty with us. No fakery typical of some food influencers. When it is bad or a challenging food to swallow, you say it as it is so that we know better, although I must say that the fish platter looks really well presented. Being genuine builds trust with your audience. Incidentally, I really like the short advertisement you did for the Insta 360! Really demonstrated what it could do.

@dianew2007 1 year ago (edited)

Traditional Doushabao from Beijing was my childhood trauma… Imagine being a 6 yr old kid in a boarding school and you are given this giant bun filled with red bean paste that has no or bare minimum seasoning. You have to finish this bun that had absolutely no flavor or you get scolded publicly by your Banzhuren and scho president… I can never enjoy this thing.

@kassikassikassi 1 year ago

I love older people who you can tell are kind of trouble makers 😂

@Phuschia1 1 year ago

Amy is such a likable person, popular wherever she goes.

@zan318 1 year ago

Beijing local here. Was surprised when u went to Fang Shan cuz it has gotten so much hate from chefs as it’s so bad. The Beijing specialty dishes except Beijing duck I would say is the cuisine of the working class in the past, and people back them will find any ways possible to be not hungry, so yea not surprised u didn’t like some of them haha

@maincrossmain 1 year ago

Amy, I gotta go against the grain here - I actually really like the red bean bun! I hate the overly sweetness of red bean filling in a lot of other baked / steamed goods. When it's just pure red bean, it tastes very "rich" in a sense that you're getting the pure bean taste and I love it.

@iany2448 1 year ago

During imperial time, Peking was not known for its commercial establishments and activities. Its main residents were the imperial court, aristocracy and people serving them. For the ones to be served, they retained good chefs to work in their private kitchens and entertained in their own residences. They did not have the custom of going out to eat.

@claude.c4063 1 year ago

Most of Beijing's cuisine originates from Shandong, but those aristocrats were always trying to distinguish themselves from common peasants so they made the dishes way too sweet intentionally. While the old generation in Beijing passed on this kind of flavor, the classical Shandong tastes are more popular now. As you might have noticed, people having meals in 仿膳 and 致美楼 were always tourists, and that might be a piece of evidence that those old restaurants are getting abandoned by the residents in Beijing. In fact, 仿膳 is now famous in Chinese social media for its pricey but terrible cooking (except for 豌豆黄🤣). Same goes for 致美楼. I'm sad to see they screwed up 糟熘鱼片(Fish pieces in rice wine), which is one of my favorites and one of the most classic Beijing/Shandong dishes. Maybe you can try it next time in 丰泽园 or 同和居. Hope they could make a much better impression on you❣

@nathandunlop9681 1 year ago

Hi friend in my head, Amy! Is it ever awkward or uncomfortable when you clearly do not enjoy a dish as you are eating alone and can't offer it to your dining companion to finish? I remember in my times to Beijing as I flight attendant, it was that fear of not wanting to offend that held me back from diving into unfamiliair options ... not comparing myself to you AT ALL as you are our Chinese food adventurer x infinity! <3 from Melbourne

@oscarlam485 1 year ago

"Morally sound piece of bread" 🤣

@margiedenavarre7919 1 year ago

If you liked everything, we would just think, “Well, she likes everything, who can trust whether it’s actually good or not?” So it’s good that you admit to not liking some of your dishes in Beijing. It doesn’t mean your view of Chinese food in general is any lower.

@musecat_akira 1 year ago

Despite having Peking duck, beijing is famous for being a 'gourmet desert'😂 As a local, probably the only traditional local food I prefer is Lu Zhu, especially in winter.