Wed, February 03, 2010
Last year at this time, I was at a loss for how to celebrate Chinese New Year. Like Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Eve rolled into one super-celebration, the holiday is deeply ritualized, and I empathize with the nostalgic, almost primal need to return home and reunite with family. As a foreigner living far away from home, however, I’ll be celebrating China’s traditions at the city’s laozihao (time-honored brands) restaurants instead.
One of my favorites is Xie Laosong Xiangguo, and during the winter season, I consider myself a regular at the Sanyuanqiao branch. The heralded spicy, fragrant crab is served in a ginger-, garlic- and chili-laden dry pot and topped with leeks, celery, peanuts and cilantro. The Hubei-style dish is an amalgamation of spicy, smoky and tangy that continues to draw customers in for the best crab in Beijing (¥68-78/jin). On a recent post-Nanshan visit, after we devoured the dry pot contents, a waiter brought by a kettle of house-made broth for a one-of-a-kind hotpot.
More than 300 years of history originating from Mongolian dynastic tradition stands behind the façade of Houhai’s Kao Rou Ji. On our most recent visit, we couldn’t pass up the house specialties—roasted lamb (¥68) and Chinese-style roasted beef rib (¥158). The lamb, served on a heated plate, was sizzling hot on arrival and flecked with aromatic onions and cilantro. We ordered a basket of sesame buns (¥1/piece) to devour the dish sandwich-style. Likewise, the beef was tender and savory. No one would call Kao Rou Ji refined, but the location and carnivorous leaning of this laozihao keeps the dining room packed.
Kaifeng Di Yi Lou, in the Dongsi neighborhood, has attracted generations of fans for its Kaifeng-style soup dumplings, which were first made in the 12th century. Manager Zhang suggests trying their traditional pork soup dumplings. “But if you want a seasonal treat, try the crab roe ones—customers really like them,” he says. On his advice, we sampled the latter (¥38/basket), but the former (¥15/basket) was really our favorite. The soup dumplings had a thicker skin than the more famous Din Tai Feng version, and had more meat, but less soup to slurp up.
Chinese New Year always reminds me of the incredible cultural treasure trove that lies outside my doorstep. Although I may not stay home and watch the CCTV pageantry at its finest while making dumplings with the family, I will use my vacation to celebrate culinary tradition.
