Barbecued lamb in Beijing

One of the first speciality foods that I had when I was staying in Beijing was the BBQ lamb. It was something I had never eaten before and it was absolutely out of this world. We actually tried 3 different places and the flavours are slightly different in each one. Each restaurant provides different accompaniments to the lamb.

The first restaurant is in the outskirts of Beijing and is part of an orchard growing pears and cherries. When the fruits are in season diners are given a plate of the fruits compliments of the house. After eating we can pick the fruits which are a little bit expensive.

The lamb is marinated with a lot of spices and barbecued outside.
The table has a hole in the centre with hot charcoals in it and the lamb is placed over the charcoals.
A lot of chopped spring onion and parsley is literally thrown onto it. 

All we had to do was to pull the meat from the bone and pop it into our mouths.

It was easier to eat it standing up.

The lamb was so tender and succulent and a little spicy.

I must say we really did justice to the lamb.

Once we had finished the lamb, the waiter removed the carcass and covered the hole in the table.

Then we were served a vegetable hot pot.

The hot clear soup and vegetables was very refreshing after the lamb.

The second restaurant was in town and was a bit more posh with the setting and ambiance.

There was a good selection of cold side dishes

Here we have black fungus and some kind of pickled cucumber

This is a really nice spicy salad

Raw onions with a spicy dipping sauce

Hurrah!! Here is the lamb and we eat it the same way as in the first restaurant.

The lamb was less spicy here so the children had a gala time tucking in.

I normally take back any leftover meat to make lamb ragout.

After the lamb is finished we had the vegetable hot pot.

The soup here was better than the first restaurant.

The third place that we went to was a BBQ cum strawberry farm on the outskirts of Beijing. They also have a few varieties of vegetables for sale and reasonably priced.

This is the compound of the farm

The children or even the adults can go to the greenhouses to pick strawberries while waiting for the lamb to be ready. 

Here they serve mainly half a lamb and this is our order.

This is a type of bean curd dish

Fish cooked in dark soy sauce. It was absolutely delicious

Omelette with leeks

This restaurant will cut the lamb so no fighting to pull the meat off the bones

Here it is, all ready for us to tuck in.

This place does not serve hot pot but we get a bowl of soup each.

The bean curd soup was very refreshing.

As usual we did justice to the food.

If any of you happen to be in Beijing you must try this BBQ lamb.

Steamed salmon

Instead of frying or grilling salmon all the time I decided to try steaming it for a change and it turned out quite nice. Since salmon is an oily fish, steaming or grilling is good for weight watchers and newly delivered mothers.

 Salmon (三文鱼) are born in fresh water but spend a large portion of their lives in the open sea only to swim back to their birthplace in order to spawn. This extraordinary homing mechanism is said to be due to their memory of smell which is probably why these intelligent, intuitive fish are considered a 'brain food'. Classified as an oily fish, salmon is healthy due to the fish's high protein and omega-3 fatty acids which is healthy unsaturated fat. During pregnancy both mother and baby can benefit from the oils in salmon. Breast feeding mothers should eat salmon, as the breast milk will have significant amounts of the omega 3 and DHA for the baby’s brain. The deep red color of wild salmon indicates the ample amount of iron it contains, making it an excellent food to increase red blood cell production. However, like all good things, eating too much of the fish can make it toxic instead of beneficial therefore it is better to only eat it once a week. Salmon is also a good source of vitamin D, B12, B6 and cholesterol, magnesium, niacin and selenium. Salmon can be purchased as either steaks or fillets, fresh, frozen, canned or smoked and is a great alternative to red meat.

Ingredients

A block of salmon

1 tomato

A knob of ginger which helps to remove the fishy smell

Place the salmon on a heatproof plate

Season the salmon with a little ground sea salt and pepper

Top with ginger and tomato slices

Place in the steamer.

Cover and steam for 10 minutes.

Fried rice with preserved olive leaves

I was told that adding preserved olive leaves to fried rice will make it tastier and it is absolutely true. Even the children loved it.

Ingredients

Minced pork

Preserved olive leaves

Frozen vegetables

2 eggs

First of all prepare the egg for garnishing

Break the 2 eggs into a bowl.

Add salt and pepper and beat up the mixture

Pour the egg mixture into the pan and let it set a little

Turn the egg over and break it into small pieces

Remove and set aside

Next fry the rice on its own

Put the cooked rice into a basin

Sprinkle a little water on the rice and break it up so that there are no lumps

Heat the cooking oil with a little sesame oil

Add the garlic and fry till fragrant

Add the rice and a little soy sauce

Stir until there are no lumps

Remove and put aside

Put a little more oil in the wok

Add the pork and fry until colour changes

Season with salt and pepper

Add the vegetables and mix thoroughly

Put in 2 tbsp of the olive vegetable

Stir to mix everything together

Put the rice back when the vegetables are cooked

Put the egg back into the rice and mix thoroughly

Transfer to the rice cooker to keep warm

Cabbage and bean curd soup

Chinese soups are easy to cook because you can use any combination of ingredients that you can find in the fridge or freezer. This is another one of my quickie soup.

Tofu (豆腐) also called bean curd is made of coagulated soy milk that is pressed into solid white blocks a process quite similar to how cheese is made. It originated in China but the word tofu is a Japanese word borrowed from the original Chinese equivalent dou-fu. In Cantonese it is tau-fu and in Hokkien it is tau-hu. It is used as a vegetarian substitute for meat and fish. Tofu comes in several different consistencies: extra firm, firm, soft or silken and can be deep fried or smoked. It is naturally gluten-free and low calorie as well as an excellent source of protein, iron, and calcium. Eating tofu may protect against a variety of health conditions, such as heart disease, diabetes and even certain cancers. In TCM tofu is considered suitable for any age group especially those who are weak, malnourished and deficient in blood and qi. It is also good for diabetics, those who are overweight, has high cholesterol, those with an inflamed respiratory tract, phlegm, coughing or asthma and for mothers with low breast milk supply.

Ingredients

Leftover round white cabbage

4 tofu puffs

3 fish cakes

Cut up all the ingredients

Prepare the stock by adding 1 chicken stock cube into the water.

Season with salt and pepper.

Put all the cut ingredients into the prepared stock. 

Bring back to boiling point and then simmer on low fire for 20 minutes

Dish up and serve.