Dongbei Jiaozi Shenyang

[abcdefg]

I have a long-time American friend working for six weeks in Shenyang. He likes Chinese food and has expressed an interest in going out for jiaozi, seeing as how Shenyang is very much Dongbei. Doesn’t speak or read Chinese, but is resourceful.

I made up some tips for him and have posted the resulting “cheat sheet” here for two reasons. The first, to get corrections or additions from those more knowledgeable than me; and the second in hopes it might be of some minor help to other Dongbei newbies in the same situation.

Additionally, if someone has a hot tip for one or more good 饺子店 in 沈阳 I would gratefully pass that information on as well. When I lived in 哈尔滨 several years ago, I often ate at 饺子王, which was a dependable chain with several branches convenient to where I lived and studied. Maybe 沈阳 has something similar.

Thanks.

EATING DONGBEI JIAOZI--Revised 2.doc

[PanShiBo]

In Shenyang I was more impressed by their street 麻辣烫. They give you a pot where you can put raw stuff from their shelves and they cook it in front of you. Although I am a big fan of 饺子 and 馄饨汤, I am always skeptical about what they put inside.

[abcdefg]

In Shenyang I was more impressed by their street 麻辣烫.

Yes, I like that too. Have enjoyed it in other cities as well.

[imron]

You're probably better off editing the original post and changing the attachment, to avoid people downloading the one with mistakes in it before realising there's a better one below.

[abcdefg]

You're probably better off editing the original post and changing the attachment, to avoid people downloading the one with mistakes in it before realising there's a better one below.

Good idea, thanks @imron. The only version which now appears is the revised one.

Do any 东北人 on this forum have additional jiaozi suggestions: kinds you particularly like, side dishes to order along with them, and so on? Do any forum members live in Shenyang?

[WestTexas]

I live in Shenyang. Shenyang's food is different from other places in the northeast. IMO, not as good.

Personally my favorite types of dumplings are donkey, pork and 酸菜 (basically Chinese sauerkraut), and lamb with peppers. The lamb with peppers type is my favorite but it's harder to find in Shenyang.

Because I usually eat jiaozi when I'm trying to save money, I will mainly order just some vegetable dishes to go with them. There is meat in the jiaozi and they are also filling, so you don't need rice, meat, or potato dishes. I particularly like 老虎菜, which is thinly sliced peppers, cucumbers, and other vegetables (depends on the restaurant) in a vinegar sauce served cold.

[abcdefg]

Thanks much, @West Texas. I will pass that on.

[roddy]

Attaching a menu for someone else to transcribe and translate ;)

[xiaocai]

I tried 茴香猪肉 (fennel and pork?) dumplings and quite liked it. Was not very found of seafood dumplings as 1) they are expensive and 2) I just think they (seafood dishes) are better off steamed or fried instead of boiled. As for side dishes, I think they add sodium bicarb in the dough to make the skin more stretchable so any thing's got some vinegar dressing will help you to balance the alkaline "aftertaste".

[WestTexas]

If you are in Shenyang make sure not to order the gold-label bottle of snow beer. It is made in Shenyang and tastes awful. Also, some Jiaozi places will give you some stuff called 蒜酱, which appears to be chopped garlic steeped in some black stuff (soy sauce?). It's really damn good, but not every place has it.

And the donkey dumplings will often be steamed. The place that sells donkey dumplings will often specialize in donkey meat, with many different dishes featuring donkey meat. If you want to get some authentic NE Chinese food, a donkey restaurant is a good choice. Many donkey restaurants (驴肉馆）offer country-style food that is very simple but delicious and hearty. Actually, donkey meat is relatively lean and is much healthier than beef, although it is a bit more expensive.

Just be aware that the food in Shenyang is not exactly 'Northeast' food for the most part. Shenyang has it's own style of cooking. If you want 'real' northeast food you have to go to Jilin or Heilongjiang provinces. There is a restaurant close to my apartment that sells 'Heilongjiang style' food and it's not the same as the stuff in Heilongjiang province, despite being marketed as such. Some of the best dumplings I've ever had were steamed donkey dumplings at a small restaurant in the south part of Harbin.

[abcdefg]

I tried 茴香猪肉 (fennel and pork) dumplings and quite liked it.

Thanks for the reminder; I like them too. Those are popular in Kunming, and I couldn't remember if they were a local invention or were available in Dongbei as well.

If you want to get some authentic NE Chinese food, a donkey restaurant is a good choice. Many donkey restaurants (驴肉馆）offer country-style food that is very simple but delicious and hearty.

I will recommend that to my Shenyang friend. I had donkey meat once and was surprised how tender and full of flavor it was.

And Roddy, thanks for the menu. I'll tackle it tomorrow.

All this jiaozi talk got me hungry for some, so today at noon I headed to my favorite Kunming dumpling shop. It's a small place with six tables and is appropriately called 松花江饺子。

EDIT: That menu is quite a find! Bravo! Brings back memories. I'm glad our fearless leader has returned.

[roddy]

If you ever want to find one, Google Image search is your friend - look for '饺子 菜单‘ or similar and there'll be more than you know what to do with. Also, if you find a specific restaurant on Dianping.com there will be recommended dishes and lots of photos.

[Brian US]

I don't mean to go off topic here, but does it work showing pinyin to someone without any Chinese experience? For friends or family coming I will write down a more English friendly way to say something. Such as saying ch-err instead of chi to avoid it coming out as qi.

[abcdefg]

...does it work showing pinyin to someone without any Chinese experience?

It does not work at all well. Several years ago Lonely Planet came out with a Chinese phrasebook in which they used their own "more intuitive" Romanization system instead of Pinyin. It was a confusing mess and nearly impossible to use.

"Anglicizing" the Chinese sounds for your visitors is going to be extremely difficult too. Even the simplest of transliterations, such as "knee how" for 你好 don't come out well most of the time.

I think the best bet in your situation is to write out what your visitors will need using big, clear Hanzi characters and let them just point to those words and phrases as needed.