Breads and Pastries
There are so many different shapes, sizes, and choices of breads in China that it is sometimes difficult to decide which to choose. One of my favorite breads, Indo Bing, has fruit baked in the bread. Bread stuffed with meat is delicious and filling. There is also a breakfast bread, which is fried.
Sometimes the bread is large and flat, and sometimes it is shaped in a pattern like a cinnamon roll. Of all the breads and pastries I’ve tried, I don’t think that I’ve ever found any I didn’t like.
As you can see in the picture above, cookies can often be found at the same street vendor who sells the bread. These cookies have a very flaky exterior and a sweet paste inside. I like the ones that have figs inside!
In my post about sweet potatoes, I shared how street vendors will use a 55-gallon drum to bake those potatoes. Well, street bread vendors also will use the same kind of drum for baking bread. The bread is baked inside the barrel. Notice the long tongs hanging on the side of the barrel. The tongs are used to place the bread in the barrel and to remove it. Once the bread is ready, it is placed on top of the barrel on the rim to keep it warm and fresh!
If you have a weak stomach, I encourage you to travel with medicine that will help your stomach adjust to the new foods; however, I do encourage you to try the street food. I am sure a local person would be happy to help you decide what to order!
To learn more about China, check out Lessons from China: A Westerner’s Cultural Education!
How to Get Lessons from China
Lessons from China: A Westerner’s Cultural Education now available as a paperback and as an e-book on Amazon’s Kindle and Barnes & Noble’s Nook!
You can buy Lessons from China on Amazon.com, Smile.Amazon.com (to donate a portion of the sale to Global Partners in Life), bn.com, and in Barnes and Noble stores and a variety of other bookstores and online booksellers.
Note: If you don’t see the book on the shelf at your local bookstore, just ask the sales clerk to order it for you. The booksellers are eager to accommodate you, whenever possible. Independent bookstores can order the book through Bookmasters.
Beau
