Beijing Eats by Eileen Wen Mooney – Book Review
Feb 22nd, 2009 by admin
Regular readers will know that I spent weeks and months meticulously planning my foodie trip last October to Hong Kong, Macau and Beijing (all thirteen Postcards from China are archived here). That’s when I first came across Beijing-based restaurant writer Eileen Wen Mooney, whose Guardian article The Top 10 Places To Eat I found extremely useful. What a shame therefore that her recent guidebook Beijing Eats wasn’t published when I was in Beijing! As information and reviews for Beijing restaurants aren’t as common as those in Hong Kong or Macau, it would have been invaluable and saved me a lot of research time (although I have to admit part of the fun of a foodie trip is in the planning).
Beijing Eats isn’t just a restaurant guide though. It’s much more than that, which is why it appeals to me as someone who appreciates Chinese food. You don’t even need to be planning a trip to Beijing to benefit from it. There is a detailed introduction to each of the Chinese regional cuisines that are represented in Beijing, followed by descriptions of Eileen’s recommended dishes, with photos and names in English, Chinese and pinyin, and finally details of the restaurants serving these cuisines. At the back of the book is a long twelve page list of all the dishes mentioned, compared to just 4 pages of restaurants. Proof indeed that this is more about the food than just a simple restaurant guide!
I’m going to list the regional cuisines covered, so that you get a ‘flavour’ of just how incredibly diverse Chinese food is:
Beijing (with sub-sections on hot pot, Hui cuisine, Duck, Imperial and Laozihao); Anhui; Dongbei; Gansu; Guangdong (Cantonese); Guangxi; Hakka; Henan; Hubei; Hunan; Jiangxi; Jiangzhe (Jiangsu and Zhejiang); Shaanxi; Shandong; Shanghai; Shanxi; Sichuan; Taiwan; Tibet; Xinjiang and Yunnan. I particularly love the sound of sweet and spicy Guangxi pijiu ya (beer duck), Shandong nine turns pork intestine and Jiangzhe red-braised pork. There are also chapters on topics such as vegetarian, private home cuisines, festival food and street food.
When I lived in Beijing from 1996 to 1997, there were just a few favourite restaurants that I would regularly visit, whether ones that friends had recommended or places I came across myself. Out of the above list, I had hot pot, duck, Imperial, Guangdong, Sichuan, Tibet and Xinjiang, as far as I can remember. I had to supplement my diet with Korean barbecue and Japanese sushi.
So my trip back to Beijing was all the more of an eye opener for me, as it was the first time I had been back since 1997. Beijing has truly become a culinary destination as much as Hong Kong and Shanghai are, and to be truthful, both the vegetarian husband and I felt that the quality of food in Beijing far exceeded that which we had in Hong Kong. He in particular was overwhelmed by the choices of fresh vegetables, exotic Yunnan mushrooms and the numerous ways in which tofu could be prepared. We sampled Tibetan momos, Shanxi handmade noodles, Taiwanese smoked cumin spare ribs, Yunnan fried cheese, Hakka three cup duck and Shanghai dumplings (xiao long bao), to name but a few dishes.
Eileen is well qualified to write about the subject of regional Chinese cuisine, as she has been living in Beijing since 1994 and has been sampling Chinese food throughout Taiwan, Hong Kong and China for the last 25 years. I’ve learned so much from her. Beijing Eats is not only essential for visitors to Beijing but also provides well-researched information on regional Chinese food that can be savoured from the comfort of one’s armchair. The only thing that is conceivably missing is a map of China so that the regions can be quickly identified. I still don’t know where many of the regions are actually located, and have to admit that I did not know Shaanxi and Shanxi were two different regions. But that’s just me being woefully inadequate when it comes to geography and directions! I look forward to returning to Beijing soon, armed with all this new-found knowledge…
Eileen, I think your next book is going to have to be a regional Chinese cuisine cookery book!
- Beijing Eats can currently be purchased from Immersion Guides, Amazon (US, not UK) and Beijing bookstores. Click on the link to view short PDF excerpts from the Beijing, Guangdong and Shandong sections.
- Photos come courtesy of Eileen Wen Mooney, reproduced here with her written permission.
Please feel free to leave comments here for Eileen, and I’ll make sure she reads them. I’d love to hear about your regional Chinese culinary experiences!
Enticing review, Helen. I feel I really want to buy this book and I’m not even planning a trip to Beijing. Shame every major city doesn’t have a guide this authoritative
Beijing is such an exciting city for eating – I’d really like to go to Beijing immediately… and take this book on the plane!
I would really love to go to China for an eating trip =)
Wow this book looks amazing! This could be really good for me as I don’t know a lot about Chinese food – the diversity seems amazing. I am really intrigued by that intestines dish – you will have to make it! pretty please?
The book looks amazing. Is it available in the UK ? I’ve tried Amazon but it didn’t come up when I searched for it.
Fiona – thanks! Eileen will be really pleased to hear this.
kattebelletje – that’s what I want to do, jump on a plane to Beijing!
pigpigscorner – you would love it. Even just a few cities. You’ll discover food you never knew existed!
Helen – I’ll bring the book with me to show you next time we meet, so you can see what it’s like. As for making nine turns intestines, I’m just starting to cook meat, so intestines will need to wait a bit!
Sung – it’s only available from Amazon US (I’ve added the link above), Immersion Guides or Beijing book stores. Perhaps Immersion will deliver abroad if you email them? There’s an email address if you click on the Immersion Guides link.
Helen Yuet Ling
Oh this looks so good – am always on the lookout for great Chinese cookery books (don’t even get me started on the Ching He-Huang ones people here take as gospel) … especially ones written in English as my reading is quite poor
Oh! That looks exciting, I love looking at cook books (even though i dont cook) and that picture of meat, the flabby meat haha, is totally delicious!!!!! I love it! Dont no what its called in english though =X
Also since ur talking abt chinese cooking books, do u happen to know any that do chinese desserts?
@charmaine…..Ching He-Huang yeh her one is =S
and also im soo happy she wrote this book for beijing and i love how its bilingual………coz uno sometimes dishes u no by chiense name, u dont by english name…..lol
ANDD “Dream of the Red Mansions” story im reading that!!! God im dying to see what the dishes actualy look like in photos.
Thank youuu!! Helen and Eileen!!
Those photos literally made my belly rumble. It sounds like a very interesting read, especially for people that thing Chinese is a blanket cuisine (and don’t even get me started on Ching He-Huang – grr).
Charmaine – it’s actually not a cookery book! I hope my review doesn’t imply that it is one. Just lots of descriptions of regional Chinese cuisine, recommended dishes and where to eat them in Beijing. A great read!
Vivi – it’s not a cookery book! And sorry, I haven’t come across a Chinese cookery book for just desserts, so if you find one, please let me know…
Lizzie – exactly! It’s such a good intro to all the different regional cuisines. Chinese food is not just about sweet and sour pork and prawn crackers you know…
Thanks for comments!
Helen Yuet Ling
Ching He-Huang…she’s a looker though.
I’ve been in touch with Immersion Guides and unfortunately Beijing Eats does not currently retail in the UK. They can send a copy to the UK but the postage (US$20 – US$45 depending on speed) costs more than the book US$15.
I also asked about availability in Hong Kong and Guangzhou as I’m heading out there in April. Sadly the book is not retailed in Hong Kong although there may be copies on sale at Guangzhou Airport but not the city itself. I’m now weighing up the options on how to get my hands on the book without breaking the bank !
Sung – sorry to hear that. I have emailed Eileen to ask her if there is another way around this. The postage sounds very very high indeed! Don’t worry, we’ll get you a copy somehow. I’ll keep you posted.
Helen Yuet Ling
Eileen advises everyone who wants to buy a copy of Beijing Eats to use the US version of Amazon. I don’t know if they will deliver to the UK though. She hopes that her book will be available on Amazon UK in the near future. Good luck everyone!
Helen Yuet Ling
Within hours of arriving in Beijing, I bought a copy ! I really enjoyed reading the book and found myself dipping in and out of it all week. Some of my fave Beijing places were in there and I also managed to try a couple of new places too !
Sung – what fantastic news, that you’re in Beijing and that you finally got hold of the book. Eileen has a blog too (Eggstazy). Look forward to hearing your food report!
@admin, Back now and loads to report ! But I’m afraid you’ll have to wait for my blog ! I’ve finally decided to take the plunge – if I don’t do it now then I never will and life is too short !
Sung – oh congratulations for taking the plunge! Let me know when it’s up and ready then…