Lingbo Li
Sweet treats from around Boston
This is a durian shake from Chinatown. Durian is the infamously stinky fruit that is sometime even banned by law from consumption in certain places since it smells like… an outhouse on a hot day. But its spiky exterior belies a decadently rich, creamy custard-colored flesh, which has been ground up here into a shake. A friend and I drank it one sip at a time, speculating what notes we picked up in it. Bizarrely, I kept thinking, “Garlic! It’s kind of like raw garlic!” and pinned the aftertaste down as black sesame. Anyway, odd – but still tasty, and very sweet.
So sparkly, yet edible. A miniature carrot cupcake from Sweet.
I got bulldozed into eating some Berryline (my life is so difficult!) when out with a friend who insisted on buying me one. I got blackberries, my favorite. I don’t think I could ever get sick of the tangy-sweet flavoring.
No shirt has ever been truer.
Capsule Review: Yak Butter Tea
Based on a tip by the City Weekend dining editor, I sought out something really exotic for a quick cafe break: yak butter tea. I already had warm and fuzzy feelings attached to yaks since a good friend from high school interned at Shokay, a social entrepreneurship startup that sells luxury goods made from yak down. I wondered if the strangely adorable creatures produced tasty beverages as well.
Tibet Cafe, on the famous strip of hutongs called Nanluoguxiang in Beijing, shines like a cheery orange beacon amidst the trendy boutiques and popsicle stands. I arrived around a slow lunchtime, so I took a seat in a deserted cafe. One cup of the stuff was 20RMB ($3-4), pretty damn steep for a drink, especially in Beijing.
I was pretty excited. Until I took a sip. I immediately cringed. It was like drinking salted curdled milk. It smelled like a pungent whiff of cheese, not necessarily a bad thing, but the flavoring was so strong that even when I went in for a third – and fourth – attempt, I couldn’t force it down without feeling kind of sick. The presentation in a solid black mug with the drink’s foamy white head was comforting, as were the Tibetan tapestries and bright color palette, but I just couldn’t force this stuff down. I held my breath and took a giant gulp or two, paid my bill, and left feeling kind of embarassed.
I guess there’s something for all tastes.
HUDS food cart column in the Crimson
Check out my review of the HUDS food carts in the Crimson’s Fifteen Minutes today… the print version is accompanied by a smiling photo of me cluthing two desecrated halves of whole wheat bread.
Anyway, in the spirit of supplementary online content, here are the photos taken of my two meals.
Probably more entertaining would be the outtakes for the column’s photoshoot, where I start snarling as I rip apart bread and throw it up in the air, all expertly captured by photog Terrell Woods. (Who is great! Go see him give a tour with Unofficial Tours sometime.)
So yeah, moral of the story is: eat a wrap, or better yet, walk a little farther up Oxford and get some greasy Chinese food. Seriously.
The site of the unholy chicken salad sandwich…
It seemed ok at first glance.
Don’t be fooled by this photo – that bread is sawdust.
I fared much better with this tasty beef kebab wrap.
The Chinese Food Truck on Oxford St
I first spotted Yang’s after my (baller) Sociology of Organizations class with Professor Ager. “A Chinese food truck!” I exclaimed and did one of my strange, gleeful flails – I kind of flap around my arms as if I’m trapped in a tiny bubble and make high pitched noises. So after class today, I gave it a try.
There were a lot of Chinese people in line. After being removed from the Middle Kingdom for a month, hearing Chinese again was kind of novel and comforting. It brought up no urges to yell at ineffectual service people – instead, I suddenly felt a bit safer and comforted by the sing-song tones of Mandarin. “What’s the best dish?” I asked the Chinese people in front of me.
“They’re kind of all the same,” one man in a stripped button down said.
The woman behind me suggested the crispy fried fish. “It’s very tasty,” she said, using a Shanghainese adjective for “very.” She confirmed she was from Shanghai, but when I tried to volunteering my cultural background and summer work experience, I saw that I lost her. “So you grew up in the United States?” she said afterwards. Oh. I felt too embarassed to switch to English – there is a kind of intimacy that evaporates in that act.
Click on the picture for a full-size menu.
I eventually ordered what the two people ahead of me ordered – shredded pork with Chinese pickle. When I opened up the box, my first reaction was aesthetic. This is a dish that never looks particularly great; the photos here are better than in real life. Chinese pickle – “zhacai” – is a variety of mustard that is commonly used in Chinese dishes, particularly hot and sour soup, and is often served with congee. The flavoring here, despite being such a Chinese dish (I doubt anyone used to American Chinese food would order this) was milder than my mother’s cooking. The saltiness, as well as the sour notes, had been toned down. The vegetables were cooked to a softer texture as was the meat, and there was more cornstarch used. It was overall satisfying, but didn’t really completely hit the spot – the rice wasn’t very sticky. I think I’ll try one of their more American standard dishes like Kung Pao chicken next time.
Find it!
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Yang’s
Oxford Street
Parked outside of Maxwell Dworkin (walk through the Science Center, past Peabody, then up until you hit the engineering building.)
Price range: $5-6 for a very large carton of rice and one entree, about $3 for appetizers.
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Lana Lingbo Li
I'm a world traveler / enthusiastic eater who's now blogging and producing videos over at HelloLana.com. Visit me there!
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