I will admit I did not use to be very adventurous in my food choices, but that is something that changed during my semester abroad in China. Although most of my initial experimentation with food was strictly unintentional (not being able to read the menu items sometimes called for drastic measures of random selection) I soon came to try some dishes that I really liked, and some that I did not. These are some of my China favorites and must-tries if you happen to run into them.
1. Peking Duck
I ate this for the first time during the TEAN excursion to Beijing and the Great Wall and suggest that anyone who visits Beijing tries this traditional dish.
2. 小笼包 – Xiaolongbao (Steamed Dumplings)
Soup steamed dumplings are a specialty in Shanghai and can be made with a variety of different fillings. The crab filling is probably my favorite.
3. Caramelized Fruit (Tanghulu)
Fruit covered in sugar on a stick- our mothers would immediately object, but that’s the beauty of study abroad- you can eat whatever you want.
4. Egg Tarts
The original and absolute best ones can be found in Macao, but Lillian Bakery has some pretty tasty ones as well.
5. Eggplant with Garlic Sauce
My favorite place for this is the corner restaurant on Daxue lu right outside the gates of Fudan University.
Some other must-try dishes when in China include: street noodles, baozi (meat or vegetable buns) from FamilyMart, Yang fried dumplings, Wonton Soup, and of course some good fried rice. Thanks to the family dining style customary in China there were several opportunities to try various dishes at once. China further has an incredible accessibility to different types of food; from restaurants to street vendors a China visitor need never go hungry.
Johanna Forsgren is a TEAN Alum was a Global Ambassador at University of Tampa. She studied abroad with TEAN at Fudan University in Shanghai, China.
