Chinese breakfasts are almost beyond the imagination | Hacker News Reader

Chinese breakfasts are almost beyond the imagination

asia.nikkei.com

29 pointsbaybal220 comments

In Beijing 2019, I had this crazy fish soup that looked like porridge but salty and savoury, with a long fried dough, like a donut but no sugar and shaped like a stick. Really fatty. The drink was warm soy milk. The whole thing was very satisfying. 100% recommend.

Sounds like you had a congee of sorts?

Love the descriptions! Those are also probably my favorite breakfast. You had https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congee and https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youtiao and and https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soy_milk

In Mandarin: zhou, youtiao, and doujiang

Yes Youtiao are quite fatty. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youtiao

It is considered a classic standard breakfast although morden more 'western' style breakfast is on the rise among young people too.

Half-Cambodian. We have the same breakfast. We called it Bar Bar. The Chinese call it Congee. Other Asian countries have their own variants. I think even the Greeks have their own savory rice-porridge recipe (Avgolemeno).

It is good for literally any time of the day/year. Especially good for colds.

In South India, we call it kanjee and I hated it.

I used to go down to our local Chinatown for this exact meal as a midnight snack. Congee with salty donut, and some soy milk.

In western countries, it’s common to eat one or two cold and simple (eg no meat) meals per day, but in many Asian countries, a meal that isn’t hot or does not have meat would typically be considered sad.

The best breakfasts to eat in my opinion are Turkish and Iranian, they have a wide selection of hot and cold dishes.

Amazing breakfast options are something I miss about Asia in general. Relatively light, and doesn't give you the itis. Any recommendations of breakfast fare from other regions? I'm always on the lookout for good breakfast food, even though I rarely wake up for breakfast time, which meant missing out when I travel. North American breakfast I prefer for brunch, it doesn't "feel" like breakfast food, maybe that's why there's so many all day breakfast joints. I'm also impressed by how far western continental breakfast spread around the world via hotels. I wish there was more AYCE global breakfast options out there.

I usually go for french style of breakfast during weekdays - coffee, cigarette and a croissant - but one of my favorite more "oppulent" breakfast options for days off is Shakshuka/Menemen. It is a pretty spicy pan of tomato sauce, onions, bell pepper, lots of garlic and eggs. Very simple to make, but definetely great to start a day.

The north-german Mettbrötchen is what I go for if I have physical work in front of me. It is raw ground pork on white bread with salt, pepper, and raw white onions... Weird acquired taste and you need to be sure about your meat supplier, but it gets to you.

A few years ago I bought an electric grill that can be turned into a crêpe maker (?). It basically functions like an 70cm diameter pan that heats very evenly. Crêpe are usually sweet (kids absolutely go nuts over them), but there's also a salty variant called Galette. A Galette with sour cream and shives is quite light yet absolutely delicious.

The article mainly focuses on the south-eastern cities near the coast. There are many more choices in the western and northern China.

And nowadays, you can find all of them in big cities like Beijing or Shanghai.

I wonder why the author stayed out of the northwest, and a nice article about happy things in China was written [0].

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xinjiang_internment_camps

I feel this list is incomplete without jianbing—Chinese breakfast crepes. Here is a video that shows how these are made on spinning grills.

https://www.reddit.com/r/oddlysatisfying/comments/owexcs/mak...

I have never been to China, but I have always wanted to. Is it safe for a white guy?

I’ve spent a cumulative 6 months there (3 separate trips) including 3 months with a 1 and 3yo, and never was there a point where I felt unsafe. I am a tall white guy and stand out. Met lots of curious, friendly, amused locals that wanted to take pictures with me, especially if they were from the less globalized regions. There is a strong police/security presence everywhere. Even my apartment block had its own 8 person security team.

Quite safe. My wife (who is Chinese, I am white) actually becomes annoyed because everyone treats me so well. I never once felt unsafe in China, though I suppose there are parts that you may feel unsafe.

Watch out for Shanghai coffee scam. Two Chinese female invite male foreigner for coffee where foreigner is forced by large male enforcer to pay large bill perhaps $100's. Guy in my hostel got stuck for $200usd.

Brutish/opportunistic way out: Be physically large. I don't mean to sound like some kind of Chuck Norris badass — because I am absolutely not — but when I stood up after being similarly challenged the game changed. They didn't even try to show their martial arts skills (of which mine are poor at best tbh) or any other proof they would hurt me. They just up and left.

Interesting article although was not “beyond my imagination”.

Asian cuisines are quite something. There is a lot of play on flavor, especially on breakfast and lunch. There are a lot of cuisines, especially on SEA, that is yet to become popular.

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