Vegetable Galore in Chinese Restaurants

Online, January 5, 2011 (Newswire.com) - If you have ever been a junkie for vegetables, China is one of the best places to be. Once you have been to the restaurants in China, you will never ever want to leave again. I know I didn't want to. Although I was alone it didn't really felt that way because the Chinese were so nice. I spent one whole week feasting on tasty big dinner plates of vegetables from several different restaurants in Beijing.

Before I get any further, let me make a little disclaimer. I don't want to misrepresent any of the restaurants I have been because most of their names are really hard to pronounce and spell even with the translations I got; so I won't mention the names but I will tell you what I've eaten. Only for this article and just because it's about China; I will concentrate on the dishes that feature their superb vegetables and how they are cooked.

Vegetables are China's second most important of Chinese cuisine and their restaurants make sure they bank on it to attract tourists. There are several restaurants I've been where they serve you pickled vegetables in jars or bowl as appetizers, like pickled celery, chili peppers, bamboo shoots and my favorite, carrots. I like the vegetable stuffed Popiah or spring rolls or stem and leaves of Ton Choi that's garnished with pickled tofu on top.

The soups served with vegetables are amazingly scrumptious that after you're done with it, there won't be any room for the main dish. I was told that the secret to Chinese soups in general is the stock they use, and it is! But I personally think that when it comes to soups in Chinese restaurants you have to be a little cautious because of the MSG on it. If they don't and it just happens to be flavorsome, then consider yourself lucky.

When it comes to the main dish, there are about hundreds of dishes to choose from that are mostly garnished with vegetables. I would say that the Peking duck with chive flowers and bean sprouts that was glazed with honey was my favorite of all. But what I noticed was with Chinese vegetables dishes how they would cook anything will differ from one restaurant to other restaurants. And my goodness the servings are enormously huge, and I am not being redundant; I just need to bring that point across as it is. I have never been able to finish the servings of these restaurants without taking some of it to go.

If you think that in Chinese restaurants dessert can't be served with vegetables, well think again. Have a taste of the Red Bean Cake and you will not be able to resist it. There is what they call steamed Hasma that they stuffed in papayas cut in half.

This isn't over yet. Count on another part for this article in Chinese vegetables and cuisine. I will give you some other dishes that I have tried on all Chinese restaurants, so watch out for it.