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Another Meme: The 100 Chinese Foods to Try Before You Die

Posted by Adam Kuban, September 13, 2008 at 8:00 PM

20080912-chinesefood.jpgOK. Memes are spawning memes are spawning memes. It's like an experiment gone out of control. Mutations are rampant, and they're spreading like viruses. You remember The Omnivore's 100, right? Then there was The Traveling Omnivore's 20. Then the 10 Texas Sausages to Eat Before You Die.

Now, the blog Appetite for China has birthed The 100 Chinese Foods to Eat Before You Die. The rules are similar to Omnivore's 100: Copy the list, paste it into your own blog, and bold all the foods you've had.

There's also a 100 Japanese Foods to Try list, but I'm saving that post for tomorrow. My Chinese list, after the jump.

  1. Almond milk
  2. Ants Climbing a Tree (poetic, not literal, name)
  3. Asian pear
  4. Baby bok choy
    5.
  5. Baijiu
    6.
  6. Beef brisket
    7.
  7. Beggar's Chicken
  8. Bingtang hulu
  9. Bitter melon
  10. Bubble tea
  11. Buddha's Delight
  12. Cantonese roast duck
  13. Century egg, or thousand-year egg
  14. Cha siu (Cantonese roast pork)
  15. Char kway teow
    16.
  16. Chicken feet
  17. Chinese sausage
  18. Chow mein
  19. Chrysanthemum tea
  20. Claypot rice
  21. Congee
  22. Conpoy (dried scallops)
  23. Crab rangoon
  24. Dan Dan noodles
    25.
  25. Dragonfruit
  26. Dragon's Beard candy
  27. Dried cuttlefish
  28. Drunken chicken
  29. Dry-fried green beans
  30. Egg drop soup
  31. Egg rolls
  32. Egg tart, Cantonese or Macanese
  33. Fresh bamboo shoots
  34. Fortune cookies
    35.
  35. Fried milk
  36. Fried rice [I LOVE IT! In all its forms. Yes, I am a gweilo.—AK]
  37. Gai lan (Chinese broccoli)
    38.
  38. General Tso's Chicken
    39.
  39. Gobi Manchurian
  40. Goji berries (Chinese wolfberries)
  41. Grass jelly
    42.
  42. Hainan chicken rice
  43. Hand-pulled noodles
    44.
  44. Har gau (steamed shrimp dumplings in translucent wrappers)
    45.
  45. Haw flakes
  46. Hibiscus tea
    47.
  47. Hong Kong-style Milk Tea
  48. Hot and sour soup
    49.
  49. Hot Coca-Cola with Ginger [This sounds awesome! Someone gimme a recipe. —AK]
  50. Hot Pot
    51.
  51. Iron Goddess tea (Tieguanyin)
  52. Jellyfish [I think I've had Japanese jellyfish dish, but not sure if I've had a Chinese version. —AK]
  53. Kosher Chinese food
  54. Kung Pao Chicken
    55.
  55. Lamb skewers (yangrou chua'r)
  56. Lion's Head meatballs
  57. Lomo Saltado
    58.
  58. Longan fruit
  59. Lychee
    60.
  60. Macaroni in soup with Spam
  61. Malatang
  62. Mantou, especially if fried and dipped in sweetened condensed milk
  63. Mapo Tofu
  64. Mock meat
  65. Mooncake (bonus points for the snow-skin variety)
  66. Nor mai gai (chicken and sticky rice in lotus leaf)
    67.
  67. Pan-fried jiaozi
  68. Peking duck
  69. Pineapple bun
  70. Prawn crackers
    71.
  71. Pu'er tea
  72. Rambutan
  73. Red bean in dessert form
    74.
  74. Red bayberry
  75. Red cooked pork
    76.
  76. Roast pigeon
  77. Rose tea
  78. Roujiamo
  79. Scallion pancake
  80. Shaved ice dessert
  81. Sesame chicken
  82. Sichuan pepper in any dish
    83.
  83. Sichuan preserved vegetable (zhacai)
  84. Silken tofu
  85. Soy milk, freshly made
  86. Steamed egg custard
    87.
  87. Stinky tofu [I've had Japanese natto. Does that count? —AK]
  88. Sugar cane juice
  89. Sweet and sour pork, chicken, or shrimp [Have had all of them. —AK]
  90. Taro
    91.
  91. Tea eggs
  92. Tea-smoked duck
  93. Turnip cake (law bok gau)
  94. Twice-cooked pork
    95.
  95. Water chestnut cake (mati gau)
  96. Wonton noodle soup
    97.
  97. Wood ear
  98. Xiaolongbao (soup dumplings)
    99.
  99. Yuanyang (half coffee, half tea, Hong Kong style) [Mmm. Sounds good. I'm missing out! —AK]
  100. Yunnan goat cheese

12 Comments

Tags: 100 foods memes, blogs, Chinese food, memes

12 Comments:

Well...I have an issue with the tea on the list. Namely, it lists "six" teas, but three are herbal infusions and one is bubble tea. The oolong and pu-erh are obviously great, but where are the green teas? Any list like this which doesn't mention at least one of China's vast array of green teas just feels incomplete. How about some Silver Needle?

Just...makes me a sad panda.

lawofmurphy at 10:33PM on 09/13/08

Pan-fried jiaozi? You've never had potstickers? Really?

And if you've never had tea-smoked duck, you're missing out. Grand Sichuan St Marks does a very nice version.

kathryn at 11:38PM on 09/13/08

Sorry to be picky, but I thought char kuey teow was Malaysian.

And no, natto doesn't count, stinky tofu is its own kind.

feistyfoodie at 11:59PM on 09/13/08

I see kosher Chinese food on the list -- but not Islamic (which is great).

DennisSC at 12:15AM on 09/14/08

@lawofmurphy oolong is somewhere between green and black. But then, iron goddess is technically an oolong tea, so I do agree with you on the paltry tea selection.

@DennisSC yeah, Xinjiang cuisine is very good, especially the lamb dishes.

Being a Chinese, I think the only food on the list I haven't had were baijiu (too strong for me) and Yunnan goat cheese (I don't eat goat cheese).

sundae_1888 at 1:04AM on 09/14/08

Hmm, I think I got this list almost covered. The only things left are: Hot coca-cola with ginger, red bayberry, roast pigeon and Yunnan goat cheese. My problem is that I rather die than eat a pigeon. Childhood trauma. Don't ask.

practicallydone at 3:19AM on 09/14/08

word natto doesn't count, chinese stinky tofu is good, esp with rice, just when you have nothing to eat...

disneydreamscometrue at 4:32AM on 09/14/08

@kathryn: Oh. I have had pan-fried jiaozi. I just didn't bother to click through to see that they were potstickers. I bolded all the foods I *knew* I'd had, then was waiting to go through and look up all the ones whose names I didn't know off hand. I think I forgot to click through.

Adam Kuban at 9:55AM on 09/14/08

A very serious oversight: Bird's Nest (check for me). And also: salted preserved duck eggs, salted fish.
Here's my list..

1. Almond milk
2. Ants Climbing a Tree (poetic, not literal, name)
3. Asian pear
4. Baby bok choy
5. Baijiu
6. Beef brisket
7. Beggar's Chicken
8. Bingtang hulu
9. Bitter melon
10. Bubble tea
11. Buddha's Delight
12. Cantonese roast duck
13. Century egg, or thousand-year egg [one of my favorite foods]
14. Cha siu (Cantonese roast pork)
15. Char kway teow
16. Chicken feet
17. Chinese sausage
18. Chow mein
19. Chrysanthemum tea
20. Claypot rice
21.Congee
22. Conpoy (dried scallops)
23. Crab rangoon
24. Dan Dan noodles
25. Dragonfruit
26. Dragon's Beard candy
27. Dried cuttlefish
28. Drunken chicken
29. Dry-fried green beans
30. Egg drop soup
31. Egg rolls
32. Egg tart, Cantonese or Macanese
33. Fresh bamboo shoots
34. Fortune cookies
35. Fried milk
36. Fried rice
37. Gai lan (Chinese broccoli)
38. General Tso's Chicken
39. Gobi Manchurian
40. Goji berries (Chinese wolfberries)
41. Grass jelly
42. Hainan chicken rice
43. Hand-pulled noodles
44. Har gau (steamed shrimp dumplings in translucent wrappers)
45. Haw flakes
46. Hibiscus tea
47. Hong Kong-style Milk Tea
48. Hot and sour soup
49. Hot Coca-Cola with Ginger
50. Hot Pot
51. Iron Goddess tea (Tieguanyin)
52. Jellyfish
53. Kosher Chinese food
54. Kung Pao Chicken
55. Lamb skewers (yangrou chua'r)
56. Lion's Head meatballs
57. Lomo Saltado
58. Longan fruit
59. Lychee
60. Macaroni in soup with Spam [my childhood!]
61. Malatang
62. Mantou especially if fried and dipped in sweetened condensed milk
63. Mapo Tofu
64. Mock meat
65. Mooncake (bonus points for the snow-skin variety)
66. Nor mai gai (chicken and sticky rice in lotus leaf)
67. Pan-fried jiaozi
68. Peking duck
69. Pineapple bun
70. Prawn crackers
71. Pu'er tea
72. Rambutan
73. Red bean in dessert form
74. Red bayberry
75. Red cooked pork
76. Roast pigeon
77. Rose tea
78. Roujiamo
79. Scallion pancake
80. Shaved ice dessert
81. Sesame chicken
82. Sichuan pepper in any dish
83. Sichuan preserved vegetable (zhacai)
84. Silken tofu
85. Soy milk, freshly made [made by hand by my grandma--one of my favorites]
86. Steamed egg custard [another favorite!]
87. Stinky tofu
88. Sugar cane juice
89. Sweet and sour pork, chicken, or shrimp
90. Taro
91. Tea eggs
92. Tea-smoked duck
93. Turnip cake (law bok gau)
94. Twice-cooked pork
95. Water chestnut cake (mati gau)
96. Wonton noodle soup
97. Wood ear
98. Xiaolongbao (soup dumplings)
99. Yuanyang (half coffee, half tea, Hong Kong style)
100. Yunnan goat cheese

So much more eating to be done..

Jenn Sit at 6:26PM on 09/14/08

Adam I'm not sure you want to try hot coca cola with ginger. I think that's medicine for a cold or maybe an upset stomach? Also I don't think it's pigeon as in the FLYING RATS, but squab, which is really good.

Gordon Mark at 8:25PM on 09/14/08

@Gordon--I have definitely eaten pigeons and pigeon eggs, too!

Jenn Sit at 9:37PM on 09/14/08

Wow, still a lot to try -- but I've had Ant Climbing a Tree, asian pear and so much more! Just got a big bunch of Baby bok choy at the Seattle University district farmers market on Saturday, cooked up very nicely. We still miss the Dan Dan noodles at Mary Chun in Cambridge MA.

Y'know, I've had plenty of congee, but will skip the congealed pig blood next time.

Stushi at 2:04PM on 09/15/08

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