Sticks

As you no doubt know by now, food in China is very reasonably priced. Belay that - food in China is downright cheap. While I've eaten in restaurants all over town including Chinese spots with many different specialties (Peking duck, dumplings, etc.) I've also indulged in North Korean, Mexican, and Russian cuisine at highly approachable prices - for 50 kuai (about 7 American bucks) you can get a great meal at most restaurants. However, all of the above totally pale in taste, price, and cultural flavor when compared to schuar - sticks for us foreigners.

What are these fabled sticks I speak of? Americans would call them barbecue - except the pieces of meat (or veggies, fish, or anything you can put on there, like chicken hearts) are small and tacked on little wooden sticks like kabobs, and the sauce isn't barbecue - it is a delicious mix of herbs and spices that can range from baby to scorched-stomach-lining levels of spiciness. My favorite are beef schuar, with chicken coming in a close second. Because I live right next to a Hutong (traditional alley), cheap eats - especially sticks - are right outside my window. Part of the experience is eating outside, where small tables are set up right in the street, allowing us to watch the ebb and flow of our Hutong while we munch on these unbelievable goodies. Unbelievable? After trying several places, we zeroed-in on one spot where the lady makes to-die-for sticks, and the tables are sitting in a perfect vantage point. After choosing vegetables and meat to be cooked, we settle down to watch the street, sip the local brew and talk about our day, our Hutong, and China.


While we typically go for the stellar stick place next to our apartment, one can get them anywhere in the city - just look for the lighted stick sign (above my shoulder to left of picture). Stick vendors seem to operate around the clock. I've come home past 4 in the morning only to find them fanning meat on their grills with the locals sitting, smoking, and eating until daylight hours. The same picture would begin forming around 7 or 8 in the morning - and another day of stick/beer consumption would begin. Sticks are a local staple - you almost never see foreigners eat them in our area, so each time we are sitting out there, we get a ton of stares from the passersby. This is about as traditional as you can get with food in Beijing.


Sylvain is demonstrating proper stick-eating form. His plate contains a mixture of noodles, mushrooms, cabbage, tofu balls, and peppers. The purple stuff in my plate is cabbage - with mushrooms and cabbage, all topped with a whole lot less spice than you'll find in Sylvain's plate. We ordered 20 beef sticks for the two of us - at the astronomical price of 1 kuai per stick. Convinced yet? The price to taste ratio here is off the charts - our meal, including beer, sticks, and veggies comes out to something like 40 kuai, or only slightly more than the 5 dollar bill in your wallet.