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Our last morning in Beijing, and we still didn't have much of an appetite for breakfast. We did, however, need some caffeine this morning, so we walked around and stopped at
CITIC Bookstore (中信书店) next to our hotel. It's a nice little space where one could have coffee and hang out, and there are even books I could read while chillin'.
We checked out of our hotel and brought our luggage to lunch. Our taxi didn't want to make the long loop to the restaurant entrance, so we dragged our suitcase a short distance along the shores of Houhai (后海) to
Kaorouji (烤肉季). Having done traditional Pekinese lamb hotpot for our first meal, it is somewhat fitting that our last meal of the trip should be old school lamb barbecue.
A special room upstairs had been arranged for us, with an adjoining barbecue room affording us a lovely view of both the
Drum Tower (钟楼) and
Bell Tower (鼓楼).
The real attraction, though, was the big wood fire griddle (炙子) made by welding strips of iron together. The intention is for the fat to drip down the gaps between the iron strips, although I do wonder if that still happens with this particular griddle that reportedly has been in use for some 60 years.
The griddle has been around for 60 years because the restaurant itself was founded in the 28th year of Emperor Daoguang (道光帝)'s reign, which would be 1848 A.D. Of course, it is no longer the same lakeside street stall that founder Mr. Ji Decai (季德彩) originally had, as they moved to the present location in 1945.
There were some traditional snacks laid out for us as we sipped on tea while waiting for everyone to arrive.
We started with some appetizers at the table:
Beijing style salt solution sheep head (京味白水羊头) - the mutton flavors were very strong.
Qianlong cabbage (乾隆白菜) - the flavors of the sesame paste were very nice, and this was a little sweet to the taste thanks to honey and sugar.
Spicg assorted veger arian delicacies (卤素什锦) - these assorted vegetarian goodies bear similarities to the Shanghainese classic dish of braised wheat gluten (四喜烤麩).
Traditional old Beijing hemp bean curd (传统老北京麻豆腐) - no hemp was used to make this tofu, but this is certainly not vegetarian as it's actually made with lamb and lamb fat... although I did find some whole soy beans inside.
Quick fried white turnip (呛白萝卜)
Mustavd sauce Chinese cabbage (芥末墩) - that classic yellow mustard sure had a strong kick.
We moved back to the room with the griddle, where places have now been set up for us for the "wu-style (武吃)" or "warrior-style" barbecue.
The little figurines on our table actually demonstrates the proper way to do 武吃. For "wen-style (文吃)" or "scholar-style" dining on the lower floors of the restaurant, the meat is cooked in the kitchen and served to diners seated at their tables in a more civilized manner. Wu-style dining asks diners to not sit on the wooden benches, but step on the bench with one foot while standing, and using long chopsticks made of zabelia (六道木) to get to the meat on the griddle.
We had a chef who helped us with the barbecue, and he explained both the history behind all this as well as showed us how it was done.
The chef spread the lamb around the griddle, flipping the meat to make sure it's evenly cooked.
They use Dorper lamb (杜泊羊) - a breed originally from South Africa but now raised in Inner Mongolia - and we started with meat from the
hind legs (后腿). The classic combination with scallions and coriander makes it so, so tasty.
We then moved on to what was translated as
"upper brain (上脑)" on the menu, which is really the backstrap filet.
The chef cracked a pigeon egg for each of us and steamed them on top of the lamb with the bowls.
That's very tasty, too.
We also had a round of traditional Pekinese
sesame cake (芝麻烧饼) - where the layered dough was coated with sesame paste spiced with Sichuan peppercorns and fennel - and we stuffed the lamb inside. This was just so, sooo satisfying!
The lamb was so tasty that our host decided we should order extra portions. This was when Mr. Chichi remembered he had received delivery of a batch of caviar from
Kaluga Queen as we started our lunch. So we opened the tins and put caviar on our barbecued lamb... I believe this was the
"hybrid", so the eggs came from
Acipenser schrenckii x Huso dauricus.
We also had the
osetra that came from
acipenser gueldenstaedtii, but I must admit that the color looked far more yellow than any
osetra or even
golden osetra that I have ever had.
Having finished our barbecued lamb, we took our seats back at the table to enjoy the rest of the feast...
TaSiMi lamb sliced in sweet saace (它似蜜) - the sliced lamb was cooked in a vinegar-based sweet and sour sauce.
Slide roll fruit sugar (糖溜卷果) - the first plate was deemed a "fail" by our host, who promptly asked the kitchen to re-do it...
The second plate showed the proper colors for the caramelized jujube sauce. So this was the more traditional version of what we had at
Lamdre (兰斋) two days ago, and made with Chinese yam (山药) and carrots, and coated in jujube paste (枣泥).
White seared towel gourd tip (白灼丝瓜尖) - it's good to have more veggies after all the lamb we've been stuffing our faces with, and this plate of blanched loofah shoots was just what we needed.
Braised tendons of beef (烧蹄筋) - with bamboo shoots and “golden coin mushroom (金錢菇)".
Flavor of vinegan lamb sliced (醋溜木须) -
moo shu (木须) lamb with egg and bamboo shoots.
Hemp sauce sweet cake (麻酱甜饼) - ummmm no, no hemp here. Just sweetened sesame paste that makes this very tasty.
Sticks the cake (糊饼) - the bottom of the flatbread was nice and crispy, and came topped with egg and diced Chinese chives.
Sautéed ox tripe with coriander (芫爆散丹) - very classic preparation of manyplies tripe, and very tasty with plenty of white pepper.
Fish maw and water bamboo soup (浓汤茭白鱼肚)
This was way, waaaaay too much food for us... but how could our last meal have worked out any other way? I was really happy to have tasted old school lamb barbecue, which was actually Mongolian in origin - making this the real "Mongolian barbecue". It was also nice to have tasted some classic dishes from Pekinese cuisine, which we really haven't had on this trip until now.
We really needed to walk off some of the calories, so we left our luggage at the restaurant and took a stroll along the north shore of Houhai. Being a nice day out, we saw lots of uncles playing Chinese chess, and even came across a few grandpas and a grandma taking a dip in the waters! Good thing only a small part of the water was frozen, then...
It was also nice to walk past some of the historical buildings, including
醇亲王府 where the last Qing emperor Puyi (溥儀) was born.
I needed to buy some tasty treats to bring back to Hong Kong, so Mr. Chichi brought us to
Fuhuazhai (富华斋饽饽铺). We decided to sit down and taste a few traditional snacks before making a purchase.
Chestnut and osmanthus cake (桂花栗蓉酥)
Jujube and pine nut cake (枣泥松子酥) - always a winner in my book.
Palatial beef tongue cake (宫廷牛舌饼) - so named because it resembles the tongue, and said to be Emperor Qianlong (乾隆帝)'s favorite.
Quince and osmanthus soup (宽汤桂花榅桲) - said to be Empress Dowager (慈禧太后)'s favorite.
Almond tofu (杏仁豆腐) - my childhood favorite. Technically, they're not made of almonds but apricot kernels.
After buying a few boxes of goodies - and one can see the treats being handmade right downstairs - it was time to grab our luggage and head to the airport. This has been an eye-opening trip, and we ate waaaaaay too much. I'll need to go on a diet when we are back home, but I do want to thank our tour leader Mr. Chichi for everything. Looking forward to my next trip back, and perhaps with a friend who needs to visit a few places with Michelin stars...
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