Hannah's Foodventure Part 2: Hangzhou

I knew that my host sister Sunny and I were going to get along on the first day when she brought me back to her house and then said "Hey, do you want to go explore the 5 story supermarket near my house?" (I said yes, of course). Sunny had a passion for Chinese food that would take us to restaurants across Hangzhou and earn her the affectionate nickname "Food Fairy Godmother". With that in mind, here's the cuisine highlight reel from Hangzhou!!

The Spicy, Stewed, Whole Head of a Duck (except for the eyes)
You read that correctly. Day 2, Sunny and her mom took me to a tiny local favorite restaurant, where Sunny asked me if I wanted to try "something I probably wouldn't see in America". That turned out to be the entire head of a duck, cooked with lots of peppers. It was seriously DELICIOUS. You weren't allowed to eat the eyes, Sunny wasn't sure why, but we ate everything (note: we each were served our own individual duck head) including the brain! It was the coolest way to jump into food in Hangzhou.

River Snails

I'd never eaten a snail before these spicy, stewed morsels we tried at the same restaurant as the duck head. You can't eat the tail, which is very strange because that's the majority of the meat, so you simply bite off the foot of the snail and leave the rest in the shell. Chewy, but pleasant! 

Sweet Egg Rice Buns 

Sunny gave me a rice bun with sweet, yellow egg filling for breakfast sometimes. I'm not totally sure how they're made, but it's a very unique taste. Perfect sweetness-to-breadiness ratio necessary for good breakfast food. She said she had seen some in the US, so if anybody knows where I can get some, please let me know!

Hangzhou Style River Shrimp

These bright orange shrimp served still in their shells taste totally different from the saltwater shrimp I've eaten in the past. We ate them by ripping off the head and then eating the body (with the shell!) above the tail. We ate it lots more throughout the trip, and it was always a real treat!

Milk Tea 

I can honestly say my life is DIFFERENT now that I've tried authentic Chinese bubble milk tea. It's tea, usually for me Oolong Tea, with tapioca pearls in the bottom and a special foam called "milk salt" on the top. We tried it from three different places throughout the trip- the international brand Gong Cha, the Taiwanese brand Little, and the local brand RoyalTea. Each brand makes theirs a little different, but A Little is by FAR the most popular brand in Hangzhou. We passed by one on our walk to and from school each day and it was always totally packed. So good, I'm literally sitting in my hotel room on our final morning mapping out where I can go to get one last drink.

Lamb Ribs 

This was by far the best lamb I've ever eaten. To be fair, I rarely eat lamb, but I tried some of this spice-rubbed rib rack on Women's Day and it blew me away! Sunny and her mom told me it was one of their favorites. I would love to try to recreate it on a grill but I'm not sure what the spice rub was and it tasted like it had been smoked. Soooo good!

Dumplings & Wonton Soup

I put these together because in Sunny's home with her family we often ate a delicious soup of dumplings or wontons with a bowl of dark vinegar. The filling was quite similar in both, and they were AMAZING. They did turn out to be the one thing that I really struggled to eat with chopsticks since they were both delicate AND slippery, but once I figured out how to not drop them back into my bowl (loudly, with a splash of broth) it became my favorite meal.

"Aunt's Sauce"

I know this isn't the translation exactly, but this is what Sunny called the spicy jar she handed me to mix with my dark vinegar whenever we ate dumplings. It's famous around China, and she told me many Chinese families she spoke to at DS use it still! It's awesome, and I brought a jar home with me because it's less than a dollar in China and about $7 in the US.

A Whole Spiced & Grilled Squid on a Stick 

This one was pretty straight forward. A skewered squid, covered in spice rub. It was so spicy that Sunny and I were actually panting by the time we'd finished, but I'd eat another right now!

Bread Cube Dessert

Definitely not what this is actually called, but we got this on our last night out with all of the other Hangzhou High School students and Sunny said it was very common in Chinese restaurants. It's literally a perfectly rectangular loaf of bread, with all of the center cut into cubes, buttered, fried, and placed back into the loaf, with ice cream on top. You really can't go wrong with any of those ingredients.

Street Vendor Scallion Pancakes 

I really wanted to try scallion pancakes in actual China, and I wasn't disappointed. I bought some on the street on the way to school one morning and was given a bag full of small, chopped pieces and a wooden stick to spear them with. Fun and yummy! 

I'm sure I'm missing some, but it was such an incredible time that I can't fit everything in! I'll never forget the meals I ate while I was here, or the people I ate them with. My China Foodventure was a 10/10. I highly recommend you try all of these dishes!