Where can I eat authentic bibimbap in China?
Preface
In recent years, Korean food has become popular, and bibimbap has suddenly become popular all over the country. Whether it is a Korean restaurant, a barbecue restaurant or a Western restaurant, you can see its presence. As for the taste, it is very uneven.
▲Common menu items in the store
I've had versions where the rice is cooked in the pot, and I've also had versions where everything is just thrown into the pot and served (which is awful). But delicious bibimbap is irresistible, especially in the cold of winter. A few mouthfuls of hot bibimbap, mouthful after mouthful, is pure bliss.
But I couldn't possibly travel all the way to Korea just for a good meal of bibimbap (and I didn't have the money, actually). So, by chance, I discovered this magical place called Yanji, where you can enjoy Korean specialties that rival Korean cuisine without leaving the country!
What kind of city is Yanji?
First of all, where is Yanji?
Yanji City is located in Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, Jilin Province. It is surrounded by famous tourist attractions such as "Changbai Mountain" and "Snow Town". It is home to 800,000 Koreans, and Korean food culture has developed and innovated here.
This is a city that comes with subtitles for Korean dramas. The moment you exit Yanji Station, you have the illusion of traveling to Korea. The words on the streets are all in Chinese + Korean. Some passers-by switch back and forth between Korean and Northeastern dialect when speaking. It's quite interesting!
This is a city where entertainment revolves almost entirely around eating. Here, gourmet food shops abound in every street and alley, and eating is a natural vocation for the people of Yanji. During my three days in Yanji, eating occupied most of my time. I wished my stomach had grown bigger, and I really regretted buying my return ticket too early!
What’s so special about Yanji’s rice?
In Yanji, no matter how many delicacies there are, a meal is incomplete without rice.
Due to the water quality of Tianchi Lake in Changbai Mountain, abundant sunshine and the temperature difference between day and night, Yanbian rice stores a large amount of sugar, making it softer and more tender when steamed. In fact, the rice in Northeast China is very delicious, and delicious rice is also an indispensable ingredient for an authentic bibimbap!
The people of Yanji love rice as much as the people of Yunnan. There are many foods made from rice, such as stone pot rice, rice cake, rice wine, rice sausage...too many to count.
▲Dagao (rice cake)
In Yanji, if you see stone pot rice and stone pot bibimbap on the menu, don’t be naive and think that they are the same thing. The word "bimbap" alone makes a big difference. Let me explain it to you slowly.
Stone pot rice, once a royal imperial meal, is a simple dish. Cooking the rice in the pot and serving the stone pot directly from the stove to the table are essential steps for an authentic stone pot rice dish.
▲The cooking process of stone pot rice
Place sweet potatoes, dates, beans, wolfberries and other ingredients on the rice to be cooked, control the heat and simmer carefully, and jiang~ a fragrant stone pot rice is ready!
In addition to the fact that the rice is softer and more glutinous than Guangdong's clay pot rice, stone pot rice is generally not eaten directly on its own. It needs to be eaten with side dishes just like the rice we usually eat.
Unlike electric rice cookers and ordinary iron pots, stone pot rice always has crusty rice at the bottom. After the rice is removed from the stone pot, pour water into the crusty stone pot, cover it, and simmer for a while. This creates a pot of sweet, crusty rice water. Eating with water is a local favorite, perhaps reflecting the saying, "Original soup, original food."
▲ Rice crust water
Having said so much, what about bibimbap? It’s actually the kind we usually eat out.
If stone pot rice retains the original flavor of rice, then stone pot bibimbap offers a richer palate. The difference lies in the ingredients added to the rice and the way it's eaten. Stone pot bibimbap has a richer variety of ingredients, and with the addition of hot sauce, it can be eaten directly as a meal!
Authentic bibimbap isn't just rice topped with vegetables and an egg! The key lies in the stone pot itself, which keeps the rice warm. If you encounter bibimbap that doesn't make a cicici sound, please give it a negative review!
When the pot boils, mix the vegetables, soft-boiled eggs, chili sauce, and rice together. It's like cooking your own meal! Besides mixing the rice, you can also let the ingredients stick to the side of the pot for a different texture. If the flavor is a little bland, ask for more chili sauce.
▲Mixed rice
At the end of the meal, the rice at the bottom of the stone pot will turn into crispy rice crust, which is paired with spicy sauce, making a crackling sound, just like eating snacks. Every time I eat stone pot bibimbap, it is a super happy experience.
▲ Fragrant rice crust
【Recommended Restaurant】 Century-old Stone Pot Rice
【Recommended dishes】 Stone pot rice, stone pot bibimbap, iron plate tofu, miso soup, potato dumplings, stone plate rice sausage, etc.
【Average consumption】 30-40 yuan
Tips:
The stone pot rice is not salty and should be eaten with a side dish. The minimum order is 20 yuan per portion. If you're not looking for something special, just order the stone pot bibimbap. The grilled tofu is made from large tofu from Northeast China. The broth is similar to the broth used for dog meat hot pot, a unique flavor that goes really well with rice. The stinky bean paste soup is similar to the stinky tofu, being lighter and more flavorful.
Besides bibimbap, what other delicacies should you not miss?
This is what you care about most, right?
Even if you are a foodie, please promise me that you will read the first few chapters carefully, okay?
The food in Yanji is actually much richer than you can imagine.
◆Miso Soup Rice
Jangjang, a soup made with soybean paste (soybean paste), is a popular breakfast choice for many locals. Take a large, round spoon and sip the soup, then scoop up a generous spoonful of rice. You can also pour the soup over the soft, fragrant rice. Restaurants often offer a free kimchi buffet, which is particularly satisfying.
Recommended Restaurant: Lee Hae Ok Soup King
【Recommended dishes】 Various types of rice soup, kimchi, homemade tofu
【Average consumption】 10-20 yuan
Tips:
There are two on the map, and I went to Li Haiyu Soup King (No. 2). It's a local breakfast favorite, with generous portions and authentic flavor. More importantly, the prices are very affordable (soup rice for 13 yuan), and they also come with a wide variety of free kimchi.
Cold noodles
A handful of buckwheat noodles, topped with an egg, a few slices of beef, some pickled vegetables, and a sweet and sour broth, creates a truly delicious summer treat. The cold noodles are incredibly chewy, and while there are plenty of instant cold noodles available online, there's still a huge difference compared to a bowl of freshly made noodles. Even though I arrived in winter, I couldn't resist trying a bowl!
Recommended restaurants: Service Building Cold Noodles, Jindalae Cold Noodles, Sunhee Cold Noodles
【Average consumption】 10-20 yuan
Tips:
The local cold noodle restaurants in Yanji generally taste pretty good, and outsiders can't tell much difference.
Sweet and sour pork, Korean noodles
In Yanji, hot and sour pork is a standard side dish for cold noodles. However, it's said that because Koreans weren't as skilled at making hot and sour pork as Han Chinese, they evolved it into the more common sweet and sour pork. The pork is served in strips, with vegetables underneath and a sweet and sour sauce for dipping.
There are many types of Korean noodles. The ones I have seen include bean noodles, jjajangmyeon, warm noodles, crying noodles, seafood noodles, etc.
Different places have different ways of making noodles with soybean paste, and the main difference lies in the sauce. North Korean noodles with soybean paste are not as sweet as Beijing noodles with soybean paste. Its sauce has a medicinal aroma of spring sauce. Although this sauce looks black, it is not spicy, but salty and sweet.
Bean noodles don't refer to noodles made from beans, but rather a bean soup. It's sweet and refreshing when you drink it cold! The soup has a strong bean flavor, which is perfect for me.
Recommended hotels: Xingdou Hotel, Manduolou Hotel
【Recommended dishes】 Sweet and sour pork, various Korean noodles, kimchi pancakes, potato pancakes, fried vegetables, etc.
【Average consumption】 35 yuan
Tips:
The sweet and sour pork is huge! Really huge! Xingdou Restaurant's noodles are all 20 yuan per portion. The handmade noodles are very chewy and filling, so don't overdo it!
Rice sausage
Rice sausage is a food that locals often buy to eat at home. The cooking method is similar to the Chaoshan pig intestines stuffed with glutinous rice, but the taste is quite different.
The rice stuffed with pig intestines is seasoned with shallots, coriander, perilla leaves and other spices, and then supplemented with soybean paste, bean paste and pig blood, and then steamed. It is served with specially prepared soy sauce and can be finished on the table in minutes.
▲Me eating
Recommended restaurants: Floating Market, West Market, and Xuemei Rice Sausage
【Recommended dishes】 Thick rice sausage, thin rice sausage
【Average consumption】 10 yuan
Tips:
Rice sausage is sold at every market. The floating market is open early, so arrive early. The West Market is open until the afternoon. There are also many shops selling rice sausage on the street. I recommend Xuemei Rice Sausage, a long-established shop. It's a great value, much cheaper than other shops. Rice sausage is 11 yuan per portion, and they can be packaged, making it a great choice for local specialties.
◆Gimbi
Unlike Japanese sushi, gimbap isn't exactly a Yanji specialty, but it's a popular spot for locals during dinnertime. Gimbap restaurants offer a variety of dishes, including the usual seaweed rice rolls, seaweed rice balls, and omelet rice.
Recommended restaurants: Kim's Seaweed Restaurant, Myeong-cheol Seaweed House
【Recommended dishes】Seaweed rice roll, cheese fried ramen, omelet rice, cold noodles, etc.
【Average consumption】 10-20 yuan
◆Rice included
Grilled meat, perilla leaves, side dishes, rice, not much to say, simple and crude, just wrap it up!
Recommended restaurants: Yile Baofan, Yuannai Baofan
【Recommended dishes】 Rice and rice wine
【Average consumption】 10-20 yuan
Tips:
Yuan Nainai Baofan is more famous, but it's overcrowded with tourists. I recommend Yile Baofan. There are many Yile Baofan locations, which can be found on the map. Before ordering, be sure to check online for group buys. The set meal for just over 70 yuan was enough to fill three people up.
Ginseng Chicken Soup
Samgyetang is a unique Korean soup that's not only non-greasy but also incredibly fresh and fragrant, with a hint of medicinal aroma. The fragrant chicken also has a ricey, medicinal aroma, and the chicken's belly is filled with glutinous rice. Sometimes, the glutinous rice, soaked in the essence of the chicken broth, tastes even better than the chicken itself.
It is worth mentioning that the chicken soup is not salty and needs to be eaten with a salt dish.
Recommended restaurants: Ye-ryeong Ginseng Chicken Soup, Chef Jang's Ginseng Chicken Soup
Recommended dishes: glutinous rice chicken, ginseng chicken soup, acorn jelly, fried rice cake, spicy chicken feet, perilla leaf cake, etc.
【Average consumption】 50 yuan
◆Tavern
While the tavern isn't particularly special, it's a popular hangout for local young people. Prices are relatively high, and the cuisine leans towards Korean cuisine. Their specially blended rice wine and soju are must-try items! If you're staying in Yanji for a while, give it a try.
Recommended hotels: Qixingbuche and cabins
Recommended dishes: Army hot pot, cheese bacon corn, special rice wine soju, etc.
【Average consumption】 68 yuan
postscript
There are so many delicious foods in Yanji. In addition to the ones mentioned above, there are also endless delicacies such as snow ice, barbecue, rice cake, fish cake, etc. To be honest, if I hadn’t been curious at the time, I might not have thought of coming to Yanji, let alone that Yanji has so many wonderful things hidden in it.
During my few days in Yanji, even though there wasn't much to see, I was eager to walk a few more steps to make room in my stomach. If I have the chance, I must visit this food city and try authentic stone pot bibimbap and enjoy a unique Korean dish.
The Yanji food scene has come to an end. After reading this, do you have the urge to go there? It’s not too late to save it first!
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