Shenyang food - local delicacy

Local info regarding food in Shenyang which was extracted from the web:

Laobian Dumpling Feast

Man and Han Whole feast

Laobian Dumpling Restaurant
　　As a domestically renowned traditional food with a 170-year history, the Laobian Dumpling is notable for its thin skin, full stuffing, good smell and delicious taste. After generations of innovation by chefs, the restaurant now offers more than 100 types of dumplings as well as dumpling feasts.

Ma's Shaomai (Stuffed Dumpling with Dough Gathering at the Top) Restaurant
　　As the earliest restaurant set up by the Hui people in Shenyang, this restaurant boasts a history of more than 200 years. Its Stuffed Steamed Dumpling is famous for exquisite material selection, hand-made wrapping and traditional techniques. The cooked Dumplings are crystal-like and delicious in taste.

Shenyang Flavour Restaurant
　　Daling in local snacks, the restaurant is a famous old landmark. Its main items include Beiyang Dumpling, Kaifeng Juicy Steamed Stuffed Bun, Shandong Fried Dumpling, etc., with each having its unique flavor.

Na's Restaurant
　　Located on the Qing Dynasty Street of Shenyang, the restaurant is more than 120 years old. Stewed Meat, its traditional dish, is famous for fresh materials, exquisite preparation and excellent sauces. Na's Meat in Jar is based on a traditional recipe and has a golden color and rich flavor.

Laosiji Stretched Noodle Restaurant
　　As a unique noodle restaurant in Shenyang, Laosiji offers nine different types of noodles accompanied by chicken soup and typical Fuling Pickled Mustard Tuber.

Yang's Baked Cake and Roast Duck Restaurant
　　Established by Yang Yutian in Tao'an, Jilin Province, in 1913, the restaurant now is nearly 90 yearly 90 years old. Its baked cake is distinguished with a golden color, crisp skin, tender inside and delicious taste. It has special processing techniques.

Korean Restaurant
　　Located in the Xita, Shenyang, the restaurant has gained widespread acclaim for its exquisite materials, excellent processing and typical Korean flavor. Its patent product, Xita Cold Noodle, is honored a Top Cold Noodle. All kinds of Korean cold dishes make strictly according to traditional Korean recipes are also available.

Laoshan's Haicheng Pie Restaurant
　　Located at 131 Nanwu Street, Heping District, the Haicheng Pie Restaurant uses lean pork and beef as it main ingredients, garnished with seasonable vegetables as well as sauces made from lilies and another 10 herbs. The pie is carefully baked and has a divine and tender taste.

Shenyang Food - Fish Porridge

Last week, a couple of friends decided to try this new restaurant " 知鱼湾" located at "五里河街". The entrance to the restaurant is unassuming, decoration wise, well nothing to crow about.

According to the waiter, all their seafood are imported from Hainan Island. Well to us, it is not where you import the seafood from, it is the way how the seafood are prepared and the quality of the raw ingredients.

Tried the live oyster at RMB10 per piece. Must say that it is good and goes well with the wasabe and soya sauce combination.

The fish porridge and the fish soup is a must try. We also tried the 3 colour noodles. The noodles are freshly made with carrot and spinach juice which gives the distinctive colouring. I would give the noodles a thumb up as they are cooked to perfection , a little springy and not soggy.

It is quite a reasonable price restaurant. For three of us, the total bill came to RMB180. This is one restaurant which I will certainly go back for the fish porridge.

Shenyang - BBQ and Beer

Found a rather quaint local brewery and BBQ place. The beer and ale are much cheaper that what you pay for at Paulaner Brauhauss Shenyang. A jug of the home brew cost only RMB18 which is considered a steal when comparing with Paulaner. It also comes with live music after 7.30pm.

Food is not too bad, several selection of skewered meat BBQ in an open pit gives much flavour to the meat. The lamb skewers and chicken wings are a must try. They even have BBQ mushrooms, long beans for those veggies lover.

An added attraction is that they have a hot pot with different types of skewered tofu, seafood, meatballs in a pot of stock. No need to wait for the water to boil, just pick up the skewer and put into your mouth.

They even have an English name: Time

Address: 沈阳市和平区, 南五马路边252 号. 024-23293377

Shenyang Food - Vegetarian Restaurant

Vegatarian Restaurant (宽巷子located at Thirteen Wei Road)

When one think about eating vegetarian food, the first thought that come to mind is "eating grass", the second being "eating flour or gluten".

Going for a vegetarian meal can be quite challenging. Depending on what you had ordered; its best to have a healthy mix of gluten or soy based products, mushrooms and leafy vegetables. You do not want to end up eating gluten for the entire meal. Again, it depends on what you want and dare to venture.

Surprisingly, the vegetarian meal that I had in Shenyang was quite a pleasant experience. This vegatarian restaurant, or rather, the only vegetarian restaurant in Shenyang served delectable vegetarian cusine in a comfortable environment. The only complaint was that; it is a smoking friendly environment. It will be good if it could at least have a smoke free area. Well that was wishful thinking on my part, especially in Northern China.

Back to the food. For starter, we had "lamb kebabs". Very tasty, and with healthy dose of spices, it actually taste very "meaty". We also had the "Smoke duck", it was good with paper thin pancakes and chives. We had stir fried mushrooms which to me was rather liberal in the use of sauces which overhelms the aroma of the mushroom. The "Fish cooked in oil" was rather good. A mastertouch to this simple dish was the use of a slice of bread to soak up the oil when eating the "fish". For the daring, a glass of bitter gourd juice gives an excellent dose of natural anti-oxidants.

For a price of around RMB140 for a meal for 4 person, I must say that it is quite value for money. I would recommend this eating hole for those who like and dislike vegetarian food. To those who dislike vegetarian food, my humble advice; decide after trying.

At this moment, being the only vegetarian restaurant in town (the other one under renovation), it leaves the spiritual, habitual and part time vegetarian foodie a delightful eating place to enjoy sumptious vegetarian food.

Lemon Grass "Cure for Cancer"

Fresh Lemon Grass Drink Causes Apoptosis
to Cancer Cells

(apoptosis) noun: a type of cell death in which the cell uses specialized cellular machinery to kill itself; a cell suicide mechanism that enables metazoans to control cell number and eliminate cells that threaten the animal's survival.

Fresh lemon grass fields in Israel become Mecca for cancer patients

By Allison Kaplan Sommer April 02, 2006


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A drink with as little as one gram of lemon grass contains enough citral to prompt cancer cells to commit suicide in the test tube.

Israeli researchers find way to make cancer cells self-destruct -Ben Gurion University

At first, Benny Zabidov, an Israeli agriculturalist who grows greenhouses full of lush spices on a pastoral farm in Kfar Yedidya in the Sharon region, couldn't understand why so many cancer patients from around the country were showing up on his doorstep asking for fresh lemon grass. It turned out that their doctors had sent them. 'They had been told to drink eight glasses of hot water with fresh lemon grass steeped in it on the days that they went for their radiation and chemotherapy treatments,' Zabidov told ISRAEL21c. 'And this is the place you go to in Israel for fresh lemon grass.'

It all began when researchers at Ben Gurion University of the Negev discovered last year that the lemon aroma in herbs like lemon grass kills cancer cells in vitro, while leaving healthy cells unharmed. The research team was led by Dr. Rivka Ofir and Prof. Yakov Weinstein, incumbent of the Albert Katz Chair in Cell-Differentiation and Malignant Diseases, from the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at BGU.



Citral is the key component that gives the lemony aroma and taste in several herbal plants such as lemon grass (Cymbopogon citratus), melissa (Melissa officinalis) and verbena (Verbena officinalis.)


According to Ofir, the study found that citral causes cancer cells to 'commit suicide: using apoptosis, a mechanism called programmed cell death.' A drink with as little as one gram of lemon grass contains enough citral to prompt the cancer cells to commit suicide in the test tube.


The BGU investigators checked the influence of the citral on cancerous cells by adding them to both cancerous cells and normal cells that were grown in a petri dish. The quantity added in the concentrate was equivalent to the amount contained in a cup of regular tea using one gram of lemon herbs in hot water. While the citral killed the cancerous cells, the normal cells remained unharmed.


The findings were published in the scientific journal Planta Medica, which highlights research on alternative and herbal remedies. Shortly afterwards, the discovery was featured in the popular Israeli press.



Why does it work? Nobody knows for certain, but the BGU scientists have a theory. 'In each cell in our body, there is a genetic program which causes programmed cell death. When something goes wrong, the cells divide with no control and become cancer cells. In normal cells, when the cell discovers that the control system is not operating correctly - for example, when it recognizes that a cell contains faulty genetic material following cell division - it triggers cell death,' explains Weinstein. 'This research may explain the medical benefit of these herbs.'



The success of their research led them to the conclusion that herbs containing citral may be consumed as a preventative measure against certain cancerous cells. As they learned of the BGU findings in the press, many physicians in Israel began to believe that while the research certainly needed to be explored further, in the meantime it would be advisable for their patients, who were looking for any possible tool to fight their condition, to try to harness the cancer-destroying properties of citral.



That's why Zabidov's farm - the only major grower of fresh lemon grass in Israel - has become a pilgrimage destination for these patients. Luckily, they found themselves in sympathetic hands. Zabidov greets visitors with a large kettle of aromatic lemon grass tea, a plate of cookies, and a supportive attitude. 'My father died of cancer, and my wife's sister died young because of cancer,' said Zabidov. 'So I understand what they are dealing with. And I may not know anything about medicine, but I'm a good listener. And so they tell me about their expensive painful treatments and what they've been through. I would never tell them to stop being treated, but it's great that they are exploring alternatives and drinking the lemon grass tea as well.'

Zabidov knew from a young age that agriculture was his calling. At age 14, he enrolled in the Kfar Hayarok Agricultural high school. After his army service, he joined an idealistic group which headed south, in the Arava desert region, to found a new moshav (agricultural settlement) called Tsofar. 'We were very successful; we raised fruits and vegetables, and,' he notes with a smile, 'We raised some very nice children.'



On a trip to Europe in the mid-80s, he began to become interested in herbs. Israel, at the time, was nothing like the trend-conscious cuisine-oriented country it is today, and the only spices being grown commercially were basics like parsley, dill, and coriander. Wandering in the Paris market, looking at the variety of herbs and spices, Zabidov realized that there was a great export potential in this niche. He brought samples back home with him, 'which was technically illegal,' he says with a guilty smile, to see how they would grow in his desert greenhouses. Soon, he was growing basil, oregano, tarragon, chives, sage, marjoram and melissa, and mint just to name a few.


His business began to outgrow his desert facilities, and so he decided to move north, settling in the moshav of Kfar Yedidya, an hour and a half north of Tel Aviv. He is now selling 'several hundred kilos' of lemon grass per week, and has signed with a distributor to package and put it in health food stores. Zabidov has taken it upon himself to learn more about the properties of citral, and help his customers learn more, and has invited medical experts to his farm to give lectures about how the citral works and why.







He also felt a responsibility to know what to tell his customers about its use. 'When I realized what was happening, I picked up the phone and called Dr. Weinstein at Ben-Gurion University, because these people were asking me exactly the best way to consume the citral. He said to put the loose grass in hot water, and drink about eight glasses each day.'


Zabidov is pleased by the findings, not simply because it means business for his farm, but because it might influence his own health. Even before the news of its benefits were demonstrated, he and his family had been drinking lemon grass in hot water for years, 'just because it tastes good.'

Food In Shenyang

Hi there, the good thing about being posted to China is the abundance of food that you can enjoy without being too picky. Be it a simple meal or an elaborate banquet, there is always something available without burning a big hole in your pockets.

I had lived in Shenyang for the last 2 years. During that time, I had the opportunity to try different types of culinary delights from road side stall to posh eateries. To me, its a matter of taste, preference, guts and financial power.

In this blog, I shall attempt to list out my favoured eating haunts to share amongst friends.