This video, produced by Radio Free Asia, was posted in May, but it just got a big spotlight thanks to Washington Post and Foodspin, so, thanks, guys, for showing us all how low the lowest low in food production can get.
Yeah, it’s full of students, and yeah, its bars cater mostly to the 19-year-old frat boy set. But there are at least a couple reasons to visit Wudaokou.
This story was never good to begin with -- authorities crack down on street barbecue vendors, who by the way may be passing off rat meat as lamb skewers, because they think street barbecueing contributes significantly to air pollution -- but the folks in charge have found a way to make it worse: more chengguan are expected to deal with this issue, because now fines are serious, as in quadruple what they used to be.
If you only had one plate and could make only one trip to the salad bar, what would you choose?
Take some inspiration from the pictures here -- posted to LabaQ and reblogged by the good folk of Kotaku -- which feature selected works from China's culinary Rodins.
Baijia Single Noble Black Bone Chicken Flavor Instant Sweet Potato Noodles, produced and sold in China, has been selected the world’s worst instant noodle brand in the world, according to American Hans Lienesch, a.k.a. The Ramen Rater, who apparently rates Ramen noodles professionally, having written more than 1,100 noodle reviews.
Xinhua News Agency reports that 904 people were arrested on Thursday as part of a nationwide crackdown on spoiled and fake food. How fake are we talking about? Deep breath time. “In Wuxi, in east China’s Jiangsu Province, suspects made fake mutton from fox, mink and rat by adding chemicals,” the news agency reported.
We know our friend Andray Abrahamian to be both a beer and coffee snob, so who better than he to discover an unnamed cafe in Pyongyang, next to the Pyongyang Hotel View Restaurant, that might well be North Korea’s first “third-wave coffeeshop.” (As Dray describes it: “For those of you unfamiliar with the term, ‘third wave’... Read more »
Like the most quintessential of Americana, chili is not complex — a stew of beans and tomatos, ingredients that fill the stomach, kick the tongue — yet it’s only with such a square, hearty base that we can sign our culinary art into the slight variances that elevate mere provision into the estimable domain of... Read more »
It was delicious. The bread, a special shade of mahogany, was lightly crisped with a glaze of cinnamon, as I imagined it. The sausage links were dipped in maple syrup before sizzling on the grill; one could, if he tried, detect the singed fragrance of applewood. The hamburger patties oozed a special type of grease,... Read more »
Its most controversial days are likely behind it, but we have one more update on Beijing Snacks, which some have taken to calling “the most racist restaurant in Beijing” thanks to its owner pasting a “no dog… no Japanese et al.” sign on the front window. RFH recently visited with friends, including a Japanese man... Read more »
It’s been a season of scandal for Yum Brands Inc., parent of KFC, which has been forced to apologize in response to a government investigation that found it was using pumped up and drugged out chicken from a local supplier. This has led to ticked off customers, decreasing sales and now a fallen stock price.... Read more »
This is a frightening lede. It is frightening indeed. More so if you knew this frightening read is about the food you eat. It’s from Caixin Online. It’s oil with an extra something, but there’s nothing virgin-like about it. Um. Pumped from sewers outside of restaurants, or pressed from trash, the oil is born... Read more »
Traditional ideas of what animals should be eaten are under pressure in southern China, a region where it’s often said anything that walks, flies or swims is fit for the dinner table. In Hong Kong, the controversy centers on shark fin soup, which has long been one of the city’s most popular dishes, especially among... Read more »
Food and beverage is a competitive, cutthroat industry. A recent article in Annals of Internal Medicine, brought to us by NPR, explains exactly how cutthroat. In Beijing in 2010, 80 diners went to the hospital after ingesting poisoned eggplant. We’re now learning that shady agents from a rival restaurant were to blame, as they spiked the ingredients... Read more »
We’ve survived the black and white burger. We’ve done beef and mash. We’ll happily tolerate every chicken and/or beef concoction McDonald’s throws at us. But this? “McNoodles” will go on sale at its Austrian restaurants from Thursday in a test set to last two to three months, a spokeswoman said. The meals feature noodles with... Read more »
By RFH Idea for an honest advert: Scene: A log cabin in remote woods. Five teens of mixed ethnicity/affability convene in a spooky basement to investigate a noise. Suddenly, the cast-iron stove in the back noisily cranks into action, pipes groaning. The teens gather round as, inside the stove, coals glow red-hot and wisps of smoke emerge.... Read more »
Going to KFC is like reaching into a grab bag of awful and grief. The Colonel peddles a strain of juiced-up flesh that has contributed far too long to our society’s headlong dive into self-wallowing and idiocy. How many children have grown up illiterate due to this mountain man’s white provender? How many more need... Read more »
By RFH Recently a doctor on Weibo recalled the story of a patient – a kabob (chuanr, in Beijing patois) seller – who came in with stab wounds in the 1980s after getting into a ruckus with a customer. Upon surgery, his problems were found to be far worse than previously assumed. His stomach was riddled... Read more »
I don't know why, but this made me laugh. Maybe it's the extra-nasally way the man pronounces the J in Beijing. Maybe it's because I feel like he's ready to vomit the words "chicken burger," such is his rising disdain. Maybe the title of the video itself -- Crazy McDonalds employee sells Sloppy Beijing Burger. Or maybe it's the idea of him turning off his camera, getting out of his car, and marching straight back into the McDonald's to return the burger, like he said he would... or the thought that he just might not turn the camera off while he does this.
Earlier this week, students at the Shandong Institute of Business and Technology went on Weibo to complain about their food tasting “sour, tart,” according to an article on the website 21food.cn. And why would food taste like that? The picture above is not some random dead whale, but the whale served up at the Shandong... Read more »
![Friday Links: The First Lady’s speech resonates in China, Wang Lijun formally charged, and a Han Han interview [UPDATE: Earthquakes shake southwest]](http://beijingcream.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Tiananmen-mural-160x120.jpg "Friday Links: The First Lady’s speech resonates in China, Wang Lijun formally charged, and a Han Han interview [UPDATE: Earthquakes shake southwest]")
