Chinese Street Food A Pictorial Delight

China is known for its'  interesting cuisine and centuries old recipes. However it's the street food that is the highlight of any trip. Every city and town has its' specialty , perfect treats for tourists. Yet there are dozens of both savory and sweet treats. What's good and from where? There's a new carry along guide book that can help sort out the different dishes.

Frank Kasall has written an illustrated guidebook Chinese Street Food :A Field Guide For The Adventurous Diner (Blacksmith Books 2019). It is a travelogue through one of the biggest's country's many metropolitan areas. It's fair to say that each town has a street food it's known for, whether it be salty or sweet. The book is divided into cities and their specialties so it's easy to find such famed towns as Beijing and Shanghai. A map of China and a marker on the highlighted city opens each and every chapter. There are some treats that are sold throughout the country such as the New Year's jellied sweets that have all sorts of decorations on them. Yet every province is different, sometimes influenced by neighboring countries such as India  and Nepal who have given the bordering area naan and outside sources such as Russian Jews who introduced vanilla ice cream to the northern , snow region  early in the last century.

The pictures and accompanying descriptions are mouth watering. Unlike most countries, Chinese street food is served all day long from early morning to late at night. Travelers can enjoy a  porridge of veggies and meat to start the day and end it with a  chicken stew or rich soup, swimming with wheat noodles.Some can be eye openers as with Kao Can Yong or silkworm pupae, Yes, it's silkworm on a stick,  popular in town of Changchun where skewered food rules supreme. They look like rolls of bacon but creamy inside like pate. They don't taste like chicken. Mr. Kasalls assures that they have a buttery, nutty taste. Too wild? Try the city's Wu Hua Rou Juan Jin Zhen Gu or skewered mushrooms and pork belly  fried to a golden crisp. For those wanting a more European spin, then head to Macao, once a Portuguese outpost for  daan taat a sweet egg custard tart in a crunchy shell. The dumplings we Americans crave are also listed throughout the book, There are some variations such as the ones made with soup and mutton in the Muslim areas of the country.

Chinese Street Food :A Field Guide For The Adventurous Diner is the must have book on a summer trip to China. It is the best guide for navigating through the street vendors. Anyone will feel like an export upon reading it.