.png)
-->
 |
| Easton Depp ('19) laughs as Isaac Feinn ('19) tries pig tail. |
On one of our last days in Xi’an, the scholars
went to visit Yongxingfang. Yongxingfang is a food street within the historical
district of the Xi’an City wall. Here, you can try over 20 different types of
local Shaanxi provinces meals, dishes, and treats. Today I will be writing up
my conclusion on all of them, and I will be joined by fellow critics Nicole
Fielder and Isaac Feinn.
In order to sample these treats, one must load up
a card to spend money. It is a bit similar to an arcade, where you load real
money onto a card and use the card to purchase items. After loading up our card
with one hundred yuan, and buying some beverages to keep us cool, the three of
us set off for our first dish: the donkey meat sandwich.
The sandwich was very tough and chewy. It
reminded me of a leaner burger. While this dish was an interesting experience,
I don't know if I would get it again.
Second, we went to the stall directly adjacent to
purchase what looked like a paintbrush treat. The tip of the paintbrush had
been removed and replaced with a flaky pastry style treat coated in a raspberry
sauce. The pastry was very small, almost bite-sized. It was very delicious
though. The flakiness almost melted in your mouth, and the raspberry sauce was
a nice complimentary flavor. This treat was so delectable, Nicole went back later to
buy a second one.
Our next dish was a squid skewer. Pretty standard
fare in Xi’an but none of us had tried it yet. The
squid itself was reminiscent of calamari, but had a slight kick of spice that
kept it original. The appearance itself was a little disconcerting to Nicole
and Isaac; there was no fried bread on this squid to conceal what you were
really eating. Overall, a standard dish with a quirky appearance.
Next up, Isaac and I purchased some dessert
treats, while Nicole returned to buy her second paintbrush treat. Isaac bought
a rose cake that we all tried. It was a ball of sticky rice coated in a
flavored sauce and covered with sprinkles. It had a distinctly floury taste,
but the rice left behind an aftertaste that I did not enjoy. Isaac and Nicole
were both fans of the treat.
My dessert treat was an ambiguous fried
dough ball with an egg filling. We tried to ask what it was to no avail (alas, language barriers prevail once more). Nonetheless, it reminded me of a donut, but with a sweet, eggy
aftertaste. Nicole and Isaac were not fans, but I preferred it to the Rose
cake. Nonetheless, the paintbrush treat was the best dessert style food we had at
Yongxingfang.
After the desserts, we took a break to try a
cultural experience on the far end of Yongxingfang. Shaiwaen Wine is a
tradition where one drinks wine out of a small clay bowl, and then smashes the small
bowl into the ground. Each of us bought one small bowl filled with Shaiwaen
wine and smashed it into the wall after finishing it. All of the surrounding tourists and Chinese cheered along with us. It was an exhilarating experience and fun to experience!
After our short break, we decided to return to
the dishes and tried out three more foods: Pig Tail, Lamb Blood Soup, and
Chinese Hamburger.
First up was the pig tail. This one was Isaac’s
idea, so he got first claim to a bite. You can see his reaction above.
The pig tail wasn’t great. It was very chewy, and
there was very little meat on it. Most of it was bones. I would
not recommend it as a snack, but it was fun to try. Next we tried the
Lamb Blood Soup. This one was my idea, so I got to be the first one to try. You
can see my reaction to the right.
The lamb blood soup was, suffice to say, gross.
The lamb blood was gelatinous and tasted like iron. The other ingredients in
the dish were decent but only served to mask the flavor of the blood. Overall,
this was my least favorite dish.
To complete our trio of dishes, we had a Chinese
hamburger. We had tried these before at the Muslim Street, so we knew they were
a safe bet and a good meal to finish on. Chinese hamburgers are really just pulled pork sandwiches. They are safe, delicious, and easy.
As a final hoorah, we went to get some Chinese
ice cream. We had four flavors: black tea, strawberry, pearl and jade, and milk
ice. Black tea was reminiscent of coffee, and was very delicious. Strawberry
was exactly what it sounds like. Pearl and Jade was a green tea flavor, and
milk ice was a vanilla.
In conclusion, our day at Yongxingfang was an
adventure well-worth repeating. There were many dishes we didn’t manage to try
and I would love to try them someday. Thanks for reading!
 |
| Scholars turned Culinary Critics: Easton Depp ('19), Nicole Fielder ('19), and Isaac Feinn ('19)
Easton Depp, of Ft. Thomas, Ky., is a member of the McConnell Scholar Class of 2019. He studies political science, economics and history at the University of Louisville.
|