Where to find Beijing’s best street food: a trip through the capital’s warren of hutongs
- Away from the tourist hotspots of Beijing, its narrow alleys known as hutongs hide many culinary treasures.
- Here are five of the best places to enjoy Beijing street food in humble surroundings
While these places offer a wide variety of street snacks such as lamb skewers, sugar-coated haw fruit (also known as hawthorn) on sticks and fermented soybean milk, they, being popular destinations for tourist coaches and foreign backpackers, are often crowded and overpriced.
To eat street snacks like locals, visitors should explore the hutongs – the warrens of narrow alleyways lined with single-storey homes that are spread across central Beijing, or the nondescript but popular shops lying off the beaten track.
The Post has found five such places which offer the best street food in Beijing.
1. Zhajiangmian (noodles with soybean paste) at Fangzhuanchang hutong Tucked away in a quiet corner of Fangzhuanchang hutong, the shop has snaking queues during mealtimes. The family-run shop offers only one dish – zhajiangmian, or noodles with a rich, meaty soybean paste, the iconic northern Chinese dish. The sauce is made by simmering stir-fried ground beef or pork with fermented soybean paste.