Food for the Year of the Tiger

Xin nian kuai le! It's the Year of the Tiger, so get into the spirit of things with these tiger-themed dishes.

Tiger Salad 老虎菜
A cold dish from northeastern China. This dish was purportedly invented by a young bride who couldn’t cook. According to the tale, when asked to make a dish for her mother-in-law, the young bride mistakenly chopped up all the ingredients into small pieces and mixed them together raw with some seasonings. Unlike the origin stories of most dishes, this new concoction was not initially well received. The bride’s mother-in-law tasted the dish and rep¬rimanded her: “You are really stupid.” In the local language of Dongbei, the word “tiger” is a euphemism for “stu¬pid.” Yet, despite its deprecated begin¬ning, the dish has lived on, and proven to be a time-honored favorite. RMB 8.
Dongbei Tiger Restaurant. Daily 11am-10pm. Bldg 6, Dongsanhuan Nanxiaojie, Between Sanyuanqiao and Sanyuandongqiao, Chaoyang District. (6468 5258) 东北虎菜馆, 朝阳区东三环南小街6号楼(三元桥与三元东桥间)

Tiger Skin Pepper 虎皮尖椒
This Hunanese dish is meant to evoke the hues of tiger’s fur with some crisp, slightly burnt areas of the pepper skin forming a gradient from black to yellow. This dish is made with only one primary ingredient – green pepper, which is deep fried and then seared. Like roasted red peppers, these Tiger Skin peppers are perceptibly sweet. RMB 16.
Xiangxi (Western Hunan) Government Beijing Representative Office Restaurant. Daily 11am-2pm, 5-9pm. 21 Chaowai Dajie, Chaoyang District. (6621 4788)

Tiger Skin Egg with Braised Pork 虎皮蛋红烧肉
This Jiangsu dish is a specialty of a humble restaurant op¬posite The Central Academy of Drama by Nanluogu Xiang. It is composed of braised pork in brown sauce and braised quail’s eggs with golden skin.
RMB 26.
Xiyuan. Daily 11am-11.30pm. 40 Dongmianhua Hutong, Dongcheng District. (8402 0056) 细园, 东城区东棉花胡同40号

Tiger Skin Tofu 虎皮豆腐
An Anhui dish featuring small pieces of deep-fried fermented tofu stewed with soy sauce to a golden, tiger-like color. It is said that the fermented tofu in this dish was invented by Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). According to the story, he discovered the taste of the fermented tofu accidentally, after forgetting to eat a piece of tofu that someone had given him. Being poor and hungry, he ate it anyway. Hundreds of years later, it has become a famous dish. RMB 15.
Kekao Kela. Daily 9.30am-2pm, 5-10pm. Gulou Xidajie, Xicheng District. (6404 3589) 可烤可辣, 西城区鼓楼西大街

Tiger Skin Elbows 虎皮肘子
To make this Shanxi dish, singe a pig’s elbows to burn the skin, and then peel off the burnt outer layer, revealing the golden flesh within. Cut this meat into small pieces and boil it in water until it is 70 percent cooked, then steam for two hours to slowly seal in the flavors. At Li Jia Cai, one of Beijing’s most famous bastions of imperial cuisine, the artisti¬cally sliced dish arrives at the table as vividly colorful and brightly hued as a tiger, with much more lean meat than fat. RMB 230 per person.
Li Jia Cai. Daily 11am-2pm, 5-10pm. 11 Yangfang Hutong, Deshengmennei dajie, Xicheng District. (6618 0107) 厉家菜, 西城区德胜门内大街羊房胡同11号

Female Tiger 母老虎
For the daring diners, this is a cut of tripe served in a special Beijing tripe hot pot. Along with cow tripe, tofu skin and other skewered ingredients, our new year’s protagonist – the female tiger – attracts some gastronomes, while repelling others. In fact, “female tiger” isn’t much different than the other tripe cuts – you’ll know her from the spicy punch of Sichuan pepper. RMB 2.
Mocuomen Niuduwang. Daily 11am-10pm. 30A, Beisanhuan Xilu, Haidian District. (6840 0389) 摸错门牛肚王, 海淀区北三环西路甲30号(双安商场东双天大厦旁)

Fried Tiger Tail 炝虎尾
From Huaiyang cuisine, the cookery of the mid¬dle and lower reaches of Yangze River. Unless otherwise indicated, this dish is prepared by stir-frying the de-boned backs of eels with Shaoxing liqor and seasonings. The result is a tender, smooth delicacy. RMB 66.
Yuhuatai Fanzhuang. Daily 10am-10pm. Bldg 23, Madianyuzhong Xili, Haidian District. (6200 4206) 玉华台饭庄, 海淀区德外马甸裕中西里23号楼

Tiger Grouper 老虎斑
This thick-skinned yellow and light brown fish, native to both the Indian and Pacific Oceans, has a tiger’s maculation and tender white meat. Rich in protein, this fish is usually lightly steamed – a healthy and delicious dish.
Shengtaosha Chalou. Daily 10am-midnight. RMB 960/kg. 1A, Waiguanxiejie, Andingmenwai, Chaoyang District. (8528 5020) 圣淘沙茶楼, 朝阳区安定门外外馆斜街甲1号

Tiger Palm Fungus 虎掌菌
Grown wild among mountain grasses and precipices in only a few places within Yunnan’s Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture and Lijiang County, this fungus’ shape resembles a tiger’s palm. It is extremely nutritious, said to contain 17 amino acids. RMB 168.
Qicai Yunnan Dajiulou. Daily 10am-9.30pm. Henghua International Busi¬ness Center, 26 Yuetan Beijie, Xicheng District. (5856 6099) 七彩云南大酒楼, 西城区月坛北街26号恒华国际商务中心

Tiger Skin Cake 虎皮蛋糕
This cake’s marbled yellow skin is reminiscent of tiger markings. Sweet apple jam spirals within – pleasantly unlike a real tiger. RMB 17/kg.
Daoxiangcun. Daily 8am-7.30pm. 19 Dongzhimennei Dajie, Dongcheng District. (6406 9815) 稻香村, 东城区东直门内大街19号

Tiger Cries 老虎哭了
A sweet, sour and spicy Thai salad, composed of pepper, onion and mint with a choice of pork or beef. RMB 38.
Sukhothai. Daily 11am-2.30pm, 5-10.30pm. 1-16 Chaoyanggongyuan Lu, Chaoyang District. (5867 0211) 粟库泰, 朝阳区朝阳公园路1-16

Dragon Fighting Tiger 龙虎斗
Not for the squeamish. There are two com¬pletely different dishes both known as “Dragon Fighting Tiger” – one from Guangdong, the other from Hubei. The Guangdong version is a soup brewed of snake (symbolizing the dragon), cat (symbolizing a tiger) and chicken (symbolizing a phoenix). The proper name for this dish should be Braised Dragon Tiger Phoenix (龙虎凤大烩), but it is commonly referred to as Dragon Fighting Tiger. The Hubei version is less exotic – eel (symbolizing the dragon) and pork (symbolizing the tiger). Unfortunately, neither of these two dishes are available in Beijing.