2017 Year in Review: Munch on Our Top 5 Beijing Street Eats

Beijing's rampant redevelopment has left the city with fewer and fewer affordable streetside snack restaurants and your favorite local noodle or dumpling joint may have even been ousted from the city forever. Yes, 2017 was a sad year for Street Eats, but fear not, there are still plenty of fine options out there, even if you do have to look a little harder for them. Here, we take a look back at our top five from the past 12 months.
 

Pan-Fried Baozi (生煎包 shēngjiān bāo)
Everyone loves these steaming hot and crisp sacks of lava juice and minced meat. Well, maybe not vegetarians. Cooked in a hefty pool of oil, the meat's gelatin becomes a delicious puddle of soup inside which forces the consumer to take a small bite before slurping up the sweet-and-savory juice. Do it wrong and you're likely to end up with a fatty mess down your front, and that's part of the fun. At around RMB 8-10 a tray, you seriously can't go wrong with a round of shēngjiān bāo. For these reasons alone, we crown them as the king of Steet Eats in 2017.
Where to get them: Meiming’r Shengjian, and Susongfu.
 

Lotus Root with Baby (藕夹宝宝 ǒu jiá bǎobǎo)
Don’t worry, we're not demented enough to eat actual babies. Instead, these babies are globs of fried steamed lotus root covered in starch and stuffed with meat. They also come with an incredible and fragrant sauce for dipping. The meat, meanwhile, adds a savory and heavy element that makes these the perfect side dish when coupled with a bowl of règānmiàn (hot-dry noodles) and their thick majiang sauce.
Where to get them: Uncle Hot Noodles
 

Beef Rice Noodles (牛肉粉 niúròu fěn)
As the signature dish at the time-honored Chinese and Changsha-founded brand Yangyuxing, these beef rice noodles (RMB 26) came with a decent portion of marinated and tender slices of beef, wide-cut rice noodles, and a warming broth. Although appearing light, we were surprised at how flavorful and well-seasoned the soup was, thanks to spices such as pepper, scallions, and star anise. What we really like about this place is that once you're done, you can start the whole process again by requesting another round of noodles for free. Alternatively, go crazy and try the ultimate Chinese culinary challenge: downing a bowl of black spicy stinky tofu topped with chili sauce and preserved bamboo shoots.
Where to get it: Yangyuxiang
 

Boiled Tripe (爆肚 bàodǔ)
If stinky tofu is too much for you, maybe a plate of boiled tripe will do the trick. An infamous traditional Beijing snack, a fine example of what boiled tripe should be is available at 31-year-old local restaurant Baoduhuang. All those decades in the tripe business means that Baoduhuang knows best, offering 11 varieties of either beef or mutton stomach, costing RMB 19-22 for a small portion, or RMB 36-45 for a large. One to mark down for when the parents are in town.
Where to get it: Baoduhuang
 

Spicy Pig Feet (麻辣猪蹄 málà zhūtí)
Finally, we'll finish off this year's list with a hulking spicy pigs foot. You may remember our traumatic 2016 experience with rubbery pig trotters, but thankfully 2017 treated us well in large part due to the rendition of this popular street eat at Wan’er Chuan’r. Wan'er Chuan'r certainly know their trotter (RMB 15) with crispy skin giving way to tender and steamy meat before the spicy kick swoops down and leaves your mouth in tingly bliss. Shallots and peanuts bring considerable texture to the outer crust and easy-to-peel and flavorful meat. Grab a pair of plastic disposable gloves and get stuck in.
Where to get it: Wan’er Chuan’r

You can read all of this year's Street Eats and beyond here.

More stories by this author here.

Email: tracywang@thebeijinger.com
Twitter: @flyingfigure
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Photos: Tracy Wang