06.19.08
The Globalization of Chinese Street Vendors
Culinary globalization is no longer shocking in the Middle Kingdom, as foreign fast food and restaurant chains are now ubiquitous in all major cities. In fact, in the shopping center near my apartment in Beijing alone, there is a McDonald’s, KFC, Pizza Hut, Starbucks, Dairy Queen, Yoshinoya (Japanese fast food chain), and even a Sizzler Steak House. But what has been surprising me now that I am back in China, is to see that the globalization of food has even trickled down to street vendors who typically only sling Chinese goodies. Consider this Tianjin street vendor selling “Japanese style sushi.”
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Despite its proximity to Japan, sushi has historically been a relatively tough sell to the Chinese, who have a general aversion to eating anything raw, be it fish or vegetables.
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In case you’re wondering, I wasn’t brave enough to try any.
ben
said,
June 23, 2008 at 8:02 pm
test comment
DK
said,
June 24, 2008 at 2:20 am
First time I saw street sushi was in Lianyungang, advertised as Korean style sushi. It was smoked yellow fish, hot dogs, cucumber, Miracle Whip (really, real Miracle Whip) and meat floss (肉松).
It was basically the same type of deal as the sushi rolls you get in the billions of Korean restaurants in China (local places and chains like 土大力). Closer to American mall sushi than Japanese or Korean.
(In Lianyungang, I also ate at a real deal Japanese joint run by some locals that took advantage of hip kids and a small Japanese community right beside the ocean and did raw, superfresh fish and authentic Japanese dishes really well).
DK
said,
June 24, 2008 at 2:29 am
I’ve seen the rise of takoyaki (章鱼小丸子) in night markets, too. I’ve eaten takoyaki in the middle of Henan and smalltown Jiangsu, night markets in Shandong with the dimpled pans and full of frying dough and squid, finished with shredded seaweed, a squirt of sweet mayo (and ketchup, if you’d like), and a blob of wasabi on the side.