Beijing’s favourite urban bassmongers, The Syndicate, bring special guest Conrank up from Shanghai to Lantern on February 18 for a massive night of bassy nutrition. In case you didn’t know, Conrank’s nickname is Chaofan Ge (炒饭哥), which made for a spot of nightlife-dining crossover fun.

As well as persuading Conrank to release his favorite fried rice recipe to the public, we asked The Syndicate to transfer their musical street smarts to the world of food to nominate their favorite Beijing street foods (and where to track them down). As an added exclusive for readers of the Beijinger, Conrank’s given us a free track to download.

Egg pancake (jianbing, 煎饼)
DJ Blackie says: Known to some as the "Chinese breakfast crepe" and others as "That eggy, brown goo-infused crunchy mess," the humble jianbing is my favorite street eat. I like its sloppiness. I like that a jianbing makes it OK to eat chilli sauce at 8am. And most of all, I like that sneaky crunch. Ah, the crunchy bit. As with any mysterious crunch in food, I'm happy for knowledge of its origins to remain on a strictly "need to know" basis. A delicously filiing Beijing street breakfast, and for less than RMB 5, you really can't complain, can you?

Where: Dongzhimen Qiao (actually, pretty much any busy street corner from 6-10am)
Price: RMB 3.5

Soup dumplings (tang bao, 汤包)
DJ Slide says: I was going to go for the perennial street favourite of yangrou chuan’r, but as there have already been volumes written about their spicy, meaty goodness I thought I would plump for my most recent discovery – tang bao. These little beauties range in price from street food up to high-end Din Tai Fung fare, but why pay through the nose when they’re practically giving them away on the street? Take your average baozi stall, add about 15 different options for fillings (my favourite being beef and leek) and include a healthy ladelful of delicious steaming hot soup in each individually wrapped parcel of loveliness. Delicious.

Warning: These are not to be eaten on dates, as you’ll want to perfect your walking, talking and soup flow management techniques first.

Where: Maidi Tangbao (麦迪汤包), about 500m east of Changhong Qiao on the north side of the road (next to McDonald’s)
Price: RMB 1-1.3 per baozi (eat six and you’ll be full)

Stinky Tofu (chou doufu, 臭豆腐)
Donkey Tonk says: I often mistook the pungent odors of chou doufu as just another of those street smells we've all learned to put up with in Beijing. A friend pointed out to me that the waft wasn't coming from the public conveniences, but actually a guy deep-frying a smelly version of tofu. One bite and I was hooked on the stuff. It may smell pretty pungent, but the taste is as gourmet as you get on the street. Now I find myself relishing a wide range of street aromas, since it might well turn out to be my favourite roadside snack. Whether stinky tofu or stinky something else, my nose still can't tell the difference – and frankly, it doesn't care anymore.

Where: Nanluogu Xiang (shop next to Salud)
Price: RMB 5 for a large portion

Conrank’s "Chaofan Ge" Fried Rice Recipe
Conrank says: I’m a big fan of fried rice in general, and through years of experimentation ended up creating my own fried rice recipe. There are three key ingredients.

Ingredients
Fresh beef/pork sausages (“These can't be your average crappy frankfurters. They need to be proper bangers, with serious girth.”)
Cheddar cheese (“Also try experimenting with other cheeses … stilton is cracking.”)
Tomato Ketchup (“My sauce has six ingredients, the base ingredient is ketchup.”)

Aside from this, you can find most of the ingredients in your standard street chaofan. Here's a roundup:
One portion of steamed rice
1 carrot
Green peas
Cherry tomatoes
Half a red onion (depending on size)
1 egg
Mixed herbs
Mushrooms
1 pork/beef sausage (2 if they’re small)
A handful of grated cheddar cheese
Half a yellow pepper (not the spicy kind)
Sauce – this is the one thing I like to keep a closely guarded secret, but start with ketchup as your base and work from there, experimentation is key.

Method
Step 1
Prepare your sauce and have it ready in a small bowl. Grate the cheese, add to the sauce and stir.

Step 2
Add a small amount of oil into a hot wok,  crack an egg into the pan and stir until the egg is cooked.

Step 3
Throw in your vegetables, sausages, and fry them bad boys up!

Step 4
Add the rice and stir constantly - you can even add some flicking action if you are feeling confident enough. Having said that, do be careful - oil splatter is very painful! As well as stirring, press the rice down with your spatula against the pan, this will help to break it up a little and soak up more flavour.

Step 5
Add the sauce and continue to stir/flick until you are happy with the consistency.

Step 6
When the rice is cooked through and starting to brown, serve up the magical oily goodness for your friends -  they will love you forever!

Now here's that free Conrank download we promised.

The Syndicate present Conrank on February 18 at Lantern. RMB 50. 10pm.

PHOTOS: Colin Phillips, DJ Slide and SmartShanghai.com