the Beijinger

“Wokipedia” is a regular magazine column in which we introduce aspects of Chinese gastronomy, one letter at a time.

... wanzi 丸子
For all too many people, wanzi (or“round mass”) evokes only thoughts of suspiciously spongy fish balls at lowbrow hot pot restaurants. That’s a shame, because there are plenty of other ways to enjoy meat or seafood that’s been minced and made rotund. If you supersize pork wanzi and red-braise them, you’ve got “lion’s head” meatballs (狮子 头), a popular dish at Chinese New Year dinners. Wanzi tang, a noted Hui dish, features beef meatballs slow-cooked over many hours in beef-bone stock.

For the record, I'm pretty sad that Hanukkah isn't big in China. Ditto for Kwanzaa. And all the other other-denominational holidays that I'm forgetting (Festivus!). But, y'know, if you think of Christmas as just a day for people to be extra-nice and to eat a lot, surely everyone could get on board with that. Here are some suggestions for eating out on Christmas Day, and a couple more for Christmas Eve (our previous Christmas Eve dining out post here).

If imitation is the highest form of flattery, Avocado Tree is a most ardent, if not yet seasoned, bootlicker. Modeled after US chain Chipotle, Avocado Tree’s burritos (RMB 23-28) are generous and contain both black beans and corn, with chicken, beef and veggie options.

Thirteen days 'til Christmas, folks! If you don't have your act together - no presents bought, no decorating done and no recipes Googled, you ought to get on that. On that last front, we can help you out. Today's post is the first of three Christmas-themed posts, with a focus on Dining Out during Christmas. We've rounded up the jolliest Christmas Eve dinners for you to sink your merry little teeth into, and we've even got a free dinner to give away. For your chance to win a Christmas Eve dinner for two to the St. Regis, read on.

There are a lot of niches in Beijing that desperately need filling. A decent place for dulce de leche. A real poutine. A good cocktail bar in Haidian. And ever since 12SQM stopped supplying, a good Aussie pie place. Mao Mao Chong had a good thing going with their two one-off pie nights, but aren't a dedicated pie outfit. Understandably, when notice of Two Guys and a Pie crossed our desks, we got very excited. So excited that we promptly ordered 11 in one go.

Some people are good at eating pizza. Some people are good at running. And, well, some people are really good at shucking. Enter one Patrick McMurray, who currently holds the Guinness World Record for Most Oysters Shucked In One Minute: 38. He's visiting our fair city in a couple of weeks, and was kind enough to have a chat with us ...

If you weren't a shucker, what would you do?
I would want to be a lumberjack! Or a teacher … or maybe a baker, artist, or brewmaster.

For the December issue of the Beijinger, we sent our editors out to try their hand at traditional Chinese crafts. An excerpt of their experiences was featured in the magazine. The following is the full version of their story.

I stand in front of a slightly run-down siheyuan, somewhat reluctant. My contact has begged out and thus I have to venture forth into the slightly-sketchy doorway alone. I needn’t have fretted. Two hours later, my very enthusiastic teacher and his wife are urging me to keep eating more homemade zhaijiang mian.

It was a good week in food. Yes, the weather is terrible. Yes, nobody else can breathe either. Yes, all of it yes, yes, yes. But you gotta focus on the positives of being in the Beej. Maybe you've got an ayi who'll wash your window frames for you. Maybe you have the luxury of supporting yourself easily (*cough*English teachers*cough*) while figuring out what you want to do in life. Maybe you're in a city where world-class cuisine is comparatively cheap. So, y'know, go out and get some this weekend.

(Oh, and in case you forgot, we ran this little pizza competition a while back. Now we're throwing it a party. Keep reading for details and more food news.)

It's just about time for lunch now, isn't it? If you're close to Dawanglu today, consider a visit to CRU Steakhouse. Their new business lunch is three courses for RMB 168+15%, admittedly on the higher end of things. If you're the kind of person willing to splash out a little bit on lunch, I recommend it unreservedly. Business lunches are kind of the Enomatic machine of the spendy restaurant world: low risk, comparatively low prices. There are some establishments at which I would have never dined, had I not lunched there first. If you're not the type to pay that much, I have another lunchtime recommendation for you. Keep reading for that, and other dining news.