Stop Starch Shaming and Embrace These Savory Chinese Pastries

Gym freak or not, you've probably heard that starch can raise your blood sugar and even contribute to those extra kilograms. Indeed, a diet packed full of refined starches is not a healthy lifestyle to say the least. However, by no means does that signify that you should cut them out of your life altogether. Almost all civilizations use a diverse array of the various starches in their culinary endeavors, it's difficult to replace the comforting feeling those dishes can offer.

So, befor a long week of hard work and cutting back, why not spoil yourself with some delicious, starchy treats from China's north?

包子 bāozi Bao

Alright, you're almost certainly familiar with this one, but we can't pass it by in a discussion of starches. Although you can munch on all kinds of different baozi across China, people tend to treat this traditional pastry as part of a larger meal in the north. Pork and green onion is the most common flavor, but in recent years many restaurants have been taking a more experimental approach, trying out all kinds of different fillings.

Our recommendation

缘赵记 yuán zhào jì
沙子口路8号
No.8 Shazikou Road, Dongcheng District
Hours: Daily, 6am-8pm

饺子 jiǎozi Dumplings

Here's another familiar one. In fact, dumplIng probably is the first Chinese food word that many Chinese people encounter when learning English. As humble as it seems to be, it is hard to nail this dish in the kitchen if you haven’t practiced it for years. Dumplings may not be the best snack to enjoy on the go when compared to baozi, but they provide your dinner table with more diverse options: enjoy them boiled, steamed, or even pan-seared, let alone all those creative fillings.

Our recommendation

新兴园饺子馆 Xīnxīng yuán jiǎozi guǎn

望京街9号商业楼一层102

102, 1F, Business Bldg, 9 Wangjing Jie

Hours: Daily, 9.30am-9.30pm

火烧 huǒshāo Baked Cake

If baozi and dumplings are more generic food national wide, this baked option is something more exclusive to the country’s north. A beloved pastry, it will open your appetite with its flaky golden shell and heavenly aroma. No matter it is pork, beef, lamb or donkey, it gets along with almost all kinds of protein and different regions usually have their own local variant of this dish, such as the famous 河北驴肉火烧 héběi lǘ ròu huǒshāo Hebei donkey sandwich and the local Beijing style pocket baked cake or 卤煮火烧 lǔ zhǔ huǒshāo offal sandwich.

Our recommendation

聚鑫餐厅 jù xīn cāntīng

安定门内北锣鼓巷甲14号
No.A14 Beiluoguxiang, Andingmennei, Dongcheng District
Hours: Daily, 11am-10pm

锅贴 guōtiē Pot Sticker

Potstickers may look like dumplings, yet they are cooked differently as the name suggests. In addition, potstickers won’t have be sealed on either end like dumplings and are served upside down with a thin layer of crispiness connecting individual potstickers, which is what grants this lovely street food the ability to leave a deep impression in your memory with its crunchiness and oozing juice.

Our recommendation

平安锅贴 píng'ān guōtiē

朝阳北路水碓子小区3号楼下南平房
The bungalow in front of Bldg. 3, Shuiduizi compound, Chaoyang North Road
 Hours: Daily, 10am-9pm

烧麦 shāo mài Shaomai

This pomegranate-shaped pastry is a cousin of the baozi but uses unfermented dough as its wrap and usually doesn’t have its top sealed. The traditional folklore connected to shaomai is that there were two brothers selling baozi, but once the older brother married, the younger one found it difficult to make as much money, so he made a different type of pastry with the top exposed and named it 捎卖, which literally means to sell on the side, in order to earn himself some extra cash – and it was an unexpected hit with young people.

Our recommendation

安内老马稍麦 ān nèi lǎo mǎ shāo mài Old Ma’s Shumai

北土城西路171号
No.171 Beitucheng West Road, Haidian District
Hours: Daily, 9am-2.30pm, 5pm-9.30pm

疙瘩汤 gēda tāng Dough Drop Soup

After devouring all those palatable delicacies, it's time to wash them down with some savory, and of course starchy, soup. Dough drop soup usually consists of a certain broth, assorted vegetables, egg drop, and sometimes pork ribs or other proteins. Many elder northerners believe the dough drop soup is not only nutritious but also easy to be digested.

Our recommendation

吕氏疙瘩汤私家菜馆 lǚ shì gēda tāng sījiā càiguǎn Lv’s Dough Drop Soup
八里庄路八里庄西里97号108室
#108 No.97, Balizhuang Xili, Balizhuang Road, Chaoyang District
 Hours: Daily, 9.30am-10pm

Read: Local Gem: Dragon Meat for the Gods, Donkey Meat for the Rest of Us

Images: Zeus Zou, Sunny028, QQ, Dianping, Taobao