Food
Bagging the best at market
By Grace Su (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-03-05 15:42
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 A buyer makes a purchase at Xinyuanli market.
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For locals and foreign residents in the know culinary heaven can be found among the choice pickings at Xinyuanli shops.
The Xinyuanli indoor market is one of the cleanest markets in Beijing, and has the best deals on fresh herbs, hard-to-find vegetables, and quality fish and seafood in town. Now running for over 10 years since it got a revamp, Xinyuanli market is located near the Kunlun Hotel by Yansha Bridge.
The word around town is that Xinyuanli market is where most of the hotels and Western restaurants get their daily produce.
Here you will find stalls that specialize in mushrooms and stalls that sell hard-to-find arugula. From green asparagus (20 yuan per kg), California avocados (10 yuan each, stall 98), to brussel sprouts (5 yuan per small bag), the selection of produce found in Xinyuanli is more comprehensive and cheaper than local expat havens Jenny Lou's or April Gourmet.
Zhang Jun has been running stall 114 for more than 10 years. In addition to arugula, he also has a good supply of fresh rosemary, thyme, dill, and other fresh herbs.
"I get all my produce from my own farm in Tong Xian," he said.
The prices vary slightly throughout the seasons. "Usually summer prices are cheaper than winter. Winter is usually the most expensive," Zhang explained.
Cong Peiwu is the proud owner of stall 100 and is from Heilongjiang province. Liu specializes in fresh vegetables such as asparagus, mixed salad, and lemon leaves. Cong used to own a vegetable stall in Zuojiazhuang in 1992, but moved to Xinyuanli in 1998.
Cong says that most of his customers are foreigners, "That's why I created a card with all my offerings written in both Chinese and English," Cong explained.
In addition, the market has a great selection of meat and seafood - whole slabs of fresh salmon, sea bass, and other fish are on display.
Customers can talk to the fish handlers and tell them exactly how much of each particular fish they want. Some of the stalls even have a list of what is available displayed in English: "Red snapper, rainbow trout, Norway codfish" are just some of the items on one list.
Prices are reasonable. For example, fresh salmon costs about 38 yuan per kg.
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The market is also great for Asian cuisines, whether Korean or Thai, you can find all the ingredients and seasonings you'll require here.
Super-soft Korean tofu (especially for soup) is 1.5 yuan per tube (stall 130) while Tom yum shrimp soup base is 12 yuan per jar.
Whole lemongrass can be had for only 1 yuan each. The market also sells fresh round limes, lemon leaves, and hot chili peppers.
Finally, a convenient and affordable market where you can find all that you need for that particular dish you have been dying to make to impress your friends, but putting off because you didn't know where to get the ingredients.
