The Origin of CHINESE-AMERICAN Food (Northeast-Dongbei)

This is so good. It took me this many years to try this dish. That's a five out of five sleeper. I never had that before in my life. That was super tender. This spot feels like China. Dongbei is a region of China that is made up of three provinces, Liaoning, Jilin, and Heilongjiang. It's only home to eight percent of China's population, but it's known for people with very outgoing attitudes and hearty simple food. The cuisine has influence from Shandong, the Manchurians, Koreans, and even from Russian Siberia. It's one of my favorite provinces of Chinese food and one that I could definitely eat all the time. I think it's really simple but with distinct flavor and makes great drinking food. Let's check it out. All right, you guys. We are in front of what I believe is one of the only, if not the only, authentic Dongbei restaurant in all of Manhattan, Antique Wands 108. You guys, they got some very traditional Dongbei dishes from Liaoning here, all types of Cunbings. David, even some of the very, very deep-cut authentic dishes they have on the menu, but they're not even serving them right now because they're still recovering from COVID. So they're limiting the dishes. Oh yeah, like this one. This is like hyper, hyper authentic because this represents the Russian influence in Dongbei. All right, guys. Who would have known that such an authentic Dongbei restaurant was nestled here on 14th Ave this whole time? We're in West Village. There's like no other Asian food anywhere around us. Let's check it out. Of course, kicking it off here at Antique Wands Dongbei restaurant, I'm going to be dipping the Wu Hua Rou into this vinegar garlic mixture. Andrew, you're looking at something not from Liaoning, actually. The roots of this, I think, come from the Russian side, who then might have even originally got it from the Polish side because this is like a big kielbasa, essentially, but this is the Dongbei sausage. Specifically from Harbin, though. That is Harbin Hongchang. Harbin Hongchang. So Harbin's actually where Simu's from, and that's in Heilongjiang. Like we said, guys, the three main regions are Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Liaoning. Let me tell you this, guys. The Harbin sausage is a big one. What's really interesting is sometimes they'll give you like fresh garlic to eat this with, but there's no dip. They just want you to eat it straight up. Andrew, what you're serving right now is a duan, and that's a deep cast iron pot that's almost a cross between a stew and a soup, and it's really difficult to describe because it's kind of a hybrid. David, I think from a Western standpoint, what we know as a hot pot, this totally looks like one, but actually, in China, there's all these different specific definitions for what a hot pot is, what a duan is, what a pot with stew is. So you know what? They just get really specific. So, Andrew, as history tells it, Dongbei was mostly Manchurians at one point. Manchurians, kind of like an offshoot of Mongolians, but, Andrew, they were pig farmers and millet farmers before they were warriors, also warriors, but that's why they have so much pork dishes in Dongbei. And that's one thing that I would say the very north of China and the very south of China have a lot in common with because they both love pork. It's a warm spring day outside, but if this was a cold Dongbei winter, this would be perfect. Round two here at Antiquan's Dongbei. Andrew, we've got something I've never had before. This is a yangrou zhuanbing. Right, very similar to the niurou zhuanbing, aka the beef roll that a lot of people out there are familiar with, but this is going to have lamb. Yeah, they like a lot of wraps in Dongbei. They'll be making wraps. Wow, that does actually look like it has some of that western, like, Xi'an spice influence. Here we've got the jingzhang rousi, which is essentially like some more like Dongbei version of like mushu pork, but with the wraps. And the wraps are actually tofu skins. So the tofu skins are going to be wrapped around the pork. The pork is going to be very sweet, saucy, and then you got your fresh greens right here. Yangrou zhuanbing, this is a lamb wrap, guys. Yangrou is lamb, zhuanbing is the wrap. Yo, I gotta take a That is good, guys. And there's a little bit of paotai kimchi in there, because like we said, that region's right next to North Korea. They got the influence. And let me tell you this, there's also some cumin on that lamb that tastes like yangrou zhuanbing. This is so good. It took me this many years to try this dish, because you know how cumin is a shared spice between western China and even like Mexico or certain Latin American countries? This kind of tastes like a burrito. A lamb spicy burrito. Come get the yangrou zhuanbing at Auntie Guan's. That's a five out of five sleeper. I never had that before in my life. Wucai lapi, one of my favorite dishes in the world. Let me give it a go here at Auntie Guan's. It has some of that wasabi kick that's going to open up your passageways. This is a sweeter version than usual. But overall, I got to give this one like a seven out of 10. It's pretty solid. Moving on to the jinjiang pork, aka the jinjiang rousi. Andrew, we are going to be making wraps. Like we said, Andrew, in Dongbei, they love making wraps, hand wraps. Boom, boom. It is... David, also a lot of rappers come from Dongbei as well. I would say the closest thing to understand it is that it's almost like for what modern people would consider like, it's like Korean food minus all gochujang. So I thought this was a dazuibing, but this is actually a xiebing. And it goes to show you in Dongbei how many bings or like hand wrapped like pancakes they have. David, the xiebing, that's said with a certain accent, but really it's called a xianbing. Yeah, this is a xianroubing. But if you're here, you got to call it a xianbing. Aren't you guys? We are at a liaoning tieling spot, which is more of the liaoning shenyang style. Like we said, guys, in Dongbei, there is a heilongjiang style of barbecue. There is also a jilin style of barbecue. Heilongjiang tends to be more Russian influenced. Jilin tends to be more Korean. Liaoning got the seafood. We got scallops right here. We got bone marrow, gutou shui. And of course, we are cutting up a lamb rib right in front of you. As you guys may have heard in this video, the reason Dongbei shaokao is so popular is because it really fits with the attitude of the people there. They do have barbecue in a lot of other provinces in China, but the Dongbei style got the party vibes. This entire grilled piece of lamb, you know, very nomadic Manchurian Mongolian influence. But yeah, like we said, Dongbei has it all. Speaking of the nomadic influences that you see all around Dongbei, no matter which city you're in, we have the sheng nu rou. This is just raw beef right here. We're gonna put some vinegar on top of it. Like we said, guys, some places in Dongbei really do have a strong Russian influence, but some of it is Russian Siberian, and it could even be a little bit of Russian European. So when it comes to like cumin flavored skewers, they definitely originated from western China, you know, such as Xinjiang. But as they've made their way and mixed in with the Siberian flavors of Dongbei, guys, it's taking its own shape. I mean, here we have the ju ti. This is a pig's foot, and this is super just gelatinous falling apart. Look at this. I could just rip this off right now and just... Here I have roasted bone marrow jam-packed with roasted garlic. In Chinese, this is called niu gu shui, which is essentially like bone water. So I'm just gonna scoop some of this onto my bread here. Obviously, the bread is a western kind of addition that they have here, which kind of reminds you of how you would eat this like in France, except, you know, it's kind of like given with American bread. So look at that. There we go. Right there. Garlic and bone marrow. They do not play around with the roasted garlic here. Guys, if there's one thing you need to know about Dongbei spots, no matter how mom-and-pop or kind of chain restaurants they are, they're always fun. They're always trying to bring a vibe. Listen, I have a bucket of chicken, but this is chicken bones. And then I'm right next to a sign that says industrial-themed restaurant. That's so tongue-in-cheek of them. And it's just about partying and being jovial and just having fun. And I heard that's partially because they had to entertain themselves in those long winters, so they know how to stay inside and have fun with each other. But this is one of my favorite Dongbei dishes of all time, ji gu jia. It's the fried chicken rack. You're basically taking a chicken rack that you used for like other materials, and then you're just gonna spice it up and fry it. This one's kind of sweet. A little bit of that New Orleans Chinese-style spice. Guys, you're familiar with the yangrou char, aka the lamb skewer. Here they put it on a little bit bigger of a spit. And then here we have the wagyu beef skewer. That was super tender. You know, to wrap it up here at Friendship BBQ, I think it just goes to show you that Dongbei restaurants really, really focus on creating a fun mood. Whether it's with the decor, the music, the people, the servers, the owner, they're all down to talk to you, get you a drink, and really just have a fun time. It does kind of feel a little bit more like a blue collar like bar or barbecue spot, except just the Chinese version. So just goes to show you guys, hey, China has everything. Everything from fancy Shanghainese food to delicate dim sum to some, you know, big lamb ribs. Oh my gosh. All right, you guys, we're on 10th Street in the East Village right now. A ton of chains from Asia, Ippudo, Tim Ho Wan. Now they're adding from Northern China, Dongbei, Beijing region, DM Restaurant. What I love about DM, David, is that it represents kind of the modern influence that Koreans have had on a lot of the pop culture in China, particularly like, you know, cuisine for young people. And in places like Shenyang and Beijing, this spot is so busy, you can't even get a table. They got cheese, chicken, French fries, man. DM, it stands for decimeters. It doesn't stand for direct message. All right, you guys, we're at the DM Restaurant. This is the 7.5 decimeter one-hander. The only thing it's missing is maybe some like lamb chops, but I mean, we got a spread. You've got fries, you've got tteokbokki with like some version of chicken. You've got a cheese river in the middle. You've got a spicy side. You've got a hamburger beef patty. You've got devil squinting wings, French fries. Crazy. Yo, I can see why this restaurant's so popular in Northern China, especially amongst the youth, man. It's pretty lit. Yo, this is fun drinking food. Yeah. Very difficult to describe exactly how that tastes because we've never had anything quite like that before, but it's really, really interesting. It's hitting me with the spicy, sweet, of course, cheesy, creamy. Basically, it's hitting you in all those taste buds that you need late night. You know, not only do millions of Koreans actually live in China and mostly the Northern part, but you know, there is a lot of Korean influence, not only through K-pop, but just the food. And I think that this type of food really does do well in the North where people kind of eat similar food, a little bit heartier, more sweeter, more fattier. Here we go. I'm going to try this beef patty. Speaking on Dongbae culture in general, they tend to be, if you want to say more Korean up there. Now, does that mean that they're acting like Koreans because Korea is there or that just that kind of group or that region of people tend to have more of like a similar culture? I don't know. Like we said, guys, they do like Korean style drinking pubs and pochas in Dongbae a lot. And as you can see the influences here, you've got the black squid ink wing. The squid ink is very subtle. It's actually almost more for texture than I think for taste. Andrew, straight up, I did not know what to expect about Decimeter Restaurant, but let me tell you this, it's good. Andrew, I think this spot kind of speaks to like how in some ways untraditional people can get nowadays in China, like with the modern concepts in 2022. I mean, obviously you have some really traditional ones that are just elevated, but this is actually completely new. There's like really nothing fully that Chinese about the food. Yeah, I mean, even if you wanted me to say, is it more traditionally Chinese or maybe like more modern Korean, I would definitely say it's more modern Korean. You know, Andrew, the Manchus would like this. Hey, David, well, guess what? According to 23andMe, we're a tiny bit Manchurian, so not surprised that we like it. The next spot on this Dongbae crawl is called ZLS BBQ. Guys, this spot was just opened by somebody from Shenyang to cater to the students at Baruch and SVA School of Visual Arts. You guys, as you can see, all the Chinese delivery services, Hungry Panda, Fantuan, they're all here and they've got the iconic Chinese windbreaker door. Vibe-wise, for a brand new spot that just opened up in the past year, this spot feels like China. This is the first Dongbae hole-in-the-wall spot in New York. It actually feels like a hole-in-the-wall spot in Dongbae. Huobaorou is perhaps Dongbae's most defining dish to a lot of people. Almost like the hagao is the dim sum, guys. This is a triple wok fried pork with sweet sauce. You are looking at a blueberry version, which is very modern to like modern Dongbae 2022. And this is an old style. But even within the old style, there's a difference between the Harbin style, the Jilin style, and the Liaoning style. This one happens to be a little bit more of a clear red, but I know one in Harbin is super clear. Blueberries are grown on the peninsula of Liaoning province, and hence why they have Liaoning blueberry Huobaorou. You can taste the blueberries at about a 40% level. Yo, that was sweet. Your dentist would hate that. Let's see if it's better than the original laofangshi. Ultimately, guys, I might actually prefer the blueberry one, at least for this fast casual version of Huobaorou. I do think a good original laofangshi traditional style is the best though. Here we got the classic disanxian with the side dishes, guys. This is going to look like the Korean panchan, but that's also because it's really close to Korea, and there is definitely some crossover influence. So in Dongbae, you will also find kimchi, you'll find the bean sprouts, you've got the little oranges here. This is a great little lunch for students, for the working person, for the person who's just in and out. So let's try it. And what I love about disanxian is that all the potatoes got to be cooked very very well. They're roasted, they're soft. Time to try the Dongbae panchan. These sprouts have a lot more garlic. Let's see if they maybe even taste better than the Korean ones, or not. I love the way they did this yatai, aka sprouts. It's got lots of garlic, lots of flavor. This is a great side dish. Guys, this is the dajianggu. This is just big vinegar bones, and it definitely comes from the Manchurian roots, so it's looking a lot more nomadic. You know, this is not a typical Chinese dish, but you're just eating meat off the bone. You can see it's really soft. Some of the bones come in smaller pieces, but these are huge. These are the most prehistoric looking pork bones I've ever seen in my entire life, and I'm excited to try them. I'm gonna take this bite right here. Lots of flavor, sticky, salty, vinegary, a little bit of ginger, garlic. I think the imperial Chinese culture is probably responsible for, you know, bringing China to where it's at, and keeping China to where it's gonna keep going on to the future. But man, I gotta say, as far as like just soul food and just hitting you where you need, man, this dongbei, kind of like nomadic-like food, this is great. We have the classic chaoxianlengmian, aka in Korean, it's naemyeong. Guys, you've seen this dish before. This is obviously kind of coming from that cross-cultural exchange, where I think it might be attributed to Koreans living in China, because millions of Koreans do live in that region of China. There's also an autonomous Korean region in China that's right up there in Heilongjong. So here we have the beef. You've got the little bit of apple. Sometimes that's a pear slice. You have your egg. The noodles look a little bit different than other Korean spots, so it's definitely not exactly the same dish, but essentially, you know, it's pretty similar. Let's try it. I don't know why I blew on that. See, it's out of habit. Some cases, I think the Chinese one even hits harder than the Korean one. So actually, I really prefer this one. This one's really nice. The Korean one actually uses more of the stretchy noodles, and these noodles are kind of stretchy, but they break a little bit easier. The Korean ones are a lot more gummy, though. All right, you guys, you guys know about the tanghulu, but hulu actually refers to the hawthorn berry. These are tanghulu strawberries, so tanghulu chaomei. Chaomei is strawberries. He told me wait a little bit, but man, I just gotta go. This is one of the best ones I've ever had, to be honest, and I'm kind of surprised, because this ball is very hole-in-the-wall. Feels almost like, you know, something you might find in, you know, the suburbs of Shenyang. For a lot of foreigners looking to get into regional Chinese food, Dongbei cuisine might be a great starting point, due to the fact that the flavor profiles do bear some similarity to American Chinese food, plus they do not use very many exotic ingredients. For everyone else, I definitely think it's a must-try if you want something that's a little less imperial and more similar to down-home comfort food. If you've ever enjoyed hometown buffet, which I personally did a lot, then I think you'll probably like some Dongbei cuisine.