Eating Conservatively In Beijing

By the time I got to Beijing, tasting Chinese food wasn't a priority anymore. I did most of that in Yunnan. I was more than ready to slurp pasta, hummus and more quesadillas, and as long as it was within my control, I made sure the meals were such.

Towards the middle of the week, there was a random meal of Beijing-style dishes (京菜) in a local restaurant of which I didn't particularly like. There were layers of funny tasting stuff within the food. That meal caused me to break out in hives, and itch like crazy. I thought it was because my skin was dry from the winter chill. But couldn't be. Body oil had been religiously slathered twice to thrice a day. When angry welts showed up across the whole body, I knew it was an allergic reaction to herbs used in the sauces, soups and gravies. Like wolfberries, cordyceps, even a leaf or certain stalk of vegetables, or (especially) preserved stuff. Blardy hell. Normally, I don't like taking antihistamines for every little reaction. I prefer to ride it out. They're usually not that serious. But that night, I had to swallow a pill, and for the next 3 days. Otherwise, the itch would keep me awake, or I'd scratch myself till I bleed onto the bed.

I was a little miffed that the allergy allowed only conservative food for the next few days. The one dinner I looked forward to, was at the historic and resplendent Temple. I had a couple of appetizers which were pretty good. Didn't even dare to order lobster or scallops for the main. I asked if they could do a simple spaghetti in a tomato based sauce, with no additional ingredients necessary. This request wouldn't be too difficult for a professional kitchen to meet. It's the simplest. They said yes, and did a classic Neapolitan. Oh perfect!