Various tidbits...

- On Serious Eats, Adam Kuban scores himself on my 100 Chinese Foods to Try Before You Die list.

- Twitter - In case you can't get enough of this blog, Appetite for China is now also on Twitter. It's where I post random finds, solicit or dole out cooking advice, and connect with other food- and travel- obsessives.

- ...and Facebook - Join Appetite for China's Blog Network! (Though you need to be signed in to your Facebook account.)

- Cooking classes - If you're in Beijing this month, learn to cook that delicious Chinese food you've been eating around town. I'm teaching new Regional Chinese cooking classes, including Sichuan and Cantonese, at The Hutong. You can register online or call +86 10 8915 3613.

- Merry mooncaking! Anyone gotten their 1,600 calories' worth yet?

Okay, maybe "love" is an overstatement.

Not long after I filmed the Donghuamen Night Market segment with CBS (but before it aired), I was contacted by KGW, Portland's NBC affiliate. Stephanie Stricklen, the correspondent, wanted to shoot an odd street food story for the Portland area, and of course, I obliged. (According to an online pole, viewers had insisted she try scorpion.) She was also excited to learn that Jacob is an ex-Oregonian, and thus his appearance in the segment.

This KWG clip which aired on August 19th shows both the Donghuamen Night Market and the slightly less tourisy Wangfujing Snack Street.

I always thought that if I ever tried eating bugs, it would be on a dare, for a ton of money. Then last weekend I found myself at the Donghuamen Night Market with a CBS crew, trying centipedes, silkworms, and other odd critters for a CBS Early Edition segment. (More photos following the video.) 

You can also see the video on CBS's site.)

A foodie's guide to Beijing that I wrote and photographed is in this month's Theme, a glossy culture and lifestyle magazine out of Brooklyn. As part of their Olympic issue, they have contributions from a bunch of Beijingers, including gallery recs from the art editor of Time Out Beijing and club recs from the sound engineer of D-22.

If you're in Beijing or plan to go soon, check out the guide, complete with street food introductions, Chinese and Western restaurant recommendations, and photos from Appetite for China. There are also a few recommendations from two other correspondents as indicated by **. I don't vouch for the spots personally, but to each his own taste! Bon appétit, or 干杯 (gan bei).

My August cooking class schedule is now online at The Hutong. This month I'm teaching Cantonese Level 1, Sichuan Level 1, Hunan Level 1, and Vegetarian Chinese. If you have a couple of extra hours in your morning, inbetween attending the Games, watching the Games on TV, or partying with the Dutch at the Heineken House, learn to cook up some Chinese food in a renovated courtyard home!

You can register in advance online at The Hutong or call +86 10 8915 3613.

Want to earn extra kitchen cred for saying you learned Chinese cooking in China? I recently started teaching cooking classes at The Hutong, a workshop center founded by two Aussies. They have hands-on classes each week on different Chinese regional cuisines, tea tasting, qi gong, tai chi, TCM, and just about any other topic you would want to learn in China. Feel free to drop me an e-mail to find out which classes I'll be teaching.

In other news, a couple of articles I wrote on New York (still where I call home) got published this month. In this past Sunday's Boston Globe there is an article in the Travel section on chocolate cafés in New York. As in, not only can you buy truffles and bon bons, but also eat chocolate sandwiches, sip chocolate teas, or quaff chocolate beers.

And in July's US Airways Magazine, I have a short piece called "Literary Nightlife", on bars where you can soak in literary readings and poetry slams. 

For this month's That's Beijing, a local English-language magazine, I wrote an article on exploring Beijing's spots that serve absinthe. (I know, it was quite the tough gig.) Absinthe has been in the news back in the States ever since last year, when it was un-banned and subsequently started popping up on many bars' lists. So I decided to explore Beijing's options and found a few places that served not only shots but also tasty cocktails. (It's still not online yet, so perhaps I wil have to make a PDF to link to.)

More self-promotion (after all, this is what food blogs are for): In the feature, the 2007 Restaurant Awards for Beijing, I was on the "panel of experts" and gave my picks for restaurants in cagetories including Best Sichuan, Best Indian, and Best for a Romantic Dinner. Though I do have to point out the wording mistake (not mine) in my profile at the end. In NYC I worked as a pastry cook for several months, and did not go through the years of work it takes to become a pastry chef. To those outside the restaurant world this is a minor word issue, but to those who work in the industry, it's a huge distinction.

Minor grievance aside, this issue is a handy guide for anyone looking for restaurant recommendations in Beijing.

This past Saturday Appetite for China was featured on BlogHer in a nice little write-up in the Food & Drink section. Check out their site for other blogs, on food and just about every other topic, written by women.

In other news, I have been bombarded with work, taxes, and catching up on the news out west. Living inside China I'm getting the full brunt of the state media and citizens' reactions, but as an expat and a current events addict I have the luxury of more resources for information. Maybe when I have more time I'll try to get my thoughts together coherently about this messy situation in a way that won't get me blocked or simply reiterate other Western perspectives.

In the mean time, I'm remembering the delicious momos and gyathuk ngopa from Tsampa, a lovely little restaurant in NYC's East Village that was an oasis of serenity from the more frenetic world outside.

Today's Seattle Post-Intelligencer has an article about Sichuan* peppercorn's comeback in the US after years of being banned. About a week ago I had answered a few questions posed by writer Rebekah Denn about the spice's role in Sichuan cuisine. In the article are a few quotes, as well as the Sichuan Cucumber Salad recipe I posted in January.

If you have time, check out the Seattle PI's story!

*I use the spelling "Sichuan" throughout my site, where as Seattle PI uses "Szechuan." I base my spelling off Pinyin, the most common Standard Mandarin romanization. "Szechuan" is a throwback to the days before the US adopted Pinyin-based spellings (other examples: Peking is now Beijing, Canton is now Guangdong.) While "Sichuan" is becoming the standard in English publications, "Szechuan" is still heavily used. Both are correct, but this footnote is just to lessen any potential confusion.

World Hum, my portal for travel news, just posted an article I wrote for them called "How to Eat Peking Duck in Beijing." It's part of the site's series of "How to's" that are culturally specific to a given destination.

Included in the article is a bit of Peking duck history, how to order and eat Peking duck, and a list of recommended restaurants in Beijing. It's geared towards the Peking duck newbie, but veteran eaters of kao ya will probably also find it interesting. (I hope!)

Related duck posts:
Video: Thanksgiving in Beijing with Peking Duck
Crispy Duck Spring Rolls