No Bami Special

Asian cuisine is on the rise. Vietnamese pho (noodle soup), Japanese ramen (more noodle soup) and Chinese dim sum (steamed or deep-fried snacks) are everywhere. Yet in our country, Chinese cuisine in particular is still not benefiting enough from this increased interest.

At the 2016 World Chinese Cuisine Championship in Rotterdam, international chef teams showed that Chinese cuisine is about more than char siu. They prepared refined dishes with breathtaking presentation. Sometimes modern, featuring wild-foraged vegetables and herbs from the coast, sometimes hyper-traditional. But always prepared with craftsmanship and lightning speed.

Babi Pangang?

Very different from the numbered dishes on many Chinese-Indonesian menus that can still be found everywhere, such as babi pangang (an Indonesian pork dish) or foe yong hai (a Chinese egg dish).

Where can you find non-Indonesian Chinese food in the Netherlands?

But where can you find non-Indonesian Chinese food in the Netherlands, apart from perhaps a few places on Amsterdam’s Zeedijk?

Frank Chan, spokesperson for the Association of Chinese Hospitality Entrepreneurs (VCHO): “Chinese restaurants are increasingly specialising. Just as in China, you eat one dish at one establishment and another dish somewhere else. That will certainly help raise the standard of cuisine in our country even further.”

List!

Dim Sum: Full Moon City, The Hague
Hot Pot: Spicy Temptation, Rotterdam
Sichuan: San San, Rotterdam
Sichuan: Si-Chuan, Velp
Chinese medicinal cuisine: Han Ting, The Hague. (The Han Ting team came second at the 2016 World Chinese Cuisine Championship)
Pan-Asian: Red Chilli, Nieuwe Niedorp
Modern Chinese: Taiwan, Zwolle
Peking duck (among others): Asian Glories, Rotterdam

Text & photography: Marjan Ippel