Beijing's Famous Mung Bean Milk

After the Forbidden City, Buboli and I went to a Russian restaurant not too far away. In America, there are very few Russian restaurants. So few, that I don’t think I’ve ever actually been to one in my entire life. This may be the closest I ever get to authentic Russian food with the current international relations between Russia and the United States. One of the dishes was a crunchy cold potato sort of thing and it hit me with a wave of nostalgia. It tasted like something my grandma used to make, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on what it would’ve been called. She and my mom have both passed away in recent years, so having something that unexpectedly brought back memories like this was a pleasant experience. I may try to go through her old cookbooks and try to find the recipe now that I know it’s something that can evoke such memories. This was also my first time trying a Russian beer. The one I selected was very strange, it had a malty taste but somehow had the texture of a stout. I’m not a big fan of the thick texture that stouts had and I wasn’t trying to get tipsy, so I ended up leaving a large portion of the drink undrank.

Buboli had a small sip of his beer and his face turned red almost immediately. I’ve never seen someone get so red so fast before after just a single sip of alcohol. He mentioned being allergic to beer and having what is called alcohol flush. In America, this is often called the Asian Flush because it’s so common for Asians to have this particular genetic trait. It seems that about 30-50% of Chinese, Japanese and Koreans have this which can include getting a red face, headache, nausea, and increased heart rates. This percentage is also higher within American Asian communities. Coming from a family that drinks way too much alcohol, it seems like it would be nice to have a built in deterrent from drinking too much. At the same time, it’s also sad that we are not able to enjoy a drink together and have the same experience.

Afterwards, we went walking around the Beijing streets to pick up some street food. This trip had lots of food and I’m not surprised to find that I did not lose any weight after arriving back in America. While we were on our way to a place that sells various street foods, Buboli noticed a restaurant that was selling a well-known Beijing specialty called Douzhi (豆汁). This juice has a history of being produced for over 300 years as a common breakfast drink that promotes healthy digestion. That means that the age of this drink is even older than the entire existence of the United States!

Upon laying eyes on the restaurant, Buboli said something along the lines of “It would be a shame for you not to try this Beijing specialty” in a somewhat sarcastic way. While it is famous, it’s also famously pungent. It’s made from fermenting mung beans and then draining the liquid from the beans. Buboli mentioned that none of his friends that had tried the drink had actually finished the bottle. I took this as a sort of challenge and made sure to drink it all so I could be the first. I wouldn’t say it was horrible, but it was definitely not enjoyable. It tasted a bit like a watered down version of Indian Raita naan dipping sauce. This made me think of how all of the locals in Chicago want people to taste Malort even though it is the most disgusting form of alcohol in existence. I guess having a harsh tasting local specialty is not something limited to one region of the world!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DouzhiRead more