Dumplings, Peking Duck and the Hot Pot Rule: Feeding Kids in China

Chinese food in China is not the food from the takeaway at home, and children handle it better than their parents expect, because the best of it is dumplings, noodles and rice, and every table has a lazy Susan they can spin.

Dumplings first. Jiaozi are the boiled ones with pork and cabbage, or lamb, or egg and chive, dipped in black vinegar. Baozi are the steamed buns from the breakfast stalls, filled with pork or sweet bean paste, and a child can carry one on the walk to the subway. Xiaolongbao in Shanghai are the soup dumplings, bitten carefully. A plate of twenty dumplings is a family lunch.

Peking duck in Beijing is the meal to book. The duck is carved at the table, the skin is wrapped in thin pancakes with cucumber, spring onion and sweet bean sauce, and the kids make their own. It is a whole evening and the best thing they will eat in China.

The hot pot rule

Hot pot is a pot of broth in the middle of the table that you cook raw things in. The rule is to ask for a split pot, one side spicy, one side clear, and give the children the clear side with the noodles, the fish balls and the sliced meat. Chengdu and Chongqing take the spicy side seriously. The chain restaurants have staff who will help.

Noodles everywhere. Hand pulled lamian in the west, wonton noodle soup in the south, the wide biang biang in Xi’an. Fried rice is on every menu and it is the safety net. Congee, rice porridge, is the breakfast for anyone with a wobbly stomach.

Fruit is sold cut on sticks at every night market. Candied hawthorn on a stick, tanghulu, is the Beijing sweet. Bubble tea shops are on every block and the kids will find them before you do. Bottled water always, and a translation app with the camera for the menu.

Planning China with kids? Start with the full China family travel guide, or send me the ages and the dates and I will come back with what is really available.