Last post, I talked about my amazing trip to Sanya, Hainan. While the activities were fun, they were only half the picture. The food was even better, So let’s get to it!!!!!

What we ate?

One word: FRESH SEAFOOD!!!! steamed, grilled, stewed, you name it.

but besides the amazing seafood, there was an abundance of nice veggies,  Wenchang chicken and cold plates.

Here are some of the best dishes

Marinated wild vegetables- Basically, the leaves are boiled and mixed with vinegar, soysauce and sesame oil. It has a fresh, earth taste and when you bite into it, it has a slightly gelatinous feel. Sooo good

Stir-fried pumpkin flowers- Basically, it tastes as fresh bright as it looks. Stir fried flowers are traditional dishes in Hainan. I was a little skeptical about the texture at first, but when I tried it, I loved it. The flowers were velvety and soft while the stems were nice and crunchy.

Bamboo Chicken- It’s basically chicken steamed inside bamboo. This dish is common throughout China but I still included it because the way the restaurant made it was simply amazing. It was seasoned perfectly and the restaurant added mushrooms and spring onion which increased the delicacy and unaminess

Grilled fish- Again, not anything special, it’s just that the fish was soooo fresh. Probably one of my favorite dishes on this trip

also….. remember seafood?

 

After we went fishing, my dad took us to arguably the most famous seafood place in Hainan: Number One Market. It’s had pretty much all the seafood imaginable plus a great selection of nice fresh veggies and accompaning materials. There are a ton of little restaurants around and to eat, you find a owner, buy the seafood at the market and have them make it. We had a HUGE (1.5kg) fish head, some steamed sea urchin and clams. AMAZING. I was too excited about the food to take pictures so sorry. While the food we ate was good, our driver said that there was an even bigger and better place down by the railway station, so I’ll definitely go there next time

What I want to try next time:

Dongshan goat-

roast whole suckling pig

cactus and cactus fruit

MORE FISH- I really can’t get enough of their fish.

of course there is much more to Hainan cuisine, but that’s what I tried (and wanted to try) on this trip. Have you been to Hainan? What were your favorite dishes?

 

 

 

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