During the ongoing Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meetings, the China National Convention Center is offering thousands of international attendees an exclusive dining experience.

Dishes from five continents are on the menu, including Singapore’s laksa, the Philippines’ adobon chicken, and Russia’s beef goulash. But what catches people’s eyes is the extensive list of Chinese food that shows the country’s traditional culinary culture, as well as Beijing-style snacks.

Among the items being served are Peking roast duck, dandan noodles, xiaolongbao (steamed meat bun), shaomai (steamed pork dumpling), rice cake, jianbing (pancake), chicken stuffed with glutinous rice, and spring rolls. Traditional Beijing local snacks such as Royal Wotou (steamed corn bun), Bingtanghulu (crispy sugar-coated haws on a stick), Yundoujuan (kidney bean roll), Wandouhuang (Beijing sweet peas pudding) and Lvdagunr (glutinous rice rolls with sweet bean flour) are also being offered.

Chen Baoming, executive chef of Chinese food and beverages for the APEC meetings from the CNCC, said the simple, convenient Chinese-style snacks not only offer a glimpse into China’s traditional culinary culture, but are also good choices for the banquets as the meetings are tightly scheduled. The snacks can be easily taken away and eaten later.

To provide the best dining service, the CNCC has teamed up with special APEC service personnel since the beginning of this year. According to a news release from CNCC, about 200 chefs helped develop the dishes and design the menus for the event. During peak dining hours, there will be as many as 600 chefs on duty.

Liu Haiying, general manger of the CNCC, said the center is expected to hold 142 banquets and serve about 73,000 people during the event.

Here are some of the can’t-miss Chinese dishes:

Lvdagunr (Glutinous Rice Rolls with Sweet Bean Flour) 驴打滚

Lvdagunr, or Glutinous Rice Rolls with Sweet Bean Flour, is a typical dessert of Old Beijing. The snack originated from the Manchu, and was said to be the favorite dessert in the Forbidden City. Lvdagunr dates back hundreds of years, but remains as popular today. It is made of glutinous rice, with fillings of sweet red bean paste.

The snack’s name in Chinese, Lvdagunr, literally means “donkey rolling over”. The rice cake is rolled in soybean flour, so the process looks like a donkey rolling on the ground and kicking up a cloud of dust.

But don’t let the dust image ruin your appetite. Take the chance to try this traditional delicacy from the old hutong of Beijing. The snack offers your taste buds the fragrance of beans, all the way to your throat. The texture is also soft. It’s sweet, glutinous, but not too sticky. It takes around an hour to make the desert.

HOW TO MAKE IT

Ingredients: glutinous rice flour, 300g; soybean flour, 100g; some red bean paste

Mix glutinous rice flour with water, and make it into a dough. Then put the dough on a plate coated with sesame oil, and steam it for about 20 minutes.

Stir fry the soybean flour with a slow fire until it becomes golden brown.

After that, sprinkle the soybean flour on the kitchen board; then lay the steamed glutinous dough on the bean flour, and roll the dough out very thin.

Put another layer of red bean paste stuffing on the top evenly; some black sugar can be also added on the top according to your preference.

Roll up the whole thing and cut it into smaller pieces, about 100g for one piece. Finally, dip each piece into soybean flour.

Dandan noodles 担担面

Dandan noodles is a Sichuan-style dish. It is called dandan because in the past street vendors in Sichuan carried a pole (dandan in Chinese) over their shoulders, with the noodles in a basket tied to one end and the accompanying sauce tied to the other.

Dandan combines fresh noodles with minced pork, peanuts, preserved vegetables, sliced scallions, in spicy sauce with Sichuan chili oil and pepper.

Once traditionally sold by street vendors from Sichuan province, dandan noodles are now a common delicacy nationwide. People eat it at all times of the day.

HOW TO MAKE IT

There are many different ways of preparing dandan noodles. Some are less soupy than the original Sichuan style. An easy recipe for dandan noodles is to prepare a good spicy sauce. Then you can combine it with different types of noodles, say, dried pasta noodles or Chinese noodles.

A simple guide to prepare the sauce: mix the chicken stock or water, soy sauce, sesame paste, black rice vinegar, chili oil, sesame oil, sugar and Sichuan pepper.

Wandouhuang (Beijing sweet peas pudding) 豌豆黄

The snack is actually mashed pea cake, made from white pea beans, small Chinese jujubes, and sometimes with sweet osmanthus blossoms. It is one of the well-known imperial snacks, first mentioned in a novel from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

HOW TO MAKE IT

To prepare it, mix white pea flour with water; cook it over low heat, and then fry it with sugar. After it solidifies, cut it into small pieces.

Wandouhuang is usually presented in rhombohedra-shaped pieces. It has both a nice look and taste. You will feel the smooth texture when you put it in your mouth.

Chinese Spring Rolls 春卷

It is a time-honored Chinese snack made using a cylinder-shaped thin dough sheet and deep-fried in oil. Spring rolls have different variations in terms of the fillings, wrappers, and the cooking style in East and Southeast Asian cuisines. In Chinese cuisine, spring rolls are usually eaten during Spring Festival, hence the name. The types of meat in the fillings also vary, with pork being a popular choice.

HOW TO MAKE IT

Here is one preparation method:

For the sauce: mix the soy sauce, oyster sauce, chicken broth, sesame oil and sugar in a bowl. Set aside.

To cook the fillings: Add two tablespoons of oil to a preheated wok over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the pork strips and stir-fry for one minute. Then add the vegetables and stir-fry for another minute. Add the prepared sauce in the middle, and then mix it with the pork and vegetables. Remove from the wok and allow the fillings to cool.

Wrapping: With one of the points of the wrapper facing you, spoon a small amount of filling and place it near the center. Fold that point of the corner over the filling and then tuck the point under the filling. Fold the side corners over, forming an envelope shape. Roll it up toward the remaining corner, moisten the last point and press firmly to seal.

Deep-fry the spring rolls in a wide wok until they are golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon, and drain them on paper towels or a rack.