Harbin Express: Childhood Eats Through a Grown-up Lens

As a very small child, before I discovered the Joys of Bacon, the only way to make me eat protein was to take me to a specific restaurant on the outskirts of Harbin, run by one of my second cousins (once removed). He would make guobao rou (锅包肉) for me, and that’d be my pig fix for the month.

For RMB 68, Black Soil Impressions does guobao rou just as well as my second cousin.

A few kilometers east of the Bird’s Nest, Black Soil Impressions is definitely out of the way for most of us. However, they serve up bountiful portions of what is arguably the closest thing Beijing has to real Dongbei food. Guobao rou is what every weak-sauce “sweet and sour pork” aspires to be. The sauce’s initial sweetness is cut with a punch of vinegar, while deep-fried fillets provide crunch and texture. Paired with the classic di san xian (地三鲜, RMB 43), an expertly-executed stir-fry of potato, eggplant and bell peppers, it’s a knockout combo.

Dongbei’s famous da lapi (大拉皮, RMB 19) came highly recommended by Dianping.com. The traditional cold starter douses thin, wide potato-starch noodles and julienned vegetables in sesame sauce, oil and vinegar. Unfortunately, Black Soil’s version was overly sweet, tipping into dangerous sesame-candy territory. The noodles were thick, sticky and sans bite. Perhaps northeastern gourmets are a rarity among Dianping’s user base?

The Harbin sausage (红肠, RMB 23) lacked a little something, but is at least cheaper than the overnight train to Harbin. The big, flat, pan-fried dumplings known as hezi (盒子, RMB 12) are clumsily made, with the chive and egg filling drowning in thick pockets of dough, but seasoned well.

If you want to believe that great Dongbei cuisine is more than just dumplings, give Black Soil Impressions a go. This is generous, winter-friendly cookery that’s easy on the wallet even with the round-trip cab factored in. Still, it’s not as good as my mother’s cooking. Just saying.

Black Soil Impressions. Daily 11am-10pm. Bldg 1, Anhuili Erqu, Huizhong Lu, Chaoyang District (6498 5015) 黑土印象，朝阳区慧忠路安慧里二区1号楼

Click here to see the December issue of the Beijinger in full.

Photo: Susan Sheng