Ribka Chen | Hainan Life & Study Guide

Chinese spicy food has a fragrant, numbing heat that’s incredibly addictive. There are plenty of different noodles, soups, side dishes that leave you craving more.

I can’t decide on a favourite dish. How can I, when several different dishes taste equally good? Sometimes I like something, but then I find something else that tastes better.

One of my favourite parts of studying abroad is exploring different foods. Other than studying the language, trying the local cuisine is one of the most important ways to dive into Chinese culture. Not everyone likes calligraphy, not everyone likes Chinese music, but everyone has to eat.

I do cook for myself, but I also go to canteens, food shops, and night markets outside of school. I mostly eat alone, but sometimes I have company.

There are countless restaurants, night market stalls, and food stores to visit. A lot of food is customizable, which is really fun.

Tips:

1. Carry cashless payment to buy food using Alipay/WeChat. It’s the standard way to buy food in night markets or canteens.
2. Find restaurants, cafes, food places on Red Note (小红书). You can definitely trust recommendations from Chinese people.

For those of you who are new here, I study in Hainan, a province in southern China. Every province in China has their own distinctive taste (口味). The broth dishes from Hainan are usually simple and clean.

Price estimates listed below might differ in other areas of China.

While I still can’t pick one favorite, here are some of the dishes that I keep craving over and over again:

Savory Dishes

1. Wonton Soup

Price: 12-25 yuan per bowl

I remember eating this at a mall with my friends. The broth is so simple, yet comforting and flavorful. I always end up wishing they included more wonton. I’ve always preferred wonton over dumplings.

2. Noodle soup with beef meatballs

Price: 20-29 yuan

I told my friend that I felt like eating meatballs, so she took me to a noodle shop outside of campus and ordered this noodle soup. If you order any food in China, it’s usual for them to serve you a big bowl of it. I was so full after eating this.

Rice noodles are very popular in Hainan, they’re silky-smooth and so delicious. The meatballs are made of mostly beef, which gives this juicy and meaty taste.

3. Beef noodle soup

Price: 12-18 yuan

We’re still discussing noodle soups here. There’s a night market (夜市) that sells these. I’ve eaten quite a few dishes like this. I love noodles in general. The chunks of beef are tender, smoky, and juicy, and every bite makes the broth taste richer.

One time, I ate this when my throat wasn’t feeling good. The warm broth eased it up a bit.

4. 螺蛳粉 Luosifen

Price: 12-20 yuan

I bought this at another shop at the same night market. It’s a famous rice noodle dish with spicy-sour broth. The shop was so packed with customers, which is a good sign that this is definitely worth a try.

You can add a bunch of different sauces to the broth, like soy sauce, peanut sauce, chili oil, etc. This dish is packed with condiments like fried tofu skins and pickled bamboo shoots.

When I first tried this, I underestimated how spicy the chili oil would be, so I added two spoons of it. It took a long time for me to finish eating the dish because I had to pause frequently. It was THAT spicy (I’m saying this as someone who loves spicy food). I even went to the nearest convenience store to buy milk, it helps a bit in numbing the stinging heat on my tongue.

5. 考冷面 Kao Leng Mian (Grilled cold noodles)

Price: starts from 6-9 yuan (but gets more expensive if you add more condiments), can get up to 10-15 yuan.

This dish consists of grilled noodle sheets filled with vegetables, onions, and eggs. You can choose to add other fillings like chicken, cheese, etc. This quickly became one of my favorites so I often buy this with my friend at night markets.

6. 烧烤 Shao Kao (Barbecue)

Price:

• 1-3 yuan per stick for vegetables
• 3-8 yuan per stick for meat
• 2-4 yuan per stick for sausages

烧烤 is so common in night markets. Whenever I visit a night market, the smell of barbecue is always so enticing. The sauce that they use is really flavourful, and combined with the smoky aroma after being barbecued, it simply tastes amazing.

There are so many different options, like chicken, beef, mutton, etc. There are also fishcakes and meatballs. Sometimes it gets really hard to pick which one I want.

7. 麻辣烫 MaLaTang

Price: depends on how much you take. I can spend around 9-14 yuan per bowl. My friend could get lower prices because she takes less. A safer guess would be 18-22 yuan.

There are shops, night market stands, and canteen stalls that provide an array of different vegetables, meat, fish cake, noodles, mushrooms, and other condiments to pick.

Then, the bowl filled with everything you’ve picked will be weighed to determine the price.

You just need to wait for a while for them to cook the ingredients into a spicy, numbing soup. I ate this a lot in China, it’s one of my favourites.

I always remind myself that I have to be extra cautious not to pick too much, or else it’ll get more expensive. It’s really hard though, because seeing all the options makes me want to add so much.

8. Fish balls

Price:

• Fish Balls: 5 yuan
• Vegetables: 2 yuan
• Rice: 3 yuan

These fish meatballs are one of the side dish choices at a food court stall at a mall. I don’t know if other malls sell the same thing. Each side dish has a different price, and you can pick as many side dishes as you want, the price will be summed up in the end.

They’re smooth and chewy, I almost always pick these when I see them. I usually pair this with a napa cabbage side dish.

Anyway, I can’t complete this post without writing about the desserts

Desserts

9. Mixue Oreo Sundae

Price: 6 yuan

If I go to Mixue, I only ever either order the vanilla cone or this Sundae. I know I should try other flavours, but this one’s simply the best in my opinion. There’s a Mixue store both on campus and just outside of campus. It’s not hard to find Mixue stores.

I remember how I was devastated when the Mixue store on campus didn’t sell their Oreo Sundae for a while, and was so relieved when they had it back.

10. Soufflé

Price: 15-25 yuan

I bought this at a night market. It’s so fluffy and the milky dressing and Oreo chunks are a heavenly combo. This is actually quite filling as a snack.

Food I Haven’t Tried Yet:

1. Peking Duck

Ducks are pretty cute though, I feel kind of bad, but I know their meat tastes good :’D.

But anyway, I’ve never gotten around to trying Peking Duck because I’ve always thought that it was a bit pricey. But since this is a classic, I’ve got to try it someday. It’s not hard to find stores that sell these in Hainan.

2. All You Can Eat Restaurants

I know that I’m going to eat there someday.

I have tried hotpot, but I haven’t tried the All You Can Eat restaurants there. I’ve heard my friends talk about it, saying that there are so many different options, even some exotic ingredients (not like I’m gonna try them, I’ll stick with the ones I know that taste good :’D).

I’m still young, and there are still plenty of dishes for me to discover. There must be more food to add to my list of favorites that I haven’t tried yet. I have to say that discovering new comfort foods is one of the things that helps you enjoy the process of getting used to a new environment. And that makes China almost like a second home to me.