cheese in china.

After about a month in China, I had the chance to attend a UW alumni reception with some other expatriate Beijingers. After the cocktails and hors d'oeuvres, and a short video from the Honorary David Johnston, then - UW President but now - Governor-General of Canada, we stumbled through a quaint alleyway named 南锣鼓巷 [nánluógǔxiàng]. It was then that a native Beijinger and fellow UW alumnus pointed out the place to go for homemade "yogurt". I made a mental note to go back - it only took about a year and 4 months, but I finally made it. 

Called 文宇奶酪店 [wényǔ nǎilào diàn], nǎilào meaning cheese and diàn meaning shop, there was a reason we were told to go early if we wanted to try this local treat. By mid-afternoon (and having only opened around 12), they had already run out of their original-flavoured specialty, 原味双皮奶 [yuánwèi shuāngpínǎi]. So we had to settle for one with red beans, 红豆双皮奶 [hóngdòu shuāngpínǎi] and another with oats, 燕麦双皮奶 [yànmài shuāngpínǎi].

After digging through it, I found it had more of a custard-like pudding consistency, almost like soft tofu in dessert-form, not really "cheese-y" at all, and hence the native Beijinger calling it "yogurt". It makes sense since 双皮奶 [shuāngpínǎi] literally means "double-skin milk". The bursts of red bean/oats was what really gave it flavour, adding some sweetness to what really didn't taste like much. And for 10RMB, the portion you get can definitely be shared, especially if you're a tad apprehensive about Chinese "cheese".

我的皮奶。

Just a typical Saturday afternoon.

Chillin' in front of the "cheese" shop.