Hello Asian food lovers! I hope that you all enjoy my blog. This is my first time writing a blog, so it's a new experience for me. It's indeed time consuming to find the restaurants and actually go to taste the food, but it's also fun to try different Asian dishes in Turkey. Through this project, I learned how to observe like a journalist and tell stories with photos or videos. It's also my pleasure to share all these restaurants to you!! Now, it's the end of semester, so it's time to say goodbye. I'm not sure if I will continue the blog. If yes, I may change the concept to sharing my exchange life in Turkey. I really have a great time in Turkey!!
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Hello Asian food lovers! I will talk about one of my favorite Asian restaurants in Ankara--Quick China. There's one at Bilkent Center, so it's convenient for me to go there. Although the name is Quick China, there are various Asian food choices in the menu. Of course they provide chopsticks, and they even have special ones with the tops wrapped together for those who are still unfamiliar with using chopsticks! These are some pages from the menu. As you can see, there are mainly Chinese and Japanese dishes. Whether you like the iconic sushi, soup noodles (Ramen), fried rice/noodle, or meat with Asian sauce, you can find it in the menu. These are the free appetizers they serve. There are fried chickens, sushi, and a sour drink. I have to say that the fried chicken is totally delicious! When you bite into it, you can feel the juicy texture and the crispy outside mixed together. The sushi is also good, but what we ordered is better. This is one of the sushi we ordered. This one is called Spider Roll. There are crab, shrimp, octopus, cucumber, avocado, flying fish roe, and sauce in it. What makes it more tasty is the crispy outside. I think I haven't seen sushi with crispy outsides in Taiwan or Japan (at least I haven't tried it before), so it really amazes me! With sushi, you can eat it in the original flavor or with some soy sauce or wasabi (the green spicy sauce). Personally, I like to savor them in the original flavor. Are you curious about how sushi is made? Since the chefs are making sushi in an open kitchen, I had an opportunity to take videos of them. A Brief History of SushiThe origin of sushi is believed to have been during the second century A.D. in Southeast Asia. At that time, people wrapped fish inside rice to preserve it. After several months, they would throw away the rice and ate the fermented fish. It spread out and eventually changed its form in Japan. People began to add vinegar to shorten the fermenting time, and it actually helped cover the raw flavor of the fish. In the 1820's, chefs started using raw fish in their sushi, known as Edo-style sushi. This is the style you will find in most sushi restaurants. References: iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/fall09/smith_j/history.html Here are some other dishes I tried in Quick China. The first picture is wonton soup. The soup base is different from what we ate in Taiwan, but it is still good. I think they add some sauce to make it more salty, while in Taiwan, we tend to have clear simple soup base. There are four dishes in the second picture-- two ramen (soup noodles), one pineapple fried rice, and a plate of sushi. The ramen with darker color soup is salty. It's more like a Japanese style soup. (Ramen soup in Japan is usually really salty) The pineapple fried rice is really delicious! It reminded us of food from home, and they actually serve the rice inside a cut pineapple! Quick China is actually the first Asian restaurant I tried in Ankara, but I saved it until the end. I've tried fried noodles, fried rice, sweet and sour chicken, sushi, ramen, and soup there, and all of them are really well cooked. So if you are still deciding which restaurant to start your Asian food journey, Quick China is a good choice! Let's finish this post with a picture with one of the staffs there. They wear aprons with Chinese words. It actually means "quick China". Quick China: Üniversiteler Mh., 4. Cad. Bilkent Center D:3/37, 06800 Çankaya/Ankara
Website: https://quickchina.com.tr/en/
Hello Asian food lovers! This time let us visit a Korean restaurant in Istanbul. Seoul Restaurant is near the main tourist attractions in the European side. It is within walking distance from Hagia Sophia Museum, Basilica Cistern, and several other renowned historical sites. Seoul is the capital of Korea, so it is easily understood that this place serves Korean food. Besides Korean food, it also offers various Chinese cuisines.
This is the inside of the restaurant. When I first arrived, there was a group of Korean tourists eating, so it was crowded. When they left, I took a picture again, and I could see the decorations more clearly. There was even a cabinet with soju (a popular Korean alcohol)! (Unfortunately I didn't take a picture of the cabinet.)
This is the table setting before ordering. The left one was the setting of Seoul Restaurant, and the right one is a setting from a Korean restaurant in Taiwan. The two most important tableware are spoon and chopsticks. Do you know that chopsticks in different countries are actually in different lengths and shapes? Chopsticks in Korea are flat and usually made of metal, while in other countries they may be round and made of wood. Also, Koreans use metal bowls a lot instead of regular plates.
A special feature of Korean cuisines is that they serve A Lot of side dishes or starters in little plates, and usually, you can take as much as you wish. The picture on the left was the side dishes I got in Seoul Restaurant, and the right one is traditional Korean style feast. The most common side dishes include kimchi, pickled radish, bean sprout, seaweed, or Tteokbokki(spicy rice cake).
This dish is called Bibimbap. Same as the earlier photos, the left one was the one I tried, and the other is from Korea. The base is rice, and you can add various ingredients on top. Usually, there will be an egg in the middle, and the first thing you do is to mix all the things together. Spicy sauce is served with this dish. In some restaurants, the sauce will be in a separate saucer in case you can't stand the spice. Bibimbap is always served in a hot stone pot, so when you are eating, the food will still be heating.
Are you enjoying the delicious food? This is the end of the Korean food journey. I think the food quality is good, and the side dishes are similar to the originals. However, it still tastes a bit different from the bibimbap I had in Taiwan or Korea. If you are curious about how Korean food taste like, there's also a Korean restaurant in Ankara. (I haven't tried it though)
Seoul Restaurant: Cankurtaran Mh., Akbıyık Cd. No:33, 34122 Fatih/İstanbul
Website: http://www.seouljung.net/xe/ Hello Asian food lovers! Have you heard of hot pot? It's really common in east Asian countries. Throwing everything in the steaming hot pot and enjoying the time with family or friends are the best way to cope with the cold winter. This time, I went to Asian House restaurant to try their hot pot. The Asian House restaurant is located near Kızılay. It serves mostly Chinese and Japanese food. There are Chinese blessings on the chopstick wrapper, and in the back it teaches people how to use chopsticks. In case you are not familiar with hot pot, there's an explanation. And here is the hot pot menu. You can choose the soup, which will be the main flavor. And then you can order anything you like in the menu. We had the spicy soup pot. When the chili peppers start to blend in with the soup, the color will become red like the picture on the right. There will be raw food for you to throw in the hot pot. There will usually be vegetables, tofu, mushrooms, seafood, eggs, and of course meat! The meat will be sliced thin to let it cook easily. Basically, you just throw everything into the hot pot. Usually, we will put some vegetables inside first, and when the soup is boiling, we add meat, eggs, or noodles. You don't have to wait long for the meat to be cooked. It often only takes 10~20 seconds! In the end, if the soup isn't too salty or spicy, we will drink some soup directly from the hot pot. For dessert, there will usually be self-served ice cream or other cold drinks to balance the flavorful hot pot. It's really rare to see hot pots in Ankara, and I appreciate the effort of this restaurant. Normally, I like spicy food, but beware of the spicy hot pot here! It's even too spicy for me! If you can't stand any spice, just order the normal soup, or else your throat will be burning. But if you like to challenge yourself, feel free to try! Overall, I had a great time savoring the hot pot, and I got to eat tofu!! If you still want to learn more about hot pot, here's a youtube link for you: How to eat hot pot Asian House: Facebook: www.facebook.com/asian.house.ankara/ Instagram: www.instagram.com/asian.house.ankara/ Address: Selanik 2 caddesi no: 64
Hello Asian food lovers! You may know from the sign that this restaurant serves Chinese, or you can say Uygur cuisines. Uygur is a minor nationality living in Xinjiang region in China. Urumci Uygur Restaurant is located near Kolej metro station, not very far from Kızılay. (The detailed address is available at the bottom) The restaurant serves around 40 people so it is medium sized, with several tables outside. Friends can enjoy the food and chat in the relaxed atmosphere. I went with four of my friends, 3 Taiwanese and 1 Korean. This restaurant seems to be well known among the Asians in Ankara since we saw many Asian faces. We would like to know how the food taste like. Now I will introduce the 4 dishes we had. 1. Fried Rice with Meat Fried rice is a really common dish in east Asia. It's popular because you can add anything you like, from meat, vegetables, to seafood, into the rice. For example, this dish is mixed with meat and different colors of pepper. While frying it in the frying pan, an egg and some soy sauce will be added to make it seem golden. So how did it taste like? All of us agreed that the flavor is similar to what we eat back home. The rice is well-cooked with firm texture. When you bite into the spoonful of rice, you can taste all the flavors together and you will not want to stop eating! 2. Noddles with SauceAlthough it says spaghetti on the menu, this isn't called spaghetti in Asian countries. Spaghetti is something like pasta, but this is Asian noodles with Asian sauce. This noodle is softer and thicker than the common long straight spaghetti. As you can see, the sauce and the noodles are separated, so you have to mix them together before tasting it. This plate has meat, vegetables, and peppers in the sauce. The meat is marinated with various spices, sauce, and some oil. We really like the texture of the noodles. It's soft, chewy, and still moist with little water. The sauce is also full of flavors. When the sauce slides onto our tongues, our taste buds explode and it feels amazing! 3. Noodles with Minced MeatThis dish is similar to the last one, but it is served with minced meat and less sauce. As you can see in the picture, there are abundant ingredients. Both of them are really delicious, but if we have to choose one, we prefer the last one with more sauce. 4. Fried Noodles with SauceSimilar to fried rice, you can also add anything in fried noodles. In this dish, there are meat, vegetables, and peppers. You can see by the dark brown color that they added a lot of soy sauce to bring out the strong taste. Personally, I liked it, but my friends thought that it was too salty because of the sauce. If you prefer eating meals with a lot of sauce or else the food seems tasteless, don't hesitate to try this dish! So these are the four dishes we ordered. If I have to pick my favorite, it will be the first one, fried rice with meat. If you are a vegetarian and still want to try, don't worry, there is another fried rice with only eggs. The flavor isn't that strong, but it's still delicious. Overall, I am satisfied with this restaurant. The food here is really Asian!If you love Asian food and live in Ankara, this is a good place for you! Address: Ön Cebeci Mah., Ziya Gökalp Cad. No:76, 06590 Çankaya/Ankara
Website:http://www.urumciuygurrestaurant.com/?fbclid=IwAR2mY7tsSiSGSsu8i38ZiwC8yqIf-QBijdpsTyn0Xlp5y1uMGbePG0dlpYY Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Cantonese-Restaurant/Urum%C3%A7i-UYGUR-Restaurant-558125620947878/ Hello Asian food lovers! Are you ready to embark on an Asian food trip in Ankara? I am Peggy, a girl from Taiwan who is currently an exchange student in Bilkent University. As a lot of you would know, Asian food is all about the various flavors. And although Turkish food has it's own unique taste, I still miss food from home.
That's why my goal is to explore as many Asian restaurants/dishes as possible in Ankara. I will probably find at least 4~5 restaurants and taste the dishes. In addition to Asian food, I will also share my opinions on Turkish food. Some Turkish dishes are actually really good, but there are also dishes that I am not used to. I hope that you will all enjoy my posts! |
Pei Chi Chen (Peggy)I am a girl from Taiwan currently as an exchange student in Bilkent University. I love to meet people, taste delicious food, and travel.
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