Breakfast in China - Take 2

Just when I thought I couldn't get a better breakfast than the noodle bowl I got in Shanghai, I ended up at the Grand Hyatt in Beijing.  Unfortunately, the breakfast buffet is not included in the room rate, and at $40 it's a bit of a bad value because I just don't think one can really eat that much in the morning, or should, but with this buffet?  I certainly tried. 

I was more than thrilled to see such a traditional Chinese breakfast offered - fried dough that is amazingly light without the heaviness of the kind of fried food you might find at a Nebraska State Fair, and its counterpart, hot Soy Milk.  I love the simplicity and the elegance.  But darn if that plate on the right isn't bugging the heck out of me.  The next day, I tried to take another picture of this with a cleaned up background, and wouldn't you know it, I just couldn't replicate the lighting, which I love...

Another traditional Chinese breakfast - congee, or rice porridge.  It's cooked rice from the day before recooked with lots and lots of water to make a porridge.  You can add all sorts of stuff to it - I have a special penchant for salty pork and preserved eggs.  So good!  Here, it was pumpkin porridge, to which I added dried shredded pork, pickled radish, and scallions.  Simple and filling.  I used to hate it when my mom made it when I was young.  I think it's because there just didn't seem to be enough condiments.  It's the little things on the side that make this congee world go round...

These are cubes of radish cakes.  If you've ever gone to Dim Sum, you might have seen this on a cart in a larger rectangular patty.  Here, they cubed it, then stir fried it with bean sprouts and egg.  I hadn't ever had it stir-fried like that, but dang if this wasn't as tasty as a savory radish cake could be. 

And then there was this hot little number.  Sichuan-style noodles.  Same method of boiling the noodles to warm them up, but then they kicked it up with their own spicy sauce and flavorful broth.  I added some cilantro, and truly, that was all that was needed.  This thing was bursting with greatness and it took an enormous amount of discipline for me to not get another bowl.  Or four...