# Chinese breakfast? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 17, 2007, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-breakfast/430387 "2007-12-17T22:51:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![King\_Friday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/43a26b/32.png) [@King\_Friday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/King_Friday)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2007, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-breakfast/430387/1 "2007-12-17T22:51:59Z")
This may sound like a silly question, but why don’t any of the Chinese carry outs open for breakfast? Which leads to another question…what exactly is a typical Chinese breakfast? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2007, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-breakfast/430387/2 "2007-12-17T23:01:07Z")
Around here, all the Chinese carry-outs double as doughnut shops in the morning. [Breakfast in China.](http://www.saturdaymarket.com/chinabreakfast/intro.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2007, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-breakfast/430387/3 "2007-12-17T23:01:14Z")
Google Congee and You Tiao. I don’t know if that’s true, but I had to write a report on this in 7th grade and that’s the answer that I came up with. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2007, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-breakfast/430387/4 "2007-12-17T23:03:29Z")
I stayed with a Chinese family in Vietnam for a few weeks, and we had congee every single morning. They told me their Vietnamese neighbours had no such tradition, and that it was a purely Chinese thing. It was also extremely tasty. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2007, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-breakfast/430387/5 "2007-12-17T23:07:50Z")
I’ve had congee and it nearly made me puke. In southern China, dim sum is a breakfast food. Most of the dim sum restaurants open around 6am. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2007, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-breakfast/430387/6 "2007-12-17T23:11:12Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] I’ve had congee and it nearly made me puke. [/QUOTE] Was it the texture?\* I can’t imagine the taste being particularly offensive to anybody. \*Related question: how do you feel about Western-style porridge? ---
**Author:** ![King\_Friday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/43a26b/32.png) [@King\_Friday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/King_Friday)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2007, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-breakfast/430387/7 "2007-12-17T23:18:34Z")
[QUOTE=TheLoadedDog] Was it the texture?\* I can’t imagine the taste being particularly offensive to anybody. [/QUOTE] I was wondering the same thing, it just sounds like overcooked rice to me. Offensive maybe, but not puke-worthy. ---
**Author:** ![lizardling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@lizardling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lizardling)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2007, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-breakfast/430387/8 "2007-12-17T23:30:04Z")
_blinkblink_ I’d guess it’s the texture. Rice porridge is what Mom gave me when I was sick. And it’s durn tasty with soy sauce, thousand year eggs, and those bready sticks that we always spelled chakwe in a bastardization of the actual Chinese (or possibly Vietnamese) term. ETA: Waitwaitwait! Not just soy sauce, but FISH SAUCE! _drool_ now I have to ask my mom to make a trip out to the Vietnamese shop to get us some of those bread sticks over holiday… ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2007, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-breakfast/430387/9 "2007-12-17T23:30:28Z")
[QUOTE=King Friday] This may sound like a silly question, but why don’t any of the Chinese carry outs open for breakfast? [/QUOTE] This may seem like a frivolous answer, but very few restaurants of _any_ type open for breakfast. At least I haven’t noticed very many steak houses, Italian restaurants, BBQ restaurants, sushi bars, etc. open for breakfast. I suspect there aren’t enough customers in the morning to justify opening the restaurant, especially if they’re also open late in the evening and would need to hire additional staff to cover the morning. ---
**Author:** ![King\_Friday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/43a26b/32.png) [@King\_Friday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/King_Friday)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2007, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-breakfast/430387/10 "2007-12-17T23:42:43Z")
[QUOTE=scr4] This may seem like a frivolous answer, but very few restaurants of _any_ type open for breakfast. [/QUOTE] Those are _restaurants_, I said carry outs. Most carry outs in these parts open for breakfast. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-breakfast/430387/11 "2007-12-18T00:01:26Z")
[QUOTE=King Friday] Those are _restaurants_, I said carry outs. Most carry outs in these parts open for breakfast. [/QUOTE] Why wouldn’t the same reasons apply to carry-outs? And just out of curiosity, what other types of carry-outs are in your area that open for breakfast? Are you including fast-food drive-throughs? And where _is_ “these parts” anyway? ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-breakfast/430387/12 "2007-12-18T00:27:32Z")
I once spent a month or two on a PRC oceanographic vessel (the R/V Xiangyanghong #14) and as I recall the breakfasts were unusual by western standards, tending to be more spicy and savory, and not at all sweet. Lots of the dumpling and dim sum items looked like they were going to be sweet and danish like, and they never were. I also discovered that my interest in cross cultural experiences was at its lowest at breakfast - possibly due to the absence of coffee. ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-breakfast/430387/13 "2007-12-18T01:37:31Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] I’ve had congee and it nearly made me puke. In southern China, dim sum is a breakfast food. Most of the dim sum restaurants open around 6am. [/QUOTE] It looks like puke, too! Never got used to it even after 7 years in Taiwan. Same with Oily fried dough (Yo Tiao) Yuck! They have a flaky kind of bread that you can eat with hot soy bean milk. Delicious! ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-breakfast/430387/14 "2007-12-18T01:42:09Z")
Congee–yum. I can’t speak for China but when I’m in Vietnam I always have pho (beef and anise soup) for breakfast since that’s what the Vietnamese are eating if not croissants. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-breakfast/430387/15 "2007-12-18T06:17:53Z")
depends on where you are. Roughly speaking, in the southern half on China, breakfast is usually some kind of rice porrige. In HK/Guangdong, a very thick porrige where the individual rice grains are usually mush. Many other parts, it’s basically leftover dinner rice reheated with water to make it soupy. almost everyone in China eats some sort of pickled vegetables as part of breakfast. Maybe fermented rotten beancurd too. Many also eat some form of tofu “milk” Cantonese are famous for dim sum. The northern half of China are primarily wheat and not rice eaters (especially for breakfast). Steamed bread, baked bread, dumplings, etc can all be on the menu. My favorite Chinese breakfast hails from Shandong Province but is popular on Shanghai street corners called [jianbing](http://www.eatingchinese.org/jbtutor/jbtutor.html). A thin wheat crepe about a foot in diameter is made. While baking on the cast iron flat gas heated grill, break and scramble a thin layer of egg on top, cook for 15 seconds and then flip it over to fully cook the egg, once cooked it’s flipped back over so the crepe side is down and the egg side up, some sauce/pepper sauce/chopped green onions/cilantro are sprinkled on top, then either a youtiao (my favorite) or a deep fried cracker put on top, the whole thing rolled up. The link has step by step directions. These are really good. Takes about 2 minutes to make one. It’s part of the weekend morning walk with the kids, we watch them get made, I get one and split it with the bambinas. Costs about USD0.30 for one. ---
**Author:** ![dmatsch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3be4f8/32.png) [@dmatsch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dmatsch)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-breakfast/430387/16 "2007-12-18T14:49:30Z")
[QUOTE=TheLoadedDog] I stayed with a Chinese family in Vietnam for a few weeks, and we had congee every single morning. They told me their Vietnamese neighbours had no such tradition, and that it was a purely Chinese thing. It was also extremely tasty. [/QUOTE] Just looked up various recipes for congee. All I can say is … “yuk”. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-breakfast/430387/17 "2007-12-18T14:53:05Z")
[QUOTE=dmatsch] Just looked up various recipes for congee. All I can say is … “yuk”. [/QUOTE] The one I had was nice. Basic, but nice. As far as I could tell, it was basic congee porridge with little bits of _char siu_ bbq meat, and hard boiled egg, with a generous helping of soy sauce. It was kind of a Chinese equivalent to Western porridge and “bubble and squeak” rolled into one. I still can’t understand finding it offensive. It’s pretty bland in its way. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-breakfast/430387/18 "2007-12-18T15:16:44Z")
[QUOTE=Shoshana] Congee–yum. I can’t speak for China but when I’m in Vietnam I always have pho (beef and anise soup) for breakfast since that’s what the Vietnamese are eating if not croissants. [/QUOTE] Yeah, pho is kind of an every time of day food for Vietnamese people. I’ve had it breakfast, lunch and dinner with friends of mine. Not too excited about pho with tripe or things like “fatty tendon” though… ---
**Author:** ![Aestivalis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Aestivalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aestivalis)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-breakfast/430387/19 "2007-12-18T15:39:57Z")
[QUOTE=dmatsch] Just looked up various recipes for congee. All I can say is … “yuk”. [/QUOTE] I don’t really understand this either. It’s basically Chinese oatmeal, or cream of wheat. And there are plenty of people who salt their oatmeal. Would it be better if there was chicken broth in it? Voila, Chicken Rice soup! ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-breakfast/430387/20 "2007-12-18T16:00:33Z")
I can understand it. Rice is quite a bland grain in comparison to wheat or oats. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-breakfast/430387.md?page=2)