In Xiamen, since my grandma lives on the Xiamen University campus, we ate our breakfasts at the cafeteria near her apartment building. We would each choose a combination of steamed bread (
mantou), fried dough sticks (
youtiao), porridge, and soy milk, with my usual selection being one mantou, one youtiao, and either soy milk or milk tea. Mantou are soft and fluffy when fresh, and youtiao are both crisp and chewy, with an enjoyable airiness. Protip: sandwich a youtiao inside a plain mantou - it's delicious.
Below are the youtiao alongside a bowl of plain porridge, as well as a different mantou sandwich of egg and a Spam-like meat.
In the middle of our Xiamen stay, we took a short trip to Kinmen, a Taiwanese island that is extremely close to Xiamen and is a popular tourist destination. Breakfast on New Year's Day consisted of porridge, steamed buns, and a buffet of tasty little side dishes - various pickles,
fermented bean curd, and
rou song Warm and comforting, and great fuel for lots of sightseeing!
