Tour of Chinese cheese in regional cuisines

In my opinion, cheese is the best dairy product on earth. Growing up on a strictly Chinese diet, I only discovered it late in childhood in the school lunchroom. But since moving to Beijing, I’ve found that cheese is actually an integral part of a handful of Chinese cuisines.

Cheese has made its way across the country, starting from the fields of China’s western regions. Inner Mongolia’s yak cheese is more like yuck cheese. This cheese isn’t made with water, and the lack of moisture results in a chalky texture with a light sour aftertaste. If I was stuck in a yurt in Inner Mongolia, I would totally eat it, but I wouldn’t recommend the restaurant in Beijing’s Inner Mongolia Hotel, which serves the uninspiring dairy product plain and raw.

Palace Cheese on Xiqiaogan Hutong is an old school snack shop serving cheesy Beijing treats ranging from puddings, tarts and cakes that date back to the Qing dynasty. Here, the cheese products are all dessert oriented . The red bean pudding (¥10) is a simple recipe made of egg, milk and sugar, and can be consumed hot or cold. I prefer the cooler form, which provides a smooth texture akin to panna cotta, with sweet red beans the size of blueberries. The milk cake (¥5) is my favorite and the star out of all the cheesy treats. The texture is somewhat like firm feta cheese, though the actual cheese flavor is mild, the red bean swirl is the icing in this little cake that makes it so delectable.

Yunnan is one province with plenty of cheesy delights . Feng Huang Zhu’s deep-fried cheese sticks (¥36) are humongous twisty chips served with sweet condensed milk. They don’t have a pungent cheesy salty flavor, though, and I would have preferred some sort of savory hot sauce for dipping. But In & Out’s roasted Yunnan cheese is a savory variety. The lightly roasted cheese plate (¥38) comes with 10 cheese squares, buttery and crisp around the edges. Dipping them into the crushed black and red pepper adds just enough kick to this warm, robust cheese. It’s the most compelling in flavor out of all the Chinese cheeses I tasted.

Chinese cheese is definitely not what I’m used to. It’s not as strong as Italian cheeses eaten during aperitivo or as potent as the cheeses we Westerners love to add on burgers, stuff in ravioli, and fry in batter. But I’ve found a few surprising charms with these simple and unconventional cheeses that I encourage all to try.