A 5AM Breakfast Feast in a Chinese Old Town

Hello, I'm JJ. This time, our breakfast journey brings us to Zhejiang. In a typical southern Chinese town, the day starts long before sunrise. By 5am, the streets are already alive. Steam rises from food stalls, tea is poured, and tables begin to fill with people. This isn't a place made for tourists. It's where locals come every single morning. For hundreds of years, life here has revolved around one simple thing, breakfast. Not just for eating, but for meeting, talking, and starting the day together. Some come for a quick bite, others stay for hours. And with over 100 different breakfast options, this place might just be one of the most unique morning scenes in China. Thank you. What's this made of? This is Baju powder. It's made of Baju powder. Baju powder. Baju. Baju powder. Yes. This, yes. One meatball. Yes. And this. A pea. That's for ordering. The locals like tea. When they have breakfast, they like to have a cup of tea with a pot of hot water. Drink it while it's hot. What a nice atmosphere. Yes. Drinking tea by the river, having breakfast. So relaxing. The life here is so slow. Right? These two are local specialties. One is made of dried bamboo shoots. And this is made of dried radish. Try it. Over there. Here. It's not dried bamboo shoots at all. It's all dried bamboo shoots inside. The bamboo shoots are very delicious. It's the freshest food in Chinese vegetables. The bamboo shoots are really delicious. What a nice atmosphere. Yes. We're going to start cooking, right? Yes. We need to heat the stove to 400 degrees. How long does it take? This? At least half an hour. In China, there's an unspoken rule for finding great food. Never skip a dish named after a city. Because if a food carries a city's name, it means it's been chosen out of everything to represent that place. And this is Jinhua crispy pastry, a signature snack from Jinhua in Zhejiang province, still made today using a method that dates back over 800 years. Thank you. Where are you from? We're from Tianjin. Tianjin? Yes. Tianjin? Yes, Tianjin is colder than here. What's this? What's the filling? Is this water or oil? This is the honey filling. The honey will stick to this. It's to stick this thing. Black sesame. Crispy pastry. 150 yuan. What do you want? One for me and one for you. Boss, I have four of these. Which one is spicier? The spicy one or the non-spicy one? Two spicy ones and two non-spicy ones. This is a good thing. It's really good. I feel like standing here and eating is a bit of a waste of this handmade craftsmanship. A hundred cups of coffee. Thank you. I feel like only sitting down is enough to show enough respect for this food. Wow, really. It's so delicious. Isn't it? Take a look at this pastry. Open it and take a look. It's so crispy. Have a bite. It's so crispy. It's especially crispy when you eat it like this. And the most important thing is the taste inside. The taste of dried plums is super rich. This dried plum is sun-dried with fresh vegetables. After it's sun-dried, it's marinated. It takes about two or three days to marinate. Then take it out and steam it. After steaming, it's sun-dried again. This cycle has to be done three times. It's so complicated. It takes about four to five years to make this dried plum. The taste of this dried plum is very rich. And it has a very special fragrance. After steaming, it's quite troublesome to do this. It's very troublesome. This is also very troublesome. Oh, it's troublesome. You have to sun-dry it first. Sun-dry it first. Marinate it and sun-dry it. Sun-dry it and take it out. Take it out and cook it. After it's cooked, take it out and sun-dry it. It's like this. Oh. Sun-dry it step by step. Ah. Don't cook it now. Just steam it at a high temperature. Don't sun-dry it. How long will it take? We can fry it by ourselves. It's delicious at home. This crispy pancake is made by Meigan Cai. I came to buy this after eating the crispy pancake. It's made by Meigan Cai. He said the crispy pancake was made by Meigan Cai. They made it. For locals here, Meigan Cai is as essential as tea, a staple of everyday life. Next, we're heading to one of the most popular breakfast spots in town and also the busiest to try another dish built around Meigan Cai. What's the pancake you're making? Meigan Cai pancake. It's made by meigan cai. This pancake is delicious. It's so soft. It's crispy. This is the most popular breakfast spot in town. Basically, the locals come here to eat breakfast. Yes. In fact, this place is not just a place to eat breakfast, it is a place to spend a dollar to get a cup of tea, and then come to this place to have a cup of tea, which is a very refreshing way. This is more expensive than the usual Meishan dish, because it is fried with green onion, which is more delicious. Thank you, sir. Is it free to drink water here? Yes, after you finish your tea, they will refill it for you. In fact, it is a bit like a free breakfast in the morning. It is free to drink for one yuan. There are a lot of ducks here. The food we are about to try carries a tradition beyond taste. Here in this ancient town, a girl's mother cooks it for her boyfriend on his first visit. It's called Rou Qianzi. What makes it special isn't just the flavor. The mother stuffs minced meat inside a whole egg, and the amount she can fit says it all. The fuller the egg, without breaking, the more she likes it. If it's perfectly packed, it means one thing, she really likes it. Let's go back and eat. Does it look like an egg stuffed with minced meat? That's a good description. Interesting. Let me cut it open. Full of minced meat. Try it. It tastes like dumplings. The outside is the skin, and the inside is the filling. The skin is made of egg. It's smooth and tender. It's not bad. What kind of skin is it? Tofu skin. It's all filtered. A cup of tea is a must. The breakfast here is so good. Yeah. This is really good. This is fried river shrimp. It's really good. The shrimp is fried really well. The flavor of the river shrimp is really strong. The flavor of the carrots is also strong. It's not crispy when it's fried. But it's still good with tea. What's this? The outside is a layer of tofu skin. The inside is tofu skin and some vegetables. This vegetable is really good. Is it? Maybe it's kale. It's really good. And there's meat inside. It's good. In this region, there's a noodle dish that locals swear by. Lanxi beef noodles. This small shop is run by a husband and wife team. And they do just one thing. This single bowl of noodles. Nothing more, nothing less. And whenever we travel in search of local breakfasts, there's one rule we never break. If a place is known for its noodles, we have to try it. Add some soy sauce. Stir-fry it. Add some soup. Then add the noodles. Add some seasoning. Is that good? Yes, it's good. It smells so good. You want to eat it right away. He stir-fried the tomatoes first, then the beef. Then he added some water. He stir-fried every piece of soup by himself. It's so good. Tomatoes and mushrooms. It's so fresh. It's not stir-fried. The chili oil looks so good. I misunderstood. It's not chili oil. It's the sauce they made. There should be vinegar and garlic in it. There should be something else. The sauce they made. The seasoning is very similar to the noodles.