APEC menu highlights traditional Chinese snacks

Beijing snack lvdaguan, glutinous rice rolls with sweet bean paste. [Photo/IC]

An extensive list of Chinese food has been included in the menu for the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings. Among the items, simple and convenient traditional snacks will dominate.

As part of the world cuisines that will be served to about 73,000 people during the event, the Chinese menu features signature Chinese dishes such as Peking duck, regional snacks including Sichuan's dandan noodles, Shanghai's xiaolongbao (steamed meat bun),Tianjin's jianbing (pancake) and various traditional snacks from the capital.

The organizer believed that highlighting the menu with various snacks would allow visitors to have a taste of all parts of China and help make the dining process more efficient.

The dishes will be displayed in a way that elegantly represents Chinese culture, and table settings for some dishes will feature Beijing's quadrangle courtyard and the Temple of Heaven, a complex of religious buildings, according to the English language site of China News Service.

A team of more than 200 chefs have started to prepare for the meals, and as many as 600 chefs will work in the 900-square-meter kitchen to present 142 meals at the China National Convention Center.

Besides Chinese foods, representative dishes from the world's five continents are also on the menu, such as Singapore's laksa, the Philippines's adobe chicken and Russia's beef goulash.