US President Donald Trump landed in China Wednesday for his first state visit. The next evening, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Madame Peng Liyuan held a state banquet for President Trump and first lady, Melania at the Golden Hall of the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.  

As the menu of state banquet listed, the dishes combined both Chinese and western cuisine. Let’s find out about the amazing food!

Coconut Flavored Chicken Soup: Recognizable by the name and look, few people know the soup is a traditional dish in Sichuan cuisine, going back hundreds of years. Unlike most of Sichuan cuisine, famous for its pungency and spiciness, this soup is quite mild and mellow. The “tofu pudding” and soup are made with chicken and have a salty and umami taste.

Seafood Chowder: Especially popular in western countries, chowder is a type of soup or stew often prepared with milk or cream and thickened with broken crackers, crushed biscuits or roux. The seafood chowder was prepared with different types of seafood including fish, clams and many other types of shellfish. It is also sometimes prepared with small amounts of butter or cheese.

Kung Pao Chicken: A classic dish in Sichuan cuisine and one of the most well-known Chinese dishes, Kung Pao Chicken has bold flavors. It is a spicy stir-fry dish made with chicken, peanuts, vegetables, and chili peppers. Sometimes the use of garlic and particularly Sichuan peppercorns will enhance the distinctive numbing flavor and the unique fragrance in Sichuan food. By using the same ingredients of the “Kung Pao” sauce, variants include shrimp or pork instead of chicken.

Stewed Beef with Tomato Sauce: Chewy, soft beef in a sweet and sour tomato stew sauce makes this the perfect dish with a side of noodles or rice. In Chinese medicine, the tomato is called the Golden Plant, as it is good for stomach illness and digestion. Also, beef is an ingredient full of iron, which is recommended for females. It's a dish loved by Chinese but cooked using western methods, which might be the reason why it is selected for the feast.

Braised Vegetables in Premium Broth: This is a dish in Cantonese cuisine, topped with braised baby vegetables and flavored with thick stewed soup making it taste both light and fresh.

Grouper Fillets in Hot Chili Oil: With so many peppers, it is indeed another dish from the Sichuan region. Using rare blue-spotted grouper from the South China Sea as its main ingredient, the dish keeps the tenderness of the fish by poaching it instead of stir-frying. It offers a good combination of tenderness from the fish, freshness from the vegetables and the numbing sensation of Sichuan peppers.

Great Wall red/white wine from Hebei: When the menu was unveiled, the choice of drinks confused people – why use Great Wall wine instead of Maotai? Actually, according to regulations put in place in 1984, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs forbids the use of spirits in state banquets. Since then, wine has been a popular choice, especially those produced in China.