Chinese cuisine gains popularity in Ethiopia

Zhou Tao, 34 and a native of Beijing, runs a Chinese restaurant in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, offering a variety of Chinese cuisine to fellow Chinese expatriates and a growing number of non-Chinese customers.

The restaurant, named "Xinjiang Restaurant Zhua Fun," is considered as one of the most authentic Chinese restaurants in Addis Ababa, situated in close proximity to the East African country's main airport -- the Addis Ababa Bole International Airport.

"Recognizing the increasing demand for Chinese dishes from the rising number of Chinese people in the city, I, in consultation with my wife, decided to open a Chinese restaurant here 10 years ago," said Zhou in a recent interview with Xinhua.

Zhou's restaurant offers about 200 varieties of Chinese dishes with special focus on Xinjiang cuisine, including fresh noodles, Chinese-style barbecue, poached sliced beef with hot chili oil, kung pao chicken, fried fishes, among others.

"We know which dishes are most favorite to our Chinese customers depending on the provinces they came from and their eating habits," said Zhou, who claimed that the Chinese dishes are also gaining popularity among Ethiopians. "About 70 percent of our customers are Chinese nationals while foreigners and local customers make up the balance."

Wang Xianjun, another Chinese expatriate and regular customer in Zhou's restaurant, said Chinese dishes, with all their flavors and tastes, helped him and his colleagues working in the Eastern Industrial Park on the outskirts of Addis Ababa ease their homesickness.