figures my first blog post would be about food, is there really any more worthy subject? plus, a lot of folks have been asking me about food, what is the food like, can you read the menus, can you cook for yourselves? the answers are excellent, no, and no, with more detail to follow.
the food scene
food in China is very near and dear to people's hearts, or so I gather given the number and variety of restaurants, food stalls, street food vendors, markets, teahouses, noodle shops, dumpling stands, fruit stands, bakeries, and holes-in-the-wall where little ol' ladies whip together some of the best food I have ever eaten. the sheer variety of fruits and veggies is staggering. I don't know what most things are and don't know what to try first. walking the streets or visiting a market leaves me confused, but always wanting more.
can we read menus?
no, of course not. actually, at this point I can identify a few dishes on almost any restaurant menu. Sometimes, to learn new characters, we just point to something mysterious and learn by experiencing. This is how Ben got to try brain (at least, he thinks it was brain!). Usually we are pleasantly surprised though.
can we cook for ourselves?
we are trying. at first we failed miserably, but we have begun to have a few successes. last night, Ben and I went to the market and bought ½ a chicken. the lady asked us if we wanted it cut, and when we said yes, she cut off the nails (not the foot, just the actual nail part of the claw), and then hacked it to pieces with about 6 strokes of her cleaver. we took it home in a bag that contained the head, organs, feet, everything. we stopped by a stall where a lady sells all kinds of sauces, soy sauce, vinegar, spices, hot sauce. she had about 6 different brews of spicy goodness cooking up, and we tasted a couple, even though she assured us they were far too spicy for foreigners. Chinese always assume that white people hate spice, and are very excited when they see me and Ben get down on some la jiao, Chinese hot sauce. the sauce lady was very surprised when, after tasting her brews, looks of pure joy crossed our faces and we enthusiastically bought two different sauces. Ben dumped the whole ½ chicken into a wok and cooked it (feet, bone, eyes and all) with potatoes and simmered it in one of the spice sauces that had a generous flavor of Sichuan pepper. we ate it with rice and veggies and it was delicious! we had to work pretty hard to get the meat off the bones, but we saved all the bones, feet, and head and I boiled it up into a broth. noodle soup for breakfast tomorrow!
that is one of our happier moments in the kitchen. normally, this is how it goes down: I smell burning trash and tell Ben that I wish the neighbors wouldn't burn their garbage under our windows. Ben says, "umm, actually, I made you toast and eggs." as many of you know, Ben and I both like to cook, and we are not used to such disastrous results. I think our failure comes from the fact that all the ingredients here are pretty exotic to us, and the cooking methods a bit different from what we are used to. thus, may I recall your attention to the title of this post: do any of you know where we can get us a Chinese grandma who can teach us how to cook?
