Yep. Awesome. Cheap. 好吃 hǎochī (delicious). Chinese food. Authentic Chinese food. That’s why I haven’t updated in about half a year.
I was working and having culinary adventures in China for a while but now I’m back stateside, so expect lots more to come, very very soon! Photos, videos, adventures, games, culture shock, maybe even some gushiness about how much luxury we have in the states.
Seriously though, I might even rank the Chinese food above Thai food. It’s that good.
There’s diversity. I know the stereotype is rice but I ate more rice in the Philippines than in China.
There’s noodles, for about $1-2. If you go to one of the la mian (pulled noodle) restaurants, many of which are owned by the Hui ethnic group from northwestern China. You can watch as they take a slab of very glutenous dough and pull it apart, halving it, pulling it apart, each time doubling the number of strands they have, until there are hundreds of noodles pulled in just a few minutes from a mound. They even have pictures on the wall so you can point out what you want. It works out well because the same photos are at each of these Hui restaurants, so you always know what’s on the menu.
Proud noodle maker
Shy noodle maker.
There’re dumplings, especially good with the peanut sauce, mmmm.
Never before has egg and tomato tasted so good even if this photo doesn’t do it justice.
Five kuài (about 80 cents) will get a spicy chicken sandwich that is as addictive as crack.
Twice I ate food surprise. What is food surprise? A food you eat and later ask, what is this? And Surprise! It’s dog. Which had a very un-chicken like taste. And frog. Which made me want to give up meat altogether, if short lived.
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About the meat. It’s never really the main course like in America. More often it’s added for the taste. I almost feel like a vegetarian, or a meateterian who prefers veggies while here.
Then there’s the fact I never feel full after eating this food. It’s all so light, sometimes a bit oily, but my stomach is a bottomless pit of a black hole stealing away all the veggies and meat and rice and noodles. That’s where chips ahoy comes in. I will intentionally eat cookies after a chinese meal not only because I have the biggest sweet tooth this side of the universe, but because it’s the only thing that adds that heavy layer in my belly and really makes me feel full. The chop sticks weren’t helping this phenomenon, because I would eat bit bit bit, surely slower than with a fork or spoon. But the wood chop stick texture is actually very suited for eating.
The first couple times I ate western food again my belly felt like it was going to burst. Immobilized heart pounding food coma bowling ball in my stomach full the only thing I could do was pass out. I guess I miss Chinese food.
You know those Chinese restaurants in the states? Well, I wouldn’t describe them as authentic. Certainly no egg and tomatoes, but maybe I’ll have to look for my other favorite dish: eggplant. Eggplant?! I still can’t believe it. Never have I appreciated its well cooked purple mushiness until now, shooting from the lowest despicable tastes straight to the top just like Fermina Daza’s taste for it in Love in the Time of Cholera.
That’s one of the things I’m always surprise by when I travel. I get rid of those preconceived notions of food or people and end up loving the impossible. Even eggplant.
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Note: Thanks to chinesefooddiy.com for the photo of eggplant, beijingmadeeasy.com for the egg and tomato, and youtube user jyaki2 for the la mian video.