Comida en China:)

Haven't really written about "China" lately... I've been living each day with so many new adventures that I hardly know where to start! So I decided to start by writing about something fairly simple:) Something we can all enjoy:) FoooOOooD!!!

Ahh yessssss:) Comida. One of life's simple pleasures! Remember that saying "don't trust a skinny cook?" Take this food analysis from one who can "pack it in" as my CEO described me.... (umm....  should I be proud of that?) Gotta love the bluntness of Chinese people... anyone in the US would have said, "Oh I guess you were hungry" or "Did you enjoy lunch?" haha nope. Not my CEO. She turned to me,  smiled,  and said, "Diana, you can pack it in." haha ---And its true!

I guess I've seen too much hunger and pain to not appreciate food when I eat it. When I do sit down and eat I can't leave food on the table knowing that there are hungry people in the world going without... Anyone reading who has sat at a table with me knows that I can eat, and will keep eating until its all gone:) Good thing I'm Latina and can use the "hips don't lie" excuse right?!;)


Snacks you can find in the US vs their Chinese counterparts:)

TWINKIES:  A 'horrible for you,  but tastes so good' treat that we all grew up with!  Ahhh  just taste the sweet yummy goodness melting in your mouth:)


CHINESE TWINKIES:::  I bit into it super excited that I'm about to clog my arteries and guess what?  No filling.  I didn't feel like I was about to die at all.  Lame.  



FISH SNACKS:::  You've tried swedish fish right?  I don't really like them,  but people eat 'em all the time.  Sweet fish,  no big deal.  


FISH SNACKS:::  Fish,  as in actual fish snacks.  Found in little packets that you open up and slurp out your salty fish.  Haha,  have a bowl of them on my coffee table and I eat 'em with bread.  Love this fish snack!




Now for some more traditional Chinese food facts:  I enjoy eating on a round table as the Chinese do:)  To me it makes the group of family or friends or whoever feel more united-  all gathered together.  You know how the head of the table is reserved for someone important on our rectangular tables?  The 'honored seat' for lack of a better term is actually the seat that faces the entrance.  Don't ask me why because I still don't know,  but I found it to be an interesting fact when someone told me:)  The lazy susan in the middle of the table turns round and round and you pick out a bite of what you want from each plate as they pass you.  Yes,  using the same chopsticks that you eat with.  Very sanitary.................go China.  Apart from the lack of hygiene,  its nice because there are so many different dishes and you can try a bit of everything and stop filling your rice bowl when you have had enough.



The province I live in,  Hunan,  is known for having extremely spicy food.  As in have-a-glass-of-milk-ready-because-I'm-loading-this-thing-up-with-more-peppers-than-food spicy!



You would think that I could handle it no problem,  but cholula doesn't have anything on the spicy-ness of the plates here!  When I come back all my tastebuds are going to be so hardcore!  My fingers will be hardcore as well with intense chopstick eating abilities!


Know whats really hard?  Eating with chopsticks.  I've had weeks and weeks  of practice and I still drop stuff at mealtimes!  Its silly,  I should eat with them fine by now no?  haha No.  There are so many slimy things to pick up with chopsticks,  sometimes it easier just to stab whatever it is and eat it like a kabob!  Not that I've ever done that or anything... :)


First time I tried to eat noodles with chopsticks was an adventure in and of itself!  We were at this la mien restaurant (pronounced MEE-EN and not MAIN as I had been calling it for the past 20+ years)  and no matter how many times I tried to pick up my noodles,  they kept slipping out of my grasp!  The Fúwùyuán, waiter,  saw me he felt bad and gave me these smaller wooden chopsticks to try and eat with...  haha  I put down my plastic chopsticks and thanked him by saying Xièxiè and guess what happened after that?  I tried again and again and again and I could finally pick up the noodles!  haha sweet!!!  A few weeks later,  after we had come back from our vacation,  I went back to the same restaurant (good price,  good food)  and they remembered to give me the chopsticks that are easier to eat with!  haha  Moments like those make China less of a strange land:)

And of course,  different foods that I've tried!  The "weirdest" food that I had tried before coming to China must have been horse that I tried at my cousins Guatemalan/Polynesian wedding.  It was delicious!  and for all you animal rights activists-  sorry sorry sorry!  Within just a few weeks of living in China I had the opportunity of eating frog!


Okay I don't really know what kind of frog I tried,  but it had way too many bones and not enough meat.  The meat that I was able to get to was very chewy and really not that great,  but of course I ate it anyways!  Because its frog and when am I ever going to try it again besides here in China?  I also tried Lamb (whatever the name of the meat is).

Which was also really tasty!  No I had never tried it in the US and I hadn't tried duck either!




So there you go!  I love trying out all sorts of new things. I could go through and name all the delicious dishes I've tried and enjoyed like the dumplings,  eggplant,  tofu,  (getting hungry already!)  but let it suffice that I'm renewing my gym membership as soon as we get paid because the food is a little too good:)



PLEASE NOTE:  yes people do eat cat and dog here.  Yes they eat chicken feet and pig feet.  Yes they eat all sorts of foods that I refuse to try and really hope I don't have enter my body unless I am tricked into it or something...  urghhh...  I do know of another foreign teacher that tried snake though,  and might try that if the opportunity arises!


Comments

  1. Crazy!! How something so basic as food can change so drastically in another culture! Did you take the food pictures? Or are they pictures you've found? Oh and I love the salty fish btw! Are they like anchovies?
    -Tita =D

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