Eggs Stirred with Stones

Life in China 2016: A Picture A Day, July 22 – Yesterday, Leah and I had lunch with a Chinese friend at a Hunan cuisine restaurant. There are actually 8 main types of Chinese regional cuisines.  Hunan is known to be spicy, and I don’t eat spicy food, so, in a search for some dishes that weren’t spicy, one dish we ordered was the “鸡蛋挑石头,” “Jidan tiao shitou” or “Eggs Stirred with Stones.” I thought by the picture that it was steamed eggs, which are common here, so I was surprised when our dish arrived. The waiter set a hot stoneware pan with big black stones down, then poured the uncooked egg mixture in and started stirring! Amazing how fast the eggs cooked! Basically scrambled eggs cooked in a hot pot with stones! Then as they sat while we ate, the bottom browned a little more and was really good. The eggs WERE spicy! Too much for me to eat alone, so I mixed them with the fried rice we had also ordered and enjoyed it that way. We also had a cauliflower dish. If you’d like to read the basics of China’s 8 cuisines, this page is simple and informative : http://www.chinahighlights.com/travelguide/chinese-food/eight-cuisine.htm   

Beggar's Chicken

Life in China 2016: A Picture A Day, July 21 -  Days like today it’s hard to choose just one interesting picture to share! But, the “jiao hua ji” or “Beggar’s chicken” wins for today! I’m not sure how I’ve missed this before, but today, we purchased one at the larger supermarket in the town next to us. At first glance, I thought they were loaves of bread lined up, but quickly realized that wasn’t the case. We had a friend with us who then explained what they were; Chickens roasted inside of mud shells! The chicken is marinated and sometimes stuffed, wrapped first in a lotus leaf (which adds a special fragrance), then wrapped in parchment paper or newspaper, then covered with mud and baked for hours (at least 4-6) until the mud hardens. This seals all those delicious juices in! When we said we wanted to buy one, the man broke the mud off with a mallet, unwrapped the paper, and we brought the chicken home still wrapped in the lotus leaf. It was delicious! I’ve often missed those roasted chickens you can buy at the supermarkets in the USA for a quick meal, well, this was even better! Ours was not stuffed, but the marinade and spices were listed as:  bay leaf, cinnamon, star anise, cloves, licorice root, prickly ash, and multiple other Chinese herbs. The name “Beggars Chicken” comes from a Chinese legend, which seems to have multiple versions, but the main story is that there is a hungry beggar who steals a chicken, but has no way to cook it, so it is covered in mud and put in the fire to cook. Once done, other people, from just beggars to the emperor, dine with the beggar and realize how good the chicken is! Sometimes, because it is such a delicacy, it is now also called “rich and noble chicken.” 

Black Sesame Dessert

Life in China 2016: A Picture A Day, July 18 – Black sesame is another food/drink that you don’t see much in the USA but it is common in China. It is often used in desserts as a soup/paste/porridge or drink, or as a filling inside rice balls. For the soup, it is usually mixed with rice, water and sugar. You can buy “instant” powder that you just add water to, or, it’s supposed to be easy to make your own, but we haven’t done that yet!  We have found that the powder in the supermarkets also usually have milk and peanuts in them (a no-no for me!). The brand we buy is from Hong Kong and is peanut and dairy free and has less sugar than the others. You can also buy special flavors like red date, walnut, etc. Black sesame is also used in Traditional Chinese medicine as it is high in B vitamins, iron, calcium, magnesium, zinc and vitamin E. It is used for anti-aging, a lactation aid for nursing mothers, and to treat anemia, digestion and constipation, and to reduce blood pressure! I don’t know why, but it tends to keep me awake at night, so I stick to having it in the daytime. I like to add enough water to drink it, but I think it is supposed to be thicker if you have it true Chinese-style. The supermarkets have quite a large section as you can see by the area of black packages in the picture. On one side is oatmeal and the other is walnut milk powder. 

White Fungus Bird's Nest Drink

Life in China 2016: A Picture A Day, July 15 – Last week, when we were at the supermarket in the next town, we bought this drink to try, but it’s not something we see a lot, it is different from the usual supermarket stock. Leah and I like studying the unusual drinks in the Chinese supermarkets :-)This one is white fungus and bird’s nest. Both ingredients are popular in Traditional Chinese Medicine, however, bird’s nests are extremely expensive, so for the low price we paid for this drink, I doubt there is more than a minute trace, if any, actually in this can! It was listed last in the ingredients. Edible bird’s nests are made by swiftlets and are made from the bird’s saliva! Quoting this from online: “At as much as $4,500 per pound, edible birds' nests are among the most expensive foods on the planet.” There are different varieties, so it runs between about $1,000-5,000 usd per pound. Other information called white fungus “the poor man’s bird’s nest” because it supposedly has many of the same healing properties for a small fraction of the cost. After opening the drink and tasting it today, it was mostly sugar! Basically sugar water with white fungus! You could see the pieces of white fungus in it. It didn’t taste bad, but it was much too sweet for me!

Beef Tripe

Life in China 2016: A Picture A Day, July 13 – Beef Tripe, my new food adventure today! I know some people in the USA eat this, but it certainly isn't a common menu option there! However, in China, it is.... I've just always ignored it! Today we had dim sum with friends and beef tripe, or stomach lining, was one of the dishes ordered. I decided it was a good day to try it, and thought it was ok, slightly rubbery, and the taste seemed to come mainly from the sauce it was in, but I will eat it again. It was specifically honeycomb tripe, which is from the cows second stomach and is the most preferred.

Lychees

Life in China 2016: A Picture A Day, July 10 – In the area we are in (Guangdong province), the lychee/litchi/lizhi  荔枝, season is highly aniticipated by the locals. The pinkish-red skin peels off easily to expose the slightly sweet, flowery smelling, very juicy flesh, in fact I’ve been squirted numerous times when peeling one! If you have only ever had the canned or frozen ones from Western Chinese restaurants, it will be hard for you to understand why people like them so much! There are many places where you can pick your own fruit. We did this a couple years ago but not this year, although though I was told we do have a place very close by. You can find the trees in many parks also, but I’ve been told the fruit in the parks isn’t free for anyone to pick! You can also find many vendors selling freshly picked fruit along the streets. They don’t stay fresh long after picking, so when you buy them, they are usually still attached to the branches to help them stay fresh longer. This year, a Chinese friend told us that when the cicadas sing, it’s time for the lychee harvest to begin :-)

Crayfish

Life in China 2016: A Picture A Day, July 9 – Today, while shopping, I noticed this bin with a lot of people around it, of course I had to see what it was, and was surprised to see crayfish! LOTS of crayfish! We watched for a few minutes as the people dug through them. Most put plastic bags over their hands to choose which they wanted, and seemed to be turning them over and looking at their undersides before either placing them in their bags or throwing them back. I’m not sure what they were looking for, does anyone else know? Leah said they were calling them “xiaolongxia” or “little lobsters.” I thought they looked like the crayfish I used to catch as a kid, but, I sure don’t remember ever eating them! (Although I do remember roasting some over a fire once while all five of us kids were camping with my dad… while mom stayed home!) Other names in the USA are crawfish, crawdad, mudbugs and yabbies. I did some research and found that in the second half of June there is an annual crayfish festival in a city called Xuyi, in Jiangsu province, which is well known for its crayfish farms, so I guess this is the time of year to feast on the little lobsters! Hmmm, maybe we should try some! 

McDonald's

Life in China 2016: A Picture A Day, July 6 – McDonald’s is very popular in China, in fact, it is currently the third largest market behind the USA and Japan. In Mandarin Chinese, the name is “Màidāngláo” 麦当劳, it has no specific meaning, but is a transliteration. The top picture shows our local McDonald’s with the McExpress walk-up window where you can get drinks and ice cream. There is a McCafe inside (Jim insists that McDonalds has the best coffee in China!), and you can sit inside or outside. They also have delivery service (usually by an employee on a bicycle!). You can get the basic burger, Big Mac, or chicken nuggets and fries, but, you can also get some different foods that suit Asian tastes, like chicken cutlet over a bowl of rice, a corn cup, or a taro pie. Some of the current promotions are the tempura chicken burger, teriyaki meatballs, matcha green tea oreo ice cream cone, the matcha green tea and red bean sundae, green apple soda, and a special donut with pink frosting to go along with the current Hello Kitty promotion. 

Ice Cream Bar Flavors

Life in China 2016: A Picture A Day, July 5 – Ice cream bar flavors are quite different here in China. Starting with the large picture and going clockwise: durian, matcha green tea and red bean, red jujube (date) milk flavor, mung bean (often translated as green bean) and sweet corn! Hawthorn apple and taro and are also common. You can usually buy a “milk” flavored ice cream bar with chocolate coating, and sometimes vanilla, and there are usually mango and blueberry bars.        

Asian Food Court

Life in China 2016: A Picture A Day, June 29 - Asian Food Court- today Leah and I traveled by bus to Guangzhou, which is the capital city of Guangdong province where we live. Westerners often know Guangzhou better as Canton. Our hotel is attached to a shopping mall and we had dinner at the food court. There were 15 cuisine choices, I thought I'd list them for you: Korean Bibimbap, Cantonese Claypot Rice, Shanghai Restaurant, Chao Zhao Delight, Fragrant Hot Pot, Singapore Chicken Rice, Pepper Lunch Express, Fishball Noodles, Taiwanese Cuisine, Braised Beef Noodle, Flavors of Xian, Healthy Vegetarian, Teppanyaki, Ton Ichi Ya Tai Ramen, Sichuan Hunan Cuisine, and there was a place for drinks. The restaurants display plastic samples so you can see what their dishes are. I was confused by the one from the Taiwanese Cuisine pictured, called "Desktop As Chicken Leg Rice" but Leah explained it was a wrong translation because in Mandarin "desktop" and "Taiwanese style" are the same. Outside of the food court were some other restaurants but the only thing Western was a Burger King!

Live Poultry at Market

Life in China 2016: A Picture A Day, June 28 – Yesterday, a Chinese friend who lives in the nearby town, showed me where the closest wet or fresh market is. It was much closer than I thought, not very big, but it had a little of everything, meat, fish, veggies, eggs, etc. This is the live poultry section. I told her that being a “city girl” I wouldn’t know what to do with a live chicken or duck; her reply was “Oh, for about 2 rmb (30 cents USD) they will kill it for you!” In the past, I’ve also seen live chickens for sale on the side of the road in some places, and people carrying them home live in plastic bags! At least you KNOW the meat you’re eating is fresh :-)

Tsingtao Beer

Life in China 2016: A Picture A Day, June 26 – If you like beer, or pijiu (pronounced “pee gee you”,) and live in China, Tsingtao is definitely a name you know. Tsingtao (pronounced “ching dow” rhyming with “cow”) is the #1 beer in China and supposedly the #1 Chinese beer in the USA. The brewery was started in 1903 by German and British settlers in the city (then village) of Qingdao, China. The logo features the Zhanqiao Pier, which, since being placed on the Tsingtao label, has become famous and is now considered the official symbol of Qingdao. If you don’t like beer, or can’t drink it like me (gluten intolerance), maybe you can enjoy the fact that they partner with Panda International and also sponsor some nice live panda cams, which are from different locations around China. http://tsingtaobeer.com/save-the-pandas/ . 

Water Chestnut Cake

Life in China 2016: A Picture A Day, June 24 – During the cooler months we used to always enjoy having sweet potatoes and tea after shopping at the larger supermarket in the neighboring town. Unfortunately, sweet potatoes seem to be considered a “winter” snack and they are not available already cooked since we have returned from the USA. So, today, we checked out the prepared dim sum at the supermarket. I guess this would be equivalent to the section in the USA with salads, coleslaw, or side dishes, etc. There are so many choices! We decided to each have a slice of water chestnut cake.  I posted about fresh water chestnuts back on March 24 and included a picture of my homemade water chestnut cake… now you can see the “real” thing! After we finished our shopping, we bought iced green tea at our favorite “after shopping” place called “Happy Sweet Potato” and ate our dim sum with it :-)

Seafood Porridge

Life in China 2016: A Picture A Day, June 22 – Tonight some friends invited us to go swimming where they live, and then afterwards, invited us to stay and eat. The husband/father of our friends, also owner of a very successful local mold shop, had cooked dinner while we were swimming :-) We had what I guess you would call seafood porridge. It was a soup with rice, crab, shrimp and abalone in it, and squid was served separately. Never having lived by the ocean before coming to China, I’m not very familiar with how seafood is normally eaten in other places. But, here, the shrimp are just cooked whole and the crabs were cut in quarters. The large pieces were allowed to cool before using your hands to get the shells off, then the pieces were dipped in soy sauce (I had memories of crab dipped in warm butter flash through my mind, but I pushed them out and stayed in the present moment!) We dug in and got good and messy while enjoying the feast! It was delicious! Our thanks to the chef :-) Photos by Leah.

Dried Starfish

Life in China 2016: A Picture A Day, June 20 – Dried Starfish – Although starfish are sold in some places in China as snacks by street food vendors, I can’t find any information about people actually liking them! The supermarket near us does currently have sea stars or “hai xing” in the dried seafood section though, and they seem to be more commonly used to make a broth. I’ve been told by Chinese friends before that seahorses and horseshoe crabs are used in broth also, just for flavoring and nutritional value, but they are not actually eaten.  Some examples of broth ingredients are starfish, pork, ginger, honey and a couple of dates. Another kind has carrots, corn, and lily bulb. One website, when translated to English, states “Starfish medicinal value: for acute slow convulsion, tetanus, epilepsy, epigastric pain, acid reflux, diarrhea, stomach ulcers. Has Anticonvulsant sedative effect.” http://www.haodou.com/recipe/791816/ I have not personally made this though. If anyone reading this has, please feel free to comment! 

Dinner Out

Life in China 2016: A Picture A Day, June 17 – Today Leah and I spent the day in Shenzhen where we used to live.  We saw quite a few friends and had a Chinese dinner with our friend Lydia before heading home. It was a pretty basic Chinese meal, but I thought I’d share it. Crispy pork belly (half eaten on the black platter), steamed egg in the bowl, and a vegetable mixture of black fungus, Chinese Yam, snow peas, lily bulb and a few carrot slices cut like butterflies. We also had some green beans and white radish slices as appetizers, tea to drink, and an assortment of fruit for dessert.  Our friend always brings her own tea and the restaurant makes it for her! In nicer Chinese restaurants, the food is served family style instead of each person ordering individual meals. 

Chrysanthemum Greens

Life in China 2016: A Picture A Day, June 16 – There are a large variety of greens available here and I still don’t know what they all are or how to cook them! We decided to try one that is not always available, the “huang bi bai” or chrysanthemum greens, also called garland chrysanthemum, crown daisy and more. Chrysanthemum is known best in China for its flowers which are dried for tea and Traditional Chinese Medicine. If the plants are very young, the stems and leaves can be eaten raw in salads, but most you buy in the store are mature enough that they are better cooked. Warnings are to not overcook them though. We stir-fried ours with some garlic, onions, pork, and spinach. We cooked the pork, garlic and onions first, then added the 1 ½” stem pieces with the spinach, and put the leaves in last just for a couple of minutes. I can’t say that I noticed any distinct flavor, but it did give the overall dish a slightly different taste, and the stems added a slightly crunchy texture, which was nice. One more item you can look for to add to your cuisine! 

Dragon Boat Festival and Zongzi

Life in China 2016: A Picture A Day, June 9 – The 5th day of the 5th month of the lunar calendar is when the “Double Fifth,” also called the Dragon Boat Festival, is celebrated in China. It is celebrated to honor a poet named Qu Yuan. In modern times, dragon boat races are held in many cities worldwide. In China, people also eat “zongzi” which are dumplings made of sticky rice with either sweet or savory fillings. They are wrapped in bamboo or other large leaves. My favorite have red bean filling. Since we knew we would miss the festival and the fresh dumplings, we had bought some frozen ones to enjoy before we left China.

Honey

Chinese honey has gotten a lot of bad publicity, so I’m pretty careful where I buy my honey from. Larger supermarkets usually have an area where you can choose from numerous types of honey from larger jars. Options at this supermarket were: Chinese Date, Loquat, Acacia, Medlar, Wild Chrysanthemum, Wild Osmanthus, Mountain Coptis and Lemon. There are a few more kinds in the smaller bottles and you can also buy different kinds of bee pollen. Honey has long been a part of traditional Chinese medicine and the different varieties are used for different medical benefits. For example, loquat honey is supposed to be good for the throat, so it is recommended specifically for speakers, singers and smokers. Honey in Chinese is “fengmi” and a bee is a “mifeng” ….and after seven years, I still get them confused!

Durian

The durian, called “King of the Fruits” in southeast Asia, is a very “unique” fruit! It is large, like the jackfruit I wrote about on April 16, but, it has spikes, and most notably…it has a very distinct, strong smell, which most people consider BAD! So bad, that in many places it is banned from public transportation and hotels (the sign in the picture was posted in a Singapore metro station)! Personally, I think the taste is kind of good, … if you can get past the smell, and sometimes it leaves a weird after taste. I learned the hard way that when you buy it, you need to eat it right away….. otherwise your refrigerator or house will smell for days! Because of the large size, supermarkets will often open one and sell it packaged in smaller amounts. Inside of the segments, it has a very creamy texture, with large seeds, which are supposed to be edible if cooked, although I haven’t tried that. You can find all kinds of durian flavored foods here, that can be a whole separate post someday! It is native to southeast Asia, and there are nine edible species. Here’s a fun video of some people tasting durian for the first time :-)  : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=og5e6wLIU18