Beef on a sword sliced at your table [First June 7, 2014] 've talked about groceries but not much about eating out. Well, where to begin? My dad likes to tell the story of a man perusing a restaurant menu, handing it back to the waiter and saying, "I see nothing here to object to." That's pretty much it. People here ask me if I like Chinese food. What's not to like? There are the temptations of fried food and an incredible amount of snack food and baked goods, But there are lots of vegetables and fish and other healthy food choices. The watermelon man sells juicy crisp melons at the gate of the apartment complex. The tomatoes from the farmer's market taste tomato-ey. Of course there are bland things, like rice porridge, and weird things, like purple sweet potato oatmeal, and stuff I'm not much enthused about, like red bean paste, but on the whole --- great. Added bonus -- because I eat lunch at the teacher's canteen at school, eat out several times a week for dinner, and keep it simple in the toy kitchen provided by my evil landlord, my stay in China will be a long holiday from cooking. Yes, sometimes I think I should use this time to learn to prepare these great dishes, and then I think, "yeah, or I could go to a restaurant."
Zibo BBQ restaurant Here I am at a BBQ restaurant. The patrons dine in the open air, sitting on teeny-tiny little folding stools. I had to overcome my paranoia about sitting on them. They are amazingly sturdy, I'll say that. Chinese BBQ here consists of meat sliced into very small pieces, dressed with spices (the flavor of cumin predominates) and cooked over charcoal. Plus there's seafood, tofu, cabbage - and side dishes like cucumber dressed with peanut sauce. At this restaurant, I was eating with a student and his girlfriend and we're drinking cola, but room temperature Chinese beer would be the usual accompaniment.
Sashimi sails by on the lazy susan Because of an unexpected opportunity that I'll explain in upcoming posts, this past week I was at five banquets in three days, including one featuring Boshan cuisine and another at a very posh Japanese restaurant. Dish after dish of delicious food travels by on a big lazy susan while cups of tea are assiduously refilled. Then there is the toasting, (gambai!) but that's another topic in itself. A lot of etiquette surrounds Chinese banquets and I'm grateful to the "Local Laowai" video bloggers on Youtube for their "Surviving a Chinese Banquet" series. Also I'm grateful for the fact that I grew up using chopsticks, at least occasionally, and most times I can get through a meal without dropping food down the front of my shirt. (Tip: must-have in China -- those little "dab a food stain" detergent pens.)
Steamed buns for two yuans each Bargain eats abound, of course, including street food. My Chinese friends, who are all of the educated middle classes, warned me against eating street food. It's felt that the oil used is dubious, perhaps the vegetables aren't properly washed and so forth. But I did try the food carts near the campus when I first got to China and was living in a hotel, and lived to tell the tale. Dinners cost me six yuan or less. By comparison, a cup of coffee at Starbucks costs around 30 yuan. Unsurprisingly, Western fast food is more expensive than Chinese fast food. As a general rule, if you crave Western food such as pizza or steak, you'll spend more money eating out than you if go to a modest Chinese restaurant. A reminder that I'm not in Beijing or Shanghai, so I can't speak for what it's like in the larger metropolises.
Some days (during a heat wave, for example), I don't want a hot meal for lunch and I just want a sandwich and veggies so I've brought my own. You could also survive a long time on yogurt, which is available in every variety (I haven't found unsweetened yet -- even "plain" yogurt has sugar), and recognizable fruits and vegetables, if you're nervous about trying new foods, or can't bring yourself to buy a chicken at the grocery store that has the head and feet still attached.
I'll probably mention this more than once -- check out "A Bite of China," a beautifully photographed TV series about Chinese cuisine. Like the great Japanese film, Tampopo, you don't want to watch this series when you're hungry. Or at least have some Ramen on hand.
Some days (during a heat wave, for example), I don't want a hot meal for lunch and I just want a sandwich and veggies so I've brought my own. You could also survive a long time on yogurt, which is available in every variety (I haven't found unsweetened yet -- even "plain" yogurt has sugar), and recognizable fruits and vegetables, if you're nervous about trying new foods, or can't bring yourself to buy a chicken at the grocery store that has the head and feet still attached.
I'll probably mention this more than once -- check out "A Bite of China," a beautifully photographed TV series about Chinese cuisine. Like the great Japanese film, Tampopo, you don't want to watch this series when you're hungry. Or at least have some Ramen on hand.
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