Food in China

When we planned our trip to China, we received warnings from many well wishers on the food there. A Gujju friend told me how even her hardcore Panju friends had a problem with food in China, rice that is yuck and sticky, the smells and the taste. She was insistent on sending me home made theplas and pickles to help me tide over the China trip.
But China opened up my taste buds in another way! There was no Chicken Manchurian and American Chopsuey that we Indians so love, but the food was simply fantastic. All restaurants have picture menus, so you can see what your dish looks like and then order. We learnt to eat with chopsticks, but towards the end of all our meals would use the soup spoons to eat off all the food (else we would sit there forever)!
We hardly even ate chicken or fish, because beef and pork was always on the menu and never failed to satisfy. (OK, once maybe!). Wild China, the tour company that organised our guide and food has the philosophy of taking clients to places that serve wholesome, authentic, regional Chinese food. So we were warned that while the loo facilities in these places might not be the best, the food would be outstanding. We ate Beef and Pork in all their variations - with whole red or green chillies,with fresh garlic shoots and bamboo, fried crisp, with vegetables, or in curry and other sauces.There were soups with weird leaves in them, though they tasted lovely. And green tea aways accompanied the meal to clean up the palate and to help digest food.
The best hamburger was the Chinese one we ate in Xian - crisp bun with pork in a nice sauce. That was also the only place that served raw garlic with noodles, because the region eats it like that.
The Dumpling restaurant in Xian was another great experience. This four storeyed, massive place is packed by 6 in the evening. We were served a variety of salads with jellyfish and other sea animals before the dumpling service began. There were 18 different kinds of dumplings, in different shapes too! Fried, steamed, sweet and savoury, we had dumplings with chicken, pork, beef, fish, rabbit, walnuts, coconut, even a few vegetarian ones.( I believe that is where I started putting on weight and started looking like a dumpling-again)!
Our adventurousness stopped with exotic meats like donkey and bull frog! While husband and son enjoyed the donkey meat, I ate it only because I did not want to look squeamish!
But the food I hated the most and would not recommend to anyone was the Beijing/Peking Duck. They serve it in style. The Duck, looking lovely with a beautiful brown glaze is artfully carved at one’s table. The crispy skin on one plate, skin with meat on another one and just the meat in another plate. You are supposed to wrap it in the thin pancake, top it with some veggies, add sugar and other sauces provided and bite into the duck! I could throw up because all that glitters (glistens) is not gold, and the skin was ugh!
The Muslim quarters in most Chinese cities is quite a fun place. Food, all kinds of skewered meats, breads like khubbus and pita bread, dried fruits like dates and walnuts in big baskets, desserts made of tofu and other unrecognisable things are all in display there, but don’t eat there if you don’t want a Delhi Belly.
And everywhere Chinese glug green tea as if there is no tomorrow. They put green tea leaves in their bottles and refill the bottles all day long.The drinks carts have all kinds of green tea drinks. We bought tea from Dragon’s Well at Hang Zouh - apparently known as Emperor’s Tea, but I bet the emperor never paid so much money for those measly tea leaves!
The fruit is lovely. There was a mini mango that had a thin skin and a tiny seed and was delectable. Everywhere, skewered pieces of melon were being sold and were so refreshing in the heat.
The traditional stores and the wet markets were great fun to go through as well, though not after a meal coz the smells and sights could make you throw up. There is a Chinese saying - we eat everything that flies (except the airplane), everything on land (except the cars) and everything in sea (except the boat)! And that is totally true.
We did not see any snakes or fried locusts on display, but there were whole chickens and ducks, skinned and displayed with an artistic tilt to their heads. Offals stuffed into various kinds of sausages, eels, turtles and other unrecognisable sea animals and meats of all kinds of animals. Sea cucumbers selling at RMB 9000 for half a kg and worms at RMB 6000 for half a kg are believed to cure arthiritis and other old age problems.Chinese traditional medicine is still big business and the shops are stocked with all kinds of weird looking things.
So, if you plan your holiday to China, don’t be nervous! Unless you are vegetarian ofcourse (even eggplant is served with pork!), though there are Buddhist restaurants that serve pure veg food. Or you can pig out on KFC, MCD and Haagen Daaz.