Dear Chutzpanim,
I recently took a trip to China to visit my new bride's family. She's originally from Beijing, although is now joining me in Tel Aviv :)
Now Chinese generally have a wider diet than we westerners-- since our average wealth has increased after world war II, we've discarded many things from our diet that Chinese still enjoy such as organ meats and feet. For the Chinese, lots of foods have herbal medicine uses and are generally considered healthy (which certainly true for some if not many of them). Plus I think Chinese were more open to different foods to begin with... For any if the reasons, I ate a lot of "strange" things on my recent trip to China-- all without trying to find them! Here's the top ten list:
10.) Chicken - well, it does sound innocuous enough, but Chinese don't mind keeping the whole thing out there-- this includes the head!
8) Donkey cutlets - These weren't too remarkable- not too strong or anything. It was another one where my wife surprised me with a, "What do you think you just ate?" She loves that one.
7.) Spicy Turtle - This one was really ma la (spicy), so I didn't really know what I was eating until my wife pointed out the turtle shell in the top corner. I love spicy food, so it was pretty great.
Here at the grocers, this tasty looking guy was a little shy when I tapped on the glass...
6.) Frog Fallopian tube ice cream
Called Hasma, this one looked rather innocuous- my wife was eating it and gave me a try. Of course she delighted in telling me what it was after eating it.
3.) Pigeon - OK, pigeons are diseased and shouldn't be eaten, right? Wrong! In China, they are a delicious, albeit gamey bird! Unfortunately no photo-- it was cut up in slices and very dark brown...
*edited 9/29/13 - A friendly reddit user, redchesus, has alerted me to the fact that westerners do eat pigeons, called Squab.
2.) Pig Skin
This stuff is like big greasy slabs of mush. It's pretty tasty actually, once you get past the texture.
Here's an extra one for you, that's not so strange pig's blood sausage:
1.) Fish Brains - Sorry, I didn't get a good picture of this one. It was eaten very quickly, like the fish eye on the spur of the moment. This one is more gross just because it looks worse-- usually everything is nicely cut up with Chinese food, but this one you have to dig into the fish head properly for to get at that delicious grey matter.
Well, there is a list of some of my more interesting foods I tried-- they all sound worse than they were. In fact I had very little in China that I didn't like. You just have to keep an open mind, and it's great experiencing new things!
I recently took a trip to China to visit my new bride's family. She's originally from Beijing, although is now joining me in Tel Aviv :)
Now Chinese generally have a wider diet than we westerners-- since our average wealth has increased after world war II, we've discarded many things from our diet that Chinese still enjoy such as organ meats and feet. For the Chinese, lots of foods have herbal medicine uses and are generally considered healthy (which certainly true for some if not many of them). Plus I think Chinese were more open to different foods to begin with... For any if the reasons, I ate a lot of "strange" things on my recent trip to China-- all without trying to find them! Here's the top ten list:
10.) Chicken - well, it does sound innocuous enough, but Chinese don't mind keeping the whole thing out there-- this includes the head!
Great presentation!
9.) Chicken feet - these are super popular in China and for good reason-- they're delicious and great for your skin! If I were a teenager again, I'd be popping these things like crazy!
8) Donkey cutlets - These weren't too remarkable- not too strong or anything. It was another one where my wife surprised me with a, "What do you think you just ate?" She loves that one.
What do you think they serve here?
Doesn't look too bad, right?
Doesn't look too bad, right?
7.) Spicy Turtle - This one was really ma la (spicy), so I didn't really know what I was eating until my wife pointed out the turtle shell in the top corner. I love spicy food, so it was pretty great.
6.) Frog Fallopian tube ice cream
Called Hasma, this one looked rather innocuous- my wife was eating it and gave me a try. Of course she delighted in telling me what it was after eating it.
It was with some cream and peaches, served warm. Pretty tasteless actually.
5.) Fish Eyes - Chinese prefer the heads of fish to the body. I'm not sure why, but they definitely don't mind digging in and getting into the tasty part!
4.) Donkey skin sweets
The eye before ingestion.
4.) Donkey skin sweets
This is a form of Chinese medicine, which my wife says is a "really good thing!" Donkey Skin helps to produce the blood, like for pale women. A famous prescription of Donkey Skin with yellow Chinese wine, sesame, walnuts, and Chinese dates, is called - Gu Yuan Gao (Fix soul/life cake). it's great for your blood and improving your health during the winter. But if you eat too much during the summer, it causes lots of fire! (They're into the belief that there are hot foods and cold foods).
*edited 9/29/13 - A friendly reddit user, redchesus, has alerted me to the fact that westerners do eat pigeons, called Squab.
2.) Pig Skin
Here's an extra one for you, that's not so strange pig's blood sausage:
1.) Fish Brains - Sorry, I didn't get a good picture of this one. It was eaten very quickly, like the fish eye on the spur of the moment. This one is more gross just because it looks worse-- usually everything is nicely cut up with Chinese food, but this one you have to dig into the fish head properly for to get at that delicious grey matter.
Well, there is a list of some of my more interesting foods I tried-- they all sound worse than they were. In fact I had very little in China that I didn't like. You just have to keep an open mind, and it's great experiencing new things!
Don't worry, these pastries are just shaped like mice... hopefully.
Actually the grossest food I ate was at this place called Dico's where they fry chicken and potatoes. Has to be horrible for you.
If you like Chinese food, you may like glutinous rice by my sexy bride, Baobei Funky Feng:
And now back to some comfortable food from my current home:
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