I Ate What?

Today Amanda and I roamed around the city looking for the elusive niche. We really did not have any destination or goal in mind other than getting to know our new home. After walking around for awhile we decided to try a little restaurant that seemed popular. Normally that is what we look for in a restaurant. If it is full of locals, it must be good, right? Well, the problem with that theory is that good is in the taste buds of the beholder (or something like that). We get in the restaurant and they show us the menu. One of the Chinese words that we know is ji, which means chicken. Amanda asks for ji and the hostess tells us to get up so that we can kan (look) at something. Dutifully we followed along and she points at a whole chicken on a plate. Yep, looks like ji to me. So we go back to our seat and await our meal. When it arrives, thankfully they removed the head, but that is all that they removed. I think they even put the nest in the pot. So as I reach my chopsticks into the bowl, low and behold , what do I pull out? A foot. Now, Chinese etiquette dictates that you eat the piece of meat that you pullout but you know me. That was not going to happen. After dropping the leg, I enjoyed the rest of my meal.

After lunch we happened upon a teahouse. There was the nicest girl at this teahouse that gave us a tour of the facility and gave us the history of their tea. Apparently, they have been making tea since the Tang dynasty. After the tour, she made some for us. I think it was a newer vintage. It reminded Amanda of the horse barn at home. It smelled like horse manure and tasted like hay. She liked it of course.
For dinner, we went to a different restaurant. I really wanted dim sum. You know the nice steamed dumplings that have meat inside, but the Chinese don’t call it that. They call it jiaozi. I thought I remembered the Chinese name so I didn’t look it up and ordered baozi. When they brought it to the table, I realized my mistake. Baozi is a steamed bun. That’s it, steamed bread. That is what I had for dinner. Before we came to China everyone asked how I would do with the food. Many of you thought I would have trouble with it but the way I see it this is a good diet plan. Some of my friends said I was getting a little thick. If I can’t eat the interesting things that they have here, at least I should lose a little weight. – Frank and Amanda

Food is an important part of a balanced diet.
Fran Lebowitz (1950 - )