The Dangers of Chinese Hospitality
by Rob Luxton in Asia , China , Food
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Food stall offerings. There was a large toad (just below the potatoes, top
left), a cows heart, some other things I'm not sure about, some kind of snails,
loads of veggies and an Alsatian. The Alsatian wasn't on the menu though. It was
simply someone's pet, and bloody big one at that. I decided to stay.
These food stalls are totally mobile, being basically wooden carts with a canopy and a light bulb. Not sure where the power comes from; probably from someone's bedroom across the street. Behind these are little tents where you pop in for dinner with a few mates. The tents line up like freight trains packed full of fresh food. The engines are broken so it's easy to jump onto any carriage that takes your fancy. I normally get a quiet one to my self, but by the time I'm only half way through my food it's really lively. People walk by and look in, quite often walking back again to have a good ogle at the foreigner. Once one person looks for long enough, that's a cue for others to join in. |
The Chinese, if you don't know already, are famous for eating everything except the table, so accepting an invitation for dinner is not for the faint hearted, a fruitarian or an uptight Englishman.
Although I am an Englishman, I'm not uptight, so I really enjoy the experience. There are infinite dishes, each one a taste sensation. Sometimes however these sensations are very acquired tastes. Chao Dofu for example. This is smelly tofu, and when I say smelly, I mean SMELLY! The Chinese love it. I've given it a fair try numerous times, both in Hong Kong and mainland China. Each time however the flavour that hits your taste buds is exactly the same as the smell. I just can't chew it. For me it would be like chewing something I'd rather not mention...it's just not right.
Intestines, pig's blood, chicken paw, bones, gristle, frogs and fish cheeks are all wonders of Chinese Cuisine. They will sound dubious to many a western mind, but you have to try. You may love it.
Chinese takeaway outside of China is supposed to be completely different to real Chinese cuisine. Well I disagree to a certain extent. If you're in Hong Kong and you order curry, you will get the same kind of things as you'd get in England. It's not just a taste that has been modified for westerners (except the no bones bit), it's what a lot of Hong Kongers eat themselves. It's not that different. However, if you go to a good Chinese restaurant, you get some great food, and I mean delicious. Keep an open mind and you'll be pleasantly surprised.
Now the examples of alternative foods crop up quite often and can appear
along with a thousand others during a meal, so if you're not open minded you
have to go prepared. No turning your nose up till you've tried it. There is
nothing yet I have refused to try. Once in Yunan Province I had the pleasure of
eating fried caterpillar larvae. I'd had a few drinks and in they came, a huge
pile of them. I thought ësod it, pig, cow, chicken, caterpillar. Life if life,
so why not?'
A Fork in the Road: Tales of Food and Travel
by Anik See |
I wouldn't say they were delicious, more like little greasy pellets, ones that required a good swig of beer to wash away. Along with these oddities, are always others that taste great. The nature of eating Chinese is that you pick and choose what you want, and how much you want as you progress through the meal. Much better and healthier than loading up your plate in one hit. 'Man man chi' as they say here, meaning ëslowly slowly eat'. It's also a way of saying 'enjoy your meal'.
As a guest at dinner you will need to eat until you are visibly fatter. I'm quite often given things that I cannot eat, an extra bowl of rice, or another dish. I'm just too full. This is their way of making you feel welcome. Food is a major part to the culture, so making sure you've eaten well is a very welcoming gesture. One of the greetings in Chinese is to ask if you have eaten already. This is similar to asking how you are
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Market. From overhead it doesn't look too scary. |
I had lunch again at the good family restaurant. It was just me eating this time. They asked me what I wanted, but I couldn't think of anything, I had no idea. So the boss's wife took control and ordered for me: a nice big bowl of frogs and some soup. Bugger. With all the staff eager to see if I liked their cooking, I tucked in with a frozen smile.
English people are hopeless when it comes to eating anything with bones, gristle or anything else that belongs to the unknown; a nation of people unable to let go, and explore food. Unable to really enjoy different things. Unfortunately I am one of those people that can't quite let go. Although for me it is a minor infliction, I still feel squeamish when it comes to anything that you have to chew and then spit out the bits. I think it may have been my mum's fish pie that fixed the problem in my mind, gagging on fish bones. Sorry mum, I know you couldn't help fish having bones!
I'm not the sort of person though that only eats pizza and chips; thinking anything foreign is just plain weird. I'll give everything a go. However, I do find putting a whole fish head in my mouth and extracting all the goodness a bit difficult. Frogs' legs I can handle but their little feet make me feel sad.
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Market offerings |
If you're going to kill a duck then you might as well eat its tongue too. The Chinese do. The duck died for you, so I think you should honor it by eating it all, rather than chucking half of it away. Another expression in Chinese is eating everything but the "quack". I might have made that up, I can't be sure.
Eating all the parts in China is not about honoring the animal though; they just like the taste. My friend Alex once said to me that in China "animal is vegetable". It's so true. They are treated as such. Pigs stacked up like baskets of cauliflowers, chickens stored in clumps, geese suspended from motorbikes like doomed tight rope walkers and frogs in bags like bouncy ball prisoners. There is no respect for the feeling of an animal. It is simply produce, just like a bottle of milk or a biscuit. The only honor that comes is that most of the animal is consumed.
There is a huge export market from the UK for chicken's
feet to Asia; it's big big business. The British only eat the breast. Even a
chicken leg may get rejected by the kids at the family table, or at least
receive a few raised eyebrows. Chicken breast is dry and has bugger all
nutrition compared to all the other parts of a chicken. Supposedly the left leg
contains more goodness than the right. Don't quote me though. British people
just don't like strange cuts of meat. I don't think I ever ate pork neck in
England but it's delicious. What's wrong with the British? Europeans will eat
most things and Asians too. Why did the British change to
chicken nuggets, roast beef and breasts? Maybe
The Guardian
has the answer to the last one.
