What I Eat

I’ve had a lot of questions about the food I’m eating, naturally, but I’ve hesitated to put up a post on the topic because I keep getting exposed new things. However, my meals have started to develop a pattern, which I’ll do my best to describe.

That’s another problem – I can’t give you an exact image of the foods I eat. So, I’ve taken the liberty of photographing most of my meals, and will be posting them on flickr.

I’ll answer the obvious first: Food in China is nothing like the food you pick up at the Hy-Vee takeout. Nothing. Except maybe the rice. But I have yet to see any sesame chicken, sweet and sour pork, egg rolls, or any of the other American favorites.

Usually I eat on campus, which isn’t as limited as it may sound. I discover new parts of this university everyday, and so far I must have seen at least a dozen places to eat. I’ve sampled several, but there are two or three I frequent most.

Lunch and dinner meals usually consist of rice and a meat/vegetable dish (peppers, potatoes, chicken, celery, tomatoes, eggs, eggplant, tofu, beef, snow peas, spinach, cucumber, mushrooms, and beans of various kinds are common fare). I might also have some Chinese bread (usually steamed, like a bagel), plain or with a filling. Again, see flickr for more specifics.

Breakfast is a bit more difficult – for one thing, there aren’t as many places open. I often get the morning pick-me-up of choice here. I think it’s hot soy milk, but I could be wrong. It’s warm, slightly sweet, a little nutty, and unlike anything I’ve had in the U.S. My breakfast meal is usually some type of bread or roll, sometimes accompanied by a fried egg. I’ve also had fried bread, which is pretty much like a doughnut, but not nearly as sweet.

On drinks: In America, in my experience anyway, it is rare to have a meal without having something to drink, too. This is not so much the case in China. I’m still not entirely sure why, but most students I see in the cafeteria either have no drink at all or maybe a bowl of hot soup.

It’s not that there’s no drinks available – in fact, I’ve become a bit of a connoisseur of the various bottled drinks offered in China. I quickly moved past the standard Pepsi to sample the rainbow of teas and juices always on stock. Unfortunately, I can’t read the labels on the tea, so all I can tell you is that I’m quite fond of the brownish one with a yellow label, and don’t care so much for the yellowish one with the green label. When I return to the U.S. I think I will sorely miss having peach and pineapple-papaya juice.

Speaking of fruits, I should mention that watermelon is everywhere. There are mountains of melons in the carts of fruit vendors on the street. It tastes pretty much the same as in America – but they cut slices rather thick, making eating them a bit slurpy and sticky.

Of course, there are no forks to help me out. For survival purposes, I’ve become quite comfortable using chopsticks. They’re really not as complicated as they look at first glance.

I should also talk about my experiences eating at Chinese restaurants. I’ve eaten at five restaurants in Beijing, and tried three versions of Peking duck. I think they were all cooked similarly, but the most traditional one was dipped in a sauce and then wrapped in a thin crepe. At all of the restaurants, many dishes (often 10-12 for large groups) are served, and everyone eats out of the same dish. I find this to be a very hospitable gesture, but germophobes may be less enthusiastic.

Some foods I have tried: eel, an unidentified fungus, squid, zhong zi (a traditional food – rice and meat, beans, or dates wrapped in a triangular bundle with bamboo leaves or reeds), a scallop of some kind, and a piece of pork “from the head”

Foods I have eaten accidentally: shrimp head, spine of said eel

The most delicious thing so far: a sweet roll (shaped like an egg roll) filled with sweet bean paste and rolled in sesame seeds. Although the bread dumplings filled with meat and vegetables are a close second.

Lastly, you know that saying about Chinese food: “The problem with Chinese food is that you eat it, and then two hours later you’re hungry again.” Not true at all here! Everything’s so filling, my companions quickly pick up on the English phrase “I’m full!”