Chinese food you have to try

Chinese Phrase: 我饿死了！ (Wǒ è sǐ le!)
 I’m so hungry I could die!

“I am not a glutton - I am an explorer of food”~Erma Bombeck

The only point of this week’s blog is to show you the diversity of Chinese food. There is a saying that you could live more than ten years in China and every day try a new dish. The Guangdong region of China even has a popular saying for the variety of food it harbors. The saying is that people of the Guangdong region eat everything on four legs, except for a desk.
I believe that before anyone can sincerely understand a new culture they must first experience the local delicacies of that culture.

Top Left: A dish similar to dumplings, filled with shrimp in the middle. This dish can have almost any filling normally vegetables or meat. Top Right: ( 腊味煲仔饭la wei bao zai fan)A sweet rice dice normally found in the Guangdong region of China.

铁板牛蛙 ( tie ban niu wa) This dish was a real surprise. I tried it before asking what was in it. I sincerely thought it was chicken but…I was wrong. This dish is made with frog and melon! The even more astonishing thing is that it was very delicious!

During dinner I immediately noticed this strange yellow thing among the lotus and peas of this dish. It turns out this is actually ginkgo. I never knew ginkgo could be prepared in this way but in china apparently you can eat it like this.  They have a saying for ginkgo trees because the trees require a long time before they ever blossom. The saying is that the grandfather will plant the ginkgo tree but the grandson will be the one to eat the blossom.

Top Left: This is called hot pot or 火锅 (huo guo). The object in the middle of the table is a pot with a fire below it, boiling the water. In this type of restaurant the waitress will bring you vegetables and meat. Then you will pick up what you want and place it in the boiling water to cook it. Next to your plate you will have a dipping sauce to put the meat or vegetables in after they are cooked. Top Right: This dish is one of my favorites! 拔丝地瓜(ba si di gua)  It is fried sweet potatoes covered in caramel!

This snack (小吃) is made with a specific type of fruit that is grown in the mountains of china. The taste is very similar to an apple only more bitter. The fruit is covered in a type of crystallized sugar.  This snack can be prepared in many different ways and can be found almost everywhere.

The food featured in the above pictures was given to me by a friend. It is literally a chicken in a bag. When you open the bag there is a glove inside. You simply put on the glove and eat it with your hands! I was really surprised and a little scared to try it. I’m glad that I did try it because it turned out to be very appetizing!

Last Thoughts: Before you travel anywhere keep an open mind and be willing to try any kind of food. It will make the experience even more richer!