| What Did I Just Eat??? |
| Yes, folks, if you can believe it. I have eaten so many things here that I never would have imagined I'd think about stomaching in the States. From Thousand Island Salad Dressing to lily shoots. From tofu to Starbucks Coffee. (Yes, I don't like coffee, but sometimes you need a taste of home.) I've also found things here that I was absolutely convinced I would never see till I returned...like Moon Pies. yum! And grilled cheese sandwiches (ok, so I have to make them, but still...) The restaurants that I've tried include Japanese, Buddhist, Greek, Italian and Mexican (of course!), Indonesian, and Thai to name a few. |
| But what about Chinese food??? That's what you're thinking, huh? Well, I will say that it's varied, it's served in large portions, and (at least in Shanghai) it's oily. They seem to have mastered the art of frying in oil without using flour. So the texture of fried food is there with the oil to boot, but somewhere the taste disappeared. However, it is fun to watch as street chefs dazzle the crowd with their explosion cooking. I'm not kidding about the explosions either. You can feel the heat that's created even if you're sitting on a moving bus. Quite an experience. |
| HOT POT - the dish where you are served boiling soup stock and raw meat. You can choose the mild soup or the spicy (I recommend the spicy -- it kills your taste buds so that you can get the other things down -- hahaha) You can also choose the items you want served (as long as you can read the menu) and dig in once they arrive. I went to my first hot pot experience with my officemates and what a time we had. They ordered everything (like I was going to try - HA!) and they didn't tell me what some things were until after I had eaten them as per my request. (It's a lot easier to stomach something as long as you don't know what it was!) I had some quite normal things, such as mutton, beef, sausage balls, leafy veggies, and pork. I had some "little out of the ordinary" things like bean curd twists, liver (ick -- I've never liked liver), leeks, and bean sprouts. Then there were the "other" dishes -- sticky rice, jin (pig toe tendons), and chicken feet. I'm not kidding -- I ate those things. Really!! |
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| Although I wasn't in Vietnam for quite as long, I did have the opportunity to try a few things while there. |