The Labor of Fruits

Anytime you live someplace new, you take away little things in your daily life that indicate you have changed somehow. They aren't big changes but they are sometimes important changes.

One of the most alluring things I remember about China is the single-mindedness and care exhibited by Chinese women as they are cleaning fruit for the people important to them. Before you go and get your panties in a ruffle, please note that I'm not talking about alluring in a sexual manner. It's more of a mesmerizing action because there is such focus on the simple act of washing fruit and an implicit knowledge that this is really important.

Whether for family members, colleagues, boyfriends or just friends, I have many memories of every single fruit being individually run under the water, inspected for blemishes and then scrubbed to ensure cleanliness. It's a shame that the water was probably a greater source of contamination than anything that might have been on the fruit.

Before, I generally cleaned fruit by running a whole bowlful under the water, shaking it around and then letting them all air-dry. Most of the people around me did the same. How has China changed me? I am now very careful about how I wash my fruit.

Really Love Your Peaches (Wanna Shake Your ... )

Tao Zi (桃子) - peach

The peach is an amazing bundle of joy that never fails to bring a smile to a child's (or an adult's) face. Actually, that's not true. Your average westerner buying a peach for the first time in China will definitely not be smiling after that first bite. Peaches in China are have a crispy texture that would make an apple grower proud.

It took me a while, but I eventually learned to appreciate the crisp, tart flavor of chinese peaches. I also appreciated that I could eat a peach without having the juicy contents invariably dribble down my chin if I was lucky (or down my shirt if I was unlucky). I finally asked some locals about this and they said that they were aware of "American Peaches" and how juicy they were.

On woman mentioned that she had once, at great expense, bought a juicy peach for her daughter to try. While her daughter loved it, she thought it was horrible! The next time you're after peaches, please be careful about which tree you shake.

Like White On Rice

  I've recently started eating brown rice again and I've discovered a problem.  There is no way that brown rice and white rice can both be called rice.  They taste nothing like each other.  It's as non-sensical as callling a daikon (白萝卜) a white carrot (萝卜) .  As you can see, the Chinese already do this but that still doesn't excuse this problem with the rice.

  I don't care if they come from the same plant and one is a processed version of the other.  After all, pork changes it's name to ham and bacon as it gets processed.  I don't know who is getting the greater disservice, but I still maintain that they can't both be called rice. 

Awww... Nuts

Foreigners often try to find foods they know well when they've grown tired of Chinese or just need something familiar. In particular, they get easily fooled by Hua Sheng (花生).  When you order this dish off the menu, you get a small plate of shelled peanuts that look close the right color but are strangely wet.  It seems like a manageable difference.

However, it seems that the Chinese like their peanuts much more "raw" than westerners.  In fact, they are so raw that you quickly associate the peanut with beans (which they are) instead of nuts (which peanuts are not).  It's always fun to see the first bite from people who are visiting.

Me?  I didn't like them at first but now I've really grown to enjoy them.  They taste more fresh, have less salt and are much more amenable to the chopstick grab and toss (as in down your throat).  The western peanuts are starting to taste too salty, too hard and way overcooked.  Are my taste buds starting to go native?

The Westernisation of Food

The rage around the world these days is to complain about how the "Westernisation" of food has caused people in the developing world to become fat, lazy and dangerously obese. I see this a lot in the Chinese press. This is an interesting viewpoint. Actually, what I mean is that it offends me as both an American (the western evil food pusher) and as an Indian (the poor developing country at the mercy of evil). What do I mean?
As an American, I'm offended by the idea that the idea of being "western" is so wrapped up in the idea of over-eating fatty and fried foods. There are plenty of western nations where this is not true and frankly, people are responsible for what they eat.
As an Indian, I'm offended by the idea that we have to rely on foreigners to figure out how to make those super-tasty, super-bad-for-you foods that everyone loves to eat. Indians already have lots of tasty snacks that are completely home-grown and absolutely guaranteed to increase your weight. We don't need to rely on McDonald's for this type of creativity. And we've got stuff that makes Pork Rinds look like health food.
Basically, I don't like the confusion between "Westernisation" and "Modernisation". Just because your society is modernising, don't give all the creative credit to the West! Just because they became modernised first, don't give them ownership by calling things westernised. All societies that are modernising will have similarities that exist because of increased incomes. Don't allow yourself to become confused with cultural westernisation and economic modernisation.

The Food Process Issue

This is the first in a series of posts about food ... in China and elsewhere. To start with, you'll hear many Americans and many Chinese talk about how Chinese food is healthier for you (than American food) because the Chinese eat more fresh vegetables and naturally grown foods. Let me be clear -- THIS IS A LIE.

I have never seen foods as processed as I have seen in China. The foods for sale in China would make an American food executive blush. Not blush red with embarrassment, but green with envy. They would think "Wow, can we do that to food and still sell it? People will eat that? They like what kinds of flavors?." They would think they had died and gone to processed food nirvana.

I have seen meats and vegetables sliced, diced, pureed, liquefied, freeze-dried, vacuum-packed and then combined (you know, for kicks) and then sold to consumers who love it. Some of the processed meats that are sold here make spam and beef jerky seem like organic, natural food. I have even seen spam in a German restaurant listed on the menu as "meatloaf" (I was not amused).

Is this bad? Am I complaining? No, not really. I have tried a lot of new foods and you'd be surprised at what's tasty after it's been processed. Is the fact that it's processed bad? No, not really. People should be given options on what to eat. It's their responsibility on when to choose healthy and when to choose pure, fully-adulterated pleasure.

Anyway, in China, it's not the processed foods you need to worry about. It's those pesky unprocessed foods that can make you sick (another friend fell victim to a bad salad last week) or ... make you sick (half-formed chicken embryos on a stick, anyone?).

How Do You Spell Napkin? Hint: It's not K-L-E-E-N-E-X

As a nation, China has some idiosyncracies that I have never seen anywhere else. I guess all nations have their own cultural biases but I'm only sensitive to the Chinese ones right now. Chinese people and institutions seem to insist that kleenex and toilet paper serve the exact same role in personal hygiene as the paper napkin. Read it again ... understand the problem?

Time and time again, I find myself making do with kleenex when what I really need is a nice, strong napkin. Those of us with a 5 o'clock shadow know that using kleenex to wipe your face usually results in a pile of shredded paper (and a dirty face, to boot). There is a reason that a paper napkin is built differently from kleenex tissues.

I've tried to make this apparent to the locals I head out with but their initial stare is usually one of complete bewilderment. They'll say, "But there's already tissues on the table." After a bit of explanation, they'll look at me with a tentative,"Oh... I guess I see." Anyway, please do what you can to help the situation. I've shredded enough tissue paper on my face for one lifetime.

Bleh! - The Most Disgusting Thing I've Ever Put In My Mouth

I've got a fairly strong stomach and very tolerant tastebuds. Part of the joy of traveling is to try new foods and new tastes. There is one place where this attitude has hit a brick wall. I have decided to draw the line at Chinese sausages. *never again*
When did this start? A few years ago I was in Hong Kong; one of the best cities for eating street food (I'm a big fan). I walked through some smaller markets, watched what people seemed to be eating and settled on trying some huge, long sausage thing that people were eating off a stick. I paid for the sausage and walked a little bit from the stall. The next set of events occurred with one smooth motion of my arm:

1. I raised the sausage to my mouth
2. I opened my mouth in anticipation
3. I placed the sausage in my mouth
4. I closed my lips and teeth in anticipation of biting off a piece of the sausage
5. My eyes opened wide and almost popped out of their sockets
6. I ripped the sausage from my mouth (faster than I could open it ... alas)
7. The sausage ended up in the nearest trash bin within arm's reach.

I was gasping at the taste and wondering if I'd been poisoned. Some quick surveillance of the stall indicated that other people were happily munching on the same sausage. *How is this possible?*
Back in Beijing, I recently had an opportunity to offer some excellent German sausage to a friend of mine (snide comments, as always, go here-->[] ). I thought that finally the Chinese might understand what they'd been missing. She ate some of the sausage, looked at me with a contorted face and said,"Bleh! That tastes awful."

Impossible - These Buns Are Made From Cardboard

  Many people have e-mailed me about the story in the local news media about shops in Beijing using acid-soaked cardboard as a filler (60%) for meat in the pork dumplings available all over the city.  It was the talk of Beijing.  Everyone was wondering where this shop was and whether or not their dumplings were cardboard filled.  I'll have to admit, I did make a close inspection of the next batc of dumplings I ate (and I felt so guilty, I mean, I can actually see them making the dumplings).
  For those of you worried about my health (or enjoying my comeuppance), the story has proven to be false.  A overly-eager reporter decided to generate a story when he couldn't find confirmation of rumours.
 All well and good then, no?  I don't think so.  The real point of this story (that no one seems to realize), is that everyone believed it.  It was well within people's sense of what happens in the food industry in China.  I met not one person (local or expat) who thought that this was impossible.  That's the real story.
  China is one of the few places where food poisoning is a normal reason for not coming in to work.  No one bats an eye if you call in from your toilet saying that you might need a few days.  This is the real issue.  Just because this one story isn't true doesn't have any impact on the actual situation on the ground in Beijing.