Culinary Epiphanies and Food in Nanjing

I like mushrooms! And I like eggplant too! Olives are still a no-go. I think...we haven't encountered many in china yet), but still! this is remarkable! Perhaps it is simply the fantastic variety, or the way in which these veggies are prepared in China, but my whole culinary world has just exploded.

Food has be the focus of many of our recent days; we are mad for the food we have been finding in both Shanghai and Nanjing - WOW!! As our ordering technique consists of staring at a long list of chinese characters and randomly selecting two dishes, we are consistently surprised by the delicious dishes that appear on our table. Our Chinese illiteracy has certainly expanded our culinary experiences!!

Thank goodness that the duck heads and pig feet seem to be of a higher caliber delicacy here (we usually choose moderately priced dishes). Most of the food we have been "ordering" ends up being mostly vegetables, with savory smidgens of pork or chicken, either mixed with noodles (all kinds!) or over rice. We have also been enjoying HUGE bowls (think "small pond") of savory soup.

Our first night in Nanjing we happened upon a Hui restaurant in the alley close to our first hotel (Hui are a Chinese ethnic group that practices Islam), which serves only mutton and beef. Here, a massive bowl of hot soup and noodles will only cost you about ¥6 ($0.80). We have eaten three meals there since, and plan to go again tonight. They serve a clear broth cinnamon-based soup before your entrée that is absolutely divine. The best part of this noteworthy noodle shop is your noodles are made to order in under a minute. Beginning with a ball of noodle dough on the counter, the cook cuts off a reasonable portion, then stretches, winds, bangs, stretches, winds, bangs, stretches, winds, snips and pops into the pot your perfect noodles. If you have ordered a spaghetti sized noodle, it is actually just one very, VERY long noodle that covers your plate, whereas if you have ordered more of a large linguini it is cut into manageable 6” long pieces. We love you noodle shop!!!



Some other food highlights thus far in China include:

* a street food item that we have begun calling "Chinese Pizza:" a crepe/omelet cooked with green onions and tiny bits of pork, and then slathered with a spicy, salty sauce before folded in half and served.
* incredible boiled dumplings of all kinds; the filling is unknown until that first anticipatory bite. A hot, sweet, bean curd dumpling was an unexpected and fabulous one!
* lamb shanks (see photos on shutterfly) at a mongolian resturaunt with Nan and Benson in Shanghai.
* dishes that have sichuan pepper, which is not hot like red or black pepper, but has an interesting numbing effect in the mouth.

Nathan is delighted by the Hunan-influenced dishes, which are spicier in flavor. He is looking forward with great anticipation to our imminent travels to the province (Changsha).

It's funny how I thought that our load would LIGHTEN as we traveled....we seem to be carrying more and more with each bite. :)

Still on the list is a "hot pot" restaurant and Nanjing BBQ, but I can sleep well knowing that tomorrow is another day.

xoxo