More food of China

[Matt]

I arrived late my first night in China and because i had to get into the hotel and it was past 11 when we were looking around for a place to eat. Found a hole in the wall. Roaches... dirty chopsticks... everything has a nice layer of stickiness.. just not a place any tourist would ever go. Obviously family run, this place has been handed down for generations. Their specialty: Sichuan home cooking. I just assumed I would get sick from whatever came out of the kitchen... may as well get some typhoid the first weekend and get it over with.

While waiting on the order, a man sat down at the tabel next to us for a nice big bowl of noodles and boiled pig feet. He then proceeded to put in a pair of clear plastic gloves. As soon as the finished adjusting the fingers, the waitress set down a hot plate of cooked rabbit's head dripping in a runny deep red sauce. He broke it open and sucked away at the skull pieces.

I played it safe and had a bowl of noodles with fried egg and some sichuan fried vegetables with pork. Pork in these types of dishes are almost always the fatty layers near the skin. You rarely find quality cuts of meat at these types of establishments. The pork fry was unique... strong fatty pork flavor with hot peppers and strong use of Sichuan pepper, which is unavoidable in this region's cuisine. Chillies, onions, lotus root, and potato acted as a substrate for the spicy flavor.

Pork dish

Noodle soup with fried egg

All good, though I'm not a fan of the fried egg in soup, I ate around it.
I did not get sick.

[hobkyl]

Glad you didn't get sick...looks pretty good.

[cbobcat49]

the waitress set down a hot plate of cooked rabbit's head dripping in a runny deep red sauce. He broke it open and sucked away at the skull pieces.

[Matt]

Day 2...
Lunch in a technology mall cafeteria, which we would consider to be a dirty place, but not so in China. "Worn" is a better word. The tables may be sticky and falling apart, the chairs are cheap and plastic. The waitress just screams the order across the loud room as you list what you want, and then she swats a bug that's hovering over her notepad. Not a napkin to be found here. Bring your own.

Had my favorite dish here, and although not prepared that well, it was nice to have it again. Sichuan Pork on the left. It is shredded pork and green beans in a spicy Sichuan sauce... flash fried and easy to eat. It is far more flavorful than it is spicy.

On the left, fried pork and bell peppers, fried with Sichuan peppercorns in oil. Spicy with fatty pork back that just melts as it touches the tongue.



Tried some of these Lays chips too.

[Matt]

Day 4...

Lunch at the technology mall cafeteria again.
I ordered the fried rice, wanting to try something tame and probably familiar. I was wrong. Rice, obviously abundant in this dish, with speckles of ground pork, are both dominated by the green chilis that are just a notch above jalapeños. This is what it feels like to be burned from the inside out. Delicious, but i was sweating too much to enjoy it. The orange stuff on the right is pickled something (peppers maybe).



My friend, Jing, took on this dish...
A seemingly tame mix of beef and vegetables over rice, in a thick brown sauce that smelled and tasted like beef gravy... that is until the heat hits you. Far more intense than my dish, this deceptive dish was devoured easily by her, while was turning red and holding back tears and a runny nose as i tried to plow through my "fried rice." On the left is a boiled egg and pickled vegetables. The cold pickled cabbage and peppers are often served on the side and added to hot dished to add both a bit of chill and tang. I'm not a huge fan of pickled vegetables but in Sichuan cooking I welcome the cold taste of these items to break up the heat.

[Kelly]

Tried some of these Lays chips too.

Nice to see you're getting your daily serving of fruit in. Those are really weird!

[Kelly]

Did you stop eating on day 4?

[Matt]

I started shooting in RAW, which means more work to process, then I got typhoid in tibet and I didn't [strike]eat[/strike] digest anything for days. Just started to eat again today, so when I get some time I will show you some cook things I have tried.