Topic of food

I have been asked a couple of different times...what IS authentic Chinese food like? As I once tried to explain, the Chinese are used to using all parts of an animal for a dish as well as cutting meat into smaller pieces to throw into some rice. They also use fresh vegetables every day and the fresher the meat, the better. That is why they don't use larger refrigerators. They are used to stopping by the market every day or every other day to buy what they need for the next couple of meals. The fresher, the better. They also only try and only make enough for one meal. They don't like leftovers.

However, I'm not at all an expert on authentic Chinese food - yet. This is because of a few different reasons: 1) I haven't been here long enough, 2) I have NO IDEA what the names are to some of the stuff I've seen or have eaten because I don't speak Chinese, and 3) our ayi cooks chinese food, western style, I suspect. What makes me think this? Because I have seen her slip in ketchup once or twice into the mix of food as a seasoning. haha :) It is probably for the kids' benefit.

But, seriously, our ayi cooks some of the best food! She makes us both lunch and dinner. The meals are healthy and so incredibly delicious! She will make things from scratch I haven't seen anyone make from scratch - ever. I have also been asked what guidelines we gave our ayi to prepare to cook for our family. For some, this may be hard to believe, but I'm really not picky about the KIND of food, ie, Chinese, western, Italian, etc., just as long as the meat isn't something I have to pick through. I don't like working through my food. I just want to enjoy it! So, with interpreter in tow, we went to the supermarket. It was explained that I don't want fatty meats and showed some examples. Seafood I definitely want to be imported, like salmon from Norway, etc. NO LOCAL FISH OR SEAFOOD!!! The water here is truly distasteful and a really unusual color and I don't want to eat anything that was swimming around in it. Chicken has to be boneless/skinless, white meat only. Also, I explained I want only imported fruit, ie, apples from New Zealand, all fruit that can be peeled and is local, is ok etc. ETC, ETC, ETC!

Our ayi worked for a UK family for 3 years and she completely understood the differences between our cultures as far as food is concerned. She took everything in stride and ended up showing me examples of food that I would like...which I agreed. So, I feel we are very lucky to have her. I think she makes us Chinese-western style food. If it were truly authentic (as some of the restaurants we have been to would indicate), the meat would be completely unacceptable to me and we would see a lot of the entire animal on our plates. No joke.

Some of the stuff I have seen or eaten and can't name, would be things like an 'empanada' (a big doughy ball with meat inside) or what she made us tonight from scratch...a doughy substance wrapped around meat and seasoning which she fried. YUM-MY!!! She also makes us a lot of soups from scratch and throws together rice and meat dishes. Vegetables are usually on the side by themselves or thrown into the rice or thrown into a soup. The soups are water based. She has only been with us a short time and I know there are many, many dishes we will be benefiting from in the future. Dumplings are very big over here! That usually consists of a thin wrapping around some meat or veggie which you can dip into a sauce. There is also this "flat bread" looking dish which has a little egg and veggie in it sometimes. Of course, they have hot & sour soup and wonton soups, made fresh every day in restaurants.

After spending time in the truly more authentic restaurants near our home, both Allen and I agree we MUCH prefer our Ayi's cooking and we can't wait for dinner! Brandon has been trying to adjust to her cooking because of the increase in fresh vegetables and the [sometimes] foreign seasonings. He has been asking for ketchup a lot lately. :) Ryan, on the other hand, has been relishing the new dishes of food and even asks for seconds! One day, the ayi cooked the kids a separate meal because "ours" was spicy. Ryan wanted ours, hands down, and kept on eating! He actually likes spicy food! The ayi can hardly believe it!

Oh, also..something else that is different in our "eating" cultures. Adults here, feed their kids by hand while the child sits on their lap...all the time. I'm assuming it's because it's pretty hard for kids to learn how to use chopsticks so early. And, no, they don't have "training" chopsticks here like in California! :) So, the ayi likes to feed the boys by hand and I can tell both of them are getting quite used to it. ugh... Portion sizes here are definitely smaller everywhere...at the grocery store, in restaurants, etc.