Monday Jan 12th…
We started the day off with our Chinese Culture Class. The class was uneventful, just long and cold. Classes are currently pretty. When we move to the MinHang campus we will be taking our engineering courses so that is when we will actually feel like we are here studying, not just here enjoying a great big city! After class we took a field trip for this class. Weiqi took us to a Chinese restaurant and we had a great big meal, she ordered everything for us so she was actually able to tell us what we were eating…kinda nice for a change. This field trip relates to class because we just finished learning about dining etiquette…so this was a legitimate field trip J As for what we ate…This was a good meal not to be a picky eater because she had us try a lot of the traditional dishes…and yes I tried them all!!!
The way a big meal like this one works is everything is family style. We sat at a table that seats 10 with a big lazy susan in the middle. You ordered everything at the beginning and then the waitresses just bring the food out as it is ready in the kitchen but traditionally appetizers are served first followed by cold dishes, warm dishes, and soup & noodles are served last. For our meal Weiqi ordered everything and we just sat there and enjoyed as she explained what we were eating. I don’t remember what dishes were under what category but some of the dishes we enjoyed were…chicken feet, duck brain, jellyfish, longevity noodles, chicken jaw, dumplings, egg drop soup, eggplant, fish, beef, and vegetables (I know there were more but I don’t remember all of them).
Chicken Feet---When you got over the fact that you are holding a little chicken foot, well it just tasted like chicken. The surprise with the chicken feet is they were served cold. I think I would have liked them better warm but it was still good. The worst part was the cold skin. Other than that it was some good chicken. I am glad I tried it because I see them being sold at a lot of vendors, and I know the Chinese eat them a lot. I may try them again, but I would definitely get them warm next time.
Duck Brain---The duck we ate was served as if it was sliced in half and laying on the plate looking at you (yes, head and all!) This was also a cold dish. Apparently duck is traditionally served cold when it is served as a whole bird. They cooked it and then refrigerated it or something but it was definitely cold. Again it was good, but it would have been awesome served hot! As for the brain we ate…we picked up the head that was laying on the plate and worked around the skull and tried a little bit of the brain. It tasted like a paste. There wasn’t much flavor. Slightly disappointing.
Jellyfish---It wasn’t great. It was really chewy. Since they appear so soft in water I was a little surprised. I wouldn’t rush back to have more jellyfish.
Longevity Noodles---This is a traditional birthday dish. Instead of a birthday cake this is what is enjoyed which is why we didn’t have any dessert. We were fortunate enough to try such a great tradition because it was on of the guy’s birthdays. Basically it is a soup with really long noodles and there is a certain way they are supposed to be served to each person. Delicious!
Chicken Jaw---This was really good. Served Hot. The skin was tough to get into but there was some good meat after getting past the outside of it. I would recommend it. Don’t let the name deter you.
Dumplings --- This was actually like a dumpling soup and the dumplings were more of a dough rather than a thin outer layer. I didn’t like it. The consistency was gross since it had been soaking in the soup. I prefer the traditional dumplings much better.
Fish---The fish was served whole. This fish that we ate had a delicious flavor however it was served cold. I can get past the bones and all of that but some things just don’t taste right cold…and the way this fish was cooked it was one of those things.
Overall the food was awesome. I am really glad that Weiqi order some traditional things for us to try…after all I am in China and I am supposed to be eating weird things. I think the best way to approach it is not thinking about what you are eating, just try everything and most likely you will be surprised with what you like. In China you definitely cannot eat according to appearance because you would miss out on so many great dishes, or at least the opportunity to experience those dishes.
After lunch we just walked around as a class for a while and then got back on the bus and headed back to campus. We hung out for a while and just layed around, I think we napped. And then we had to go eat again.
I worked on a project that was due on Tuesday (so I am doing a little bit of school work) and then met up with some people who were out at the bar. It was another great day/night. I loved that we finally experienced some interesting foods!
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