Mom and I really did make it to NYC--via the Chinese charter bus company--and had just as much time experiencing cross-cultural relations as we did sightseeing around the Big Apple. Today's blog, though, shall focus on the food. Food that, as Mom was so keen of pointing out, was once swimming in the window.
Now, some of you may love your fish fresh, especially if it comes from an aquarium with too-blue water at the front of the restaurant. However, my mama and I are from the Midwest--without an ocean nearby, we maybe have fish once in a blue moon--the ones that come battered and frozen in sticks. (Sure, Lake Erie may be close, but I don't know what the market is like for fish from the once polluted, beyond-any-apparent-salvation water.)
Our fishy experience began during a traditional Chinese breakfast. Eaten en route from Chinatown, where the bus dropped us off, to visiting Mom's former student in Brooklyn, our breakfast was the generosity of the student's father. He took us to a fancy restaurant, one used for wedding receptions and the like, and pointed at various and sundry items paraded around on silver carts to be placed on our table. Thus, we ended up with egg custard tarts (our favorite item) and green tea, along with various other "sweets" derived from the saltwater depths: fish flour paste sesame squares, fish flour paste coconut balls, rice and dried fish, and fried pastry with shrimp. Surprisingly, I enjoyed most of it, although Mama had a hard time stomaching the fish flour items. Perhaps I delighted in the coconut balls because of their resemblance to an old childhood favorite snack of mine, one I frequently purchased at the swimming pool: Chick O Sticks. Believe it or not, the lime green ball rolled in coconut held a surprise in the middle that seemed quite akin to this crisp, coconutty treat from the past. In the generosity of hospitality, my host graciously gave me a box to take home with the leftovers plus a fresh new order when he observed my surprised delight at this treat. (My, I thought. How am I going to eat all that? It was good, but not enough-for-binging good.)
We (Mom and I) were glad that this would be the extent of our host's kindness, but it was not to be. Before we departed, we were privileged to taste a traditional Chinese dinner. Not the kind from the Chinese take out down the street. Not the fried, sauce-covered meat pieces we Americans are so used to. This was the real thing.
Our meal began with shellfish on a bed of green onions. I was stoked about the green onions--they tasted great. The shellfish, though? Don't people have major allergies to that? It was time to find out if I was one of those lucky few. I could already imagine my throat swelling shut and my breath becoming labored. The flat, pinkish delicacy took more chews than I'm accustomed to using to break down my food; it quickly proved not to be my favorite. Fortunately, it didn't give me hives, either. Next, a leafy green vegetable arrived at the table. I can handle this, I thought. And then followed the crab, the lobster, the fish that was formerly swimming in the front window. Seafood surrounded us! (Give me fish, but I prefer it deboned, without the head, and all white meat only!)
My only salvation came in an ironic way: I stubbornly clung to using chopsticks (hey, gotta get the full experience, right?), which meant my usually wolfish way of eating was slowed down to a snail's pace. This then translated into not fully emptying my plate before it was taken away to be replaced by a new, and most importantly empty, one for me to have more helpings of food dumped on. The only time this backfired came when I was struggling to get the lobster meat out of the lobster. I thought I had done pretty well--at least until my plate was cleared and the student's uncle reached over to grab the lobster pieces and put them on my new plate. Evidently I still had some work to do.
The only thing I missed out on was Bubble tea. Maybe next time.
No comments:
Post a Comment