What are your favorite side dishes to bakes, festivals and fried sticks? Let me know below.

I remember when we moved into our new house in the hills and I was helping out with the designing and decorating. When it came to the dinner table, I decided to go with the round one. I figured, rectangles, been there, done that. By the time we installed it, some unexpected advantages or disadvantages, depending on how you look at it, showed up. Due to the longitudinal nature of our legs and the central placement of the table's, things got intimate real fast. Great for family dinners, kind of weird for guests.

Either way, encountering a round table in China is common in most households and restaurants. And for many more reasons than intimacy. Today, however, I want to look at the restaurant setting a bit.

Table before setting

Table after setting

Remember in China, many dishes are eaten at one time. So having a round table like above, especially rotating ones, allows everyone to conveniently enjoy their dish of choice. A table like this can host up to 10 people and 20 dishes at one time. With so many diners though, you would fare better playing Wheel of Fortune than guaranting that the dish you want doesn't show up on your side of the table empty.

Meats are always served first, usually cold dishes 凉菜 following by hot dishes. There is no limit to the types of meat offered. Yes, I have knowingly eaten frog. No, I have not knowingly eaten any member of the Canis lupus family and have no intention of doing so.

Cold dish of sliced beef and cilantro

Hot dish of beef, mushrooms and fried pigeon egg soup

Stir-fried vegetable dishes and soups slowly start trickling in to aid with meat digestion. Thinly sliced potatoes 土豆丝, garlic shoots 蒜菜  and steamed pumpkins and yams are some of the general favorites. Up north you may be offered cute beef wraps. In Sichuan, most definitely expect some Mapo Tofu 麻婆豆腐。It's fresh tofu and minced meat flavoured with bean sauce 豆瓣, chili pepper 辣椒 and presently much appreciated prickly ash pepper 花椒。

Mapo Tofu 麻婆豆腐

Remember I said that there's always something to surprise me in the world of Chinese cuisine. On this particular occasion, my new friends ask me if I have ever eaten grass. I immediately thought that numbness from all the 花椒 I had be eating in the 麻婆豆腐 had somehow hit my brain. They asked me again and soon the waitress bought out this dish.

Raw edible Chrysanthemum leaves 茼苞

They begged me to eat it, persuaded me that it was a special feature of Sichuan cuisine. But all I could think was that I hit an all time low. I had eaten grass. I must admit that the accompanying sauce had a beautiful sweet, tart flavour, light citrus notes...yummm...but this doesn't change the fact that I ate raw grass.

Now it will probably be about 30 minutes into the meal and you would have seen lot of dishes spinning around and around the table. Plates becoming empty and being replaced with more innovative dishes than before. But all you really want is some rice. Where is that rice? Well how do I defend this? The point of a round table meal is not to become stuffed up on starch but to enjoy the different flavours and cooking styles presented by the chef. When you think about it, rice can be quite a distraction, because if you eat it quickly, there won't be space for anything else. (Not even I can be convinced with that little speech). So the rice is served last. And in some cases, like my recent Chengdu experience, not at all. I waited, while sadly picking at long-empty dishes and not a white fluffy grain appeared. But I should have known when I saw the fried peanuts and sliced fruits. They are always the last dishes served.

Almost forgot the beverages. When eating at home, drinks are pretty much ignored until after the meal. On the other hand, when eating out, tea is obviously the drink of choice; preferably buckwheat tea because of it's light, clean, slightly sweet flavour. Soda and orange juice are also available. Can some one tell me why it's always Tropicana juice?  If we are celebrating, let's say, a visiting foreigner in the midst, or something actually important like Spring Festival, you can expect baijiu 白酒, wine and nut milk to make an appearance. No cup touches the lip without a toast of some kind. Towards your neighbour or the whole table, doesn't matter, but has to be done. I sometimes find myself toasting just so I could keep my throat lubricated.

After the meal, those with heavy bellies roll out the door and those who thought they would be the first to ever outdo baijiu stagger out under the starlight black sky in search for a nearby KTV.

Do you think you have the stamina to endure a Round Table dinner or lunch? Let me know down below...

Tea, as most of you know is a staple in Asian culture and milk tea even more so. Forget coke and fanta. Grab me a bottle of tea!

Peeled Chestnuts

2 layer Hot Pot: Safety inside, fire outside.

In Chongqing, the city of spice and 麻 (numbness), yin and yang come into play and save the day. Eating hot pot is always accompanied with drinks of some kind. Coca Cola, orange juice and bean milk for the kids,  local beer for the after work lime and bai jiu (Chinese white liquor) for those who have mislocated their nerve endings. However for the first timers, not so often-ers and the 'never will get accustom-ers', this particular drink can prevent bruised tongues and bruised egos. Imagine diving into your hot pot, underestimating the waves of pepper before you but despite the danger, you don't want to leave just yet. Wang lao ji is the banana boat that allows you to keep the fun and thrill all at once.
Wang lao ji is a natural plant beverage with the ability to 'remove' heat from the body. All it needs is a super-hero endorsement. The mixture is made up of Mesona chinensis*, common frangipani, Microcos paniculata*, chrysanthemum, honey suckle, Prunella vulgaris*, and licorice root along with water and sugar. The healing properties of these plants include removing heat as mentioned, regulating the liver and kidney, halting dysentery and treating fevers and headaches. They are brewed together in a proportion known only to the makers. The result is a dark, sweet tea with slight velvety and bitter tones. First time drinking it, it awakens the taste buds and you may not like it. Try it a couple months later and you may not even recognize it. My story, at least.

This household drink even has its own name scandal but you'll have to come to Chongqing for me to share it with you. Over a hot pot dinner of course!

*Common name unknown

Before cooking, the sausage is soaked in warm water (55 C) for about an hour and then rinsed to remove excess salt. Finally it is boiled for 20 minutes and ready to eat. It is mainly served as its own dish. Left overs can be cut into fine pieces and used in fried rice. Flavor is compared among aunties and grannies, along with compliments and next year's requests.

This is nothing like your store-bought sausage because for one, the meat is chopped not ground or minced. You really feel like you are chewing on something. Secondly, you know exactly what you are eating, not isn't questionable body parts or left overs. After avoiding sausages for a long time, this makes me consider eating them again.

I get so excited when it's time to travel; plane, train, boat whatever it may be. My current trip began with a train ride of 24 hours. Nope, there was no way around it. So instead of complaining about the fact that I won't get to flirt with a handsome air host, I made preparations for a comfortable ride and that obviously meant carrying things that made my tummy happy. With the help of my friends and the experiences of previous train excursions, I gathered a bunch of traditional and maybe not so traditional travel food essentials for the long journey ahead.    

What I actually meant to say was Winter Solstice Day which occurs the 22nd of December every year. Roughly translated, it can be called Winter Coming Day although honestly, it really felt like winter 'done came' through these parts. Any advice for this island girl on how to keep warm?

The longest night of the year is usually spent with family and friends eating a dinner of dumplings and mutton, both of which are considered heating foods. One mao ( a Chinese ten cent) is placed in one of the dumplings, so everyone bites carefully until it is found. The winner is granted good luck for the rest of the season and the dumplings are eaten at leisurely pace one more.

Lovely bowl of steamed dumplings

Sauces and soups are the key to a great dinner

Mutton and vegetables cooking in a well seasoned soup

Recently, I found my own form of 'luck' in these sequential one yuan (a Chinese dollar). So happy that they were not hundreds so I am perfectly content with saving them.

People often compare life to a 'Rat Race' but across here I feel more like a part of an ant colony. We  They all walk the same, headed in the same direction and if one person breaks pattern then confusion is amiss. But if you are one of those who think that all Asians look alike, like me, you would discover differently.

China is mainly comprised of the Han nationality, along with 55 recognized minorities. But you don't notice it at first. I'll admit I was one of those who though everyone was cut from the same cloth and at one point even distinguished my classmates by hairstyles. But now, I graciously admit my error and even discovered that most locals have a hard time distinguishing me from other foreigners. So please, no need to take offense. Now back on topic.

Freshly wrapped dumplings ready to boil

Let's have a quick vocabulary lesson: A Caribbean dumpling is a tight dough of flour, water and salt that is boiled and served with salted fish, stewed chicken or steamed provision. Shapes vary from island to island and include long rods, table tennis balls or flat pancake. A Chinese dumpling uses a flat, thinner dough which is wrapped around minced meat or vegetables with a sophisticated, decorative close. Like Caribbean dumplings, technique is of paramount importance, and a skilled master can fold as many as 100 dumplings in 15 mins.

I have a deep love for pastry that followed me all the way to China so I am always on the lookout for a new sweet treat. After eyeing this lady for awhile, I finally got the courage to take it to the next level. Turns out she is quite the romantic herself. Wife cake, also known as sweetheart cake, is linked to many heartfelt, love sacrifice stories as is common in Chinese culture. This pastry is very popular in my city Chongqing and most of South China. Tasty puff pastry layers hug a sweet, sticky paste of wax gourd, sesame seeds, rice powder and sugar and is easy to fall in love with. The fact that there's more filling than pastry is a plus. I always eat these when there's no chocolate to pick up my mood. After all, who doesn't like a good wifey to make the day all better?

Chongqing is so hot, that when you step into a hot spring you feel cold.  Chongqing is so hot that you sweat while you're taking a shower. Chongqing is sooo hot that my 5 inch wide sun hat bakes and protects me at the same time. And the jokes could go on. How do I survive...listening Third World's 96 degrees in the shade? Nope. Those silky voices do not cool me down. However, these drinks do. So where ever you are, use them to keep nice and moist inside and try not to get too toasty on the outside.

Jasmine Iced tea

Honey I'm home Lemonade

Tropical Ice pops

When I told my Shanghai teachers that I was moving to Chongqing, they warned me of the two things: beautiful women and spicy food. I know right...they sound pretty harmless, just another cultural memoir.Two years later and I've grown a stronger heart and a stomach of steel. In Chongqing, every meal contains chill pepper seeds that have been ground to bring out the latent flavor. And just when you thought that pepper only burns, turns out there is the numbing kind called Chinese prickly ash  or 花椒 (huajiao) which literally means flower pepper. Like it's impossible to pick a beautiful rose without being pricked, this pepper brings both intense flavor and sensation. My first time, I thought my teeth were trying out some new Jamaica dancehall moves. However, I have actually grown accustomed to it and I find that my food is bland without it.

That been said, these peppers also form the foundation of the main dish of Chongqing-Hot Pot. A well seasoned soup is used as the base to cook vegetables and meats of all kinds. Even steamed buns 馒头 (mantou) and dumplings饺子(jiaozi) are added to the mix. It's said that many years ago (and I really do mean many) when the economic struggle was real for many citizens of the city, collecting scraps of food from the ‘overly' fortunate was the creative spirit that birthed this wonderful meal. If you are truly a Chongqing ren, you and your friends or family will gather around a Hot Pot at least 4 times a week.


Below, I feature my take on Hot Pot with my classmates using a pre-packed soup mix. It's main ingredients are beef tallow, chili pepper, prickly ash pepper, salt and *side eye* mono-sodium glutamate. A truly homemade version will be made up of whatever you can find in your kitchen, so don't hesitate to try this dish in your spare time.

Chongqing Bowl of Fire