Today we visit the beautiful country Tanzania of Southeast Africa. I adore their chicken pilau, chips mayai (potato chips fried in egg), and general approach to cooking. The food's natural flavor is prominent with little flavor embellishments and enhancement. When I am eating, I taste the vegetables and meats for what they truly are, not seasoning-covered potential. It is a welcome relief to my palette to eat with my Tanzanian brothers and sisters, who by the way, are some of the warmest, kindest people I have ever met.

I was introduced to the possibility of eating homemade yoghurt with sweet potatoes. Being intrigued and apprehensive at the same time, the sampling conversation when something like this:

Friend: Try a little and tell me what you think
Me (looking at spoon in hand): I don't know about this combination.
Me (finally putting spoon in mouth): Why would you guys eat this together?
Me ( putting another spoon in mouth): I don't get it.
Me (one empty bowl later): So next week, I bring the yoghurt and you bring the potatoes, okay?

My friend laughed at me the whole time. Although I didn't understand the dish, my taste buds some how appreciated it. I want to eat it all the time. It's now part of the scared-meals-thou-shalt-not-add-store-bought-ingredients-to.

In terms of nutrition, sweet potatoes are high in fiber among other things mentioned here. Yoghurt provides protein, calcium and healthy bacteria for a smooth running intestine. So if you have this for dinner, your entire body will thank you. You're welcome in advance.

This is my last post from China for a bit...Can someone say HOLIDAYS!?!...So see you soon from a new location!

Cool cake or 凉糕 Liáng gāo is another great snack for the summer and even autumn months. It's a starch jelly-like pudding with a very simple taste that makes it easy to eat. And you actually feel cooler after a few minutes of eating. I had the amazing opportunity to make my own, free of preservatives and had so much fun making different flavors.

凉糕

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

Since all wishes come in three.....it's fair enough that this article comes to an end here. I would've have loved to have my list fulfilled but the truth is most of my local foods are not found here on the Mainland. The final segment features Sweet Potato Pudding. Interestingly, I never knew that sweet potato could be other colours besides grey until I got here (island girl meets world). For me, sweet potato was just another one of our 'provisions' that provided starch for a  meal but research revealed that sweet potato is worth so much more.

Sweet Potato (Ipomoea batatas) is only related to Irish Potato in name. Botanically, they belong to different families and whereas the first is a root tuber, the latter is a swollen stem. They come in a variety of colours, from grayish white, light yellow, rich orange to deep indigo. Compared to other starch providers such as rice, corn, cassava, potato, yam and plantain, sweet potato really stands out at a source of nutrition. Its fat content is negligible, and although high in sugars, it is very low in carbohydrates/starches which are harder for the body to break down. It is also very rich in minerals and vitamins. Actually, that's an understatement. The amounts of Vitamin A and C and beta-carotene found in sweet potato not only exceeds its starch rivals but even that of vegetables such as carrots. 

I spotted my first Chinese sweet p on the streets of Shanghai in the winter of 2010. The roasted beauties were a welcomed warmth to the biting cold. Not. Gotta be honest, the black dusty potatoes roasted in a 'from who knows where' oil pan with similarly attired sellers was NOT appealing. However, if it's anything like roasted breadfruit, then I am sure I can find an ounce of regret somewhere inside of me. I also understand that the Indians use it for sustenance during fasting periods and the Pacific Islanders depend on it like Chinese live on rice. In the Caribbean and Central/South America, where it is originated, sweet potato can be used as the main course or dessert. Specifically around Christmas time, the rich aroma of sweet potato and coconut is sure to give ham competition. I can't say that by the time it enters the pudding it still contains all its vits and mins but it definitely taste good and that's all that matters this time of year.

So that's all for the Christmas series...I am going to have me a very satiated one hope you do to..Ooh and check the pudding recipe below to experience the yumminess I did when I ate it.

Sun-shiny Sweet Potato Pudding