Spicy food, hot water

One thing I think is fascinating is how the Chinese often don’t drink beverages with their meals. I look around the canteen at lunch and see everyone eating hot/spicy/salty food in 90oF weather, and only see a about a quarter with drinks. Maybe I’m just extrapolating my own experiences to be that of all Americans, but we like to wash our grub down with something wet. And lots of it.

This evening Wanrui (wife of friend and classmate Kaitao) and her friend Hooty (?) took me and Kristin out to dinner at Meizhoudongpo, a Sichuanese restaurant. According to Wanrui, “It is famed for the spiciness and pungency resulting from liberal use [you got that right] of chili peppers and garlic, as well as the unique flavor of Sichuan peppercorn.”

A little bit of background: I kinda have a lil obsession with shui jiu ue, a garlicky-oily-fishy-saucey dish that I get at China town in Atlanta. It’s kinda my thing. Apparently it’s Sichuan in origin, and Wanrui happens to be from there. Kaitao told her of my preference, which led in part to this restaurant recommendation.

Wanrui, Hooty, Kristin, and I arrived at this swankified place (seriously, it was the nicest restaurant I’ve been to in China. to prove it, I’ve included pictures of the bathroom. but being considerate, I’ll post them at the end so as to not ruin the photo journey through Sichuan cuisine you’re about to take.) and the taste buds in my eyes watered as I reviewed the options in our photo menus.

With Wanrui’s recommendations, we placed the order. Allow me to guide you through our food, following the brief description of a recurring theme: We were asked what we wanted to drink, and I all I wanted was water. A lil bing shui (cold water) would hit the spot, but I’d be happy with even tepid water. I guess that just isn’t in the program, because Wanrui did her best to arrange something with the light-hearted waitress. She brought out a teapot of hot water and--in a touching and accommodating gesture--a dish of ice cubes with which we could simultaneous demonstrate thermodynamics and drink cooled water.

Now on to the food (yeah, I know that’s all you really want to see).

Wanrui with a huuuuuge bowl of shui jim ue. Eat your heart out, Atlanta China town.

extreme close up! why yes, those are chilies!

okay, last photo of the shui jim ue. I told you I had a thing for the dish. btw, it was really yummy.

I can’t remember what these are called (“ye ge ba”?), but I think they are kinda like a Sichuan baozi. The dough is made from a polished glutinous rice (rice flour?) with either a sweet bean paste or tasty meat center. I know it’s kinda weird to call food “cute”, but aren’t they?!

about this point I was getting pretty self congratulatory on my ability to use chopsticks until the next two tofu dishes.

this had fried dried tofu strips with pork and beans. oh wait, those aren’t beans as I originally thought but didn’t realize until after stuffing my face and finding out that they were actually peppers. but it was all worth it. however, those little tofu strips are slippery buggers and on two occasions slipped right out from between my chopsticks onto the table. 

more tofu! this was really good, but also very spicy (as Wanrui put it, “the first thing that comes to mind when one thinks of Sichuan food is RED”). Also, the tofu was very tender. So tender, in fact, that when I would go to pick up a piece, I would slice it in half. Eventually I ended up with a plate of pureed tofu in spicy sauce. But I was strong (read “stubborn”) and didn’t use a spoon.

I can’t remember what this is called, but the white stuff is a tubular fungus that grows with(/on?/in?) the root of bamboo. When Wanrui visited Atlanta, she made a (potentially better) dish with this fungus where she stuffed the tubes with fish paste and then battered it in an egg sauce before frying it. delish. Also, Wanrui’s bro-in-law once rescued a (“stupid”) panda that got stuck in a tree by trying to avoid a quickly rising stream. He’s basically a national hero now. She also knows of my bucket list item to hug a panda, and considering her connections, I’m hoping she can help me check it off the list.

The group after being stuffed!!!!!! Don’t notice the pile of tissues by my elbow. Do notice the teapot. And you can’t see it, but I’m pretty sure Wanrui and Hooty only drank like 10 mL of water. How do they do it??

And here’s the fancy bathroom:

complimentary lint rolling! I was going to a include a picture of the Eastern-style toilet, but who really wants to see that? Also, the picture didn’t turn out well.

Bidding our friends farewell (thanks again, Wanrui and Hooty! It was a culinary delight!), we walked to Kristin’s new hotel. Note: when evaluating how far something is on google maps, use the actual Directions feature. Just like Jurassic Park, things may be greater than they appear. Somehow the wheel of Kristin’s luggage got broke or something, so I got to play sherpa for A fewmany blocks. Thus, upon arrival at the hotel, all I wanted was yi bei shui (a cup of water). A clerk was kind enough to go to the water cooler and press the blue lever. But the temperature sensors in my fingers confused my brain because the water was hot. what is it with the lack of non-hot water?! 

It’s not American if you can’t get that thing in America, right? In that case, it was totally okay for us to go get soft serve ice cream from KFC. And when I asked for yi bei shui, the cashier looked at me incredulously. I shouldn’t’ve gotten my hopes up when she went to the fountain drink section, because another cashier swooped in from the side with a cup of “piping hot” (nice word choice, Kristin) water. Seriously? Seriously.

Finally, Kristin and I are going to Tianenmen Square and Forbidden City tomorrow, and we are playing tourist guide for each other. My assignment is Tianenmen, but I got sidetracked and ended up reading about the 2008 Beijing Olympics instead.