I’ve been asked to provide some pictures and commentary on daily life in the city, but unfortunately my daily life so far has been work and food with a little time for writing and a little more time for calling home. It looks like I’ll have some time to explore this weekend, but until I do, here’s more food.
Many of the restaurants here have the dishes shrink wrapped in plastic when you arrive. My Chinese coworkers explained that you take a small cup of hot tea, swish it around in all the dishes and pour the tea into a provided bowl. This helps to sterilize everything.
This restaurant is one of my coworker’s favorites in the area. It’s a more northern-style place and gives some contrast to the local style.
Some random pages from the Antianman menu
The pork fillet is served with very thin crepes and it’s eaten like a taco. So far it’s the closest thing to Mexican food that I’ve encountered.
This is one of the best dishes I’ve had yet. Potato, green peppers, eggplant and a light sauce to tie it all together. I never realized how good eggplant could be until I came to China.
Pork fillet on top, cauliflower on the bottom. The cauliflower here is amazing. Or maybe the sauces are amazing. Either way, I really enjoy it and will have to learn how to make it once I get home. The cauliflower dish also has red peppers, green onions, garlic and the amazing sauce.
It tasted better than it looked. I don’t know what it’s called, but I dubbed it “eggy noodles.” The noodles are pretty much a sheet of dough mixed with egg and a little bok choi tossed in for color. The sauce is reduced mushrooms, oil and “stuff.”
Most of the orange juice I’ve seen here is Minute Maid. And it’s only about 20% juice, but still has a good amount of pulp. I’m not a fan. I did have some fresh squeezed orange juice last weekend, but I literally watched as the person used a levered juice to squeeze a few oranges and pour my juice into a plastic bottle.
This is from dinner last night at a local place down the street from the hotel. Keep in mind that I generally have no idea what things are called. Most of the menus here have pictures, so we just point to what looks good and hope for the best. It works out pretty much every time.
From top to bottom: beef, onion, green onion, peppers. Those little red peppers can sneak up on you. A couple of folks at dinner had to call over the waiter and order a bing shui (cold water, usually bottled).
Middle: eggplant, green onions, red peppers. This was a thing one of the guys just pointed to on the menu and hoped would be good. The eggplant is lightly friend, and it had a little crisp on the outside and melt in your mouth goodness on the inside. One of the best dishes I’ve had so far.
Bottom: cauliflower, green onion, garlic and peppers. There’s no cauliflower like Chinese cauliflower. The crunch mixed with the spiciness makes the tongue dance.