Organising food is one of those things we have to do a lot. Especially since Philipp’s flat is super non-equipped with pots, cutlery and plates. Not to mention food supplies. There’s not much in the house except some yoghurt and cup noodles.
Mostly we ate in Japanese chain restaurants like Aisen Ramen or Yoshinori, but we also tried some genuine Chinese restaurants.
This is quite new to me because normally, I don’t go to Chinese restaurants in Germany. Most of the time they are run by Vietnamese people and I don’t see the point paying for something I can get for free at home or at my parents’.
Anyways, the last days we went to restaurants with different regional cuisines. Although Chinese cuisine has quite some things in common with Vietnamese food, there are differences of course.
Here’s an example of average everyday food. This is a dish with fried wheat noodles, traces of chicken (I hope), sprouts and green spinach-like vegetables. The yellow thingies must be some kind of beans. Soups with all kinds of noodles are very common, too.
The next pictures were taken in a restaurant close to Tongji University. It’s a Chinese restaurant with higher standards and better cuisine. I’ll try to remember what it was…
Appetizer… sweet-sour pickled vegetable, hot:
Tofu very soft and jelly-like (yummy) with spicy hot sauce. Hard to eat with chopsticks because it falls into pieces as soon as you touch it.
Chicken (or pork? dunno) with green beans and red pepper. We ordered this dish in a not so hot version because my two companions are not too keen on hot food. The sauce that’s on the food seems to be the same always, but it’s not. It’s just hard to describe.
Some fried cauliflower. It was a bit too salty for my taste. As a topping on rice this works quite well.
Eating out in China follows the same etiquette as at my parents’, so it felt a tiny bit like home:
Everything is served at a time.
Everyone eats from every dish. You have your own little plate and rice bowls.
You eat with chopsticks.
You can slurp your noodles as much and as noisy as you want.
There is always plenty of food. You are not supposed to finish it. Anyways, this is impossible for average stomachs. (American eaters might think different.)
Something you will never find in Chinese cuisine:
Fresh salads or raw vegetables.
Vegetarian dishes.
Stay tuned for more reports from Shanghai, like: „Why do people still stare at me?“, „The Futile Quest for Cosmetics and Beauty Products“ and „China is not Japan – and vice versa“
