About Chinese Food – For BrainR
 

BrainR, I must tell you that, I think your Chinese friend is right. Many people visited the USA agree that they cannot eat the real Chinese food in the USA because the Chinese restaurants adjust the food taste to suit the western people.

Q: Therefore, I am wondering what it is that the Chinese people do eat. Noodles I assume, and rice and fish.
A: The rice and noodle is our Staple food. Almost all Chinese like noodle. But there are lots of making methods, such as oodles Sichuan style noodles with peppery sauce, fried noodles, stretched noodles, noodles with soup, noodles with soybean paste.
In fact, the north Chinese like more noodle than the south.

Q: But, what vegetables?
A: Almost all the green leaves are used in Chinese food. I mother like elm leaves.

Q: And what kinds of meat?
A: Cantonese nearly eat all animal meat, even monkey, pangolin.

Q: How available are these ingredients?
A: I am not a good cooker, so I cannot give you a specific answer.

Q: What does the typical menu at a Chinese restaurant look like?
A: Normally, there are many Entrees, Staple food and soup. 100 Chinese restraints have 100 different menus because they all show their excellent foods.

Q: Can you point me to a URL (preferably one that has an English translation).
A: I found good one for your information.
I eat. http://en.5eat.com/

Q: which would show me more of what a regular Chinese might eat in a typical day?
A: I just give you my one day food:
Breakfast:
Porridge/milk/soybean milk
Egg/rice noodles/steamed bun/dumpling

Lunch (Fast food in company, I don’t like meat, beaf..):
Rice
Vegetable/fish/egg/tofu

Dunner:
Rice/noodle
Make some dishes that I like.

Thank you Billy. What is a pangolin? It is very interesting to talk to you and see your different cultural and personal viewpoints on different topics. You also have good taste in photography ;)

Someday, I would like to visit China, eat in as many restaurants as I can and especially tour a Shaolin monastary. I used to study kung fu and would really like to see how it is taught in CHina. I've seen National Geographic specials but they don't show much detail.

If you ever visit the US, I would be honored to teach you how to cook better!


Brian

Does soya/tofu play a large part in your diet generally Billy? I was reading online an article about soya consumption in the west . It stated that soya is not the large part of the Chinese diet that we westerners assume. It went on to say that soya milk is drunk only occassionally by mainly the elderly and children and that the major consumption that western vegetarians are engaging in represented a huge experiment as soya has never before been eaten in large quantities as a staple part of the diet.

I was surprised to read this and would be interested to hear if it was true or just hype. The article was basically suggesting that there are huge hidden health risks in overconsumption of soya. If however soya /tofu is a a real mainstay in the Chinese diet then the article holds less water

In most parts of asia, soy bean milk is just as common as regular milk is in other parts of the world. Wouldn't really call it a staple, just a popular drink. It's typically heated and served warm with different types of bread for breakfast. Like kruellers or biscotti and coffee, just much, much sweeter. BUt also GREAT to drink cold. They make little travel containers of it that many supermarkets are beginning to carry.

Nor is tofu really a "staple" - it's just common. Compare to onions, or maybe mushrooms here (chinese folks don't eat a lot of onions tho).

Shaolin Temple is in Henan provience, my home town. But I don't visit it yet. We all think the Chinese Kungfu comes from Shaolin. I think you can see the Kungfy in 2008 Beijing Olympic game. I think one show cannot show the clear Kungfu.

I am applying the USA graduate schools now. If I can get addmission and visa, I will go to visit you. maybe I need your help in application.

Of course, not any Chinese eat tofu everyday. But it is popular in China.

Which graduate schools are you applying to, Billy?

I researching schools now. I want to applyy Urban/city Planning or management program. I first the Hamline Univerisity and Morgran State U. I have no enough time to take GRE test. So I cannot apply the good schools. And the tuition & fee is a big deal to me.

Aww! That pangolin thing is way too cute to eat. Send me one!

Sorry. I just heard it, and I don't like eat that animals.. I will send you if I find the materials.

Hey, I'm Asian too. Taiwanese to be precise. My mom and sister are vegetarian, so we eat lots of tofu stuff. You'd be surprised at how many meat substitutes have been made... fake chicken drumsticks, fake duck, all taste pretty decent.

As far as I'm concerned, tofu has no risks, other than the fact that it contains amounts of estrogen.

Have you tried the Quorn meat substitute ? I think McDonalds even now do a quorn "chicken" burger. Personally I detest the stuff, I'll take a soya protein based meat sub any day of the week over quorn

Quorn is not sold in the states, to my knowledge. I am not sad about this fact.

Unfortunately, Korn is widely available, however.