A Taste of China: Part 1

People ask me how I liked the food in China. My friends can tell you that when I left for China, adapting to the food was not on my worry list. I love almost all Asian food, and no, not Panda Express. I liked to think I'd been exposed to some real Chinese food as a regular visitor to some of the best D-grade-health-inspection non-English-speaking restaurants that NYC Chinatown has to offer.

The first time "fish-balls" were served in the cafeteria, I felt really cultured when I could explain to the rest of the group, "It's like they take a bunch of different fish meat, roll it into a ball, and boil it!" But even for fish-ball lovers like me, China had it's fair share of raunchy meals. Here's a sample platter of some cafeteria food in China, categorized for your pleasure.

First, the GOOD.

Behold; a Chinese cafeteria school lunch. These are good meals. I had a reputation for spending almost a full hour in the cafeteria eating on days like this.

I was a shrimp hoarder. Most people felt taking the time to sheer the shrimp was "not worth it." I did my duty and ate everyone else's shrimp and created my own rice/veggie/shrimp bowls. 

Next: Sad, but not Bad.

This was the catered lunch on field trip day. 

The Peek-a-Boo's. 

Last but not least, the "What the hell did I just eat?" category:

This is me trying to eat a chicken foot. It tastes alright, but it's difficult to chew when the little girl's un-manicured toenails are scratching your cheek.