Once again I suspect the client is making sport of seeing what I'll eat. On the other hand, they really seem to enjoy these items too, so I have reason to believe it's more than just an oddity to them.
The other day we went to a traditional Cantonese dim sum restaurant. Dim sum means "small food" - much like a tapas bar, or ordering just appetizers. The idea is that the entire table orders a number of dim sum dishes to share. And why cantonese? Because that's the style of food (non-spicy) which is prevalent in Hong Kong (as opposed to szechuan, which is spicy).
And I wish I had brought a camera. My descriptions will have to suffice - and what else I find online.
So ... what do we start with? Chicken feet.
That's right, the feet. I'm what you're thinking, "There ain't no meat on chicken feet" and that is correct. It is in fact the SKIN and how they are prepared (and eaten) which makes them a delicatessen here. Not to mention that each chicken only has two of them (fortunately there are many chicken here). However they marinate and cook it, is the skin which absorbs all the flavors and traps the goodness within what little is on them. They are not tough and stringy and bony and skinny. They are tender and warm and soft, just like baby back ribs. Put the whole thing in your mouth and the bones in the feet fall apart (and then spit those out). They have a very mild flavor - sort of a toasted sesame/soy mix, not unlike the mild breading we know as General Tso's chicken.
Ok ... moving on. Stomach lining. From a cow. Also known as 'tripe' in many parts of the world. I don't know which of the four stomachs our dish came from. Nor can I find a good picture online - all the links are to honeycomb tripe, but what we had looked more like a smooth white 2-mm thick membrane with little buds (like taste buds) all over it, sliced into diamonds 2x3 cm. It was rubbery that was to chew through (sort of like squid), and had no flavor, so we dipped it into a soy'ish sauce. Other than the texture it wasn't bad.
Next up: swim bladder. Also known as 'fish maw'. That thing which fish use to regulate their bouyancy.
The picture is of the soup - we had it straight up. It is like a gelatinous semi-solid froth, not unlike in texture seafoam. My hosts told me it is good for the complexion, as it made from collagen, i.e. gelatin, which is what Jello is (although Jello is made from cattle hoofs etc). Since the purpose of the bladder is to swell with air or compress, it is very porous and thus soaks up whatever source or soup it is in. It has no flavor and falls apart easily when chewed. Not my favorite item on the menu, but not gross either.
We had a whole bunch of other things too - spiced pork dumplings (in flour) and potstickers (in rice paper), squid spring rolls, and various fried doughs for dessert.
The next day we visited a "hot pot" restaurant, another traditional meal (these photos are from my cell phone .. sorry for the grainyness)
In the middle of the table there is a large but shallow dish sitting on a burner. The dish holds a boiling spiced soup. Into that soup we place the food you see around the table - very think sliced pork or beef, mushrooms, bean curds, salad, corn cobs etc. This cooks in the soup - when it was ready, we take it out and dip it in another sauce and eat it. This was very good - I especially enjoyed the flavors which the soup infused into the food items, and I tailored my sauce with vinegar soy and chili paste for a little zing. Imagine a rural chinese family on a cold day sitting around eating their main meal this way ..
The dessert was ice cream:
The black sesame ice cream was very interesting (it was actually grey) with a light toasted nutty flavor. The green tea ice cream had an intense green tea (even slight bitter to offset the sweetness .. just like beer!) yet very smooth texture. Tofu ice cream? Not good. The only think that made it palatable were copious amounts of powdered chocolate.
More to come .. I'm sure ;-)
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