When we first arrived in China, shopping for fruits was one of my priorities because my tot LOVED bananas then. We could find bananas (imported from Thailand), papaya (the Hawaiian type), oranges, grapes and apples (imported from the United States) watermelon and kiwi fruit (imported from Australia) in the supermarket.

But the real joy is finding the well-stocked fruit stalls at the market. Why? I found that they had more variety, they were fresher and of course, much much cheaper.

For the Chinese, fruits play a huge role in their diet especially where the seasons are concerned. When my tot and I kept falling sick at the turn of the seasons, some kind Chinese friends advised us to “follow the fruits”.

Basically, we should consume the local fruits in season because the fruits would provide the necessary fluids to balance the “yin” and “yang” of our bodies.

Hmm…that made sense because I recall that we were eating mostly imported fruits (ones we were familiar with) e.g. bananas, grapes, papaya, apples, oranges and watermelons.

LOCAL FRUITS

We have not tried the local pineapples (called buo luo rather than huang li), which are famed for being very, very sweet but nobody’s a fan in our family…

The mangoes are imported from the Philippines, I think.  I’ve not tried the bright, yellow fruit as I’ve no idea what they are!

IMPORTED FRUITSOther than grapes, apples and grapes (from the US) you can see an array of fruits imported from Asian countries:

• Thailand – rose apples and durian; why isn’t Malaysia exporting its durians to China???
• Vietnam – dragon fruit;
• Malaysia – mangosteens (I can’t confirm this until I find out if mangosteens are grown in other Asian countries)

IMPORTED AND LOCAL BANANAS
We were buying Dole brand bananas for a long while and Hubby even joked that our tot was going to eat us out of a house and home because we had to buy a comb of bananas every 2 days!

Dole bananas are a large, firm variety – a comb was selling at about RMB15-16. Due to its high price, only expats or the more affluent Chinese bought them…

I was quite happy to find the local bananas at the fresh market – strange why they are not sold in the supermarkets. The local bananas are what we’d call pisang awak (sounds awful translated into English because it literally means “your banana!”).

A comb sells for only RMB6-7 and I actually prefer them because my stomach didn’t feel as bloated after consuming them, compared to the Dole bananas.

DRAGON FRUIT FROM VIETNAM
Because my tot loves dragon fruit, regardless whether its the white or red variety, I frequently buy this fruit from the market. I was such a fan of this fruit that the seller asked if I was a Vietnamese! LOL

Anyway, after hearing that the tiny seeds of the dragon fruit remain in your guts long after you consume them, I’ve limited the tot’s intake…

RAMBUTANS OR “HAIRY FRUIT”
I was surprised to see rambutans in a box at the market but they are not that popular – probably because they are expensive (about RMB15-20 per jin (500 g) and because they look strange.

I bought some to try and gave a few to my maid to try. I asked if she’d eaten them before, she said no. So, I showed her how to peel its thick skin to reveal the juicy, translucent flesh inside.

I ate one to show her its texture and also that I throw away the seed (just in case!). She kind of liked it and I felt happy that I’ve introduced a Malaysian fruit overseas

FUN FRUITS!
Coming from a tropical country, we had some fun during autumn, winter and spring trying out some of the local and imported fruits.

JUST PEACHY
Mmm…they start appearing in summer (July) and are pretty much available right up till the beginning of winter (December).

With the help of my friendly fruit grocer, I learned that there were “soft” (ruan) and “crunchy” (qui? cui?) types. We prefer the soft variety and of course, the sweeter the better.

Peaches shown above are the average peaches – after a while, I find that there is a slightly bitter aftertaste after the intial sweetness.

There is another reddish type with a reddish flesh. They are quite OK but you have to get really sweet ones to enjoy – they tend to become mushy too if they are too ripe.

The premium peach is the “shui mi tao” from Beijing! I think the phrase “peaches and cream” come from such peaches because they are a lovely peaches-and-cream colour, quite large (sits nicely in the palm of my hand) and perfectly sweet with a white flesh.

If you visit Beijing during the late autumn and early winter, you’ll find scores and scores of hawkers selling them by the roadside.

CHERRY, CHERRY, CHERRY
Cherries are imported from the US but we suspect that some may be grown locally because the price varies between RMB15-45 per jin. For the record, I’ve not been that crazy to pay RMB45!

Called “yin tao“, Hubby and I enjoy eating the ripe, sweet cherries. The tot? He claims to like them too but will only suck on a single cherry like a lollipop.

FRESH OLIVES
Olives make their appearance early in the summer and even though I’ve seen them for a while, I didn’t realize they were olives.

One day, one of my favourite fruit stalls (wo-manned by two sisters) urged me to try one. I was very, very reluctant but was delighted to find that it’s crunchy and sweet!

I bought a bunch to eat and enjoyed munching on them as a healthy snack. If you leave them outside for a day or two, you’ll find that they turn brown and slowly start to shrink. However, they are not as smooth as the olives you’d find in a martini…

NOT A MANGO, NOT A CIKU, IT’S A PI PA!
Initally, I thought these are mangoes but again, my favourite sisters peeled one off for me to try. These fruits show up at the end of Spring when the days start to turn warm.

This year, I developed a nasty phlegm and was asked to eat these pi pa, which would help to reduce it. I think they really do help to reduce phlegm.

If you see this fruit during your visit to China or elsewhere (I think they could be exported), be sure to choose orange-y ones as they are and sweeter. Simply peel off the skin using your fingers and take a bite into the firm flesh. What remains are kidney-bean sized seeds.

WE LOVE STRAWBERRIES

My fussy tot will only eat the *really sweet* ones and even so after many, many threats. I once made a chocolate fondue for us to dip the strawberries in – guess what, the tot nibbled off all the chocolate and just kept dipping the SAME strawberry into the chocolate sauce! I give up sometimes…

THE STRANGEST FRUIT
I’ve saved the best for last and I think that this fruit deserves a place in the Guinness Book of Records because it’s the strangest fruit I’ve ever seen.

Called “yang mei” (yumberry), it’s about the size of a lychee but has a most unusual texture – a juicy version of a brush rug??? It has a hard medium-sized seed in the middle which means you only eat the ‘bristles’ around the fruit.

I’m not sure if it’s found anywhere else in the world because yumberries bruise easily with a dark reddish juice which stains permanently i.e. not easy to transport and export!

Small yang meis or yumberries (size of gumballs or big marbles) are available on the very last days of Spring but larger, darker coloured ones (ping-pong or golf ball sized) start showing up everywhere when the days get warmer.

It’s wise to soak the yumberries in salted water to get rid of any little bugs hiding within their juicy, sweetish-sourish bristles

Guess what? The yumberry (or yummy berry) is touted as the latest superfood as it’s rich in anti-oxidants (vitamin C) and is good for your eyesight, cholesterol and gastric problems!

Hope you’re having a fruity Friday

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One evening, Hubby came home and asked me, “Would you like to spend the weekend in Shanghai?” That’s my husband…he’ll surprise you with questions like this! Doing some quick mental planning, I asked how long we’d be there – about 5 days. I said, “Let’s go!”

Luckily, there are loads of cheap flights for domestic travel within China (sometimes as much as 50% discount) and our friends in Shanghai would put us up in their aparment

FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Getting off the airport, I was stunned to see 4-5 long rows of travellers lining up for taxis! Then, Hubby told me that the city of Shanghai’s population (19 million) has just a few people short of the population of Malaysia (25 million) O_O

The good thing is that just as many rows of taxis are lined up to pick up passengers – we probably waited for about 5-10 minutes to get into a taxi. The guard with the whistle hustling the taxis is pretty efficient.

Climbing aboard the taxi, my first thoughts were:

“High crimes in Shanghai!” or
“Many taxi driver robbery or abuse cases in Shanghai…” or
“Taxi drivers in Shanghai are dangerous – the passengers need to be protected?”

What do YOU think when you see the poor taxi driver encased in a plexiglass shield like that? I’d be so claustrophobic driving around in a shell the whole day…

PUDONG APARTMENT
Anyway…our friends live in a *gorgeous* apartment in the Pudong area with a magnificent view of Shanghai bay. What a view, eh?

What I liked best is how GREEN the area is – definitely a piece of prime property in polluted and populated Shanghai.

They were really, really nice to have us there because we had a comfortable guest room and the lady was FANTASTIC about my toddler’s quirky and often un-cooperative behaviour.

Plus, I’d forgotten to pack his bolster!!! Luckily, she managed to persuade her younger son to ‘lend’ him one of his little bolsters for the next few nights – phew

DIN TAI FUNG RESTAURANT
One night, we went out for dinner on our own (to spare our gracious hosts a night off from our toddler! LOL) and were recommended this Hong Kong-style (Cantonese cuisine) restaurant in Super Brand Mall within the area.

Since we could get a good view of the famous Oriental Pearl Tower (Dongfang Míngzhuta) outside the mall, we joined the tourists and snapped away. Personally, I thought it’s a rather gaudy-looking landmark in stylish Shanghai…

I liked Din Tai Fung restaurant’s simple interior decoration which has a cool-looking backdrop of watercolour sketches of famous Hong Kong and mainland Chinese celebrities. I can only spot Jay Chou there – I have no idea who the rest are!

What scored the most points with this mother is the child-friendly, Mickey-mouse themed plastic / enamel cutlery set they immediately set down in front of the toddler.

We were blessed with 10-15 minutes of peace to scan the menu as he kept himself busy (and out of mischief) arranging and stacking the plastic tray, spoon, cup and bowl

We ordered:

• a double-boiled chicken soup each (highly recommended for dead-tired parents LOL),
• siew loong pau / xiao long bao (steamed pork-filled, soup-filled dumplings) and
• some fried rice with pork strips

Double-boiled chicken soup
The chicken soup is fragrant and flavourful – the soup’s full of the chicken’s sweetness. I poured a few spoonfuls over the fried rice and the fussy toddler finished his dinner in less than 30 minutes (record time!)

I must learn how to cook such delicious chicken soup!!! First, I’ve got to get a double boiler…

Sorry for the sad-looking photo…too busy eating and feeding the tot

Simple fried rice with pork strips
Known as the Yongchow (or yang zhou) fried rice, strips of pork are added to the basic fried rice. It’s quite tasty although I think it’s one slightly greasy step away from perfection…

Xiao long bao
Apologies for forgetting to snap a photo of one of the restaurant’s most famous dish. The little dumplings came in a bamboo steamer and just as our friends said, it’s one of the BEST xiao long bao I’ve ever eaten.

Even the toddler agreed to take bits of the steamed pork inside…

Do you know how to eat xiao long bao? First, place it in your China soup spoon and prick a tiny hole in the dumpling. Then, sip all the delicious soup out of the dumpling BEFORE you bite into it

Biting into your xiao long bao immediately is a tell-tale sign of how little you know of Chinese cuisine…plus, you’ll only squirt hot soup in your eye!

Here’s the address (in English and Chinese) to Din Tai Fung restaurant:

We had to rush back after dinner since Hubby had to confirm his flight information for his meeting the next day…

We had a really nice time in Shanghai, thanks to our hosts, who have invited us to visit anytime! Hahaha…we’d probably take them up on their offer if we can’t find any good hotel deals in this elegant, stylish city.

More to come on Shanghai…

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Known as “Lau Zhi Qing” among the Chinese or Cultural Revolution restaurant among the non-Chinese speaking, this franchise has to be one of the coolest themed restaurants I’ve ever been to.

The restaurant’s theme is based on the more positive aspect of the Cultural Revolution i.e. Mao Zedong’s decree for all youths (especially undergraduates) to be sent to the rural areas for a year’s practical education.

From the various movies and documentaries I’ve watched, these young people were to help the farming community with their daily chores and were not paid any wages – only food and lodging were provided to them.

It took me a while (and a few people to explain) to understand this positive side of the Cultural Revolution because the minute I’m in the restaurant, I’m surrounded by

• youths in dressed in Communist Party uniforms,
• posters of youths waving the Red Book,
• props of rural farming scenes (including farming tools, dry grass, earthern pots and other paraphernalia for a truly authentic setting), and
• the sound system blaring propaganda announcements or patriotic songs of the era.

If you were impressed with Beijing Olympics 2008, then you’ll understand how meticulous the Chinese are with style and substance – oh, what attention to detail . Ok, enough propaganda…let’s enter the restaurant!

Here’s the brightly-lit entrance to this popular restaurant, which has lines (and chairs while you wait) during the lunch and dinner hours:

Check out the artwork on rice paper for the backdrop of the restaurant. Gorgeous, isn’t it? Wish someone could explain to me what the scene’s all about…I feel like I’m in a museum and I’m so curious but the curator or guide is missing.

This sprightly girl is lunging after my toddler who’s educating himself with the farming tools props

One day, I’m going to ask if all of them actually have long hair because all the girls have their hair in plaits with red ribbons.

The older women (the ayis or cleaners) do not have pigtails.

The tables and chairs are good quality, unvarnished wood – each chair has the Communist red star on it. As you can see, the table setting is simple:

Various posters of the youth for Cultural Revolution theme plaster the walls of the restaurants. There are also authentic black-and-white photos of young Communists in action in the rural areas.

Hehe…I just couldn’t resist taking a photo of the red menu. It’s so eye-catching, unique and RED.

I had to cool down the photography after a while because the other patrons (mostly Chinese) were starting to look…

Opening the menu, I was relieved to find colour photographs! Lao Zhi Qing is one of the first restaurants my Chinese friends would take us to – I guess the owner realized that with so many foreigners coming to the restaurant, it made sense to have professional photographs taken.

Next, they should invest in English translations (Looking for an English copywriter? Contact me!)

Since Lao Zhi Qing (Cultural Revolution restaurant) is listed under Northeastern cuisine in the expat guide book, let me show you some of the the dishes  we’ve been eating:

Tofu and mushroom soup (Dou hua gen) – I ordered this dish for the toddler because it’s a light soup of soft tofu, chopped dried mushrooms and some brown thing. He loved eating it with rice but after a while, we found the soup slightly too starchy. In any case, I want to learn how to cook this dish because it’s delicious

Stewed pork bones (jiang da gu) – One of their trademark dishes, the stewed pork bones are HUGE and the meat,though quite flavourful, is a bit on the tough side. Hubby and I could eat it but not the toddler. We order this main dish a lot until we got really sick of it!

Deep fried egg squares (man kou xiang) – I thought these were deep fried tofu but the waitress insisted that there is NO tofu in it. They are made entirely of egg with bits of red and green peppers. Soft and delicious (acceptable to the toddler) but slightly on the oily side.

Stewed leg of lamb/mutton (yang tui) – I tried out this piece de resistance (it’s got a fancy name before ‘yang tui’ which escapes me) much, much later even though Hubby had recommended it earlier. I think I was deterred by the size of the leg!

It’s really HUGE – just a piece fills up an oval platter (RMB15) as you can see in relation to the teapot and tea cups. The dish comes with a disposable plastic glove is given for you to enjoy in barbaric delight

Tired of all the other dishes, I tried it one day with a soup and just loved it! The meat is tender and juicy and I wish they’d serve the gravy together with the meat because I bet it’d be delicious on the rice.

I feel really greedy holding and chewing on this gigantic leg but hey, I’m PREGNANT – I’m eating for two. I get to look greedy! LOL

Luckily, I had it a few times because now, the restaurant seems to have a problem with their supplier. Each time I call to ask, they’ll say “dui bu qi” or “bu hau yi si”, my favourite “yang tui” isn’t available.

It’s been three weeks already…I hope that the leg of lamb/mutton goes back on the menu because I’d like to bring my visitor there next week. I certainly hope that we can try out the other dishes (perhaps not the sago worms) served at this “revolutionary” restaurant

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To celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival (called Duanwujie) on May 28, two Malaysian friends invited the rest of the group to pack rice dumplings (zongzi) together.

Initially I didn’t feel like joining as I was tired from running a few errands but the thought of Hubby and Lucas having no rice dumplings changed my mind. I’m glad I joined in

When I was a kid, I remember my grandmother making all the preparations with the help of my aunts. A woman of few words, my grandmother would rise up early in the morning to check all the raw ingredients were ready:

• the glutinous rice,
• the triple-layered pork (called ’san zhan’),
• the chestnuts,
• the dried mushrooms.

The bamboo leaves for packing woud have been soaked, washed and dried a few days ahead.

My Mum would also pack the exact rice dumplings for us when we were kids – boy, those days of having rice dumplings at recess in school or tea for almost a week. Heaven!

This time, I’d be packing for my own family. Led by a few master chefs, who would prepare the pork, the mushrooms and the glutinous rice, the rest of us were given individual items to prepare.

Hunting for chestnuts
I asked for the least labour-intensive job, which was to hunt and prepare the chestnuts. In Malaysia, we used dried chestnuts but in China, fresh chestnuts are available.

Our master chefs have really high standards – I was to hunt for fresh ones, resorting to dried or frozen, if desperate. I tried a small wet market but finding none, I went to the bigger one and nearly panicked when I couldn’t see any.

I found the dried chestnuts, which sold at a pricey RMB18/kati – OK, I’ll k.i.v. that. Getting my own supply of fish, chicken, vegetables and fruits, I’d reached the end of the market and was about to sound the alarm when I noticed a corner shop selling ready-made zongzi and dried leaves.

Hurrah! Seated next to that shop was a man selling the fresh chestnusts. Phew, I immediately bought 2 kati as ordered (RMB10/kati) and was told to soak them in hot water to peel the skin off easily. The chestnut skin feels like a thicker version of the pak kor (gingko) skin.

After that, I was to fry the chestnuts with shallots and garlic, dark soy sauce and 5-spice powder. Wow, they smelled good!

Packing the zongzi (rice dumplings)
Once everything was organized around the hanging rack, the master chefs started packing the dumplings. Many of them packed beautiful pyramids, which remained intact even after the cooking process.

Here are the other fillings that went into our rice dumplings:

A couple of us still need to master the skill of ‘closing’ and tying the dumpling

First, you take two bamboo leaves and form a cone shape and fill it with about 1 tbs of glutinous rice. Then, you fill it with whatever you wanted, usually one of each item. Mine didn’t have the oysters.

There was a debate about the packing – half would fill the cone loosely (allowing room for expansion) while the other half would pack the rice into a compact shape.

I was from the latter camp but the challenge was to tie the zongzi! A dunce at arts-and-crafts, my zongzi always came up slightly longish and misshapen Will definitely try again next year and practise it under my Mum’s supervision!

Packed treasures
Here are the fruits of our labour – each of us had about 19 pieces to bring home:

The hostess put ten into the pressure cooker so that we could eat taste the fruit of our labour before we went home. We’d started at 10.30 am and finished packing 160+ rice dumplings by 1.30 pm.

Our ‘hostest with the mostest’ served us steamed yam cake (wu tao kou) and rojak (yum!!!) – this lady always has PLENTY of food at her place

Diddle, diddle dumpling
Here’s my misshapen zongzi, which was delicious (and not ‘windy’ as I feared. Maybe because it was freshly-cooked and piping hot when I ate it?)

Back home, I boiled the rice dumplings in salted water for 2 hours – I had to rescue a few which had unravelled themselves ai-yo-yo!

Our 19 dumplings disappeared fast because I had another one for supper, gave 3 to one of Hubby’s male colleague (who promptly had them for breakfast!)and gave one to my cleaner.

We all had zongzi for breakfast and tea and Hubby had another for tea and dinner LOL

Hubby and I ate another 2 this morning, which leaves 2 more in the fridge!

I was surprised that even my fussy tot wanted a ‘zhang’ and even ate the pork. He needed a bit of threatening to eat the chestnut but during the weekend, he kept asking for ‘brown colour’ for tea

Due to their popularity, looks like I’ll have to pack zongzi every year from now on LOL

Notes:
1. Here’s an overview of legends of the rice dumplings – the version I recall is of villagers throwing rice dumplings into the water to lure fish away from a famous poet who committed suicide.
2. In these parts, Duanwujie marks the REAL end of Spring because the days become markedly hotter after May 28th

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Since one of our visitors is diabetic, another has high blood pressure and another has high cholesterol levels, we decided to check out this POPULAR steamboat or hot pot (huo guo) restaurant.

It’s so popular during lunch and dinner (especially for autumn and winter) that chairs are lined up outside the restaurant for nearly 20 people. Since I have shunned most Chinese restaurants for the greasy food, Hubby thought a steamboat would be a healthy option.

First, we were asked to choose a soup base. I wanted the clearest of all, which turned out to be a pork bones soup. The others, also pork bones, were too exotic (nearly revolting to this pregnant Mum) and Hubby warned that the lamb / mutton soup has a strong aroma…

Then, we chose fish balls (I made the dumb choice of going for Foochow balls, which are stuffed with pork), lettuce, sliced beef, tofu and prawns.

The soup arrived looking MILKY (aargh…my stomach already felt like heaving) and one of my least favourite foods in the world i.e. lap cheong (waxed Chinese sausagages a.k.a. stuffed pork intestines) sat right on top of it. Ugh…my appetite fell right through the floor!

Hubby quickly picked the lap cheong off the soup…

I was ravenous so quickly stuffed myself with rice (drizzled with the hot soup) and also picked out the least oily pieces of chicken from this cold, side dish.

Sigh, I’ve been craving for Hainanese chicken rice since day 1 so any steamed chicken looked appealing to it. Hubby tasted it first and said that it’s COLD. I only noticed how OILY it was…

Surprisingly, the chicken was tender and tasty

Feeding the toddler was another challenge – he got excited over the fish balls but the minute he bit into the center and smelled the strong whiff of pork, he put it down.

Luckily, he agreed to nibble the parts of the fishball without the pork. I couldn’t stand the smell either! I managed to get a substantial lunch into his tummy because he ate rice, three fishballs and tofu. I also added bits of soft chicken to his bowl.

To make space for the raw items, Hubby fished out two ENORMOUS bones from the steamboat. Check out the bone structure!

Spying on the other patrons, I noticed that some Chinese were nibbling and sucking on the bones.

I remember that my Chinese grandmother used to love sucking on bits of pork bones too for the marrow. In fact, if nobody was watching, she’d even even eat the softer bits of pork bones!

Reminds me of the quote from Henry David Thoreau in the movie, Dead Poets Society:

“I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life. To put to route all that was not life, and not when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”

Unless we can find another steamboat restaurant with a truly clear soup, I’m staying clear of this one. I also don’t think our guests would like the incredibly oily side dishes either…

Ugh, I was bloated for almost the entire afternoon after this meal and it’s pretty hard to erase the image of the milky soup from my memory! Sadly, we don’t agree with “Good Taste”.

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