More food-on-a-stick

I think the picture says it all, but I'll explain just to be sure. That picture isn't my doing, I stole it off another website. Trust me, if you had seen what I saw you would never read this blog again.

I love most everything in Chengdu that comes in kabob form. I ate lamb-on-a-stick and cantaloupe-on-a-stick for dinner tonight. For dessert I ate pineapple-on-a-stick. Everything on a stick is good! At least, that's what I used to think...

Yes, Gentle Reader, you can see from the picture above just how wrong I was on this matter. Yesterday I was taken to a food bazaar that was set up in celebration of Chinese New Year. There were booths selling every kind of food in China: Hong Kong style Chinese food, Sichuan style, Beijing style, and everything in between. There was lamb-on-a-stick, ostrich-on-a-stick, fish-on-a-stick, and even camel-on-a-stick. My friend and I didn't buy anything on our first trek around the bazaar. We just wanted to see what everyone was selling, so we could come back and buy what looked best. The food stalls were situated end to end down a long and narrow alleyway. The place was packed with locals and tourists alike, all trying to sample something exotic. As we neared the end of the alley, we suddenly noticed that one booth had attracted an unusually large group of onlookers. I pushed my way to the front of the crowd to see what was being sold. There on the table lay rows and rows of bugs-on-a-stick. The ones that you see above were there, as well as a number of bugs I didn't recognize. The worst offenders were the scorpion-on-a-stick. I watched as customers bought these, and then bit into their crunchy exoskeleton.

Situated between the scorpions and some beetles-on-a-stick sat something I thought I'd never see on a food table. Tarantulas. Big, fried, crispy-looking tarantulas.

Finally!

I'm finally accomplishing some of my goals! First, I had the opportunity to make jiaozi with some friends. Second, I finally figured out how to use the rice cooker!

For those of you who don't know, jiaozi are a form of Chinese dumpling. They're basically boiled pot stickers. There's a jiaozi restaurant on the SU campus. It's the perfect lunch on a cold day.
The place is always crowded, but the food is fresh and the service is relatively friendly. The woman who owns the place speaks a little English, so whenever we go in she likes to practice with us.

There are many different flavors of jiaozi, my favorites are: pork with tomato, pork with mushroom, and pork with chives. They're all made in the front of the shop, and then quickly boiled. We dip them in a sauce made of chili, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar and huajiao. Often, we order a bowl of boiled greens to go with the meal. One of these days I'm hoping to ask the owner if she'll teach me how to make the filling. I'm willing to work for free, if that's what it takes. I'm also thinking that a jiaozi restaurant would be a good business to open back home. I can have a jiaozi/cold noodle restaurant that will cater to all the cold Seattleites. I've posted several jiaozi pictures below. Just thinking about this is making me hungry!

Another great thing I've discovered is ginger tea. You take fresh ginger, slice it and boil it in a large pan. Once it boils, you turn it down and let it simmer for about an hour. Sarah and I have experimented with adding lemon and orange, and both are good. When the tea is ready, we use honey to sweeten. The more ginger you add, the spicer the tea will be. We drink this several times a week. It keeps me from munching all night, and also helps me stay warm.