I’ve learned a lot since moving to China, but I think one of the best things I’ve learned is how to cook from scratch. I was a decent cook before we moved to China, but like many of my generation “cooking” for me including boxes of pasta, jars of sauce, and cans of soup.

Then I moved to China, and I had to REALLY learn to cook.

Those boxes, jars, and cans I was used to just aren’t so easily found around here. Before you get too scared let me clarify, you CAN find them. It’s just not easy. And when you do, they are NOT cheap. Plus, remember you have to carry all the groceries that you buy. Cans and jars are heavy.

At first, I think it was just the challenge. I can buy the fresh ingredients SO CHEAP here. And they are so much better for your health. And I really just wanted to learn how to use them well.

So now, when one of my favorite recipes calls for a “can of” or a “jar of”, then I just head over to allrecipes.com and find a “from scratch” recipe for it instead. And I have to say, it really doesn’t take that long to just make it from scratch. I was amazed. I think we’ve all been sold a lie. That it’s so much easier and so much faster to use the ready-made stuff. Well, from my experience, it’s so much better and in most cases, just as quick (quicker actually, if I factor in the extra time it takes to hunt for the stuff at the grocery store) to make it from scratch. And did I mention, tastes so. much. better.

Here’s one of my recent concoctions using fresh dumpling wrappers, ground beef, and a basic bechamel sauce. It was inspired by this post at Pioneer Woman Cooks although I made my own filling recipe using what I had on hand.

At this point you can either drop them into boiling water for about 3 minutes to enjoy right away…

OR you can pop them in the freezer (still on the cutting mat) for about 2 hours until they get hard, then dump them all in a ziploc bag to save until later!

Top it off with the extra cheese sauce or just some olive oil and cracked pepper. Yum!

In China, grocery shopping is always an adventure…

You never know what you’re going to find.

Octopus balls, anyone?

I’d like to introduce you to one of my (many) favorite things about China…

Dumplings!

Seriously, I love them. And all their yummy fillings.

If I’d started this blog AFTER I moved to China, I probably would have named it “Country Fried Dumpling” because the truth is, I haven’t had one egg roll since I’ve been here. Apparently they aren’t really common in Northern China. Really. I wouldn’t even know where to get one.

I recently decided I’d like to try to find a way to make the dumplings at home so I wouldn’t have to wait until we go out to get them.

So I found these frozen dumplings at the store.

But like most things in China, I ran into a few problems.

Problem 1:

The whole “language” thing rears its ugly head again. I read a few characters, but apparently not enough. Dumplings come with all kinds of fillings. Pork, beef, shrimp, egg, cabbage, leek. And many combinations of these, too.

So yeah, how do you choose which package to buy?
Continue reading →

This is a note from my Chinese teacher, Summer, to teach you a little about the Chinese season, San Fu, translated “It’s seriously hot around here.” (My personal, somewhat loose, translation)

July 14th, 2011, based on the Chinese calendar, it’s the 1st day of the hottest season in a year. We call the hottest days “三(sān)伏(fú)”.

On a different day, we eat different food~

“三(sān)伏(fú)”: Total is 30 days and separated into 3 groups, each 10 days is one group.

1. The 1st day of 1st Group: 2011. 7. 14. – We eat “饺(jiǎo)子(zi)” -dumpling

Story: In ancient China, people felt it was very hard to spend the hot days in summer. 饺(jiǎo)子(zi) was the luxury food that time, so they wanted to pray for a safe period during hard summer by a nice meal. Also the 伏(fú) in 三(sān)伏(fú) is the same prononciation with Chinese 福(fú) which means happiness, lucky, all the best wishes, and 饺(jiǎo)子(zi) is like an odd-shaped gold. The meaning is the happiness, lucky, all the best wishes in 饺(jiǎo)子(zi) ^^

2. The 1st day of 2nd Group: 2011. 7. 24 – We eat “面(miàn)条(tiáo)” – noodle

Story: The noodle is the noodle in hot soup. Why Chinese people eat hot food in hot weather? That’s because when the season comes to the 三(sān)伏(fú), all farmers just collected the flour. The new flour is very healthy, also the bad things and heat in our body can be removed by sweating. Because of that, also can mean we hope we can stop the bad things away.

3. The 1st day of 3rd Group: 2011. 8. 13 – We eat “饼(bing)和(hé)鸡(jī)蛋(dàn)” -Chinese pizza and fried eggs

Story: In ancient China, the hens will have a rest during hottest season until the 3rd Group when the weather becomes a little cool. So this period the new eggs are very delicious.

In fact, Chinese people mainly eat rice, but during hottest days, they prefer eating flour foods.

I hope all of you have a very nice summer and enjoy the fun of Chinese traditional stories!!

** Summer **

Earlier this week, we played Guess the Donut Flavor (it’s an official name) where you get to guess. The flavor of a donut. But not just any donut, three Shenyang specialties that Dunkin has created to cater to the local tastebuds.

We got some really interesting guesses, and I have to say, you guys are pretty good at guessing a donut by it’s cover. Or color.

Anyway, I’m super excited that 4 whole people read this blog of randomness, and even though Zach was technically the winner with 2 correct answers, I’ve decided that since you actually read this blog and you took the time to comment (which I very much appreciate), then you are all awesome and deserve to be winners. All four of you are going to get mail from China (how exciting!) although I highly doubt you are as excited as I am when I get mail from the USA. (Shout out for the Girl Scout thin mints I recently received… Can I get an amen? Thanks again, Ami!)

So without further a do… a due? ado?

um… You know what I mean, right?

Anyway, here’s the answers…

#1: Dried Pork & Spicy Dried Pork. (left to right) Do they still look tasty?

#2: Cheese Tuna This is one of the dangerous ones, looking all shiny and yummy on the outside, but with a “surprise” inside. Reason #2 why I have this rule.

#3: Green Tea Mochiring They’ll flavor anything with green tea round these parts. But who cares when there’s a Boston Creme down below? yum.

Thanks again for playing along and thanks for taking the time out of your day to leave some comment love. If you’re one of the awesome 4, send me your address via the Contact page, and you’ll receive a little surprise from the Far East!

We have another fun little quiz for you today. It’s called:

“Guess the Donut Flavor” (what a title. I’m so creative.)

You know, it’s quite a popular thing right now for the businesses of the world to try to tap into the Chinese markets. McDonald‘s, KFC, and Pizza Hut have been here for a few years now. And while Mickey D’s does the best in the US market and KFC is barely hanging on, in China, it’s quite the opposite. McDonald’s does ok, don’t get me wrong, but their company policy that says you get the same big mac anywhere in the world just doesn’t fly as well over here. Their taste buds are just… different. KFC is huge here thanks to their policy of serving a menu suited to the local preferences. Pizza Hut does ok too, thanks to their interesting menu as well.

Dunkin Donuts, it seems, has taken on that same approach. And while they still serve some of the foreign favorites such as the Boston Creme, Original Glazed, and blueberry-filled powdered sugar donuts. They have also taken to serving things more suited to the Chinese taste. And while I can’t imagine who came up with these, apparently someone is buying them. Continue reading →

My impression of China is that the single most important thing to them culturally is “face” and “guanxi”.** However, a close second seems to be the importance of food. Eating together is much more important in Chinese culture than in any Western culture. While friends or co-workers in the West might go grab some drinks, if you are really friends with someone in China you’ll eat with them (alternating who pays of course)! Nearly every day someone in my office will bring in an armload of candy or cakes and just put it out on one of the tables.

It’s easy to see what sort of things are important to a culture by looking at the language. Continue reading →

I was a little disappointed in the Pizza Hut in Shenyang for the last few weeks.

You see, they had this awesome cheese pizza.

In the States, I didn’t normally eat just plain cheese pizza, but it’s amazing how your taste buds change when you move to other side of the world. And when you go from lots of cheese in your diet to a very little, sometimes plain cheese is just what the doctor ordered. And you could always count on the Pizza Hut to load that thing down with cheese.

And then. Continue reading →