Saturday, May 19, 2012

Weekend "Cooking" in China

Hi, Blogging Buddies, and sorry for my long silence. Many of you know that we're traveling in China this month, which has definitely put a dent in my reviewing -- but has expanded my eating horizons tremendously! So I figured I'd update you all with some photos of the dishes we've been served at the formal banquets we've been lucky enough to attend with our hosts here in Shanghai!

This is Squirrel Fish -- it's actually a bream that's been scored and deep fried to give it that "furry" appearance. It's served in a sweet and vinegary sauce, like sweet and sour pork, but with more spices. Incredibly delicious!

Looks like noodles, but it's actually tofu in a fish broth with shrimp and baby bok choy. I'm not a big tofu fan, but this was way better than I would have guessed.

We jumped right in to this Sichuan Frog dish -- the frog "cutlets" in fiery sauce were delicious. Unfortunately, Lee tried one of the peppery berries you see garnishing the dish, and it made his mouth numb for an hour!

I hope you're having a wonderful month. I am looking forward to catching up on everyone's blogs and working on my summer reading list when I get home!


Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page. Thanks to Beth Fish Reads for hosting!

16 comments:

  1. I was just thinking about you the other day! My nephew thought the food in China was great but I don't think he ate frog!

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    1. I really enjoyed the food -- but still couldn't wait to come home and eat Lee's pizza yesterday!

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  2. I envy you traveling in China! Have you read My China, by Kylee Kwong? Great travel/cookbook!

    Love your food photos - what an adventure!

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    1. I haven't read it, Libby, but it's on my list now!

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  3. I am so jealous. Not just because of the food but more because of the whole visiting China thing! Hope you have a fabulous trip!

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    1. It was fabulous, Marg. I fell in love with Shanghai, in particular -- it's so energetic, but still a very liveable city.

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  4. How exotic! Have a lot of fun.

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  5. I haven't had frog in years, we used to eat frog legs when we were kids. What a great trip.

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    1. It's a pretty mild taste, especially compared with the Sichuan sauces! But it was pretty weird to see the live frogs in the Carrefours meat department :)

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  6. Great photos! My daughter was pretty adventurous with food when she was in China a couple of years ago, too. Enjoy the rest of your trip :-)

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    1. It was easy for us because our hosts did all the ordering. I can't say I'd order some of the things we ate again, but I'm glad I gave them a try when I had the chance!

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  9. Loving the fish & am a fan of Tofu (smoked), had frog years ago in fact used to cook it in the restaurant I worked at.

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    1. I cannot get over the texture of tofu -- but I'm pretty sure it's me, and not the soybeans! I was wondering how they cooked the frog -- it wasn't legs in this dish, but little "medallions."

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I absolutely love comments. Thanks for taking the time to share! Col