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flameproof -

Quote:

What do you even call that stuff, the really thin seafood? scrapes that get put over a dish, and

since the dish is warm and the flakes are very thin, they move, as if they were still alive.

Silly perhaps, but this stuff never ceases to amaze me, and every time I have a dish with this on

it I pause to look before I eat.

Bonito Flakes = Katsuobushi = 鰹節 or かつおぶ

anonymoose -

Most of the westerners I know, including myself, are not particularly keen on bony things, so

anything that doesn't contain bones is a good start.

zozzen -

Sichuan pepper can be bought in Wanchai wet market. There's a big store selling very large variety

of curry, chili and pepper. ( forget its name, very near to the Spring Garden Road)

skylee -

Quote:

Originally Posted by zozzen

but among Chinese tourists from hong kong or the south, it's best-known to avoid sour-sweet pork

in Europe. If you really want this, always let the chef know you're Chinese, and you need REAL

chinese food.

The only time I went to a Chinese restaurant in Europe was when I was in Florence (for the first

time IIRC). I couldn't read an Italian menu so they gave me an English one. It did not occur to me

that perhaps they spoke Chinese or perhaps there was a Chinese menu. The food was awful. And when

I gave them my credit card, they saw my name and asked if I was Chinese, I said yes and they gave

me a discount. Probably I didn't look Chinese enough.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lu

What do you even call that stuff, the really thin seafood? scrapes that get put over a dish, and

since the dish is warm and the flakes are very thin, they move, as if they were still alive.

Silly perhaps, but this stuff never ceases to amaze me, and every time I have a dish with this on

it I pause to look before I eat.

It is called 柴魚絲/片 in HK. 柴魚 is also called 木魚 (the food, not the percussion

instrument).

zozzen -

I shared almost the same experience. The owner of Chinese restaurant said, "oh I didn't know it's

your order! It's for 'ghost', not for 'human'. " ( sorry for the words, i believed he didn't mean

to be offensive ) I didn't finish the "fusion" sweet-sour pork , and no discount received.

And thanks for Lu's great hints about "wooden" fish. If i add this on the top of steamed egg, i

suppose it's gonna amaze and surprise my friends. Haha.

flameproof -

Quote:

Most of the westerners I know, including myself, are not particularly keen on bony things, so

anything that doesn't contain bones is a good start.

There are exceptions. Larger bones are OK (spare ribs), T-bones etc. A nice spring chicken is nice

too. Fish is another issue, it needs eating skills, otherwise it may turn to a bony mess. Since at

a Chinese dinner at least one person has no fish eating skill it's usually a bony mess.

People in China usually have near zero knowledge of foreign food. They think it's just burgers all

day outside of China. And frankly, if they have eaten western food it may confirm there prejudice

since it's usually really bad in China.

To give them a positive experience you have to use a little trick. If you cook for Chinese, never

tell them it's a dish from *** (fill in your country). Tell them it's from Heilongjiang. If a

person is from there, tell them is from near the Russian border. Or tell them it's from Qinghai,

no Chinese person has ever been to Qinghai, or use Yunnan.

Since they now think it's Chinese they will like it. After the dinner you can tell them that there

is a similar dish in your country too. Trust me, it works.

imron -

Haha, that's a great trick

gougou -

Not sure whether Qinghai'd work for mussels and fries, though

imron -

Quote:

Not sure whether Qinghai'd work for mussels and fries, though

Then swap it for a coastal city like Qingdao or Qinhuangdao.

Actually we used to get pretty decent fries where I used to live in Qinhuangdao. The name is

pretty self-explanatory, so if you asked for 炸土豆条 in any restaurant they could usually

make it without any trouble even if it wasn't on the menu.

Some restaurants there could also do pretty mean calamari rings (炸鱿鱼圈).

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