I've been missing out

Clearly, if this is what "deep braised pork intestines" are truly like: a tightly rolled crepe cut into bite sized pieces, deep-fried and then soaked in a salty-sweet sauce? Can anyone verify this for me? I'm still hoping to make it back to the Yu Quan vegetarian restaurant for a full hairy crab, whole roasted chicken and various eel and tripe fineries.

I can come home now

Because, honestly, I've accomplished the only thing that mattered to me in China. After school, I came home to discover that host mom had prepped vegetarian dumpling filling (Chinese leeks, mushrooms, egg, ginger). This was all new to her, and she had to repeatedly check in with host sister's boyfriend about what would go into a vegetarian dumpling in the days previous. She also couldn't help herself but talk about how meat dumplings are "better" and "the best". Anyway, here glimpse the process and the host mom. I seriously schooled her with my dumpling folding. Look how pretty they are! and they were f*ing delicious, with the cilantro, scallion, soy sauce, ginger, chili oil sauce that we smothered them in. I got the leftovers for breakfast. Have I mentioned that the dog eats a portion of exactly what we eat for dinner? it's absolutely shameless.

would the combination prove more than the sum of its parts?

The other day my host sister came home raving about a dish that she had tried at a restaurant that was tofu cooked in milk. She was incredulous: ''If I hadn't gone out to eat how would I have known about this interesting and delicious dish?" So host mom promised to give it a try, but it tasted just exactly like it sounds like.

out to eat

When my host sister and her boyfriend showed up unexpectedly for dinner, host mom was embarrassed that she didn't have enough to feed everyone, so we went out to a restaurant down the street. This is my dream come true, because I get to try a hundred different things that I wouldn't even begin to know how to order.

First (in lower left - and this picture is sideways, sorry), was the very thinly shredded potatoes that were fried to a crisp and topped with a kind of duck-egg chunky sauce. this was ultimate junk food. As was the "Indian Flying Pancake" (aditi?) which was basically a thinly fried bread that had just a hint of banana inside. Awesome. Lastly in this photo series, and the most awesome, was the "ba bao fan" (eight treasure rice), which had a bunch of different sweet things mashed in with glutinous rice and then pan-fried with an egg into a pancake-omelette type food.

not cucumber

I was absolutely starving, and walked for about an hour trying to find somewhere that sold vegetarian dumplings, but they simply aren't done here. I eventually found myself in a below-ground (but open-air) food court that was confusing and scary, and tried to order something that looked like it had cucumbers in it (from the picture board). Instead, the large freedom-fry shaped things are actually the "noodles". I think they are made of rice flour. This wasn't the worst thing in the world, but it didn't have the fiber I was looking for. Everything I eat has been permanently lodged in my gut.

smart jews eat latkes

I ate this Sichuanese latke at the same lunch in which my host mom called Sichuanese people "the jews of china", since they are so smart and can endure hardship. This week host mom, host mom's sister, and even the proprietor of the restaurant enjoyed repeatedly speaking of the intelligence of jews, americans, and exchange students.

this was not delicious

but I thought since it had beans in it, it might count as "nutritious." They take a paper cup and fill it with ice cubes, then dump the ice cubes into an ice grinder. then they top it with about 8 different things, 5 of which must be beans, and then pineapple and watermelon. It would have been okay if they stopped there, but then they drenched it with a sick strawberry syrup. I heard her explain to the man behind me that this treat was "like ice cream." This treat was not like ice cream, especially since I avoided the ice with my first-world sensibilities.