Hi everyone,
I am back from China, I have news, photos, insights, and other items that you may find useful. They will be coming in over the next few days as I get everything organized.
Sunday, April 1, 2007
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
Arrived in china
It is a hassle using blogger in china, not only because of the differences in languages (it compels you to use the Chinese format) but also I think the government puts filters on everything coming through especially Google traffic (blogs and gmail). Photos will be forthcoming, stories will be emanating, and a good blog shall be had by all.
Monday, March 5, 2007
I am leaving for China tomorrow
I just wanted to give the heads up, that I am leaving for Beijing tomorrow. I will be sure to share pictures and stories.
Saturday, March 3, 2007
Revolutionary Recipe
I wanted to share a story I heard on NPR earlier this weekend. It includes a recipe for jiachang doufu, homestyle tofu, which is one of my favorite Sichuan dishes. It is hard to convey on a blog , how good this smells but the sound of sizzling Chinese food is the next best thing.
Thursday, March 1, 2007
Chinese minorities
I thought I would share this link. It contains all the various minorities that exist in China. Most Americans think of Chinese as primarily Han (the people that probably make your chop suey), even though China is much more diverse, especially in the Western and Southern areas of the country. They have extremely tasty food, and I thought I should share a list of them with you.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Weight-Loss and Chinese cuisine
Many people are interested in food for different reasons. The book "French women don't get fat" has become a bestseller for many reasons ( I hear it is a great book) but it resonates with women's two desires to be thin and have the romantic social experience that accompanies it (I know it sounds sexist but oh well). With all respect to the French, they do get fat.
Frankly, if you want to copy those who are thin, you must go to Asia, more specifically China. Though Chinese are getting bigger(taller, fatter), it is largely because of McDonald's entry, the growth of soda consumptio and automobile consumption, Chinese are still quite thin. How is this? Chinese food is so good and when they serve it they serve a lot at a time, it would make sense that Chinese would be a very large people.
Why is Chinese food good for losing weight? Chinese food etiquette. Etiquette is one of the reasons that western dining is not conducive for losing weight, Chinese meals are more social. For those who have spent time in an authentic Chinese restaurant, food is placed on the lazy susan and then distributed among the diners. So your dining experience takes place at a round table to everyone is facing everyone else. Therefore, the eating process takes place over the food and the conversation is potentially multi-directional. Therefore, unlike western food (including the French) you do not have the option of digging your face into your food and shutting out others while you eat. If you want to eat you are forced to interact with those around you meaning you chew, then you talk, then you take your next bite. If you have especially interesting dinner companions, then it makes it much more likely that you will speak more than you eat.
Second, the nature of Chinese eating compels sensible portions. Chopsticks may not be the most effective eating utensil, but they do compel you to eat in small bite-sized portions. This is especially true if you are not terribly familiar with how to use them. With a knife and fork, you cut up steaks with extreme ease because they are extremely efficient tools. Therefore, you can stuff yourself with a buttered baked potato with a large rib-eye before your body even realizes you are full, needless to say your waiter will ask you if you want desert soon after you are finished, further piling on the waistline before your body even figures out what happened.
Thirdly, where we are going, Sichuan, is known for its spicy food. Spicy food supposedly speeds up your metabolic rate (the rate at which your body burns calories.) Whether spicy food does or not, it does usually mean you will have to slow down your eating to deal with the increased spiciness. I will share with you all the photos from our travels and the appearances of foods here in Sichuan. If you want to lose weight, I would suggest that you start eating Asian.
Frankly, if you want to copy those who are thin, you must go to Asia, more specifically China. Though Chinese are getting bigger(taller, fatter), it is largely because of McDonald's entry, the growth of soda consumptio and automobile consumption, Chinese are still quite thin. How is this? Chinese food is so good and when they serve it they serve a lot at a time, it would make sense that Chinese would be a very large people.
Why is Chinese food good for losing weight? Chinese food etiquette. Etiquette is one of the reasons that western dining is not conducive for losing weight, Chinese meals are more social. For those who have spent time in an authentic Chinese restaurant, food is placed on the lazy susan and then distributed among the diners. So your dining experience takes place at a round table to everyone is facing everyone else. Therefore, the eating process takes place over the food and the conversation is potentially multi-directional. Therefore, unlike western food (including the French) you do not have the option of digging your face into your food and shutting out others while you eat. If you want to eat you are forced to interact with those around you meaning you chew, then you talk, then you take your next bite. If you have especially interesting dinner companions, then it makes it much more likely that you will speak more than you eat.
Second, the nature of Chinese eating compels sensible portions. Chopsticks may not be the most effective eating utensil, but they do compel you to eat in small bite-sized portions. This is especially true if you are not terribly familiar with how to use them. With a knife and fork, you cut up steaks with extreme ease because they are extremely efficient tools. Therefore, you can stuff yourself with a buttered baked potato with a large rib-eye before your body even realizes you are full, needless to say your waiter will ask you if you want desert soon after you are finished, further piling on the waistline before your body even figures out what happened.
Thirdly, where we are going, Sichuan, is known for its spicy food. Spicy food supposedly speeds up your metabolic rate (the rate at which your body burns calories.) Whether spicy food does or not, it does usually mean you will have to slow down your eating to deal with the increased spiciness. I will share with you all the photos from our travels and the appearances of foods here in Sichuan. If you want to lose weight, I would suggest that you start eating Asian.
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Another fun link
I thought this was a fun link to all the poorly translated english you may find in China.
http://www.rahoi.com
http://www.rahoi.com
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