京酱肉丝 Pork in Beijing Sweet Sauce

Pinyin: Jīng Jiàng Ròu Sī

This dish is practically made for fresh-off-the-boat Westerners. It's sweet and has a nice juicy sauce, the meat is just meat and isn't from strange parts of the pig's body, and the meat is sitting atop some pretty benign shallots.

However, on a regular basis, or even irregular basis I can't be eating this dish too often. It really is too sweet for my Chinese adjusted palate. I ended up eating most of the shallots and just a little of the meat.

To get an idea of what this dish tastes like, think Beijing Duck, just the poor man's version, pork no duck. That's basically what this amounts to, the taste is almost identical to Beijing Duck, without the duck, and without the funny little tortilla shells to wrap everything in.

香菜云丝 Tofu Skin with Cilantro

Pinyin: Xiāng Cài Yún Sī

Sesame oil is one of those things that can make or break a dish with just a drop or two. It's amazingly potent stuff and should be used with caution. But damn when you mix it with Cilantro it just becomes friggin great.

The cilantro sort of balances out the sesame oil and then the tofu skin adds the substance. Since I've never seen tofu skin in America the closest thing I can relate it to would possibly be a crepe.

Oh ya this is an appetizer, and it's neither served hot or cold, just sort of room temperature, and it's vegetarian, and it's got tofu in it, so it's "gasp" healthy for you.

XO酱炒螺片 Spiral Snails with Broccoli

Pinyin: jiàng chǎo luó piàn

Classifying this as seafood is a stretch cause the snails actually come from the river, and calling them spiral snails is quite a stretch as well. In actuality I don't know what it really is. It's certainly a snail like creature, I'm pretty sure it has a spiral shell, and it's pretty damn big.

So often I haven't a damn clue what I'm sticking in my mouth over here. I would say that eighty percent of the time I'm able to figure out what it is with a fair bit of certainty. But then there is that other twenty percent where you just aren't sure. The waitress might say it's meat, but that's about as much detail as she'll divulge. Then there are those times where you don't want to ask questions cause you are afraid of the answer.

Is it better to know, or is it better to remain blissfully ignorant?

咸鸡 Salted Chicken

Pinyin: Xián Jī

I started chomping down on this dish when my friend asked me what I thought of it. Before I could answer he piped in and said he thought it was pretty good.

After I managed to spit out a few of the bones I told him I thought it was good, but just a bit salty. He threw up this face that just screamed, stupid boy, and said uh ya it's called salty chicken.

Doh!

Well how was I supposed to know it was supposed to be salty. Anyway that is OK as an American I like salty food. I could do without the chunks and splinters and bone fragments throughout the chicken, but such is life in China.

芒果豆腐花 Tofu and Mango Soup

Pinyin: Máng Guǒ Dòu Fū Huā

You know what tofu tastes like right, OK now imagine that and simply add half a fresh mango and some mango juice. Chill the whole thing and this is what you get.

It's a pretty decent dessert, it's not too sweet, almost fresh and light you could say. It is a bit strange to be eating tofu for dessert and it's really a very liquid form of tofu which makes it even a bit stranger.

I always say it is hard to go wrong with mangoes though and if you are a fan of tofu you'll be loving this stuff. For the rest of you out there, the non-tofu loving bunch, you might want to reconsider.

芒果布丁 Mango Pudding

Pinyin: Máng Guǒ Bù Dīng

Who can say no to mangoes? I certainly can't and this mango pudding is mighty fine.

It might not be an entirely Chinese dish, it is however quite common in Shanghai, particularly at the Hong Kong style dessert shops.

It is served chilled and comes with a bit of sweet cream that can be poured over the top. The real chunks of mangoes give it that authentic feel. I highly recommend giving this dessert at least one try.

韭菜螺蛳肉 Stir Fried Leek with Snails

Pinyin: Jiǔ Cài Luó Sī Ròu

It's hard to recommend snails to anyone. There's too much American left in me, but honestly they aren't that bad. In reality they don't have a strong flavor to them. If you didn't know better you could mistake them for mushrooms.

Leeks are sort of strange to just eat as is. Like the snails they don't have a strong flavor about them, but they are a little stringy in nature.

So this is a basic dish, simply leeks and snails stir fried together in oil with a little ginger, salt, and maybe some garlic.