The cucumber dish shown above is a classic Chinese appetizer. It’s also one of the few dishes in Chinese cuisine that serves raw vegetables. The cucumbers pieces are mixed with oil, garlic, salt, and red peppers that when combined turn out really tasty.

To make this dish you’ll need:

1-2 cucumbers
2 cloves minced garlic
2 tsps salt
1tbsp oil
1 tsps sesame oil
2 chopped spicy peppers

Cut the cucumbers into pieces then crush them slightly to release the juices. I recommend crushing the cucumber by turning the knife on it’s side on the cucumber pieces and press down firmly with your palm (crushing the cucumber is key to the success of this dish). Add the cucumber, garlic, oil, sesame oil, salt, and peppers to a bowl and stir. You can chill it in the refrigerator or serve immediately.

Soy Beans have a long and complex history with humans dating back to at least 5000 years. Great leaders and scientists alike recognized soy beans as important for not only their food value, but also for their industrial value. Soy beans became a staple crop of American agriculture only after a big push during the Great Depression that saw Henry Ford capitalizing on the industrial uses of soy beans to the tune of two bushels of beans in each and every car coming off the assembly line.

This edamame pictured above was boiled water and Chinese rice wine. It’s a simple food that is almost too simple. The beans are just beans, but the rice wine adds a little tang. Manipulating your chopsticks and sucking out the beans is entertaining and serves as a nice healthy way to start a meal.

It’s also good to remember that this dish compliments a nice cold beer perfectly.

Snow peas have been cultivated for over 12,000 years, originating first in near Thailand and now found worldwide. They are an early spring vegetable that signifies the end of winter. Legumes, snow peas included, release nitrogen into the soil by hosting beneficial bacteria. This excess nitrogen is great for leafy green vegetables so peas, snow peas, and related veggies are often grown intermixed with them.

In Chinese cuisine not only are the unripened peas eaten as is common in the west, but the young sprouts and tender leafy materials are also eaten. The sprouts are called “豆苗“ dòumiáo and can be eaten just like spinach or lettuce

The snow peas above were julienned along with some bell peppers. Then lightly sauted in sesame oil and served cold. The dish was crisp and refreshing. The nutty flavors of the sesame oil were pronounced but tempered by the sweetness from the veggies.

Chinese food provides an ample selection of vegetarian appetizers, so you will certainly be able to find something you like. Snow peas aren’t always my favorite thing, but from time to time this dish is a nice way to start a meal.

This dish is so easy to make, it can hardly be called cooking, but the dish can still be good. It’s simply pork loin that’s been cooked, sliced thin and served cold. The sauce is sesame oil, minced garlic and loads of salt. With this dish you are able to get a hefty dose of meat before the real meal even arrives. I think it’s best when the meat is very cold, then i drench it in the sauce and enjoy, I recommend you do the same.

Often used in soups and cooked with other foods, the Enoki above are served alone covered in sesame oil, salt, and spring onions. Cooked first, and then dished out cold as an appetizer the mushrooms are pretty mild tasting, but a little string. The bulk of the flavor comes from the sesame oil with a slight assist by the salt and spring onions. You’ll find this dish widely available and it goes great with beer.

This dish is a small step into the more bizarre side of Chinese food. Leaf tripe is mild flavored and chewy textured. The chopped cilantro, ginger, and onions are refreshing and even a bit spicy. On the whole, this is a dish I eat on occasion (and enjoy) and is something I can recommend as an excellent choice if you aren’t sure how you’ll like internal organs.

I was also surprised to learn that rice noodles, made primarily from rice flour, can actually be concocted in your home even though it might take a fair bit of effort as the author of this recipe mentions.

Rice noodle rolls are primarily a Cantonese dish which means they come from Southern China and every time I’ve had them they’ve been served in soy sauce. These rolls were filled with Shepherd’s purse, bamboo, and shrimp, but actually there really weren’t enough shrimp. More shrimp, less noodle, and a different vegetable were all needed to make these rolls good which is unfortunate because this is a dish I usually like and don’t often get to eat.

Rutabaga has a long history in European cuisine and makes appearances in many traditional dishes, but in China it is rarely used and even less often used fresh. The dish pictured above uses sweet pickled rutabaga that’s been julienned and tossed with supple amounts of cilantro and mixed with peanuts and sugar in a vinegar sauce.

Served as an appetizer at Chinese restaurants throughout the city, it provides an opportunity to eat a bit and drink beer in the process, pleasing even vegetarians. The rutabaga is a little sour but sweetened thanks to the sugar in the dish, in fact sometimes the sugar is overbearing, but popping an extra peanut in the mouth can take care of that. Of course a big part of this dish is the cilantro, which can be a galvanizing ingredient, either endearing people to the dish immediately, or inspiring disgust at first sight so be sure to use care when ordering, but otherwise enjoy and experience.

The beans are the most recognizable, but the sprouts are common throughout China and can even be found in the US. In addition, the beans can be made into a starch which is in-turn used to make cellophane noodles, or glass noodles.

In 2004 it was discovered that some of these noodles from Shangdong province, where traditionally glass noodles are manufactured, were contaminated with lead leading to several factories closing down. Then in 2006 the noodles were found to contain formaldehyde and additional factories have been shuttered. Let’s hope that the noodle industry has become more responsible since 2006.

This dish lives and dies by the sauce. A nice balance of sweet and spicy coupled with the unusually soft texture of the noodles that are served cold while the sauce is served hot can develop into a relaxing stroll for your taste buds unless of course an overabundance of oil drowns the life out of the dish. Unfortunately this dish was drowning in oil that could have been easily reduced without damaging the sanctity of the dish.

Mung beans are used all over Asia primarily for desserts, but the noodles made from the bean starch are used in all manner of dishes. Glass noodles are most popular in the summer months and can even be purchased from vendors on the streets of Shanghai. When you are eating Chinese give these noodles a try and think about all that great potassium and phosphorous.

Calcium Oxide, also know as quicklime is used as in mortar, in the production of glass, as a fertilizer, and it has even been used as a weapon. It is a strong base that reacts with water and can cause extreme irritation and burns if exposed to it. It also happens to be a key ingredient in the production a few types of food including corn hominy, tortilla dough, and Chinese preserved eggs.

Chinese preserved eggs, more commonly called century eggs, or thousand year eggs are created by coating a regular egg in a clay, wood ash, quicklime, and salt mixture. After coating the egg in the clay mixture they are allowed to cure for three months before they are ready to eat, the process has changed very little in the five centuries since it’s discovery.

In Thailand and Laos these eggs are commonly called horse urine eggs, which is probably one reason for the frequent myth that these eggs used to be produced by soaking them in horse urine. More likely this myth and the name came about because century eggs have an intense ammonia and sulphur odor.

The aging process allows the quicklime to transform proteins in the egg turning the egg whites into a brown translucent jelly that often contains crystalline like patterns, while the egg yolk takes on the bulk of the ammonia and sulphur flavors while turning green and adopts a creamy texture.

The appetizer pictured above is found in many Chinese cuisines and is readily available at restaurants. The silken tofu is often chilled and sliced or cubed. The century egg is then cut and placed on top. Soy sauce mixed with sesame oil and in this case pepper oil is drizzled on top and further enhanced with a liberal helping of cilantro. I enjoy the tofu and soy sauce mixture in this dish but I often find the century eggs a little overwhelming. The ammonia and sulphur never sit right with me and I choose to avoid the bulk of the eggs.

If you are in Shanghai or China for any significant amount of time you will undoubtedly be exposed to this dish. The concept of aged eggs has always been a bit strange and off-putting to me, but everybody has different tastes and I didn’t hesitate to give this dish a try. Once I figured out century eggs weren’t for me I avoided them easily enough and stuck to just the tofu.

Found throughout Asia, when you are visiting China or some place nearby be sure to try this dish. Even if it’s not something you’d go back for second servings on, it’s an adventure and a story to take back with you. Besides you might find that you like it.

Wheat is primarily composed of wheat gluten and wheat starch. Separated from the starch by rinsing in cold water, the gluten contains 80% of the wheat’s protein. Gluten is responsible for the chewiness found in bagels and other baked goods.

Throughout China and Japan and more recently into the Western world, wheat gluten, know also as seitan, is used in the creation of vegetarian foods and particularly vegetarian meat. In China wheat gluten is commonly fried, steamed, or baked resulting in widely varying textures and shapes.

Kǎo fū (烤麸）as shown in the dish above is a baked version of wheat gluten that is first leavened (most likely using baking powder) and then baked or steamed. The wheat gluten takes on a spongy texture littered with air bubbles. The sauce in this dish is made using sugar, soy sauce, and star anise. Boiled peanuts cloud ear mushrooms and shitake mushrooms are then added to the mix to make this Shanghai appetizer. Here’s a recipe to try at home.

Often served warm, but just as likely to be served cold or at room temperature, the wheat gluten cubes absorb the sauces during the cooking process. The spongy texture is unique but not off putting, and when combined with the soft mushrooms and slightly crunchy peanuts a whole array of textures serve to stimulate the mouth. When the dish is served warm, the sweetness explodes, but when served cold the flavors are more subdued. Think of it as the difference between eating warm chocolate cake and eating chilled chocolate cake, both are good but in different ways.

This is a great dish for kids, and those with a sweet tooth. Appealing to a wide audience, especially a Western audience, this makes for a great appetizer when finicky eaters are likely.

Sometimes eating is an adventure and other times adventure isn’t really what’s called for. On those less adventurous days consider this dish as an option. Enjoy.

Humans have two kidneys located on the left and right side of the spine fairly low in the abdomen. Male kidneys are slightly larger than a females and the left kidney is generally larger than the right. Kidneys secrete hormones, play a significant role in the regulation of blood pressure, and remove waste from the body in the form of urine.

Unfortunately, pig kidneys cannot be transplanted into humans, so many of them end up in rendering plants and are turned into fertilizers or fuels. However, some pig kidneys are eaten as offal by cultures throughout the world even though they are high in purines which may increase the risk of gout.

Pig kidneys are commonly eaten throughout all of China. This dish comes from a restaurant specializing in Xi’an food (located in northwest China). There is a lot going on in this dish. From the picture you can see cloud ear mushrooms, red peppers, onions, green peppers, and of course kidney. Like many Chinese dishes garlic and ginger were both used along with soy sauce, sugar and salt.

The dish is spicy and the mixture of ingredients produces a great flavor. The food had a chance to absorb the sweet and savory sauce while cooking, and now the sauce can fade away and let the food shine. Kidney has a unique shape that reminds me of a sea anemone and a unique texture that reminds me of the squeaky feeling of cheese curd. As for the taste of kidney I am reminded of liver but a more mild and less gamey version while the shape allows it to pick up pleasant flavors from the sauce.

Chinese food can be delicious and it can also be bizarre. This dish is both. Sometimes it is worth while to go out on a limb and try something out of the ordinary. Many people may be turned off just by the thought of eating kidney, but try to overcome those preconceived and often warrantless judgements until you’ve had the opportunity to try for yourself. Remember eating should be fun and adventurous and sometimes even a little bizarre, so what are you waiting for, get out there and try it.

There are over a dozen different kinds of jelly fungus and most of them are edible, a few of them are delicacies, and a few of them are commonly found in dishes throughout Asia.  Jelly fungi have earned their name because they have the consistency of jelly or something a bit more rubbery.

Cloud ear fungus and wood ear fungus are two closely related types of jelly fungus that are commonly seen in Asian food.  Their names come from the fact that without too much imagination they look very much like clouds or ears.  They are found in forests throughout Asia and much of the world growing on a variety of trees and are often found attached to Mango, Kapok and Elder trees.  Recently scientists have discovered that they have some blood thinning/anti-coagulating properties, Chinese medicine has been using them for hundreds of years for those same properties.

Snow fungus looks very similar to cloud ear/wood ear fungus with the exception that it is white or translucent.  However it is an entirely different species of mushroom that can be found throughout most of the subtropical world growing on a variety of hardwood trees.

Cloud ear/wood ear and snow fungus are generally sold dried in supermarkets throughout China.  They can be soaked in water for a few hours at which point they retake their former shape and texture.  They are mostly tasteless absorbing the flavors of the food they are cooked in.  Traditionally snow fungus is used in sweet dishes and the others are used in savory dishes.

The dish pictured above was served as an appetizer.  The mushrooms were tossed in a wasabi, vinegar and oil mixture with julienned strips of carrot, cabbage, cilantro and Chinese radish.  It wasn’t spicy as the name implies, rather it was tangy, the wasabi was very mild and I give credit to the chef for knowing how to balance the flavors nicely.  The small cloud ear mushrooms were delicate and crispy and the added vegetables provided flavors and textures that really benefited the dish.  I especially noticed that the sweetness from the carrots brought the flavors to the next level.  I’ve had this same dish at other restaurants and hot peppers were used as a substitute for the wasabi, personally I enjoyed the wasabi as it is so rarely used in Chinese cooking, but both variations are pleasant.

This dish can be found at various restaurants around the city, it is almost always available at higher end restaurants, but can also be found frequently at more reasonably priced establishments.

Sometimes a name is strong enough to make a dish unappealing, and this dish is a prime example of a unique treat on a Chinese menu that might be passed over simply because of it’s name.  So take a moment to forget the name and venture just a bit into the unknown with this dish.  Enjoy it, Devour it.

Salt curing meats involves rubbing salt on, or soaking the meat in a salt brine and then allowing the meat to dry. The salt helps to destroy any bacteria that may turn the meat rancid and assists in drawing out the moisture thereby speeding up the drying process. Salt curing has been used for centuries and was the primary means of preserving foods prior to refrigeration. Heat can speed the curing process while both sugar and smoke can be used to reduce the need for excessive salt.

Salt curing of meats is still popular in China, even in modern Shanghai. The need for cool temperatures during the curing process means that cured meats are typically a seasonal food that is widely available during the winter months, but in Shanghai they can be had for a price any time of the year.

It’s a common site during the winter months to see fish or duck or even pork hanging outside restaurants, people’s homes, and wet markets slowly drying. The picture above is a great example of some fish drying outside a market.

The dish I recently had that prompted this post is called mán xiāng (鳗香). It’s exclusively found in Shanghai and surrounding areas and due to the fact that it’s a cold cured fish it’s only widely available in the winter months. It’s quite often found at dinner tables during Chinese New Year.

The dish isn’t actually a fish at all, it’s a type of eel found in the tide waters around Shanghai. The eel is wildly popular in Shanghai and it can be seen at nearly every fresh food market in the city. On average it is about three feet long and 6-10 inches in diameter.

Dried eel as it turns out is a great appetizer. The eel is served in small pieces and a small bowl of vinegar usually accompanies it as a dipping sauce as the salt and vinegar play off each other nicely. The eel tastes just like dried fish, and if you didn’t know any better you would likely assume that it was simply dried fish. In typical authentic Chinese food fashion the bones haven’t been removed before serving so a bit of caution is necessary when enjoying.

Eel usually isn’t a dish that I would order for myself, but this dried fish like version suits my taste buds just fine. It’s a rather special dish that you’ll only find in Shanghai and you’ll only find it during the winter months so if you are at a Shanghainese food restaurant in the winter make an effort to seek this dish out because it’s a real treat.

Something a bit different today. A little Dim Sum. Dim Sum as Americans know it, is more of a Cantonese style food. Dim Sum is essentially the Chinese equivalent to finger food and it’s usually eaten while drinking tea. Lots of time the dishes are sweet and dessert like in nature, although that’s obviously not always the case.

These steamed dumplings are filled with a mixture of pork and crab meat (which means they are salty/savory rather than sweet). I’m not usually one for liking crab, but I do like Dim Sum. Since I don’t much care for crab I couldn’t say I loved the taste of these little dumplings. The crab flavor was quite strong, the outer noodle shell was nice, not too chewy, yet it didn’t just fall apart. And the little orange red things on top were just for looks essentially.

I’d definitely recommend trying some Dim Sum while your in China, there are tons of options available. For me I won’t be getting these crab dumplings again, but hey if you enjoy crab, more power to you.

Sorry for the strangely colored picture, the dish looks much better in real life. This is one time where the beef in China isn’t so bad. In general the beef dishes suffer from extremely poor quality beef that has been soaked in far too much tenderizer which I’ve complained about before.

This dish on the other hand contains decent quality meat that is fairly lean and not too chewy. It’s a spicy appetizer that feels very fresh on the tongue. The spiciness real bites at your mouth, but the cilantro just makes it feel so nice and clean. The peanuts add a little crunchiness and manage to mask the spiciness.

This is really a great way to open up a meal. The explosive pepper flavors open up your eyes and really get you craving relief from what is to come, yet all that meat feels so good in the mouth you’ve got to keep going back for more.

A common street food in Shanghai that you may not be able to see, but you can certainly smell from a mile away. The premise behind the dish is that the tofu has been aged much like say brie cheese. The moldy tofu is then deep fried and served. Dipping sauce, almost always spicy and often times sweet is provided. When served on the street it cost a couple of Kuai for about four pieces, restaurants are of course more expensive.

The key to this dish lies in the name though, because it is stinky, stinky and nasty smelling is more accurate. Think rotting gym socks, or boiling sewage, or very strong well aged cheese. If you aren’t careful and can ruin your appetite. Shanghai locals rave over the stuff, in my opinion it’s just OK. If you are in Shanghai it’s a must at least once, but eat it fast and then get it off the table so you can enjoy the rest of your meal.

Startling in its appearance I was surprised that this dish actually tasted not bad. Warning bells usually go off in my head when people start talking about eating internal organs, but I’ll give most things a try. The meat was actually served chilled, not just room temperature and soy sauce was provided for dipping. The meat was tender albeit the texture was a bit odd, but it tasted clean, a little like ham but definitely not overwhelming. I kept going back for more throughout the meal as it provided some nice contrast to the other dishes. I can’t say I’d recommend it, but I wouldn’t avoid it either.

Peanuts a simple food, yet add some spicy oil and a dash of dried fish and you’ve created a rather tasty Chinese appetizer. The spicy oil added most of the flavor and I’d swear they mixed in a fair bit of white pepper that really livened up the first dish on the table. The peanuts were roasted till they were crunchier than normal which I’ve become a fond of. As with any dish involving lots of peanuts it always goes better with beer and I think that is doubly true for this one since you’ll want something to quench that burning sensation tingling your mouth alive.

A classic Shanghainese style dish. Tofu, and a green vegetable minced together, throw in a bit of sesame oil, and presto, a pretty decent vegetarian dish is created.

Every time I’ve had this it’s always been served cold, and is one of the first things out on the table. Also most of the time they serve it molded into some shape, either a cup or some fancy bowl.

It’s quite a kick to actually watch somebody mince vegetables. I’ve often seen young chefs standing outside of a restaurant with a big plastic bowl full of vegetables and two butcher knifes just whacking away at the vegetables in the bowl. Seems to work better than a blender, lol.

Oh ya BTW, this is one of the few vegetables I haven’t figured out the English name for. It’s something that’s native to Shanghai, but that’s about everything I know about it.