Me in ChinkyLand - Battle of the ChopSticks

We all know that the sumptuous Chinese Fried Rice and the Noodles are pretty famous all over the world and more so in India. You would find Chinese food being served at an exotic restaurant of a star hotel to a roadside cart stall, where Noodles may be spelt as “Nudils”!!!.

I have been to quite some Chinese restaurants in Bangalore like Three Quarter Chinese, Rice Bowl, Shogun, China Pearl etc. However, I never ate with Chop Sticks. Rice was eaten with Spoon and the Noodles were nicely twirled using a fork. Little did I know it would not work as easy in China!!!

When I left for China, I was quite apprehensive as to what I would eat there as I am an eggeterian. We all know that Chinese can gulp almost ANYTHING down their throat. Hence, I made quite some preparations before traveling. I had purchased MTR food packets, packed Amma’s Puliyogare Gojju and Home made mixture. Nevertheless, for a foodie like me who loves to taste various types of dishes and experiment with the taste buds, this type of packet food would never help. I knew that!!!

I vividly remember the very first meal in China. Just 3 of us, Andy, Seng and me, met for lunch as the others were off for Chinese New Year vacations. I told them that I am an eggeterian. They were very courteous and always customized my order to be vegetarian. As they knew the restaurant staff very well, they ensured that I got only eggeterian food. My first order was a vermicelli dish which came with the chopsticks!!! This was like giving a heron a plate to eat from!!! I struggled with the chopsticks for sometime and later admitted that I do not how to use the chopsticks. Quickly learnt to ask for teaspoon (chá chí) or “fork and spoon”(dāo chā). The hotel staff always ended up giving me a soup spoon. But something is better than nothing. I was ready to eat even with my hands, in the Indian ishtyle!!!

I usually never give up quite easily. So, I flicked a pair of “use and throw” wooden chopsticks and smuggled it to my hotel room. That night, I heated up the MTR packet containing Bisi Bele Baath. Now, the actual fun started. This Bisi Bele Baath became my victim for the first chop sticks practice session. Heck!! How much ever I tried, not more than one grain of rice could be picked. I remember feeding more to my blue T-Shirt than my mouth :D

Rice is always served in bowls in China. Chinese hold these bowls close to their mouth with the left hand and quickly transfer the rice from the bowl to the mouth using their extremely dexterous right hands. Couple of days later, I was helped by my colleagues, to use a combination of spoon and the chopsticks. It goes like this:

1. Hold the Chopsticks in the right hand
2. Hold the spoon in the left hand
3. Pick the rice with the chopsticks and transfer to the spoon
4. Repeat step 3 till the spoon gets filled.
5. Then transfer the food from the spoon to the mouth!!!!

Huh!!! I was thinking why I cannot jump to step 5 directly :D Any case, this circus was quite interesting and helped me learn to move my fingers in such a way that I was comfortable with the chopsticks. Few days later, I was eating with the chopsticks. Yippeeee!!!

Chinese food is all about vibrant colors, repertoire of dishes and elegant presentation. Dishes were served on a “Lazy Susan” in most places I dined. Food is placed on the moving counter of the Lazy Susan and people sitting around the table turn it to get their favorite dish. The food is so beautifully presented. Especially, the fruit plate which is served at the end of the meal. The presentations were in the form of a peacock, a rooster, a rainbow. Wow!! Unfortunately I do not have snaps of these :( . Flicked the following from our dear internet.

Lunch and dinner started off with a pot of green herbal tea, no sugar no milk. And a common bowl of roasted peanuts. With my newly acquired knowledge of using the chopsticks, I carefully picked up the roasted peanuts and I was caringly applauded by my colleagues. I devoured dishes made out of Tofu (something like Panneer), tomato, eggs, eggplant and a bowl of extremely tasty rice everyday.

There were dishes in the menu like “Ox Tail Soup”, “Fresh Frog cooked in Fresh Lotus Leaf”!! I have seen how a dish made out of a frog or eel looks. Frog dishes look almost like chicken dishes!! I have heard that it tastes similar too. Frog Sauce is a prime ingredient of most chocolates!! I once casually enquired, if there is anything that the Chinese do not eat and phut came the answer “Humans”!!!

When I started to China, I thought I would accomplish my ever postponed goal of reducing some pounds. Opposed to that, I added some more pounds to myself :D More than the pomp with which the food was presented and consumed, what touched me was the warmth with which the food was served by the ever-smiling stewardesses. I felt at home though we always conversed in terms of smiles and nods. In Hindi, Chinese are referred to as “Cheeni” and even sugar is referred to as “Cheeni”. Sometimes, I wonder if Chinese got their name as they are as sweet as sugar ;-)

Signing off!!

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