It has been a crazy week.

Now that my tour of Shanghai, Nanjing, and Yangzhou is over, I can take a moment to reflect back on what I’ve seen, felt, and… eaten. Naturally.

My first afternoon in China was spent in Shanghai with my mother’s cousins. They took us to a fancy-schmancy Schezwan (read: not for the faint of heart) restaurant for lunch.

The food was weird, even for me, and I count chicken feet as regular brunch fare. It was a satisfying meal, but let me say I paid for it dearly later that night. I’ll leave it at that.  

We had frog stew:

Check out all those peppers. The little brown peppercorns have a peculiar brand of spicyness that leaves the mouth feeling numb.

We also had catfish poached in hot oil, not one of Mom’s favorites. She thought it was soup.

And, gratefully, some vegetables. Here is a green that Mom insists can’t be found in America, but we’ll just call them pea leaves (cause that’s what they tasted like to me:)

And cold eggplant with green chilis:

Surprisingly, not at all spicy. Tender, acidic, new. Probably my favorite of the spread. But that could just be the eggplant-phile in me talking.

The trip is nearly over (I should be packing at this very moment), but there’s lots more to come, much to mull over during the 12 hour flight.

Like the glorious dim sum I had this morning. Sigh.

– Angela M.