what is there to buy in china/beijing shangai

Markku Grönroos wrote:
"Miguel Cruz" kirjoitti:
American Chinese food is like a completely different cuisine. If I didn't
know they wer eboth called "Chinese food" I would have assumed they were
from countries far apart. I like them both though. Give me the crappiest,
greasiest $3 Harlem wings'n'kung-pao over a $75 meal in Paris any day of
the week (not US Chinese food from the suburbs, though - that's even
worse than northern European food).

There should be nothing wrong with Northern European food. Incredients also
are typically less contaminated than many places elsewhere.

Maybe I wasn't that clear. I think the chance of contracting food poisoning
from northern European food is pretty close to zero. My problem with it is
that it tastes horrible to me.

miguel
--
Hit The Road! Photos from 32 countries on 5 continents: http://travel.u.nu

(I hope my reply doesn't show up twice. My first attempt ended in the
server error.)

You know, I bet if I stay in China 6 more months I'll be fully
acclimated and can eat anything I want without ever getting sick.
Unfortunately I have been in the hygenic US too long (25 years). I
have lost all resistance to these germs that bug me. I am also more
adventurous than I should. My motto is if you can eat it, why can't I?
So I suffer the consequence as a results. My body is very much a
barometer of how clean water is where I travel. I got sick in
Thailand, in Brazil (two out of three trips), and in China (three in
three weeks). I am fine most everywhere else, certainly in western
Europe not to mention the US.

Regarding Chinese food, I don't care too much for the northern cuisine.
Is it a mere coincidence I am of southern geneaology? I remember
years ago I met a Chinese southerner who raised this sentiment
regarding northern dishes that they are mere varieties of dough product
made of fluor. I more or less agree. Peking duck is good. But the
same dish prepared, say in Hong Kong or in Taiwan can be much tastier.
I do not care mush for dishes in Xian either. Xian is another
north-west Chinese city.

Personally I like Jiang-Nan, or "south of the Yantze" cuisines. The
fact the Grand Canal originated in Su-Chow (near Shang-Hai) and ends
somewhere near Beijing should tell you something. Traditionally The
northern Chinese empire rulers relied on the Yang-Tze river basin for
food supply. Matter of fact that is the sole purpose the Gand Canal
was constructed, to ship grain and other food stuff north to the empire
rulers in the north. My favorite city as far as food is concerned is
Hang-Zhou. Of course given this was my first time in China and given
the limited number of cities I visited it didn't say much.

Being born and raised in the south (Taiwan), my favorite cuisine is
Cantonese. Jiang-Zhe (Shang-Hai) cuisines come as a close second.
They are both "south of the Yantze", the traditionally grain stores of
China where food is abundant. I do not care too much for hot cuisines
like Hunan and Sichuan either. That's my bias.

But it is a farcry to compare any of them to the dishes you get in a
typical transplanted Chinese restuarant in say, the US or UK. Some
Chinatowns may have something close to authentic. Problems is you need
to know how to order (read Chinese menu and understand it).

Maybe I wasn't that clear. I think the chance of contracting food
poisoning
from northern European food is pretty close to zero. My problem with it is
that it tastes horrible to me.

miguel

Hi Miguel,

are you still in KL? if you are head down to any Chinese spare parts stall &
have a good helping of it... because, European country food is very very
similar to what Chinese eat. I was in Paris last month... & ate tete de veau
(veal's head) amongst other 'spare parts' type meal for very little money. I
think you just need to know where to eat, like in most countries if you
don't know, you end up eating bad food all the time : (

DC.

In developing countries, street stall food is usually safer than food
in tourist restaurants. You never know about the preparation of
restaurant food, how long the ingredients have been sitting there, if
there was a blackout that made everything spoil, or what the hygiene in
the kitchen was. But at a street stall you know the food is cooked
thoroughly and can make a reasonable judgment about the hygiene of a
particular stall. I've travelled a lot in developing countries and
never gotten sick, and I eat primarily from street stalls. The only
things to avoid from street stalls are (1) raw shellfish, (2) drinks
with ice because you don't know if the ice is from safe water, and (3)
fruits and vegetables that you can't peel or otherwise remove the outer
layer.

On Tue, 21 Dec 2004 21:06:09 +0200, "Markku Grönroos"
wrote:


"Miguel Cruz" kirjoitti viestissä
...

"snip" week (not US Chinese food from the suburbs, though - that's
even worse
than
northern European food).

There should be nothing wrong with Northern European food. Incredients also
are typically less contaminated than many places elsewhere.

Markku, I think you're missing the point. I won;t pretend to speak
for Miguel, but I'm sure he was talking about taste, not quality of
ingredients. I would also second those comments.

John L.

A large fraction of the Chinese restaurants in the US are run by recent
immigrants from Fujian province. They tend to all have similar
suppliers and menus and serve the same generic watered down
Hunan-Cantonese food, but if you live in a city with a large
Chinese-American community like New York or San Francisco you'll have
other options. Avoid Chinatown restaurants, most of which are just
tourist traps with overpriced terrible food, and look for restaurants
in untouristed neighborhoods with large Chinese populations, like
Flushing in New York.

The "Chinese" restaurants in Europe are even worse. Many of them are
run by Vietnamese immigrants, and serve completely bland versions of
the eight or so most common Chinese dishes and often of Thai and
Vietnamese food as well. In London or Paris you have some options, but
the quality of Chinese food in most of Europe is dismal.

A large fraction of the Chinese restaurants in the US are run by recent
immigrants from Fujian province. They tend to all have similar
suppliers and menus and serve the same generic watered down
Hunan-Cantonese food, but if you live in a city with a large
Chinese-American community like New York or San Francisco you'll have
other options. Avoid Chinatown restaurants, most of which are just
tourist traps with overpriced terrible food, and look for restaurants
in untouristed neighborhoods with large Chinese populations, like
Flushing in New York.

The "Chinese" restaurants in Europe are even worse. Many of them are
run by Vietnamese immigrants, and serve completely bland versions of
the eight or so most common Chinese dishes and often of Thai and
Vietnamese food as well. In London or Paris you have some options, but
the quality of Chinese food in most of Europe is dismal.

A large fraction of the Chinese restaurants in the US are run by recent
immigrants from Fujian province. They tend to all have similar
suppliers and menus and serve the same generic watered down
Hunan-Cantonese food, but if you live in a city with a large
Chinese-American community like New York or San Francisco you'll have
other options. Avoid Chinatown restaurants, most of which are just
tourist traps with overpriced terrible food, and look for restaurants
in untouristed neighborhoods with large Chinese populations, like
Flushing in New York.

The "Chinese" restaurants in Europe are even worse. Many of them are
run by Vietnamese immigrants, and serve completely bland versions of
the eight or so most common Chinese dishes and often of Thai and
Vietnamese food as well. In London or Paris you have some options, but
the quality of Chinese food in most of Europe is dismal.

A large fraction of the Chinese restaurants in the US are run by recent
immigrants from Fujian province. They tend to all have similar
suppliers and menus and serve the same generic watered down
Hunan-Cantonese food, but if you live in a city with a large
Chinese-American community like New York or San Francisco you'll have
other options. Avoid Chinatown restaurants, most of which are just
tourist traps with overpriced terrible food, and look for restaurants
in untouristed neighborhoods with large Chinese populations, like
Flushing in New York.

The "Chinese" restaurants in Europe are even worse. Many of them are
run by Vietnamese immigrants, and serve completely bland versions of
the eight or so most common Chinese dishes and often of Thai and
Vietnamese food as well. In London or Paris you have some options, but
the quality of Chinese food in most of Europe is dismal.

On 21 Dec 2004 18:05:44 -0800, the renowned wrote:

A large fraction of the Chinese restaurants in the US are run by recent
immigrants from Fujian province. They tend to all have similar
suppliers and menus and serve the same generic watered down
Hunan-Cantonese food, but if you live in a city with a large
Chinese-American community like New York or San Francisco you'll have
other options. Avoid Chinatown restaurants, most of which are just
tourist traps with overpriced terrible food, and look for restaurants
in untouristed neighborhoods with large Chinese populations, like
Flushing in New York.

The "Chinese" restaurants in Europe are even worse. Many of them are
run by Vietnamese immigrants, and serve completely bland versions of
the eight or so most common Chinese dishes and often of Thai and
Vietnamese food as well. In London or Paris you have some options, but
the quality of Chinese food in most of Europe is dismal.

Here in Toronto you can also get Guyanese style Chinese food, Indian
style Chinese food and Korean style Chinese food. ;-)

I've never seen anyone offering German style Chinese food, probably
because it is gawd-awful; it's certainly not for a lack of German
immigrants.


Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany
--
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