You can play with your food before you eat it...unfortunately

Posted on Jul 30th, 15:40

Hey guys,

'Culture immersion' is something I take very seriously. That's why in
this video, I put my hardcore extreme on and decided to jump into the
deep end. That's right folks, I brought the “When in China...”
attitude as I tried dog and snake. Oh boy, Lassie.

First let's start with our good friend the snake. (Note to everyone:
this just hit me – in China, they serve every food from the Zodiac.
That's pretty random. Sorry, I'll continue). My good friend from the
Intrepid tour Jono decided he wanted to order a delicious snake
delicacy. Well, he got what he bargained for! As we learned, snake is
a very special dish. When it's ordered, the chef will be glad to cut
off its head in front of you. (Unfortunately, he used scissors. I was
hoping for some Ricki-Ticki-Tavi action.)

Then they will pour the blood into a shot of strong Chinese alcohol.
Unfortunately, he was only able to pour one shot. (Shucks?) But Jono
was nice enough to offer me bits of fried snake skin, snake flesh,
and snake cartilage. (Hooray?) It tasted very rubbery – and the skin
was almost like licking a pleather sofa in your grandmother's living
room until enough lint residue rolled off to form some type of
congealed glop.
(Yum?)

Now on to the dog. Sorry, sorry, sorry if you're at all queasy, sad,
or distraught by this. Remember, part of going to other countries is
to observe, engage, and try to understand how people live. Especially
in China, a land very different from home, I thought it was very
important for me to try a food like this. No comments on taste, but I
will say it's only eaten on special occasions. Take care guys! (P.S.
I totally won 'The Iron Chef' hands down...if by hands down you mean
that not a single judge voted for me. Alas, alas.) It's okay though!
Oh, that reminds me! If you like any of the dishes in this video, I
have typed up one for you to try. Make videos of your attempts at
cooking it and post them at statravelers.com! :-)

CHICKEN WITH CASHEW NUTS

50g thinly sliced chicken breast
1/3 cup roasted cashew nuts
1 tbsp of peanut oil
2 cloves of crushed garlic
½ sliced carrot
3 spring onions or garlic tops
1 tbsp of water
1 tsp of soy sauce
½ tsp of oyster sauce
¼ tsp of salt

Heat a wok and add ½ tbsp of peanut oil. Then, heat the oil and add
chicken and garlic until the chicken is white and firm. Add in your
soy sauce, then remove this from the wok. Then, add the remaing ½
tbsp of peanut oil with carrots and salt for 1 minute. After a
minute, add the chicken and water until there is very little sauce
left. Add the oyster sauce, spring onions, and cashew nuts. Heat and
serve.

Pat, World Travler Inter, Pb26, China, Dog, Eat Dog, Drink Blood, Snake Blood, Cooking, Food, Chinese Food