ayanamidreamsequence

Hot coke with ginger is a popular winter time drink in restaurants here. When it is freezing cold outside (and inside, as most restaurants have no heating) it is quite nice actually. They serve it in big jugs usually. Now if only they could master mulled wine...

I love meat, and eat plenty of it. When I was living in the US or UK, however, I tried to eat meat from sources where the likely treatment an animal received before slaughter was better. That is a little more difficult in China, but I still eat meat. I have few qualms about the type of meat I am served (i.e. have eaten dog, though would not go out of my way to look for it) but I do have concern for other living things. I don't hunt, but again am not really bothered by those who do. I can see the arguments in terms of the environment, and do not eat anywhere near as much meat as some people do in part due to this. In fact the ethics of food are a complicated business. What about the vegetables you eat, in particular the labour issues regarding those picking them, global shipping (or, alternatively, energy-intensive growth), developing countries in regards to trade policy and protection measures/dumping etc. etc. The animal rights lobby has a very powerful voice, so tends to be the strongest in terms of generating a reaction from the general public, but in our globalised, corporate, seasonless world today, they are only the tip of the iceberg. In my opinion, the best thing to do is to try to at least understand these general issues and use them to inform your day-to-day decisions in whatever way you choose. I don't like to preach, but I am not afraid to talk to others about my choices, or point things out in a constructive way if appropriate. I have to say the people who scare me the most are the ones who say they just don't care as long as they can get whatever they want, whenever they want it.

I don't buy anything from China, it's unAmerican Seriously though, there are food and sanitation issues here, at pretty much all levels from what you buy, where you eat etc. However, I would agree with others who say that food export standards are clearly on the up (not something the government would like to see drop). Where to draw the line is difficult, and for most people will end up being somewhat arbitrary (i.e. you won't by foods from China, but what about X?). I would guess if you were really looking to do the safest thing in regards to food, you would be much better off prepping as much of your own food as possible, as I imagine most health problems occur when someone else does the work for you. Or having a healthy, balanced diet and lifestyle (if tainted milk doesn't kill you, a lifetime of crappy processed foods in absurdly large portions between car trips surely will). Now that doesn't resolve the China issue at all, just adds a perspective on overall food safety issues. So I don't see this being resolved anytime soon, and to each their own. But I will say, having seen the thread about washing food in the kitchen sink, I do feel some people can be a wee bit over-cautious. Then again, I eat Chinese street food every week, so what do I know?

In Chongqing I have had the salted cucumber in slices, in chili oil with hua jiao, garlic etc, which is really nice. Here in Wuhan, we tend to get a fresh cucumber more like the one in kake's picture, whacked into irregular large chunks, with chili flakes, garlic, a bit of oil and black vinegar. They do basically the same dish with snails, lotus root, mao dou and more, all very nice. Have not had either with roasted peanuts, but they could easily be tossed in.

Here the fish, chicken and duck dishes are often served whole (or rather, whole bird but chopped up in the case of chicken and duck), with heads, feet etc. Usually people will just suck on the head to get the flesh off and eat anything inside. In Zhou Hei Ya, a takeaway chain that does spicy 'ma la' duck, you can by the heads on their own, though I myself don't really see the appeal as they don't really have much on them. I do like the duck and chicken feet though.

I have tried Rogue Smoke Ale before, which I thought was quite nice: http://www.rogue.com/beers/smoke-ale.php Worth looking into if you are in the US (though I found it in London a few years back).