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Eating Western Food in China

liuzhou

By liuzhou
in China: Dining

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Duvel

Duvel

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, liuzhou said:
2 hours ago, Honkman said:

American cheese ... ... is also used in Europe as a description.

 

I know. I'm European. I will argue though that is isn't cheese


Same stuff as you’ll find in Europe under the same name. 

Duvel

Duvel

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, heidih said:

My immediate reaction was - pretzel bun. been seeing those a lot.  And bacon could be Canadian so not strips. 

 


Fully agree and despite the fancy name that is probably what it is: McD Hong Kong ran one or two “campaigns” with a lye-treated brioche type bun per year. Think “Spotted Pig” burger …

 

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Duvel

Duvel

Posted
Posted (edited)
5 hours ago, Mjx said:

 

But that wouldn't be just below the upper half of the bun, and doesn't resemble a persimmon at all.


I would be astonished to learn that @Smithy couldn’t identify an egg … and the slice of bacon below said egg does look like a dehydrated slice of persimmon (on an older Dell laptop screen at least).

 

il_794xN.3578217230_5mzs.jpg

Edited by Duvel (log)
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Smithy

Smithy

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, Mjx said:

 

I think that's the egg.

 

Aha! That's what it is. I thought it was an orangey-yellow thing atop some layer of white cheesey stuff. I didn't think about its being an egg, sunny side up, with a very firm yolk. Thanks.

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Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
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Duvel

Duvel

Posted
Posted
4 hours ago, Smithy said:

 

Aha! That's what it is. I thought it was an orangey-yellow thing atop some layer of white cheesey stuff. I didn't think about its being an egg, sunny side up, with a very firm yolk. Thanks.


I stand corrected 😱

 

Probably I frequent @blue_dolphin’s posts in the breakfast thread too often that I automatically assume everything has at least one egg in it …

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liuzhou

liuzhou

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted
7 hours ago, Duvel said:


Same stuff as you’ll find in Europe under the same name. 

 

As I said.

...your dancing child with his Chinese suit.

 

"No amount of evidence will ever persuade an idiot"
Mark Twain
 

The Kitchen Scale Manifesto

liuzhou

liuzhou

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted
4 hours ago, Smithy said:

Aha! That's what it is. I thought it was an orangey-yellow thing atop some layer of white cheesey stuff. I didn't think about its being an egg, sunny side up, with a very firm yolk. Thanks.

 

I'm sorry, but to my eyes the egg looks very much like an egg and isn't red or persimmon-like. I didn't even consider that could be what you were asking about. The only reddish thing I can see at the top is that piece of bacon.

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...your dancing child with his Chinese suit.

 

"No amount of evidence will ever persuade an idiot"
Mark Twain
 

The Kitchen Scale Manifesto

Smithy

Smithy

Posted
Posted

Well, I'll have to blush -- or laugh -- at the controversy I caused. 

 

When I posted my question, my brain did NOT connect the orange-yellow thing (with a vein or a line!) with the white layer underneath.

 

_20230423150745.thumb.jpg.343f83f8ac0462b0d76afdc241fe8c08.jpg

 

Furthermore, to my eye and on the screen I was using it looked redder, more like persimmon. It was clearly a separate...something...lying atop the white below it.

 

You know those illusions that ask which way the dancer is spinning, or where the light source is? Once you see it properly it's difficult to see the original that your brain processed in error.

 

I can't begin to justify why I didn't realize that was an egg. Sorry for the confusion! 

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Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
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Follow us on social media! Facebook; instagram.com/egulletx

"Every day should be filled with something delicious, because life is too short not to spoil yourself. " -- Ling (with permission)
"There comes a time in every project when you have to shoot the engineer and start production." -- author unknown

liuzhou

liuzhou

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted (edited)

Why, oh why do I do these things?

I had on my mind that 'Typical American Burger' I mentioned before...

微信图片_20230423150745.jpg

 

... so I took one for the team and ordered one.

 

Here is the reality.

 

1.thumb.jpg.f46f5a1aad0a9873bc5787bd5ae0d759.jpg

 

2.thumb.jpg.a1e1544d0a16e25b0c54ca1de7ec569a.jpg

 

3.jpg

 

Dreadful. Inedible. Even my neighbour's dog looked at it suspiciously and ran away.

 

It came with some of what they and I sensibly call chips, which weren't great but edible.

 

 

Edited by liuzhou (log)
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...your dancing child with his Chinese suit.

 

"No amount of evidence will ever persuade an idiot"
Mark Twain
 

The Kitchen Scale Manifesto

Tropicalsenior

Tropicalsenior

Posted
Posted
15 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

Dreadful. Inedible

That's got to be the understatement of the year. At least the pickles look authentic. The bacon looks like fried spam and no lettuce, no tomatoes.

It's no wonder that the Chinese think that Western food is crap when they're presented with examples like this.

 

Although now that I think about it, I have seen worse here in Costa Rica.

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liuzhou

liuzhou

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted (edited)
39 minutes ago, Tropicalsenior said:

no lettuce, no tomatoes

 

Yes, no lettuce despite it being listed twice in the contents given on their ad. There was about a third of a paper thin slice of tomato lurking in shame under the 'beef' patty.

 

4.thumb.jpg.6e8ad1347c9b569aeb01e16f49fafc77.jpg

The whole thing was slathered with American 'cheese' glue though.

 

Every time one of my Chinese friends and acquaintances tells me they don't like western food, I tell them they've never eaten it!

 

Edited by liuzhou (log)
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...your dancing child with his Chinese suit.

 

"No amount of evidence will ever persuade an idiot"
Mark Twain
 

The Kitchen Scale Manifesto

liuzhou

liuzhou

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted (edited)
28 minutes ago, pastrygirl said:

Well, the bun looks better ... but why is the meat green and what are they trying to pass off as bacon? 😜

 

 

I'm not seeing the meat as green. Actually the bacon was probably the most real looking part. Sure, it isn't American bacon, but most of the world doesn't see American bacon as default, if they eat it all.

 

Of course that doesn't excuse them from describing the whole mess as a Typical American Burger.

 

 

Edited by liuzhou (log)
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...your dancing child with his Chinese suit.

 

"No amount of evidence will ever persuade an idiot"
Mark Twain
 

The Kitchen Scale Manifesto

Tropicalsenior

Tropicalsenior

Posted
Posted

When I enlarged the bacon, it looked to me like a product that they are selling now in Costa Rica that is composite bacon. It is, God knows what, pressed together, smoked, sliced and sold as processed bacon. It's only saving grace is that it is smoked and most of the bacon sold here is not. It actually has a better flavor than most of the bacon but the texture is appalling.

liuzhou

liuzhou

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted

Chinese bacon is generally very good to excellent but nothing like typical American bacon, although that is also available, but a minority interest.

...your dancing child with his Chinese suit.

 

"No amount of evidence will ever persuade an idiot"
Mark Twain
 

The Kitchen Scale Manifesto

Tropicalsenior

Tropicalsenior

Posted
Posted (edited)

Here is a picture of what they are selling here. I misspoke. They call it preformed bacon.

20230428_085737.thumb.jpg.b76838139f92d3eb39fe115a7111986d.jpg

 

20230428_085706.thumb.jpg.2796e2d8f15596f8c59fc651361cdf01.jpg

I can't believe what I am seeing. I just bought this last month and it is 2 years out of date.

Edited by Tropicalsenior
Addition (log)
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JoNorvelleWalker

JoNorvelleWalker

Posted
Posted
8 hours ago, liuzhou said:

Why, oh why do I do these things?

I had on my mind that 'Typical American Burger' I mentioned before...

微信图片_20230423150745.jpg

 

... so I took one for the team and ordered one.

 

Here is the reality.

 

1.thumb.jpg.f46f5a1aad0a9873bc5787bd5ae0d759.jpg

 

2.thumb.jpg.a1e1544d0a16e25b0c54ca1de7ec569a.jpg

 

3.jpg

 

Dreadful. Inedible. Even my neighbour's dog looked at it suspiciously and ran away.

 

It came with some of what they and I sensibly call chips, which weren't great but edible.

 

 

 

Seriously, it doesn't look all that bad to me.  More appetizing than the "American hamburger" in Scotland.

 

Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

liuzhou

liuzhou

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted
28 minutes ago, Tropicalsenior said:

I just finished watching Heston Blumenthal's English Breakfast Burger and except for his own special little touches, the ingredients are amazingly the same. It even looks the same as the advertised Burger.

 

But nothing like the burger as actually executed without food stylists and Photoshop!

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...your dancing child with his Chinese suit.

 

"No amount of evidence will ever persuade an idiot"
Mark Twain
 

The Kitchen Scale Manifesto

Tropicalsenior

Tropicalsenior

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, liuzhou said:

 

But nothing like the burger as actually executed without food stylists and Photoshop!

If you're talking about the burger that you actually got, whoever made that should have been executed.

  • 1 month later...
liuzhou

liuzhou

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted (edited)

Fried rice is prepared all over the world in many different styles, but probably China makes the most. But I'm sure you would love to see what typical American Fried Rice looks like. Here, courtesy of my local fried rice specialist, selected from their extensive menu of rices is that very thing, which I'm sure American members will instantly recognise.

AmericanFriedRice.thumb.jpg.7a07c8534950f3ea876e5f94986cb458.jpg

 

It is just their regular egg fried rice with some bacon thrown on top. Optional pineapple chunks are also offered as an extra.

 

 

Edited by liuzhou (log)
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...your dancing child with his Chinese suit.

 

"No amount of evidence will ever persuade an idiot"
Mark Twain
 

The Kitchen Scale Manifesto

KennethT

KennethT

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, liuzhou said:

Fried rice is prepared all over the world in many different styles, but probably China makes the most. But I'm sureyou would love to see what typical American Fried Rice looks like. Here, courtesy of my local fried rice specialist, selected from their extensive menu of rices is that very thing, which I'm sure American members will instantly recognise.

AmericanFriedRice.thumb.jpg.7a07c8534950f3ea876e5f94986cb458.jpg

 

It is just their regular egg fried rice with some bacon thrown on top. Optional pineapple chunks are also offered as an extra.

 

 

If you add pineapple, it becomes American Thai fried rice.

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heidih

heidih

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, KennethT said:

If you add pineapple, it becomes American Thai fried rice.

And should be served in a hollowed out pineapple half.

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