Gāomíng, CHINA — Leaving Beijing at sub-zero temperatures, I thought surely I could pack for warmer weather in Guǎngdōng; I was wrong. I greet our new friend Xiǎoēn, hoping that despite government provided heating reserved for homes north of the Yangtze, her home might thaw out my toes. On [...]
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Lijiang, Yunnan, China — After eight hours on a bus from Kūnmíng, we are met at the Lìjiāng bus stop by our smiling host Lǐ Shīfu. He drives us into Old Lìjiāng where we walk through cobblestone passageways to his family-run guest house. [...]
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Huí Guō Ròu (回锅肉, twice-cooked pork) is pork belly, first boiled then fried with a fragrant chorus of peppers and bean pastes. Green chili pepper used during my recipe lesson was about four inches, thin, curled, wrinkly skin, and spicy. The red peppers are sweet.
This recipe of twice-cooked pork may differ from other twice-cooked [...]
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Píngshān 屏山, CHINA – My journey to learn favorite family recipes began this morning at the Suíjiāng market. Heavy bags of meat and vegetables turning our knuckles white, we board Liu Yeye’s boat. Liu Yeye (Grandfather Liu) motors his river tank up the Jīnshā River just enough [...]
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Tōngzhōu 通州, CHINA — One of the best things that led me to my Āyí‘s home was her cooking. Āyí, Mandarin for aunt, is my mom away from home. When I’m sick, she cares for me. When she cooks [...]
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Suíjiāng 绥江, Yunnan, China — It must be great to have a food expert in the family. The Zhāng (张) family is fortunate to have the talents of husband and father, Zhāng Shīfu (张师傅, Master Zhang). Who wouldn’t want to dine daily at the table of a chef? Located in central [...]
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Suíjiāng, Yunnan, China — As I walk to the corner where my team and I will set off in a sānlúnchē (三轮车, motorized three-wheeled taxi), I look around me in awe; all of these buildings will be submerged under water after the Xiàngjiābà Dam [...]
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Suíjiāng 绥江, Yunnan, China – The road from Yibin to Suíjiāng is a six-lane highway possibly indicative of healthy funding for public works until our driver turns off the road revealing a different tale. Following the Jinsha River, a [...]
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Qīngdǎo 青岛, Shandong, CHINA — I step off the bus in front of Qīngdǎo’s train station and onto wet streets lined with German styled buildings. The air smells of the sea and our hostel, Big Brother, sits on a hilly street reminding me of San Francisco. After settling into [...]
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Tōngzhōu 通州, CHINA — I get off the subway at Li Yuan station in Tōngzhōu 通州, hungry.
Near the station, we enter the gate to a cluster of six-floor apartments. Someone is practicing the drums a few stories above and the neighborhood echoes my childhood when the [...]
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While living in Beijing, my home was blessed with an Āyí (Chinese for aunt, another term for home helper) who could cook well. Āyí gave me my first cooking lessons in China. Hóngshāo Páigǔ is a favorite in her home and easily became one of my favorites as it had an ingredient close [...]
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