Remember I went to China? I told you about my cooking class, but the things that happened every day like ordering a single sesame ball by eagerly pointing to what another customer had in her bag, or ordering what I thought was tapioca pudding and getting lord knows what (curdled milk?) seemed kind of trivial and not worth mentioning. I had some good food while I was there, and I was surprised how it was not too far off from what I expected. Sure there were weird things, like scorpions on sticks (though I’m still sure that was mostly for tourists) but at the end of the day I didn’t end up going to super fancy restaurants, and for the most part it was just Chinese food with the bigger difference being the customs – like the spitting bones on tables in restaurants customs…
That said, I did witness something facinating. I must have watched this girl make 3 or so crepes becuase I just couldn’t take my eyes off her. For a couple reasons a) crepes in China? You’d better believe it! b) the griddle moved instead of the wooden tool. Unlike French creps where the crepe-maker spins around the batter on a stationary hot griddle, this girl only subtly moved her tool along a circulating griddle. And just when you think it’s almost done, she cracks an egg right on there! Watch it here:
After she creates the crepe she folds it in thirds and passes it to the guy who spreads lightly with chili/dried shrim paste, adds herbs, lettuce and a fried won ton and you’re good to go. A street snack that was fresh, spicy, crisp, and warm. And on a side note, while trying to pay for this mid-day delight, I was thrown a hangloose hand gesture and yelled at in Chinese. Apparently that hand signal means 6, and my 5 yuen just weren’t cutting it. The cashier finally had to print the ticket from the reigster and show me how much to pay – oh, China…
assembling the crepe
Navigating Saturdays 