Chow Mein
(Chomiàn)
This humble dish consists of fried noodles
served with any variety of shredded meat,
vegetables or seafood, and is traditionally
made with Chinese egg noodle. Don't get
chow mein and low mein confused, though.
Where low mein is tossed noodles, chow
mein is made with fried noodles.
Drunken
Chicken (Zuì j)
For a piece of poultry marinated in wine,
there isn't a more apt name for this dish. But
preparation of this meat isn't just limited to
wine, it can be made with a variety of other
alcoholic beverages. It is often served chilled
and as an appetiser. You might have seen a
version of it at a braai you attended, better
known as beer-can chicken!
1. Preserved egg (Pídàn)
This unique egg comes all the way from the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644) and is "a Chinese
preserved food product and delicacy made by preserving duck, chicken or quail eggs in
a mixture of clay, ash, salt, quicklime, and rice hulls for several weeks to several months,
depending on the method of processing." The yoke is a dark green, grey colour and
smells strongly of hydrogen sulfide and ammonia, while the white turns into a dark brown
jelly that has a salty taste.
2. Stinky Tofu (Chòu dòufu)
This strange dish is a type of tofu that has been fermented and has quite a
distinct odour to it. Tofu is made by coagulating soy milk and pressing the
curds from it into soft white blocks. It can be purchased at night markets
and stinky tofu comes in
various forms including soft
stinky tofu, dry stinky tofu,
deep fried tofu and spicy
tofu.
3. Honeybees (Mìfng)
You read that right. This is a
traditional Yunnan dish for
which locals head into the
mountains to find the nests
of honey bees. They are most
commonly prepared by deep
frying with salt and pepper.
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