In case you were wondering: They do BBQ in China.

And it is outdoors over hot coals... but slabs of steak or chicken won't be anywhere in sight.

I was invited out to Zhujiajiao again over the weekend, but before we headed to the quaint canal town, they surprised me by telling me we were headed to a BBQ. Now I've been to plenty of BBQs in china - mostly in the form of a Korean BBQ restaurant. So imagine my surprise when we pulled up to an outdoor park with dozens of public stone BBQs coupled with stone picnic setups? And in December no less!

Of course I had a few chuckles once they started pulling the selection of meats out of the cooler. And this wasn't before the entire table was covered in a thin plastic sheet, turning it into a giant plastic wrapped cutting board. I didn't really see why they'd need to do this until they started preparing the meats right there on the table. Everything from itty-bitty sausages to luncheon meats were pulled out and stuck on skewers. And yes I did say luncheon meats - the thin chicken kind you stick inside a sandwhich. It almost reminded me of a certain frat house-esq cuisine I was exposed to back in university. hmmm.

They did get some things right; There was pepsi and chips and some kind of bbq/fish sauce to dip everything in.  Seems that there are a universal BBQ must haves for any true international barbeque. Unfortunately no one ate with their hands; we were all given plastic gloves and toothpicks to pick the meat from the plates, which is probably why they only bring lunch meats and sausages... You just can't pick up a thick juicy slap of steak with a toothpick now can you.

Here are a few shots:

Scallops on the left, fondue beef (the closest things to steak!) bottom right, mini sausages on top along

with pre-cooked corn, lunch meats in bag...

Preparing the table

Tables and Barbeques (And yes they do

leave all their garbage behind like this)

The Barbie!

See the raw chicken on the bottom there? My dear friend here was dipping her sausage into the sauce she had put into the frozen chicken wing tray.  Clearly no worries of Salmonella here. eep.

No tray needed to bring the cooked meat back to the table, no siree when you have a plastic cup you're all set!

Clearly pepsi and lays are must haves for any international BBQ... even if those are blueberry and cucumber chips.

Hope you enjoy as much as I did!

xx!

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is definitely not a holiday the Chinese celebrate, but you can bet the Canadian and American expats will!  I was lucky enough to get an invite from an expat who was kind enough to host Thanksgiving at his place this year (Thanks Annie's Brother!) While there wasn't any turkey at the table, there was delicious Chicken, two kinds of mashed potatoes, gravy and all the fixin's !

mmm xx!

Rain, Rain, Go Away...

It's official. Summer is long gone and the cold winter rains have washed the last of the warmth out of the air.

I must admit, Shanghai's summer heat and humidity can be a little suffocating sometimes but I still loved it and now wish it would come back as the chill sets deep into my bones. I find myself reminiscing of the hot summer days that seem to have been stolen away by a cruel winter witch and think back on a few things that will remind me of China Summers for a long time: Summer Fruit.

I have already gabbed on about the Waxberry, which I'm sure I'll probably go crazy looking for back in Toronto, but there have been a few other "star fruits" that have been a great treat these past warm months.

Pomegranates were a big surprise here in Shanghai as I always thought they looked a little under ripe with their yellow-pink skins, but I took a couple home with me one day and discovered that their light skins revealed light pink fruit on the inside that I can only describe as "blush". Not as tart as the ones you find in your typical North-American superstore but much lighter in taste and faintly sweet. From that day on I was eating one or two a day until they went out of season.

Blush coloured fruit on the inside. Delicious!

Pomelos were (and still are!) one of my favourites as well. The pomelo tastes like a sweet, mild grapefruit - it has very little or none of the common grapefruit's bitterness.  I think it's also the only citrus fruit that has its segment's membranes removed before eating. I can go through a whole pomelo in a couple of days, although a few segments would be the equivalent of a large orange.

As big as your head!

The flesh without any skin. mmm

As fall comes to an end and winter completely takes over, I'll try to find a few more seasonal fruits as they appear. Lets see what comes up shall we?

Love! xx