Here are some more interesting things to cook using ingredients that you can find in China.
~~~Citrus Pork Chops~~~
Ingredients:
rice-wine vinegar (white or yellow, not the dark)--up to 1/4 cup
juice from 5 or 6 fresh medium sized oranges (can also be OJ from the jug)--equal amount to vinegar up to 1/4 cup
vegetable oil--2 Tbsp
soy sauce--2Tbsp
2 cloves fresh garlic--minced
chili paste*--1 tsp.
4 pork chops**
Directions:
**First, you need to remove the skin from the pork chops. Pork in China is sold with the skin on and while this is great for frying or slow roasting the meat, it is not so great for marinating. To do this, take the tip of your knife and cut along the muscle. You can leave a little of the fat on if you like so long as all the skin is removed.
In a large bowl or big plastic zip-top bag, combine vinegar, orange juice, oil, soy sauce, garlic, and chili paste. Place pork chops in bowl or bag with and seal it up. refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight. To cook, heat a large skillet or heavy pan over medium heat. Remove chops from marinade and place into hot pan. Sauté until browned. Turn once. This will take about 5-6 minutes per side for chops that are 1" thick. If your chops are thicker, it will take longer. Serve with rice.
To test your chops to see if they are done without using a thermometer, use a flat spatula or spoon and press down on the chop. if the juices that come out are clear, the chop is nearly done. If the juices are pink or cloudy, it is not done. Remember to let your chops rest for 5 minutes before cutting into them. This will help keep them moist while you are eating them.
* If you can't get chili paste, use chili oil instead of vegetable oil. You can also make a paste out of 1 tsp. chili oil mixed with a little flour, pinch of sugar, dash of salt, and mustard. If you don't like it too spicy, use less chili paste/oil. If you can't find chili oil, you can use fresh minced chili peppers.
~~~Easy Roasted Chicken or Game Hens~~~
(I ate this the other day with peas and couscous)
Note: you will need an oven for this one.
Ingredients:
Whole Chicken or Game Hen(s)
Butter--some cold and some melted for basting
Instructions:
Remove the head from the raw chicken by inserting your knife between the vertebrae of the neck about and inch from the shoulders and applying firm pressure. The neck and head should pop off fairly easily. Separate the skin on the breast from the muscle by inserting a finger between the skin and muscle at the neck and wiggling the finger around. be careful not to puncture the skin. When you have a nice pocket formed, place a wad of butter in it and let the skin close over the butter. Repeat this for both sides of the beast and on the back as well.
Pre-heat oven to 350 F (177 C). Baste bird with melted butter and place in a roasting pan (or on a spit if your oven comes with a rotisserie). Roast for 45 minutes or until bird is done. The internal temperature of the breast should read 155-160 F (68-72C). Remove the bird and cover with foil. Allow to rest for 10 minutes. While the bird is resting, the internal temperature will rise to around 162-165 F (72-74 C). Serve with your favorite veggies.
*Note: for extra flavor, you can add onions, garlic, or leeks to the butter. You can also salt and pepper the skin lightly. Lemon grass is also good, as is sage or rosemary if you can find it.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Friday, February 19, 2010
Drills, Hammers, and a Bib
No this isn't some strange hardware store. It is in fact a dentist's office. Dental facilities here in China are much the same as those in the States, but there are a few things the average lao wai should be aware of.
When you think about visiting the dentist back home, the first thing that pops into your head is probably the front waiting room with the receptionist sitting behind the desk, a couch, some magazines, a water cooler and maybe a couple of toys for the kids; right? The next thing you might think of is the hygienist or nurse opening the door and asking you to "please follow me." She (sometimes a he) then takes you into one of several rooms, at the center of which is a dental chair with all the usual tools. You then sit in the chair, the hygienist places a bib around your neck and starts poking and prodding and cleaning and talking. In fact you probably don't see the dentist until near the end of your visit when he or she checks on the hygienist's work, or when you need a cavity filled.
Let's pretend that you need a tooth pulled. After the hygienist is done with you, you may or may not be escorted into another room, this one with even more equipment and brighter lights. In the case of my dentist growing up, they usually closed to door also (all the better to prevent any screams from escaping the torture chamber). Then the dentist gloves up, turns on all the gizmos, and sticks you with a needle to get your face feeling like it sticks out 10 inches, and begins drilling. When you are done, the dentist gives you a prescription for some anti-inflammatory drugs, or just tells you to take a lot of Ibuprofen, and an antibiotic. This is what my dentist office was like back home.
For the most part, Chinese dental offices are similar in some ways, but VERY different in others. To begin with, when you check in, you must first register with a receptionist who gives you a paper to fill out with all of your essential information--name, sex, DOB, residence, job. Then you take that paper to another window where all the information is placed into a computer system. This receptionist then hands you a small book (your outpatient record), a paper slip, and something that looks like a debit card. This card is linked to an electronic copy of all your records. You then take all of that to another floor where you see something that looks like an airport terminal (bench seats included) and hand your small paper to a nurse sitting at a desk who puts your name on "the list."
Depending on what time of day you arrive and how many people are there with you, you could wait anywhere from 10 minutes to 2 hours for them to call your name. When they do, you are told to walk down the hallway to cubicle X. In the case of the clinic near my place, there are 12 such cubicles, each with its own chair and nurse/hygienist. The nurse/hygienist then takes a cursory look at your mouth. If you are there for a cleaning, you are in and out in 20 minutes. If you are, as I was, there to get "work" done, she pokes and prods for about two minutes and then tells you to go to another office, wait in another "terminal" and see the dentist.
This office has fewer cubicles--4 in my case--and like before, a chair, tools, and nurse/hygienist in each one. This time however, there is a dentist. when they call your name, you hand your small booklet, card, and piece of paper to the nurse/hygienist who pulls up all of your information on a computer. You sit in the chair (which by the way has not been cleaned since the last person sat in it). The doctor gloves up, but does not place a bib on you and starts poking and prodding. Then he numbs your mouth with Novocaine and begins to work on whichever tooth is causing the offense. Meanwhile, everyone who is waiting for the dentist to call their name is standing around and watching. In other words there is no privacy. it's like what I imagine those old 19th century operating theaters must have felt like; "Hey, everyone look at the freak in the chair!" You can hear the yells of the person in the next cubicle as loudly as you can hear your own.
When he is finished, you return to the second receptionist and turn in your small paper and give them your card. They then pull up the cost of your medications on the computer and you pay for them there. Then you take the prescription receipt to yet another counter and get your medication. Once you have your Amoxycillin in your hands, you return to the dentist where you hand over your book. The hygienist places a stamp in it and you sign it. Then you are on your way. Bit different, huh?
For those who are wondering, I had to have one of my wisdom teeth pulled because it broke and got a humongous cavity. It cost a whopping 150 yuan for the 3 hour visit (only 45 minutes of which were spent with the dentist). That said, if you have molars with twisted roots (as many westerners do, me included) remember that Chinese dentists are not accustomed to this so they will be pounding, pulling, and drilling for a lot longer than would normally happen in the comfort of your dentist's office back home. What does that mean? It means that your mouth in going hurt a hell of a lot more.
When you think about visiting the dentist back home, the first thing that pops into your head is probably the front waiting room with the receptionist sitting behind the desk, a couch, some magazines, a water cooler and maybe a couple of toys for the kids; right? The next thing you might think of is the hygienist or nurse opening the door and asking you to "please follow me." She (sometimes a he) then takes you into one of several rooms, at the center of which is a dental chair with all the usual tools. You then sit in the chair, the hygienist places a bib around your neck and starts poking and prodding and cleaning and talking. In fact you probably don't see the dentist until near the end of your visit when he or she checks on the hygienist's work, or when you need a cavity filled.
Let's pretend that you need a tooth pulled. After the hygienist is done with you, you may or may not be escorted into another room, this one with even more equipment and brighter lights. In the case of my dentist growing up, they usually closed to door also (all the better to prevent any screams from escaping the torture chamber). Then the dentist gloves up, turns on all the gizmos, and sticks you with a needle to get your face feeling like it sticks out 10 inches, and begins drilling. When you are done, the dentist gives you a prescription for some anti-inflammatory drugs, or just tells you to take a lot of Ibuprofen, and an antibiotic. This is what my dentist office was like back home.
For the most part, Chinese dental offices are similar in some ways, but VERY different in others. To begin with, when you check in, you must first register with a receptionist who gives you a paper to fill out with all of your essential information--name, sex, DOB, residence, job. Then you take that paper to another window where all the information is placed into a computer system. This receptionist then hands you a small book (your outpatient record), a paper slip, and something that looks like a debit card. This card is linked to an electronic copy of all your records. You then take all of that to another floor where you see something that looks like an airport terminal (bench seats included) and hand your small paper to a nurse sitting at a desk who puts your name on "the list."
Depending on what time of day you arrive and how many people are there with you, you could wait anywhere from 10 minutes to 2 hours for them to call your name. When they do, you are told to walk down the hallway to cubicle X. In the case of the clinic near my place, there are 12 such cubicles, each with its own chair and nurse/hygienist. The nurse/hygienist then takes a cursory look at your mouth. If you are there for a cleaning, you are in and out in 20 minutes. If you are, as I was, there to get "work" done, she pokes and prods for about two minutes and then tells you to go to another office, wait in another "terminal" and see the dentist.
This office has fewer cubicles--4 in my case--and like before, a chair, tools, and nurse/hygienist in each one. This time however, there is a dentist. when they call your name, you hand your small booklet, card, and piece of paper to the nurse/hygienist who pulls up all of your information on a computer. You sit in the chair (which by the way has not been cleaned since the last person sat in it). The doctor gloves up, but does not place a bib on you and starts poking and prodding. Then he numbs your mouth with Novocaine and begins to work on whichever tooth is causing the offense. Meanwhile, everyone who is waiting for the dentist to call their name is standing around and watching. In other words there is no privacy. it's like what I imagine those old 19th century operating theaters must have felt like; "Hey, everyone look at the freak in the chair!" You can hear the yells of the person in the next cubicle as loudly as you can hear your own.
When he is finished, you return to the second receptionist and turn in your small paper and give them your card. They then pull up the cost of your medications on the computer and you pay for them there. Then you take the prescription receipt to yet another counter and get your medication. Once you have your Amoxycillin in your hands, you return to the dentist where you hand over your book. The hygienist places a stamp in it and you sign it. Then you are on your way. Bit different, huh?
For those who are wondering, I had to have one of my wisdom teeth pulled because it broke and got a humongous cavity. It cost a whopping 150 yuan for the 3 hour visit (only 45 minutes of which were spent with the dentist). That said, if you have molars with twisted roots (as many westerners do, me included) remember that Chinese dentists are not accustomed to this so they will be pounding, pulling, and drilling for a lot longer than would normally happen in the comfort of your dentist's office back home. What does that mean? It means that your mouth in going hurt a hell of a lot more.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
China-Taiwan-US Charlie Foxtrot
So everyone and their brother has heard about the Chinese response to the recent arms sale to Taiwan by the United States. I'm not even going to go into the economic politics but rather I am going to state a few facts and ask a few questions.
I would just like to point out that the US would not sell arms like the UH-60 Blackhawk or the CWIS or any of the other arms which have been sold over the decades if there were not a market for such items. Until such time as the people of Taiwan vote to re-integrate with China, Taiwan is a separate country. This is something that China has historically and rather conveniently ignored. I'm not saying that they should remain separate or re-integrate; all I am saying is two things. The first is that Taiwan IS a sovereign country at this moment in time and is therefore free to determine its own course of action.
The second point is directly related to the first. The ONLY way Taiwan can buy such arms is by approval of the government (this is the market for US arms). One therefore must ask the question, "if Taiwan and China are so much more friendly now than they were in the recent past then WHY would the government of Taiwan claim the need to purchase 'defensive' weapons?" also, why is China so worried about an independent Taiwan? If it came to a military conflict (as seems to be China's main worry according to the 'experts' I'm currently listening to on CCTV-9) China would kick Taiwan's ass in a heartbeat.
The Chinese military is no longer the backwater laughingstock that it was in 1950. They have modern technology and equipment and the people who know how to use them. They have even integrated western military doctrines into their training. What are they afraid of? As a Taiwanese expert recently stated, the People's Liberation Army out numbers the Taiwanese Army, Navy and Air Force combined at least 10 to 1. According to the CIA, Taiwan has just over 319,800 men and women available for military service (this means these people fall within the legal age limits and are not disqualified for medical reasons); a minute amount even IF all of them were trained military personnel. (https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/tw.html). According to the library of Congress, the PLA has 2,250,000 active-duty personnel (http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/profiles/China.pdf). Even if Taiwan instituted a draft for all military-age men and women, the most people they could draft would only amount to 1/10 of the numbers China fields on a regular day. According to the CIA, China could potentially call-up 600 million souls for military service (https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ch.html). From the perspective of Taiwan, a confrontation with China would be suicide.
In summary, the US would not sell arms to Taiwan unless the China-friendly government of a sovereign Taiwan decided it needed such weapons. Secondly it would be suicidal for Taiwan to enter armed conflict with China. Even assuming that the first statement somehow deeply offends the Chinese government, the second statement is true; so what is China afraid of?
**note: I say "sovereign Taiwan" because by the definition of a people electing their own government, it is a sovereign country regardless of the pseudo-statehood status it currently has in the world.
I would just like to point out that the US would not sell arms like the UH-60 Blackhawk or the CWIS or any of the other arms which have been sold over the decades if there were not a market for such items. Until such time as the people of Taiwan vote to re-integrate with China, Taiwan is a separate country. This is something that China has historically and rather conveniently ignored. I'm not saying that they should remain separate or re-integrate; all I am saying is two things. The first is that Taiwan IS a sovereign country at this moment in time and is therefore free to determine its own course of action.
The second point is directly related to the first. The ONLY way Taiwan can buy such arms is by approval of the government (this is the market for US arms). One therefore must ask the question, "if Taiwan and China are so much more friendly now than they were in the recent past then WHY would the government of Taiwan claim the need to purchase 'defensive' weapons?" also, why is China so worried about an independent Taiwan? If it came to a military conflict (as seems to be China's main worry according to the 'experts' I'm currently listening to on CCTV-9) China would kick Taiwan's ass in a heartbeat.
The Chinese military is no longer the backwater laughingstock that it was in 1950. They have modern technology and equipment and the people who know how to use them. They have even integrated western military doctrines into their training. What are they afraid of? As a Taiwanese expert recently stated, the People's Liberation Army out numbers the Taiwanese Army, Navy and Air Force combined at least 10 to 1. According to the CIA, Taiwan has just over 319,800 men and women available for military service (this means these people fall within the legal age limits and are not disqualified for medical reasons); a minute amount even IF all of them were trained military personnel. (https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/tw.html). According to the library of Congress, the PLA has 2,250,000 active-duty personnel (http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/profiles/China.pdf). Even if Taiwan instituted a draft for all military-age men and women, the most people they could draft would only amount to 1/10 of the numbers China fields on a regular day. According to the CIA, China could potentially call-up 600 million souls for military service (https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ch.html). From the perspective of Taiwan, a confrontation with China would be suicide.
In summary, the US would not sell arms to Taiwan unless the China-friendly government of a sovereign Taiwan decided it needed such weapons. Secondly it would be suicidal for Taiwan to enter armed conflict with China. Even assuming that the first statement somehow deeply offends the Chinese government, the second statement is true; so what is China afraid of?
**note: I say "sovereign Taiwan" because by the definition of a people electing their own government, it is a sovereign country regardless of the pseudo-statehood status it currently has in the world.
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