Life in Jinan: the food

Really, where do I begin? I think this is one of these things that is the same throughout China: the importance of food, of sharing and eating together. Food is such a big part of the Chinese culture: practically every holiday comes with its own delicacies, many regions and cities have their own signature cuisine or dishes. I’ve seen more diners, canteens, food stalls, barbecue places, tiny counters and huge restaurants than I could ever count – which is a good thing, I guess, since together they feed millions and millions of people.

Eating out in Holland was always a special occasion, for whenever we had something to celebrate, and certainly not because it was convenient or, let’s say, cheaper. Here, it seems like a completely reversed world. No matter if it’s a weekday or weekend, people eat out or have takeaway even for breakfast, for lunch and for dinner. And who wouldn’t, when you only have to take a step outside your door and can choose from so many places, paying just a few euros get a big meal.

On the one hand, there are of course the big fancy restaurants, with waiters in uniform and menus many pages thick, which offer more expensive and complicated dishes. On the other hand, there are the smaller, cheaper places, with plastic tables and chairs, where you can catch a glimpse of the smoky kitchen where your order is being prepared. And then everything you could think of in between.

Now that the weather is warm enough, the street behind our compound is littered with places where groups of people eat and talk

until late into the night, sitting outside on tiny stools, a low table loaded with food in their midst. In that same street, especially during lunch time, the many green and yellow food stalls almost attract crowds. I don’t think it’s surprising I learned how to order takeaway in Chinese within the first few days I was here. Sometimes, you get your food in a paper or plastic container, ranging from fancy to plain, other times you’re handed your food in just a plastic bag. I have even seen people with takeaway soup in a plastic bag! I have eaten some really nice takeaway food and some that was really bad, but where ever it was, free chopsticks or spoons were always included, and whatever it was, the food would always be steaming hot and the portions enormous!

For any Dutch readers who now might be thinking of Chinese takeaway food in Holland: there is no babi pangang here, no fu yong hai (I don't think the people here would even know what those were), baked bananas, kroepoek or spring rolls are nowhere to be found. I always loved Chinese takeaway in Holland, but we should really wonder how Chinese it actually is (or isn’t). Here it’s all fried rice or noodles, noodle soup, jiaozi (dumplings), xiao longbao (steamed soup dumplings), jianbing (flat pancake with vegetable and meat filling), mantou (steamed buns), soup, and much more. And for the Chinese that doesn’t fancy Chinese food, there are also McDonalds, KFCs and Subways, all within walking distance from our apartment.

Of course, not everybody eats out all the time – and for those people, there are the countless tiny supermarkets, uni-marts, fruit markets and huge mall-sized supermarkets. I especially love those big ones – we have two of them on biking distance from our apartment, both two stories high. One story is entirely dedicated to food, with a huge fruits and vegetables department, a casket of rice seemingly big enough to swim in, freezers that seem to hold hardly anything else than dumplings, all the different kinds of Oreo’s you could think of, a whole wall of noodle packages, and there is even a row of counters where you can buy prepared food, if you’d decide to have your lunch inside the supermarket. Then there is still another story, where you can buy anything ranging from televisions and microwaves to clothes and shoes, cleaning supplies and kitchen ware to bed sheets and potted plants. The first few times I’d actually almost get lost there, just browsing the endless rows of aisles.

I could never discuss (or even remember) all the food I’ve seen and tried until now, so I’ll stick to the highlights. In the first few weeks, I took quite a liking to fried rice – I could eat it for lunch and dinner without getting tired of it. If I had to choose between noodles or rice, it would be rice every time (or maybe almost every time). I still fondly remember the very first dish I ate in Jinan, malatang (where you

choose your own ingredients, after which the cook chops them up, prepares them and, maybe the best part, adds a handful of peanuts), which was very Chinese and very good, maybe also because I could chose myself how spicy I wanted it. Dumplings weren’t as good as I expected them to be, until I ate some that were fried instead of steamed, after which I was hooked.

For most of the takeaway food, vegetables are far from the most important part of the dish, but whenever I go to a place where they are, they are done well, especially dishes with cucumber or eggplant. From almost the very first week, I’ve developed a newfound love for eggplant and it hasn’t disappointed since. I also love it that in some restaurants, peanuts are a dish as well, sometimes served with a sticky, sweet sauce, other times abundantly salted.

Admittedly, the Chinese also eat some (in my eyes) really weird vegetables and mushrooms, and I don’t think I’ll ever really like tofu. I still haven’t tried the stinky tofu, even though everyone says I should (it’s really really stinky!). Seeing fish served with heads and tails and everything still makes me feel weird, even though some of those were the best dishes I’ve had until now. I've tried hotpot, eggs boiled in tea, Chinese chestnuts, some things of which I didn't know the name, or even what it was! A great experience was going to a Chinese barbeque place – at some point I tried a strange looking white meat, which turned out be piece of a pig’s aorta! It wasn’t that good, so I decided one try was quite enough. Another time, I tried mint leaves fried in oil – usually, I really don’t like the taste of mint, but these turned out to be really good!

I’ve not only been trying all kinds of Chinese food, but also ate some really good Korean food and amazing (and amazingly cheap) sushi. Twice I’ve been to a pizza restaurant, one expensive and okay, the other cheaper and rather good – strangely enough, pizza’s here are heaped with cheese but completely lack tomato sauce.

Until now, I haven’t had much reason to go to places where they serve western food, since I have had plenty of opportunity to cook myself. I actually think I have cooked and baked and spent more time in the kitchen than ever before. The Chinese aren't bread eaters like we are in Holland, and the bread here seems more like cake than anything else, very soft and very sweet. So, soon after we had settled in the apartment, I started making my own bread. First, all I had was a rice cooker. Until now, I seem to be quite determined to use the rice cooker for anything but cooking rice - I've used it to boil potatoes and eggs, steam dumplings and bake quite delicious bread. But since my birthday in march, our kitchen was provided with an oven, a nice birthday present from my parents. I have been using it practically every day, though with the weather as warm as it is lately, it

sometimes makes working in the kitchen like working in a sauna. That of course still can't weigh up to the countless krentenbollen, muffins, brownies and apple pie I have made until now!

Now I could go on and on, I haven't even mentioned the university canteen yet, or the night market, but I'll save those for another time. To conclude, if this post or the pictures made you hungry, that means I did something right.