Guizhou Chicken Pot

Here's something you don't see everyday-Chicken pot! I had a mala chicken pot from Spring Trinity in North Point in Hong Kong. After you finish eating the chicken from the pot, the servers pour pork bone soup into the pot to shabu shabu. 

You choose which veggies and meat you want to add to your shabu! 

 

 It was very tasty. A little on the spicy side! 

 

I'd say you'd need at least 3 people to enjoy this dish. It's a very filling and big dish. They don't offer individual mini pots so come hungry and come ready to share!

Happy Eatings! 

What's an Authentic Chinese New Year Meal?

Chinese people are very superstitious people. Depending on where you may be from, the New Year traditions can vary immensely. Certain fruits and foods are seen as auspicious in certain Chinese cultures are seen as a sign of bad luck in others. But let’s be serious, many of the so-called “Chinese New Year” meals you read about aren’t really special. Chinese people make up nice-sounding names for all the dishes and tell you that it’s a “unique” New Year dish. So, here’s your look into what’s in a real, authentic Chinese New Year dinner. This is what I had for my New Year Dinner.

(Here's my poon choy. Don't let the picture fool you, the pot is very deep.)

Poon Choy, which translates to Big Bowl Feast, is a traditional type of dish originating from Hong Kong. According to legend, it was said the dish was invented during the Song Dynsasty when Mongol troops invaded China. The locals apparently tried to aid the Emperor and his army which fled to Hong Kong and Guangdong, by collected whatever foods they had and threw it all into a big bowl.

(I was really full so I picked out just a few of my favorite things-abalone, fish maw, and sea cucumber.)

Today’s moden poon choy has ingredients such as abalone, ginseng, shark’s fin, duck, fish maw, crab, radish, shrimp, lamb, beef, chicken, mushroom, eel, squid, goose feet  tofu, to name a few. The dish is eaten with everyone using their chopsticks and mixing the food to bring good fortune in the coming year. 

 Another dish with similar meaning eaten for the New Year is “lo hay”.  “Lo hay” is particularly a South East Asian custom very popular in certain regions of China as well. Lo hay is, is a dish filled with vegetables, crackers, nuts, sweet and sour sauce, spices, raw salmon, and fruit. Each of the ingredients symbolizes some form of prosperity.

 (Some mixing in action!)

Everyone then raises their chopsticks and mixes the platter by picking up the items with their chopsticks. This action is to signify good luck by mixing all these symbolic forms of prosperity.

Happy Lunar New Year!

Trip Along the Yangtze River & Three Gorges Dam

I took a 6 day cruise/trip to Chongqing, Fengdu, Shibaozhai, Wanzhou, Fenjie, Wuahan, Yichang, Shashi, Wuhan, etc. to see the Yangtze River and the Three Gorges Dam. It wasn't as fun as my Yunnan trip but the food for the first two days and last day were decent. Why? Because in the middle we were on the boat for the whole time with Hong Kong andMainland Chinese tourists-all of whom do not eat spicy food. GR! Really? You go to the home of some awesome ethnic minorities who put peppers on everything and you stick to eating the stuff you eat everyday at home? NOT COOL. Here were some of my better meals before my fellow people on the Hong Kong tour complained that they couldn't eat spicy. BLEH!

 Yummy cucumbers and pork I believe. 

 String beans

 Egg plant-always a favorite of mine.

 Ma po tofu. They made it really good. Got the ma la part down. Love when that happens.

 Spicy peanuts.

 Even the veggie was spicy. I really enjoyed this meal, until people on my tour flagged down the guide and made sure he knew they never wanted another meal like that again. They complained that it was too spicy and that they could only eat  2 dishes the whole night. I, on the other hand enjoyed all the food and even had 4 bowls of rice. Yes, I counted. 

 My favorite candy as a kid except made into the shapes of turtles and dragons. 

 Cute huh? Little girl about to eat her dragon candy.

 Hot Pot! The middle hole was spicy and the outside was not. I of course was pretty much the only one that ate from the middle. 

 Yum! We had lots and lots of plates coming and going. It was pretty good. Not the best hot pot I've ever had though. 

 Pork, veggie goodness

 More goodness

 Yummy crab, egg goodness. 

 Salt & peppered pork

 Spicy fish

 Delicious tomato soup!

 And of course more non spicy food. Seriously Hong Kongers need to get with the program.

 Look at the mini shrimps!

 Yummy tofu! Reminds me of the Japanese kind I like to get. 

 Fried taro and sweet potato balls.

 Sweet and sour fried fish!

Towards the end of the trip, I just realized I wasn't going to be having any real authentic food. I really would advise people who like to eat to never join a tour with Hong Kong people. I did it once many years ago (10?) when I made my first trip to Vietnam and I swore never again. Apparently my mom really enjoyed it. I am boycotting any trips like this ever again. My stomach is protesting.

Happy Eatings!

Sorry about not putting captions on the rest of the food. I just got too upset thinking about how I missed out on some good, spicy food. Hmph!