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! 

Shanghainese Goodness

It's been quite a few years since I last visited Shanghai. Unfortunately the opportunity has not come up yet, but at least I know I can always turn to Liu Yuan Pavilion in Wan Chai, Hong Kong to give me my Shanghaiese fill. Such a delicious meal! It's been awhile!

Say hello to our drunken chicken. The chicken meat was so juicy and tender. You have to eat it right away though or else the alcohol soaks into the meat and then it just tastes like alcohol chicken-which I guess is basically what is it anyways.

This was definitely one of my favorite dishes. I'm not sure what type of fish this is but basically they took out all the bones and then made the meat into chewy pasta like pieces of goodness. It was delicious especially if you added a bit of vinegar to it.

Ooh another win for the night. Woba. Think of it as a rice cake or rice crispies but with salty egg yolk. Yum. If you follow my blog you know I love salty egg yolk... which reminds me never to check my cholesterol levels. I'm sure I'm on my way to a heart attack at age 30. Knock on wood.

Fried yanxijuan. Fried bread. Yummy.

Hongyouchaoshou. Basically spicy wonton like dumplings. Always a favorite of mine but the trick is the sauce. Chinese have this concept of mala which is a different type of spiciness. Instead of just lighting your mouth on fire, this type of spice just is spicy enough to numb the tongue.

And of course my favorite little peas. Not many places do this dish anymore because of all the work that goes into it. These peas are all handpicked. It takes many many bags just to get enough to fill this small plate. So much work.

And what better than to end a day with wintermelon?

Look at this huge chunk. One for each person. Whooo... I was stuffed.


Great way to end my 3 month stay in Hong Kong. I have a few days left so I'll have to make it count of course!
Happy Eatings!