Authentic real deal Chinese food

Chalky

Chinese folks used to working with Westerners do not get offended if you decline the food offered.

vale

go vegetarian for the duration if seriously concerned.

i'm pescatarian/vegetarian on/off but i would maybe lay off seafood or be superwary of it if i went to that corner of the world (i won't), partly because they are partial to certain seafood that can actually kill you if it hasn't been in a super-controlled way.
plus how clean was the water the seafood was caught in? water standards are generally stricter in west, re lead, chems, shite.

maybe take a months supply of pot noodle, just to see the customs person's face. that would be a priceless smile.

strtdv

Fugu is more of a Japanese and Korean thing than Chinese, and it's unlikely you'd accidentally buy it as it would be much more expensive than most other things on the menu.

A friend of mine went out a few years ago and said that bar a few crazy things (chicken feet being one) it was mostly much nicer and less artificially flavoured than Chinese food over here.

The vast majority of Asians are lactose intolerant (actually a large majority of non-Caucasians are) so you're unlikely to find much milk/dairy produce.

RaymondLin

strtdv said:

Fugu is more of a Japanese and Korean thing than Chinese, and it's unlikely you'd accidentally buy it as it would be much more expensive than most other things on the menu.

A friend of mine went out a few years ago and said that bar a few crazy things (chicken feet being one) it was mostly much nicer and less artificially flavoured than Chinese food over here.

The vast majority of Asians are lactose intolerant (actually a large majority of non-Caucasians are) so you're unlikely to find much milk/dairy produce.

Weirdly I know of no Asian being lactose intolerant....and I know a ton of Caucasians being lactose intolerant.

although soy soy milk is more popular, they drink it not because of lactose but because it’s easier to come by in the area historically speaking.

chicken feet is not crazy, it’s pretty standard, it’s like eating chicken wings.

now...sea cucumber is weird, I bet you are looking it up now in google ...

Snap

Not been to China, but in Hong Kong, out and about in Kowloon, it seemed that anything that moved was dried in salt and then eaten. They appeared to eat absolutely anything that moved. I saw stuff on sale in the markets that beggared belief.

57Deluxe

scrumhalf

57Deluxe said:

Is that before or after it's been eaten?

boogieman

Snap said:

Not been to China, but in Hong Kong, out and about in Kowloon, it seemed that anything that moved was dried in salt and then eaten. They appeared to eat absolutely anything that moved. I saw stuff on sale in the markets that beggared belief.

The guide on our tour told us the Chinese eat anything with a face 

We saw live eels, snails and toads being sold in a local market, but tbh most of the street and restaurant food was just simple stuff like stir fried veg with chicken, tofu or pork. In one area we visited we had dumplings as a side dish, otherwise it was mostly rice or noodles. I’ve seen a lot worse in Cambodia... places selling dog carcasses and horse meat, fried insects, deep fried spiders etc. 

Dominic

I have eaten everything but dog when I used to live in Hong Kong in the late 70s /early 80s
Locusts,sea slug,Snake,Civet Cat,Turtles, frogs,jellyfish ,Wind dried duck, duck webs , all delicious .
The only thing that made me feel a bit unwell was Snake Gall bladder bile which you drink from a glass as a traditional medicament to protect against the common cold .......it is ripped from the snake which is killed to order in the market and squeezed by hand into a glass.........it looks like a little condom .
  I would rather eat any of these things than the Nordic delicacy of Surstrumming .

Bridgehouse

57Deluxe said:

That’s me, @darthed1981 and @Legionreturns at Sasquatch 

RaymondLin

Dominic said:

I have eaten everything but dog when I used to live in Hong Kong in the late 70s /early 80s
Locusts,sea slug,Snake,Civet Cat,Turtles, frogs,jellyfish ,Wind dried duck, duck webs , all delicious .
The only thing that made me feel a bit unwell was Snake Gall bladder bile which you drink from a glass as a traditional medicament to protect against the common cold .......it is ripped from the snake which is killed to order in the market and squeezed by hand into a glass.........it looks like a little condom .
  I would rather eat any of these things than the Nordic delicacy of Surstrumming .

Whilst you can get all that, you are unlikely to find any of that at Cafe De Coral or Happy Gathering.  Plus usually the more weird it is, the more expensive it is, they believe strange body parts gives specific benefits so it’s usually expensive.

mostly the diet is just pork, chicken, steamed fish and fried leafy vegetables.

Wolfetone

RaymondLin said:

Dominic said:

I have eaten everything but dog when I used to live in Hong Kong in the late 70s /early 80s
Locusts,sea slug,Snake,Civet Cat,Turtles, frogs,jellyfish ,Wind dried duck, duck webs , all delicious .
The only thing that made me feel a bit unwell was Snake Gall bladder bile which you drink from a glass as a traditional medicament to protect against the common cold .......it is ripped from the snake which is killed to order in the market and squeezed by hand into a glass.........it looks like a little condom .
  I would rather eat any of these things than the Nordic delicacy of Surstrumming .

Whilst you can get all that, you are unlikely to find any of that at Cafe De Coral or Happy Gathering.  Plus usually the more weird it is, the more expensive it is, they believe strange body parts gives specific benefits so it’s usually expensive.

mostly the diet is just pork, chicken, steamed fish and fried leafy vegetables.

yep...I'll be happy with just pork, chicken, steamed fish and fried leafy vegetables.