Weekend Report: Chinese New Year and Mardi Gras

I had a weekend of themed parties! 

On Friday night LLC hosted a dumpling extravaganza in celebration of the Chinese New Year (Happy Year of the Rabbit!). Per usual, she presided over her wok like a pro – there were garlic shrimp and egg dumplings, yuxiang eggplant dumplings, celery/walnut/mushroom dumplings, pork and leek dumplings, cabbage mushroom dumplings, celery soya dumplings - more kinds of dumplings than I could count! 

The dumplings signify wealth and luck, and we also ate noodles (to ensure a long life), and brownies and cookies (to ensure a year of sweetness). (Just kidding, I made that last one up. But it sounds good, right?).

We ate the dumplings dipped in a mix of soy sauce, black vinegar, and Sichuan hot chili oil – it’s a kicking mixture that’s popular in Shanxi (northern China). LLC’s apartment was decorated with wall hangings she’s acquired on her travels, and though she couldn’t quite bring herself to hang the Maoist flag on her wall, it made an appearance draped over a chair.

Saturday was an exceptionally dreary drizzly day, but luckily it cleared up in time for LOTR-Emily’s Mardi Gras themed housewarming party (yes, we realize it’s a little early for Mardi Gras, but who can say no to a king cake and beads?). Here’s one for the list of Reasons Why DC is a Small Town: one of my friends ran into her junior high boyfriend from Florida at the party! Small freaking world.

 

I hate to admit this on the interwebs, but Super Bowl Sunday is pretty much a non-event in my life. Growing up I always skied through it (because in CA the Super Bowl happens in the afternoon), and in college I was usually busy or tired or not in the mood for football (I know, I know, womp womp Debbie Downer.) I would have watched the game last night, but I traded a yoga-studio shift with a girl who was going out of town. So while you all were indulging in chili and guac and chips and dip, I was stretching out in a hot and sweaty savasana.

Did you eat some spinach artichoke dip for me? Or what about some seven-layer shenanigans? 

And I happen to be a Rabbit:

People born in the Year of the Rabbit are articulate, talented, and ambitious. They are virtuous, reserved, and have excellent taste. Rabbit people are admired, trusted, and are often financially lucky. They are fond of gossip but are tactful and generally kind. Rabbit people seldom lose their temper. They are clever at business and being conscientious, never back out of a contract. They would make good gamblers for they have the uncanny gift of choosing the right thing. However, they seldom gamble, as they are conservative and wise.

I'll take it! Not bad, right?

Literary Bite Update: Country Driving (again)

A couple weeks ago I completely denigrated this book. I said it was boring and terrible and I QUIT reading it.

But then I was between The Help and Going Solo, and there it was sitting on my bedside table. So I decided to give it another shot. And now here I am, coming back to you tail between my legs to say…I was wrong. I liked it. And I’m glad I finished it. (LLC is getting so much satisfaction from this post right now it just kills me.)

Because when I first told LLC that I hated Country Driving, she explained that it was a 3-part book. The first part is about driving along the Great Wall (that was the part that should have been interesting but really wasn’t). Part 2 is about village life, and Part 3 is about a factory town.

I originally quit after Part 1. If you decide to read this book, either read the whole thing and just know that it will get better…or skip Part 1 entirely. The second two parts were more about people then cars, and were more similar to Hessler’s first book, River Town, which I loved.

Part 2 is about the “Old China,” a country village with only one child left, and the gradual modernization of that village. Hessler becomes close with one family, and the characters feel very real and interesting.

Part 3 is about the “New China” of migrant workers, factories, and business. Hessler attaches himself to a factory that manufactures tiny metal rings for bra straps, and explores the stories of various people connected to the factory and the way the new Chinese factories do business and politics. (This part reminded me of a documentary LLC and I saw a few weeks ago, Last Train Home.)

So on the surface this book is about driving around China, but more broadly it’s about a country constantly on the move. “To drive across China was to find yourself in the middle of the largest migration in human history — nearly one-tenth of the population was on the road, finding new lives away from home.”

And that, my friends, is an example of humility and openmindedness. I was wrong and I admit it. If you read this book, let me know what you think!

Check out this NYT review.

And this blog review that completely disagrees with me (he likes the first part best. To each his/her own!)

Click here to read Hessler's short story (an excerpt from the book), "How I Got My Chinese Drivers License."

Literary Bite: The Ginger Tree

I'm still not sure what to make of this book. It's a silly story, but with higher ambitions. So should I say it's a "good" book, ignoring the fact that the author attempted to make it a "great" book and fell flat? Or should I condemn it for trying to provide subtle social commentary and ultimately coming off as trite?
I choose the former. Because though I probably won't recommend anyone read The Ginger Tree by Oswald Wynd, I wouldn't deter anyone from reading it either.

It's the story of a 20-year-old Scotswoman (Mary) who sails to China at the turn of the century to marry her betrothed. However, she falls for a Japanese man, cheats on her husband, and is ultimately thrown out of her home and forced to make her own way in the Far East without the support of her family or the European community.

I like the context of this book. Mary arrived in China just after the Boxer Rebellion in Peking, a city divvied up by its European occupiers. She eventually makes her way to Japan, and lives there through WWI, the Tokyo earthquake of 1923, and into WWII.

My problem with this book is that instead of liking the protagonist more and more, I came to despise her. It's almost a wanna-be feminist novel. Mary is cognoscente of the unfair treatment of women in both European and Japanese society...but she continues to let herself be treated like a doormat, even when she doesn't have to! I just felt like she had absolutely no self-respect...so not quite the "spellbinding odyssey of one woman's strength and spirit in the face of terrifying odds" like the back cover promises.

I realize that books aren't always designed to make you like the main character...but something just seemed off about Mary, and her character didn't ring true for me.

Read a review here.
About the Author here.

And oh hey, it was a TV Mini-Series in 1989.

Literary Bite: Lost on Planet China

I don’t think I have ever read a “travel book” before. The author claims that this is not such a book, but Amazon.com feels differently. Not that it really matters…

Anywho, Lost on Planet China by J. Maarten Troost, reached my literature-hungry hands via my LLC, who is obsessed with China, who received it from my grandma, who is quite the traveler herself.

The book is definitely entertaining. It chronicles the author's travels through China – as in, one day he decided to go to China, without much prior knowledge of the country, its people, or its languages. This is, obviously, a pretty standard formula for hilarity. 

My only complaint is that Troost attempts to turn it into a history book as well. Informative tangents are great (if you can’t tell already, I’m pretty big into tangents myself!); however, there is a fine line between interesting tangent, and the point where the reader wonders, can we get back to the story already? So my conclusion is that Troost should stick to interesting anecdotes about his travels, and leave the history of China to the history books. (Everything he adds could probably be found on Wikipedia.)

The thought of traveling in China completely overwhelms me. Crowds of people all the time. Pollution to the max. Really challenging language (as in, LLC how do you do it???). All not really for me…

Regarding pollution:  “Few endeavors strike me as more absurd than running in China, a country in which people routinely wear surgical masks while conducting their errands(167).”

Hmm…we all know that China is polluted, but reading this book really drives the message home.

Chinese women’s rights don’t get anywhere near the press than Muslim issues do, but think about this:

“China has the world’s highest suicide rate among women (177).”

BUT because of the “One Child” policy, many parents abort female fetuses (which is officially illeagal). The result? Forty million Chinese men who will never get any. And then on top of that 150,000 women kill themselves per year (most often by swallowing pesticides) because women are treated so badly…makes sense? No.

 

A couple random fun facts:

“China has three percent of the world’s drivers, but has a quarter of all people killed each year by cars (179).”

“All restaurants in China have tables for twelve (183).”

 

Foodwise, I have my doubts about the Chinese. Yes, yes, dumplings are great. But according to a local whom Troost befriends, “In China, we eat everything with four legs except the table, and anything with two legs except a person (235).” That includes “pork that tastes like fish (191).” HUH???

 

And that doesn’t even take into consideration all the non-legged animals they eat. As in seafood. Sometimes while it is still alive:

 

Video of eating live squid:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NE3NPytch4

Eating live octopus in Korea:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fAs_DJCjG4&NR=1

 

For a semi-comedic author, Troost’s reading/speaking style is pretty dry…but here he is, talking about the live squid eating incident:

Authors at Google – 30 minute talk with J. Maarten Troost

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOkq6dgQe0c

 

So for my Chinese-style cooking, I’m going to leave the real stuff the pros. Instead, I’ll tame it down a bit, and give you an absolutely AMAZING recipe for Chicken, Mein, and Vegetables in Creamy Szechuan Dressing. My mom has been making this cold pasta salad for a while now – it is SO GOOD. As in, I know that it has mayonnaise in it, but I love it anyways. And if you know about my feelings regarding mayonnaise (not positive), then you realize the full weight of that statement.

 

Anywho, here it is:

 

1 lb thin mein (Chinese noodles)  - or go lazy-style like me and just use angel hair pasta

¾ cup soy sauce

¼ cup peanut oil

2 cups mayonnaise (most recently I used non-fat, and it worked fine!)

1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard

¼ cup sesame oil

Szechuan chili oil (optional – to taste)

2 whole chicken breasts

6 green onions, thinly sliced

2 carrots, peeled and sliced

1 red pepper

1 can (8 oz) sliced bamboo shoots, drained

1 jar (6 oz) mini corn cobs, drained and sliced

½ cup chopped fresh coriander (aka cilanro)

½ lb fresh snow peas – sliced (you can also blanch them: drop into boiling water for about 1-2 minutes, then drain and immediately ice bath)

1. Cook the chicken breasts (either poach, or sautee), tear into pieces or cube (whatever you prefer)
2. Cook noodles in 4 quarts boiling water unitl al dente. Drain and immediately toss in large bowl with ½ cup soy sauce and peanut oil. Cool to room temperature, tossing occasionally to make sure the noodles are evenly coated.
3. Combine mayonnaise, mustard, sesame oil, ¼ cup soy sauce, and chili oil. Refrigerate until ready for use.
4. Add reserved chicken, green onions, carrots, pepper, bamboo shoots, corn cobs, and chopped coriander to noodles. Mix gently but thoroughly with hands. Add mayonnaise mixture and mix thoroughly.
5. Cool and refrigerate until ready to serve (I highly recommend making this a night ahead – it’s so much better that way!)
6. Add snow peas immediately before serving. (If you add them early, they will lose their crispness.)
7. Serves 6 as a main course. And I’m going to go ahead and suggest you double this – it is just that good!

* This picture is mine pre-cilantro and snow peas.