Thursday, May 22, 2008

Chinese Food

Another thing that I've noticed about Fuchsia Dunlop's new book is how much more complicated and rewarding Chinese food sounds. While Western food seems to just circulate around one or two ingredients and has a few seasonings to enhance the flavor, Chinese food seems hundreds of times more intricate. They have well seasoned dishes, focusing on the very idea of flavors, rather than just pretending that there is a limit to the dish. It's as if Western food just tells a sentence or a phrase, while Chinese food spins full tales about a culture or just nature itself. They also don't limit themselves to such few and boring ingredients. The Chinese use every edible thing they can use, making their food that much more complex. After reading most of the book, it seems foolish to me that we let pig's blood drain, or throw away organs. I want to try and taste everything and see just what kind of stories are made by chefs. I'm done with most of my fantasizing about European food. Asia's got my eye now.

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