Chinese Lunch and American Dinner

One of the perks of being adopted my multiple Chinese families is that the feed you.
And feed you well at that!

Sophia's mom invited me to have lunch with them today. I had class this morning but was done by 11am. I asked if I could take some pictures while they prepared lunch and they said "sure" but were a little curious as to why.
I told them that the food in China was very different than the Chinese food in America. They had no idea what a fortune cookie was!

So here are a few shots of how Sophia and her family prepare lunch in China. I would say typical lunch but I think they thew in a few extras for me.

To begin...a lot of people use various coal cookers. You buy these round coal bricks and put them in the cooker and then you make a fire using wood to start the coal. After they get going your cookin' with coal!


When I first arrived Sophia was cooking up some greens. I think this is similar to spinach.


Mom was working on the tofu. She was putting little slices in them to help them absorb the flavors to be added later.


Then Sophia fried it up.


This guy would be dealt with later!


After the tofu is browned you add some spices and soy sauce. And let it simmer.


Meanwhile dad cleaned up some bamboo.


And mom diced up some pork.



Then Sophia fried the pork while mom diced up the bamboo.

What a cook!


I've never eaten so much bamboo in my life.


As I watched them...Others were watching me.

Old and young alike.

This is the young.


And this is the old. I love this shot. He wasn't very keen on me taking his picture so I had to trick him into it. Afterwards he really liked it. I think I'll get a copy printed for him. I love taking pictures of old people. Their faces have so much character.

Dad keeping busy peeling some spuds...aka, taters.


Then supervising the cleaning of the shrimp.


I'm not sure who this guy was, but boy does he like ice cream.


Sophia dicing onions. She's pretty handy with that cleaver!



These were the biggest shrimp that I've seen in China yet. Big enough for me to be able to peel them with my hands.


And this guy finally got his turn in he wok.


Mom even killed a chicken just for me...bless her heart.



Well the table is set and the beer is cold. I never have beer for lunch but when in China...Do as the Chinese.



A few friends and relatives stopped in to join us.


And we had a wonderful time.





I invited Sophia and Chad to have pizza for dinner with me later on. They had never had Italian/American pizza before.
As a matter of fact as the waitress sat us down, Sophia looked a little worried. I asked what was wrong. She looked at the forks and knives at the table. She said she had never used them before and was worried that she would use them wrong.
I told her not to worry...You don't use a fork to eat pizza. Just your hands!



I'm not sure, but I think it has been said that food brings people together.

It did today!

Jim