Sometimes it is best to err on the side of familiarity. Especially if your clientele hails from different parts of North America.
There were countless variations of a theme. One day the deep-fried (insert familiar protein) would be served in a sweet and sour sauce. Then caution would be thrown in the wind and the next day the protein would be transformed into some version of General Tsao’s or Orange something or other. Lo mein, egg foo young, and egg rolls were ubiquitous. If it wasn’t for the hazy backdrop outside, you would have thought you were dining in some midwestern Chinese restaurant.
Whether the tour guides sensed that their guests were tired of the same-old same-old, that the dishes were maybe too exotic, or that the lone vegetarian in the group looked ravenous (Americans eat vegetables?), plates of french fries became a staple at every dinner midway through the trip.
But the foreigners were also a surprising and clever bunch. To add some spice (daresay flavor!), they asked for some type of hot sauce. Our culinary hosts were dumbstruck! The challenge, aside from reassuring them that these visitors would willingly subject their taste buds to heat, was how to convey their want. One clever tour member (moi), snuck a photo of a bottle of chili sauce. From then on, a simple swipe of the smartphone, launched a cadre bearing bottles of fiery ambrosia.
One universal truth. Delicious taste delicious. Even the most unassuming of the group was willing to fork out a wad of renminbi (Chinese currency) for a third helping of Peking Duck. Unfortunately, the culinary culmination of a day’s worth of prepping, roasting, and basting was not in the stars.
The strange and fascinating did exist though. Fancy a shot of snake hooch anyone?
Or was it simply a case of something lost in translation? The group consensus was birthday cake fried chicken.
Was it any wonder that a horde of tourists descended on the nearest KFC like vultures when they were set loose in the international city of Shanghai?
