Reality Equation

Chinese Fast Food + Bakery

I’m going to start with the night before, because there was something interesting, food-wise. Earlier, Zhiang Yì and Fang Yun had asked us what we’d like for dinner, and I’d decided to try something other than fàn (rice), and go instead for some seafood mian tiao. I’m not sure why, but I had imagined that I’d be getting fried egg noodles with some sort of sauce, and was ready for that as I went downstairs at around 7pm.

Turns out they’d brought us huge buckets of liquidy rice noodles in a sort of soup base, not entirely unlike ramen or Wai Wai prepared in that way. “Chinese fast food”, Zhiang Yì joked, inviting a short discussion about fast food and ‘Western food’ in China.

We got to talk about this more today in class, and it seems fast food culture is, unsurprisingly, seen as both a cause of concern as well as convenience here in China.

—“So,” she began, “it’s true that younger people prefer fast food, especially those dishes that need to be deep fried. Most houses don’t want to deep fry because it takes a lot of oil.” She gave an example of lào bǐng, a sort of Chinese pancake that KFC introduced a while ago, which, even though is a fast-food offering, is quite Chinese in its preparation. People don’t make these at home, and it’s often easier (and cheaper) just to get them KFC or Pizza Hut. “Although you never really know how they reuse the oil”.

A standard meal at Pizza Hut will cost around RMB 200 with pizza, drinks and snacks. This comes to around $30, which we commented was rather expensive. In local establishments, though, you can have a satisfying meal for half that price. We go out of quarantine tomorrow, so it’ll be great to get to check out some eateries around campus.

For breakfast today there was ‘Chinese bread’, but really, that’s misleading. While there was indeed regular white bread for those whose wanted, the real treat were these salty (there seems to be a clear distinction when you ask for bread between the ’salty’ kind or the ’sweet’ kind) stuffed breads. The one I had was stuffed with spicy shredded pork, and had more spicy things on top. It was simply delicious.

The bread also came with butter, but not the butter we’re used to having. This one had a thicker consistency, and was sweeter. I’m not sure that’s what these other small pastry-things were filled with, it could’ve been cream:

During break in our morning class, Zhiang lǎoshī gave us something she said was special to where she came from, which I think is somewhere around Hefei. “It might be too sweet for you, so don’t finish it if you don’t like it”.

Inside was powdery beige, in little clusters that felt kind-of solid till you tried to press on it. I tried some and immediately thought ‹‹ I’ve had this before! ›› It tasted like the sweet sesame powder that people have in Nepal at a certain time of the year for a certain ritual/celebration. Indeed, that’s exactly what it was—sesame (seeds?) and sugar, among other things.

Update: I’ve noticed that Chinese bakery products tend to be a lot ‘eggier’ than their Western counterparts (and by Western, I’m referring to the sort of stuff you usually find in most American homes and diners). They’re softer, mushier, more yellow, and usually have that distinct aftertaste. A Chinese muffin seems to be flatter, wider and just as eggy. (A little like quiche, except not).