After I mostly recovered from what was finally diagnosed as "Common Cold" (which required going to the hospital and sticking my hand in a small hole in the wall so that someone I couldn't see on the other side of the wall took a blood sample and while that was occurring my translator told me she loved "Twilight" and really wished she was a vampire)and before Sally really came down with what would prove to be her version of "common cold," we made dinner plans with two twins who Sally had met in the hospital. Jin and Yu are both medical students in the university that is next to the Tianjin First Teaching Hospital (aka Rehabilitation Mansion); Jin (which means gold)is focusing on acupuncture and Yu (which means jade)is focusing on Chinese herbs. They decided they would bring their friend "Andy" along, not only because he is a very good friend, but also because his English is stellar. The five of us (twins, Andy, Sally and I) met outside the hospital just after dark on one of our last nights in Tianjin. Jin (who takes his role as the "older brother" very seriously) had prepared several dinner options for us to choose from. We chose to go to "Hot Pot," a very popular phenomenon which I will describe now below:
Hot Pot is such a good restaurant idea. There is a restaurant (our little establishment actually seated probably more people than the population of Hot Springs) with regular seeming tables. The thing that is not regular is that there is a burner in the middle of the table, with an electric heat source under the table which is turned on as you are seated. The server brings a large round pot that is divided in the middle with a curve shaped divider, so that if you look down upon the top of the pot, it looks like a yin yang shape. A basic broth with Chinese herbs and spices is brought, and heated in the pot. The diners choose from a very extensive list of ingredients available to order- all forms of meat, veggies, herbs, eggs, mushrooms, seaweeds, you name it. Condiments and dipping sauces too. Once ordered, the ingredients are soon brought on a cart that is wheeled to your table. The diners cook their own soup, adding ingredients as they wish to cook in the broth, and eating it as the ingredients are cooked. Cooked meats, veggies, quail eggs, funguses and such are extracted from the "hot pot" with chop sticks and dipped in special sauce to enjoy. The cooking, eating and socializing process goes on and on until the people just can't eat anymore. Special candied hawthorn fruits are available for good digestion.
Our hot pot dinner with the twins and Andy was one of the more fun dinners of my life.
Jin ordered so much food I can't even recall it all- lamb, beef, pork, fish, all manners of veggies and mushrooms and herbs, 2 dozen hard boiled quail eggs, bamboo shoots, Chinese yam vine root, I don't even remember all what. I do remember that it was wheeled in on a double decker cart and Sally and I didn't believe it was all for our table. We cooked the soup so that one side of the pot would be vegetarian and the other side would have all the meat. Sally was happy. We wanted some mellow rice wine, which the restaurant didn't have, so younger brother Yu, who was basically the sweetest guy ever, ran to the supermarket next door to buy us the wine we wanted. The conversation was very interesting, and focused on the twins' and Andy's studies in Traditional Chinese Medicine (Andy is finished with that and now working toward his Masters degree and eventually a PhD in neuroscience). We discussed topics such as the differences in Chinese medicine in China and in the States, and how Andy literally lives in the lab at his school (sleeps on a lab table), and marijuana ("what is that?" they sincerely wanted to know...). The mood was so good and the fellowship came so naturally that we all marvelled at how special the dinner was and how it seemed like we had been friends much longer than we had. I, of course, got a little silly and tried to make Yu laugh a lot, which worked, and that was supremely fun. The dinner and the fun went on and on and on. We ate and ate and ate. We laughed and laughed and laughed. At one point I looked over at Sally and she looked like she was going to explode or fall asleep, but she was too happy to do either so we ate on. After the dinner, we goofed off together in the elevator and outside, all laughing and announcing over and over what a special dinner it had been. Our hosts were so kind and generous and genuine. It was pretty much a redeeming experience of Tianjin for me (outside of Jenna's good health and strength improvements). We will remain penpals with Jin and Yu and Andy and host them if they come to the states, which might really happen because Andy is in the process of applying for neuroscience research internships here and Jin wants to practice acupuncture. (Yu, as the younger brother, will stay home and take care of his parents as they age). What sort of special American dinner could we treat our friends to if they come? My ideas: Bar-B-Que, Hooters pizza and beer( Brew and View?), or Mountain Magnolia Inn. Any other thoughts?
1 comment:
I can not get enough of your account of events in your life. I'm pigging out on your blog!
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