Making "Qiezi" American Style

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So, my last entry was after playing "Fighting the Landlord" with my friend Jeff and his girlfriend. That day we planned to have me cook some American food for them later in the week. We chose Wednesday as the day, and so on Sunday I set about gathering the ingredients needed to make an American dish in China. This involves making a trip to the Carrefour (a huge multi-level Meijer’s type place) where I can get things like the bow-tie noodles that I used. Then I made a trip to a special store for foreigners called "Sabrina’s," where you can get ALL sorts of American items, from pudding to maple syrup to spaghetti sauce to bratwurst and even bagels--all for a small fortune!!! So, the meal that I was wanted to make was Eggplant Parmesan. "Eggplant" in Chinese is "qiezi." (And there are many tasty dishes here made with eggplant). So at Sabrina’s I needed to get parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese, tomato sauce, and butter. I also got a mix for Oreo pie because I thought maybe my guests would enjoy that.

So, with the purchase of those ingredients under my belt (costing me more for those slight ingredients than I had spent on all things all month in total!!!), I was almost ready for my Wednesday night cook-off. Still needed were the eggplant, garlic, eggs, milk, and breadcrumbs...all things that I was able to get in Shiling town. The eggplant posed a slight challenge--the ones at Carrefour were beyond questionable and there were none to be had at the local Best Mart in Shiling. That simply meant I had to go to the open market which is just a small hike down the road in Shiling. Then the only thing left was to get some serving items (since I NEVER cook here, I didn't have more than one fork and I had to get another plate and a pie dish to put the Oreo pie in...I got those items at Best Mart).

So, on Wednesday afternoon, Jeff and his girlfriend came to my apartment for Jeff's daily study session with me in preparation for his TEM4 exam. The TEM4 is a major exam that all English majors have to take in the sophomore year. If they don't pass then they don't get the certificate with their graduation (I think it is similar to an unendorsed diploma (?)). Anyway, it is very difficult (especially the grammar), and he has taken it before and failed, so this is his last chance. So he has recruited me to help him study daily in preparation for the big day at the end of April. So we met and studied from 2 until 4 p.m. on Wednesday (his girlfriend came and chatted on QQ on my computer--although she chuckled when she realized she had to type in Pinyin since I don't have the Chinese character font downloaded--and also looked at my photo album while Jeff and I worked on his practice exam). Then they left for the pre-dinner interlude (while I worked on some lesson planning). Then they returned at 6 p.m. for dinner. The brought a HUGE bag of fresh strawberries with them--so tasty!

So, once they arrived, we all went into the kitchen and started preparing the eggplant parmesan. I have to say I was a little nervous, simply because I haven't cooked really for almost a year (I never cooked in grad school and I always eat out here), so I was thinking to myself, "Am I gonna burn this shit and have a total disaster on my hands?!?!"... But all was fine. I explained that eggplant parmesan is really an Italian dish and that many American dishes originate from some other country's food. I explained to them the basic process of how the meal would go together--they were intrigued by the layering of food that was going go on (pasta, sauce, eggplant topped with melted parmesan, and then the parmesan cheese atop). So then we began. We started the bow-tie pasta boiling and talked about the difference between pasta and the kind of noodles that Chinese eat--most Chinese have never had pasta, and some don't like it. But Jeff and company thought it was cool, especially the shape. I held up the bow-tie noodle to exemplify how its name came into being.

Then Jeff and his girlfriend helped me peel the garlic and then I minced it (we discussed the different words in English and Chinese for chopping, cutting, mincing, etc.). Jeff commented on how small the knife I had (a large knife by American standards and a beast of a thing which I've cut myself many a time with) was and how Chinese cooks use huge chopping knives (I've seen these as they chop up whole chickens, bones and all). Then I chopped the onion and sauteed it and the garlic before adding the greenpepper and mushroom spagettie sauce. Jeff and his girlfriend were so amused by the combination of the garlic with tomato, something they said isn't done really in Chinese food. I told them that I thought they would still like it. After heating the sauce, we started the process for doing the eggplant. I needed first to crush the stale bread I'd prepared into crumbs; Jeff's girlfriend helped me with that task. Then we had to beat two eggs with a little milk (first dip the eggplant in the egg mixture, then into the crumbs, and then into the heated oil in the skillet). Of the first eggs we cracked, the second was full of blood. And after only a few moments of consideration, we all decided that those eggs would go down the toilet--with bird flu in the mix, one can never be too careful. So, on try two, both eggs passed the normality assessment, and we went on. We washed and then chopped the eggplant into 1/4" sections, and then we were ready to start! Once the eggplant started frying, I think they were more confident about that it might be an enjoyable dish--there is a dish made with deepfried eggplant here in China where they put stuff some meat inside and then it is served in a very delicious sauce. After the frying was done, I removed them from the skillet to a place and topped them with the mozzarella cheese. And we were almost ready. Just needed to re-heat the sauce and test the pasta.

Then it was ready, so I portioned it out between our three plates: pasta first, then the sauce, then the eggplant and then the parmesan cheese ~ ta da ~ it was ready. So then we went into the living room and sat at the new table I bought this month (only 40 kuai). So then it was the moment of truth? Would Jeff and his girlfriend's first experience of American food "Meiguo cai" be a yeah or nay? Luckily, it was a "yeah." Jeff liked it fine, but his girlfriend LOVED it! She finished all of hers and even had some of his. Jeff teased her saying, "she is so fat, she will want to eat more." She giggled and nudged him. Here in China, it isn't rude to joke about being fat (and she's not fat!). People will say, "oh, I like to eat, so I am fat" or "this is my fat friend." So it wasn't mean spirited at all. We took the pictures you see to commemorate their first eating of American food.

After we'd finished, I offered them the Oreo pie, but Jeff said he was full. I think his girlfriend would have wanted to try some, but he said, no they didn't want any. So then we played "Fight the Landlord" for an hour before I had to go to Wednesday night English corner at 8:30 p.m. I actually won a game! Yay! Then we got ready to go; I packed them some Oreo pie to try at home and also packed two pieces, one each for two of my favorite students that are always at English corner. Jeff came with me to English corner for a little time, but his girlfriend had to go home because there were people coming to visit them in a little while.

English corner was fun as usual with students asking all sorts of questions about my life in American and American movies, food, etc. I also gave my friends Adam and L.G. the pieces of Oreo pie (disguised in plastic bags, so that it wasn't obvious that I was dishing out rare American sweet treats to special students!). After an hour at English corner, I had to retire, having LOTS of lesson planning still to do for my Thursday British culture class. I was walked home by Adam, L.G., and another enthusiastic student, Rose. L.G. even gave me a hug. She is one of my very thoughtful, smart, and kind oral English students. She even recently bought me a CD with beautiful traditional Chinese folksongs.

So, anyway, that was my yesterday. More on today, tomorrow (my Chinese tutoring session and a movie at the internet bar with another student, Prince) and then an upcoming weekend (a trip to the Peach Garden festival at the town of Luodai) with Jeff and his girlfriend. Then in the coming week, there is no class (students get a week off to go find part-time jobs at the Chengdu Sugar and Wine festival), so I'll have some time free to do mega-lesson planning and updating here. So, so long for now. :)

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