My first task was to plan the meal. I had to first take into account that despite having not one but TWO small ovens in their apartment, Sunny's family never used them and instead I found they were full of ceramicware and cutlery. Whatever I made would need to utilize a hot plate and a burner. Also, Sunny's absolute favorite food is fish, so I planned to cook salmon, something she said they never really ate because they didn't really know how to cook it. They also told me they wanted to try a salad, but the rest was up to me! I decided in addition to mustard salmon and a yummy salad recipe (which I stole from a close family friend who make's a mean dressing), I would make a daring attempt at Pesto Pasta and some simple stir-fried veggies. The list was set!
Second task was actually getting myself to the grocery store. It turned out a little bit easier said than done, but I took a wrong turn and a 15 minute walk turned into a 40 minute one (oops!).
Third task, and by far the most daunting, was locating all of the western foods I needed in the 5 story New Century Supermarket. I grabbed a cart and pretty easily located an apple, a leafy veggie which I thought was spinach, a small jar of parmesean cheese, and olive oil. Chinese supermarkets are amazing! All of the seafood (and frogs and turtles) are kept live in tanks, with some cutlets nearby. Meats are open air on beds of ice, and there are stalls and stalls of cured ducks and other ready-made items. I managed to aqquire salmon with no issues. Then, I spent 30 minutes completely lost, riding the super fun shopping cart escalators up and down while trying desperately to find the imported foods section. I finally just happen to stumble upon it because I saw Barilla pasta peeking out from over the shelves. I literally think I cheered out loud, I was so thankful to have located the western foods. I scored big time when I found packets of dried basil, and I was feeling pretty great when I headed to the cashier. Unfortunately, there was some issue with the apple I tried to buy and she clearly was trying to have me get a barcode but I could not figure out how to aqquire one so I just put the apple back and left. Otherwise, it was a success!
My final task was the actual cooking. I hadn't realized how much I missed being in a kitchen! Sunny was amazed at how much water was needed to boil the pasta, and she came in a couple of times to watch me prepare my strange western dishes. It was tricky, as I had to rehydrate the basil and make my own breadcrumbs using toast, but everything turned out really nice. Well, mostly everything. The leafy greens I purchased were NOT actually spinach. I have never tasted anything like that leaf- not bad, just very strong- but I went with it. I set the table American style and we dug in!
Sunny's first question was about the fried top of the salmon. When I told her it was mustard, she looked extremely perplexed. It turns out, mustard in China means wasabi, and they just have absolutely no idea what our mustard is. I actually had to get out the mustard I had used to let them smell it! It was super fun. Sunny really loved the salmon and her parents had fun trying to figure out what basil was. I'm really glad I did it, and it was a really wonderful way to spend my last night at home with her family. I'm going to miss them so much!
My Hangzhou food blog is coming soon!!! Get excited, it's pretty wild!
Peace & Love,
Hannah
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