Fotze my friend, I've been to Asia a dozen or so times now, and I STILL don't know WTF I'm eating. There is a huge difference between the NA Chinese food and "real" Chinese food, but one thing I found is that it varies a lot between regions. Eg: If you're on the coast, expect to eat a lot of seafood. Move further inland towards mongolia, and you should expect to eat a lot of beef and vegetables.
Seafood (and sometimes beef) gives me raging arthritis, and the combo of seafood/beer can be pretty crippling. This proves to be particularily challenging for me in China, as I don't want to be a bad guest, I like eating everything they put in front of me, but I also like having the use of my hands and ankles. Some things I found that I REALLY liked (and just about put me in the hospital
) were
- Strawberry glazed shrimp (had this on the coast). Wierd combo, but was pretty tasty.
- Beef Hot pot (you get a boiling pot of water, and a bunch of veggies and shaved beef, which you toss in the pot and boil). Pretty sure I had cat when I was eating this dish....it tasted like dirt. This is a Mongolian type dish.
- Black Rice: it tasted like a grape flavoured rice, and was served in little tin foil cups
- And my all time fav....scrambled eggs with diced tomato mixed in. I've been trying to make this one on weekends, but can't seem to get the recipe right. Bruce? Any advice? This is THE BEST way to eat scrambled eggs.
Anyways, I found that Silver Dragon DT by the river was pretty good. Or at least as close to "authentic" that I've found.
You guys should try Korean if you can't handle the grease, MSG or weight of Chinese food. Korean food is much lighter, spicier, and IMO easier to digest.