# Food tour of Qingdao China, through my son's eyes



## larry_stewart (Sep 11, 2019)

So as som of you know ( from another thread), my son is teaching English abroad  for a year in Qingdao, China, which is a relatively large city.  Onof our biggest connections is food.  He is always sharing either what he eats or what he sees with me through pictures, so I figured I'd shade it with you guys.  Some stuff I know what it is, some stuff he kinda described it to me , so I have a vague idea, and others are a mystery.

So far his favorite dishes are Scrambled eggs with rice and Peanuts in a vinegar sauce.   He has had shredded tofu with peppers , but he said they tasted more like the pepperocini peppers than fresh.  

You will see a few prepared meals which he gets at the cafeteria each day.  They usually come with a fruit ( usually an apple), a steamed bun, some kind of cake, its buffet so he chooses what he likes.

Today he sent me a picture of a dish that was tree ear mushrooms, carrots and okra.  honestly, I didn't realize they cooked with okra in China.  he said it wasn't bad, but didn't like the okra texture.

So far, as he mentioned, and as ive heard in the past,  there is very little overlap with Chinese food and American Chinese food.  he's had some stir fries and tofu dishes that were similar, but most is new, which is actually good. Im glad he is able to try new things.

In the first set of pics, are two of the school lunches, the rice and egg and he travelled into the city and there were a bunch of seafood displayed on the street.  In addition, in some of the markets they have " Imported food section". where he finds some food from back home.


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## larry_stewart (Sep 11, 2019)

Here is more seafood, Imported aisle, and a Food Alley located in the city


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## larry_stewart (Sep 11, 2019)

There was a whole display of edible insects
A durian stand ( must have smelled delightful in there
And a fruit tree he saw on the way to work  along the side of the road 
( Maybe unripe  pomegranate ? )


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## taxlady (Sep 11, 2019)

Interesting Larry.

That second to last picture sure looks like pomegranate to me. We had a pomegranate tree when I was growing up in SoCal.


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## dragnlaw (Sep 11, 2019)

Fascinating Larry!  Great pictures! 

Up to maybe about 10 years ago, I would have loved to at least try a small mouthful of a few of those things. Now...  not so much


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## GotGarlic (Sep 11, 2019)

Very cool, Larry. What a great experience for your son.


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## Kayelle (Sep 11, 2019)

Thanks so much for sharing! What a great experience this is for him and all of us.

Is he also a vegetarian Larry? 

You must tell him how much your friends here enjoy hearing about his adventures. You could send him our comments and that we are anxious to hear more.


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## Just Cooking (Sep 11, 2019)

What a wonderful experience for your son, Larry..
Thank you for sharing this and future posts with us..

Ross


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## larry_stewart (Sep 11, 2019)

Yes he is a vegetarian too.
Luckily his fellow coworkers ( who are mostly Chinese) , point out what he can eat.
He eats 2 of his 3 meals at the school cafeteria.  The other meals ( and weekends) he shops for himself at a few local markets.
He is a pretty adventurous eater ( although as a kid we was a picky PIA).  Has no choice now  .
His apartment ( which the school provides him with) comes with a rice maker as one of the appliances.   He is a big rice eater, so that pays off.

As you guys, im curious to see what else he experiences over the course of a year.
Ill post pics as I get them.  Ill label them ( if possible).  
The other stuff, we'll just have to brainstorm.

As mentioned earlier, his favorite dish so far was the Peanuts with a sweet vinegar sauce.
 (老醋花生).

Yesterday was " teachers day". in China ( or at least his school). and all the teachers received a Dragon Fruit as a gift.  Guess that's their version of giving a teacher an apple


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## pepperhead212 (Sep 11, 2019)

Great photos, Larry.  Tell your son to keep them coming! 
Too bad he's vegetarian - I was hoping for a description of the flavors of some of those insects!


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## larry_stewart (Sep 11, 2019)

pepperhead212 said:


> Great photos, Larry.  Tell your son to keep them coming!
> Too bad he's vegetarian - I was hoping for a description of the flavors of some of those insects!



I actually asked if he tried any 
( he did not)


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## larry_stewart (Sep 11, 2019)

Here is the mushroom carrot okra dish, and the peanut dish I mentioned earlier.

Also as mentioned before, the peanut dish was his favorite so far.   I looked online and found a few recipes.  Trying to choose the right one based on my sons description.  Next time im in NYC, might wander down to China town and see if some of the more authentic places serve the dish so I can taste it first hand.

***Personally, I dont see the mushroom, okra , carrot combo, my taste buts just can't make any sense out of it.  Didn't even know Okra was used in asian cooking***


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## Aunt Bea (Sep 11, 2019)

Very interesting, thanks for sharing!

Are you able to send him a care package of American products that he may be missing?


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## larry_stewart (Sep 11, 2019)

Aunt Bea said:


> Very interesting, thanks for sharing!
> 
> Are you able to send him a care package of American products that he may be missing?



We're still trying to figure that one out.
We were told ( by his liaison at his school) to only used UPS or FEDX to ship things and not the US postal service.  Apparently, if use the US postal, once its out of the US there may be some issues in it getting to him on a timely fashion ( or at all) because it is in the Chinese postal hands.  Since UPS and FEDX are global, they see it door to door.  So, my wife went to send him some coffee he likes ( less than a pound and not large at all) and they said it would be 147$.  I dont care how good the coffee is, its not that good lol, so we are trying to figure out the best way.  We may do a test run through US postal and see how long and if it gets there , then go from there.

But yes, our intentions are to send him stuff, just as we did when he was in Montana.


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## Whiskadoodle (Sep 11, 2019)

Thanks for sharing your son's experiences and adventures with us.


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## powerplantop (Sep 11, 2019)

larry_stewart said:


> We're still trying to figure that one out.
> We were told ( by his liaison at his school) to only used UPS or FEDX to ship things and not the US postal service.  Apparently, if use the US postal, once its out of the US there may be some issues in it getting to him on a timely fashion ( or at all) because it is in the Chinese postal hands.  Since UPS and FEDX are global, they see it door to door.  So, my wife went to send him some coffee he likes ( less than a pound and not large at all) and they said it would be 147$.  I dont care how good the coffee is, its not that good lol, so we are trying to figure out the best way.  We may do a test run through US postal and see how long and if it gets there , then go from there.
> 
> But yes, our intentions are to send him stuff, just as we did when he was in Montana.



I would not recommend USPS when I was in Chile (longer than planned) my wife tried to send me some stuff. Addressed and care off the company name to the office with a cell phone number of the office manager (native Spanish speaker). Arrived in country and send back after two weeks with a note no one to receive the package. The office received mail every work day. The package never went to the office.


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## powerplantop (Sep 11, 2019)

I did a quick check on https://www.shipnex.com/ for a 15 pound box and it was $153. 

https://www.parcelmonkey.com shows a few options (including DHL) for a 15 pound box for $90. Check those out


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## larry_stewart (Sep 11, 2019)

powerplantop said:


> I did a quick check on https://www.shipnex.com/ for a 15 pound box and it was $153.
> 
> https://www.parcelmonkey.com shows a few options (including DHL) for a 15 pound box for $90. Check those out



Thanks for doing the legwork, Ill take a look


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## larry_stewart (Sep 22, 2019)

Anyone have any clue ? 

Are these rosebuds ?
And would they be used in some kind of tea, rose water ?


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## dragnlaw (Sep 22, 2019)

Definitely rosebuds. Yes, for tea, crafts, being edible the could be incorporated into recipes as either decoration or perhaps subtle flavour, same as cherry blossoms.


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## GotGarlic (Sep 22, 2019)

Rose water is a common ingredient in some Middle Eastern countries. Trade could have brought it to China.


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## dragnlaw (Sep 22, 2019)

True, I heard that Kenya was a major exporter of flowers.  In the last 10 years China's flower industry has boomed fantastically but they are supposedly still trying to catch-up with quality for exporting purposes.


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## larry_stewart (Sep 22, 2019)

How about these flowers?  
What kind and for what purpose ?

Chrysanthemums ?
If so, I know Ive grown and cooked with the greens of Chrysanthemums, never used the flowers for anything other than decorative.


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## dragnlaw (Sep 22, 2019)

Don't forget that a lot of these products are very likely used as medicinal ingredients.


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## GotGarlic (Sep 22, 2019)

dragnlaw said:


> Don't forget that a lot of these products are very likely used as medicinal ingredients.


Even people who use Chinese medicine don't usually dose themselves. And Chinese people who have access to western medicine prefer to use it.


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## dragnlaw (Sep 23, 2019)

Very true again *GG*, I was meaning the local herbalist (for lack of another name I can't think of) who make powders and tisanes for their neighbourhood. We have one in our asian area and the shop is incredible.  Haven't been there in many many years, I know it is still there but don't know it it has changed inside.

Western medicines also use many of these things as well.


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