Monday, January 14, 2008

Breakfast in China

A lot of Indians, and millions around the world, seem to love Chinese cuisine. No doubt it is a very rich and varied one, but in some cases it falls short of expectations. And one huge area is the breakfast.

This time when I was on the Yichang-Beijing train, I bought breakfast for 10 yuan.
As I was sitting in my cabin, I heard shouts of "baozi" [baked flour balls with meat stuffing]. I like those and as I was pretty hungry I ventured out to buy them. It so turned out that I had to buy a "set" breakfast. I got a bowl of porridge/gruel/(soup?) with the plastic box containing the main course and a pair of chopsticks which the lady handed to me with a "bon appetit" expression on her face.
The soup-thingy tasted like water does when you have drunk too much of it. But I knew it was full of calories and other such important items and so I decided I should try to drink as much of it as possible. The plastic box contained assorted flour balls; one of which I identified as being a boazi and quickly gobbled up. I prodded the other three with my chopsticks and spent some time pondering over the delicate curves and smooth texture of the food. I did take a bite, but the half baked flour didn't feel too appetising.

After taking another sip of the oats+rice+water+/-? drink I moved the rest of the breakfast with quiet dignity into the waiting dustbin.

1 comment:

katie said...

That was the first thing I ate the day I got to China and I was sooooo afraid every meal was going to cause me equal anguish. Thank goodness they're not all as bad.