Japanese food v. Chinese food

[nikuman]

Originally Posted by Jeff Lebowski

I remember going down a street in Beijing where they were selling scorpions on a stick and grasshoppers on a stick. That was the only thing in China that I just couldn't bring myself to try.

That's an improvement on the stuff I had. I stomached the sheep tripe without much problem, but the propane-torch barbequed parakeets were too much. The latter were literally parakeet sized birds, the preparation of which entailed (as nearly as I can tell) the removal of the head and cooking with a propane blowtorch and nothing else (i.e. innards attached, feet remaining, etc.). We asked our translator how we were supposed to eat these things - were we supposed to nibble the meat off the miniscule bones? We were then informed that the bones were crunchy and we were to consume these much as one would would eat a mini-snickers bar: pop the whole thing in at once and chew away.

Thankfully, this was a scarce two weeks after my worst culinary experience ever (exotic sashimi in Japan - raw abalone liver is quite the deal), so I was able to choke it down with minimal gags and no puking.

[SeattleUte]

Originally Posted by nikuman

That's an improvement on the stuff I had. I stomached the sheep tripe without much problem, but the propane-torch barbequed parakeets were too much. The latter were literally parakeet sized birds, the preparation of which entailed (as nearly as I can tell) the removal of the head and cooking with a propane blowtorch and nothing else (i.e. innards attached, feet remaining, etc.). We asked our translator how we were supposed to eat these things - were we supposed to nibble the meat off the miniscule bones? We were then informed that the bones were crunchy and we were to consume these much as one would would eat a mini-snickers bar: pop the whole thing in at once and chew away.

Thankfully, this was a scarce two weeks after my worst culinary experience ever (exotic sashimi in Japan - raw abalone liver is quite the deal), so I was able to choke it down with minimal gags and no puking.

You don't have to eat the fierce food. China is an ancient culture. Like the Middle East you still find much residue of medieval times there. This is not all there is to Chinese food needless to say.

[MikeWaters]

I went to a nice Chinese restaurant in Japan, and I have to say, it was quite good, and completely different than any Chinese food I had ever seen in the states.

Japanese food is simple and clean. Chinese food is oily in comparison.

There is a reason why those rare times I see an overweight Asian, that I automatically assume that person is Chinese.

[SeattleUte]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

I went to a nice Chinese restaurant in Japan, and I have to say, it was quite good, and completely different than any Chinese food I had ever seen in the states.

Japanese food is simple and clean. Chinese food is oily in comparison.

There is a reason why those rare times I see an overweight Asian, that I automatically assume that person is Chinese.

Waters doesn't eat out and lives off of his food storage and what he can grow in his back yard. So take this for what it's worth.

[SeattleUte]

I agree there are more ways to get fat off of Chinese food than Japanese, and it's more tempting to overeat good Chinese food.

[SeattleUte]

Chinese food even hugely impacted Italian cuisine.

[YOhio]

Originally Posted by SeattleUte

Chinese food even hugely impacted Italian cuisine.

Interesting. How so?

[SeattleUte]

Originally Posted by YOhio

Interesting. How so?

Pasta. There was no pasta in Europe until Europeans interacted with the Chinese. Legend has it Marco Polo brought it back with him. Also, most of what you love about Japanese food is similarly derivative of Chinese. Like I said, Chinese is the French food of Asia, except that to Asia China is like a conflation of Greece, Rome, and France to Europe/USA.

[nikuman]

Originally Posted by SeattleUte

Also, most of what you love about Japanese food is similarly derivative of Chinese.

Not what I love. While it's very true that the Chinese had major impact on Japanese foodstuffs, the impact is, oddly enough, more recent than some would believe (i.e., in the last 100 years). I think it's very easy to overstate the Chinese influence. Certainly somethings such as Dim Sum were incorporated wholesale, but most of that is post Meiji Restoration.

The real, traditional Japanese food, which I surmise few have actually had, is no more of Chinese origin than I am. It was simply a product of the three things that Japan had access to: fish, salt and rice.

[MikeWaters]

I like Onigiri with umeboshi inside.

Too bad I can't buy it.