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What Are Your Thoughts On Chinese Food?

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Coryphaus

Coryphaus

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Do you like eating worms and chicken testicles?

 

 

To correct myself, when I say eating "worms", I mean eating "fungi that has infected, killed, and mummified moth larvae underneath the soil". That is quite the delicacy in China, especially in soups, and sometimes eaten after being used to make the soup. 

 

And really? You never heard of chicken testicles being eaten? Come to Hong Kong (or anywhere in Guangdong and the surrounding area), and enjoy cooking chicken testicles in a hot pot. Just mind the slight sliminess. 

 

Is it cool for you to mislead non-Chinese and mock and insult Chinese people at the same time?

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Renegade343

Renegade343

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Is it cool for you to mislead non-Chinese and mock and insult Chinese people at the same time?

To be honest, one could argue that those were worms, and the texture is similar (yes, I have eaten worms before). 

 

As for the other one, it is quite the (somewhat) wide delicacy in China, which would surprise me if a Chinese person living in China had never actually tried it. That probably might end up being the same argument used for not having tasted cooked dog/cat, but then again, I did hear that it is becoming illegal to serve that in some places, so probably not the dish to try without doing some research first. 

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Coryphaus

Coryphaus

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Don't insult honesty by laying claim to it and then lying out of your next breath. It makes you look mealy-mouthed.

 

Is it cool for you to misrepresent and paint other people's culinary history and culture as objects of strangeness and revulsion?

 

To be honest, one could argue that those were worms, and the texture is similar (yes, I have eaten worms before). 

 

As for the other one, it is quite the (somewhat) wide delicacy in China, which would surprise me if a Chinese person living in China had never actually tried it. That probably might end up being the same argument used for not having tasted cooked dog/cat, but then again, I did hear that it is becoming illegal to serve that in some places, so probably not the dish to try without doing some research first. 

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Renegade343

Renegade343

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Don't insult honesty by laying claim to it and then lying out of your next breath. It makes you look mealy-mouthed.

I actually ate all of that, so you do not go off to assume that I have not. As for the worms/fungi part, that is not lying. In fact, it would be better to call them "worms" to spare having to talk quite a bit about what they actually are. 

 

But most of all, I do not care too much about that when it is an Off-Topic thread that is not meant to be taken seriously, given the way the original poster wrote out his starting post. That would also be why I described the spiciness of MaPo Tofu as a "paralysing spiciness" instead of going technical and saying that it is actually "numbing spiciness". At the very least, "paralysing spiciness" does seem to make foreigners of Chinese food more interested in the dish, from what I have seen when using that particular term every now and then to describe some spicy dishes. 

 

Is it cool for you to misrepresent and paint other people's culinary history and culture as objects of strangeness and revulsion?

Firstly, I am in that culture ever since I was born, so that is not about misrepresenting other people's culinary history, because I know what is in it for a long time. Yes, Chinese people do eat that. No, it is not weird at all compared to some of the other countries' culinary histories (I mean, Cambodia probably could take the cake for having weird food, if only because quite a lot of their food is something one might not even think about eating it in the first place.).

 

Secondly, if you are going to start arguing about misrepresenting culinary history, why would you not pick a better example and argue against the poster that displayed baby soup as a Chinese delicacy? That is simply false, and is causing more problems than saying, "Chinese people eat chicken testicles.", if just because it ends up with quite some people going in arms against Chinese people. 

 

To quickly sum up, is it to say that my choices are not poor after all of this? On reflection, maybe not, but that does show Chinese people do tend to be very less picky on food (not "Chinese people eat everything", mind you.), which I would argue is a positive thing for it to be displayed to other people. 

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Coryphaus

Coryphaus

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Stop wasting your breath equivocating.

 

1. Who said anything about you having never eaten worms, fungi or chicken testicles? Anybody can say anything about themselves on the internet. Strictly speaking, you should supply evidence that you have, but I'm not interested in you or your experiences so I'll just take your word at face value, which will be: Worth Not Much, considering how you say one thing at one moment and another at another time under the guise of "honesty" and "correcting" yourself.

 

2. You admit to making nonsensical embellishments in the place of more prosaic but accurate descriptions in order to get non-Chinese people "interested" in the food? Is this the same reason you play on their sense of revulsion by painting Chinese food as strange? Is this really to get people "interested" in the food or your peculiar style of writing and making false claims?

 

3. You knew that cordyceps was a fungi, not a worm. What justifies this kind of deception and misrepresentation?

 

4. I am not interested in you or what you mean by "I am in that culture since I was born", whatever the hell that means. Don't tell me your life story. I am not interested in discussing Cambodian food with you. You seem to be pre-occupied with painting other people's food choices as strange, ugly and revolting. Were you counting on my prejudices against Cambodians and their food to induce me into such a discussion?

 

5. If we're talking about correcting false and dishonest claims, then addressing your post is as good as any.

 

6. Presenting "worms" and "chicken testicles" as traditional Chinese food makes as much sense as presenting Appleby's and stale recycled McDonald's frying oil as "American food" or an inflated sense of self-importance as a defining character of American youth. It's nonsensical, prejudicial and puerile. Most importantly, it is false, because of the tremendous variance in style and taste of Chinese food across regions in China.

 

7. To sum it up: stop playing on foreign ignorance and prejudices to make these stupid claims about Chinese food. They only reflect on your writing and maturity. 

 

I actually ate all of that, so you do not go off to assume that I have not. As for the worms/fungi part, that is not lying. In fact, it would be better to call them "worms" to spare having to talk quite a bit about what they actually are. 

 

But most of all, I do not care too much about that when it is an Off-Topic thread that is not meant to be taken seriously, given the way the original poster wrote out his starting post. That would also be why I described the spiciness of MaPo Tofu as a "paralysing spiciness" instead of going technical and saying that it is actually "numbing spiciness". At the very least, "paralysing spiciness" does seem to make foreigners of Chinese food more interested in the dish, from what I have seen when using that particular term every now and then to describe some spicy dishes. 

 

Firstly, I am in that culture ever since I was born, so that is not about misrepresenting other people's culinary history, because I know what is in it for a long time. Yes, Chinese people do eat that. No, it is not weird at all compared to some of the other countries' culinary histories (I mean, Cambodia probably could take the cake for having weird food, if only because quite a lot of their food is something one might not even think about eating it in the first place.).

 

Secondly, if you are going to start arguing about misrepresenting culinary history, why would you not pick a better example and argue against the poster that displayed baby soup as a Chinese delicacy? That is simply false, and is causing more problems than saying, "Chinese people eat chicken testicles.", if just because it ends up with quite some people going in arms against Chinese people. 

 

To quickly sum up, is it to say that my choices are not poor after all of this? On reflection, maybe not, but that does show Chinese people do tend to be very less picky on food (not "Chinese people eat everything", mind you.), which I would argue is a positive thing for it to be displayed to other people. 

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Renegade343

Renegade343

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1. Who said anything about you having never eaten worms, fungi or chicken testicles? 

Alright, I will put my hands up and admit I rushed a bit too quickly on that part. 

 

Anybody can say anything about themselves on the internet. Strictly speaking, you should supply evidence that you have, but I'm not interested in you or your experiences so I'll just take your word at face value, which will be: Worth Not Much, considering how you say one thing at one moment and another at another time under the guise of "honesty" and "correcting" yourself.

First part about providing evidence on the Internet: 

 

That is just insane expectations even with "Strictly speaking" and so on. Please, are you really expecting everyone to provide evidence every time they type out a statement? 

 

Second part about the guise: 

 

If you think of it as that, so be it. No further comment. 

 

2. You admit to making nonsensical embellishments in the place of more prosaic but accurate descriptions in order to get non-Chinese people "interested" in the food? Is this the same reason you play on their sense of revulsion by painting Chinese food as strange? Is this really to get people "interested" in the food or your peculiar style of writing and making false claims?

Making food appetising is not just about making the food tasty. Making food appetising is about making it look palatable, making it sound nice, and as just mentioned, making it taste delicious. Yes, that means there are going to be a few liberties taken with describing food, either through naming or otherwise (getting away from Asia, European cuisines do that as well), but if it gets people interested to eat it, then it is fine. 

 

No, using those two Chinese food as examples is not to paint Chinese food as strange. The main goal is to get the original poster to answer it, to see if he/she enjoys trying out new types of food. Now, I did say that they were "very traditional Chinese food" in the first page, but I am not implying that "Chinese food is strange.", which I think the confusion started to happen. 

 

3. You knew that cordyceps was a fungi, not a worm. What justifies this kind of deception and misrepresentation?

The knowledge is best untold to other people due to it being relatively disgusting, so for those who just want a quick idea of what it is, I will be telling them that it is a worm. 

 

4. I am not interested in you or what you mean by "I am in that culture since I was born", whatever the hell that means. Don't tell me your life story. I am not interested in discussing Cambodian food with you. You seem to be pre-occupied with painting other people's food choices as strange, ugly and revolting. Were you counting on my prejudices against Cambodians and their food to induce me into such a discussion?

You said that I was "misinterpreting culture", when I am telling you that I lived in Chinese culture ever since I was born, so I would have more knowledge and experience than someone outside said culture. 

 

And if you think just using an example to say that other cultures' foods are strange, which you started it when you asked me if I enjoy making culture objects of strangeness, is a ploy to get you to my side of the argument, then I honestly have nothing to say, except that you might be reading too deep into that. 

 

6. Presenting "worms" and "chicken testicles" as traditional Chinese food makes as much sense as presenting Appleby's and stale recycled McDonald's frying oil as "American food" or an inflated sense of self-importance as a defining character of American youth. It's nonsensical, prejudicial and puerile. Most importantly, it is false, because of the tremendous variance in style and taste of Chinese food across regions in China.

Except that they actually are, given that they have quite the history behind them. Not only are they eaten some centuries ago, it also holds significance to Chinese culture and is just about unaltered throughout that time. However, If we really want to be true with this, we would be writing out quite the list of food from Chinese history, but is the result of not being prejudicial and nonsensical really worth the effort when there are thousands upon thousands of Chinese food?

 

After all of this, I will say the following: If listing two examples (admittedly, two less well-known examples) of Chinese food just to see if the original poster enjoys trying out new types of food ends up with me being called racist and such, then I will stop replying to this thread after this reply. 

 

But before I go, a suggestion: If you intend to reply to somebody in a discussion, it would be best to split up the quotes and match them to the replies you will be giving it to. At the very least, it would make for better reading for the recipient and/or the sender, when he/she is proof-reading. 

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Coryphaus

Coryphaus

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1. Why is it an insane expectation to expect you to supply proof? You brought up your own credentials to assert some kind of authority or knowledge on the matter. Is it inconvenient if we want to verify your claim? 

 

2. What part of what you have written has made cordyceps, chicken testicles and even mapo tofu, what more Chinese food, look delicious, as you have said?

 

3. You admit to blatantly lying about cordyceps in order to manipulate the perception of the readers? Why then should they trust anything you subsequently or previously said about Chinese food, or in fact, anything at all?

 

4. Where have I accused you of "misinterpreting culture"?

 

5. I still don't understand what you mean by "I lived in Chinese culture since I was born". Are you Chinese? How often have you eaten rooster testicles? Every weekend?

 

6. Perhaps you could enlighten us on the "cultural significance" and history of including rooster testicles in food, as well as how you know this. Then we can be the judge if you're credible or if pretty much everything you've said is B.S. 

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Renegade343

Renegade343

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You know, I will make one exception this time, and do this final reply: 

 



1. Why is it an insane expectation to expect you to supply proof? You brought up your own credentials to assert some kind of authority or knowledge on the matter. Is it inconvenient if we want to verify your claim? 

Yes, because for one thing, to prove that, through the Internet, I am Chinese, is born in China, and is a permanent resident of China (which helps to assert my authority for this particular matter) (optionally, proof of me still living in China), I will be needing to provide my identity card, my birth certificate and my passport as some of the evidence, which I am sure as hell not going to do that due to potential identity theft, and you would be crazy if you start requesting that to be presented in the forums of all places in order to prove that. 

 



2. What part of what you have written has made cordyceps, chicken testicles and even mapo tofu, what more Chinese food, look delicious, as you have said?

MaPo Tofu uses a spice that acts similar to the spice uses in this dish (sadly, there is no English Wiki page equivalent for this particular dish, but for the sake of clear communication, it will be called "Peppered fried chicken in Sichuan style"). Generally, in restaurants with English menus, they tend to call it just that (or slight variations of that name, or sometimes even removing the "Sichuan style" from it), omitting the fact that the peppered chicken's spice actually causes numbing spiciness when eaten, which makes it less unique to catch someone's fancy when wanting to try new foods. 

 

That is why I will describe MaPo Tofu as having a "paralysing spiciness" when trying to get foreigners interested in the food, because it has the balance of accuracy and perceived uniqueness when used to describe the dish, which can and has gotten some people I try to introduce the dish to wanting to try it. 

 

3. You admit to blatantly lying about cordyceps in order to manipulate the perception of the readers? Why then should they trust anything you subsequently or previously said about Chinese food, or in fact, anything at all?

As I said, if stuff is best left untold, then I will be withholding the information unless asked or inferred to tell further about it. Yes, I know the lesson, "Always tell the truth.", but I find that telling the truth all the time is not going to fix everything; telling the truth can sometimes make a problem or conversation even worse than telling a white lie. Since I deem that particular food's origin best left untold unless asked or inferred to tell further about it, I will be telling people who want a quick answer that it is a worm. 

 

4. Where have I accused you of "misinterpreting culture"?

Because of this: 

Is it cool for you to misrepresent and paint other people's culinary history and culture as objects of strangeness and revulsion?

 

5. I still don't understand what you mean by "I lived in Chinese culture since I was born". Are you Chinese? How often have you eaten rooster testicles? Every weekend?

Yes, although as I said, I am not going to provide proof due to the reasons mentioned in the answer to Question 1. As for the frequency of eating chicken testicles, once a week for two years, until I had a small health problem (again, not providing proof with my medical documents) and had to cut down on eating it. So, I would know quite a bit about eating it. 

 

6. Perhaps you could enlighten us on the "cultural significance" and history of including rooster testicles in food, as well as how you know this. Then we can be the judge if you're credible or if pretty much everything you've said is B.S. 

Bit of history: 

 

China as a country is generally poor for most of its history, given the constant wars and such. That lead to many of its citizens having to eat just about everything from an animal or plant to sustain themselves, one of which is chicken testicles. Chicken testicles are eaten for food due to the aforementioned poverty, although at the time, which is around five centuries ago, it also has a main (sometimes arguably wider use than general eating) use in medicine, due to the old belief of "Like heals/fortifies like". For instance, if you want to maintain your eye health, you would, under that belief, start eating animal eyes. Thus, chicken testicles are eaten also for the belief that it will heal or fortify males' testicles. This continued on until now, although it is less common to see them being used for medicine and more for general eating. 

 

Now, I did try to search for English versions of records of chicken testicles being used and eaten as just food or medicine, but that came up with nothing. However, I can attest to at least one Chinese medical book that has written the effects of chicken testicles, and that is this book: Compendium of Materia Medica (or, for those that can read Chinese, 本草綱目), a compendium of the medical effects of various herbs and foodstuffs. I have read parts of the book, and saw that particular entry about chicken testicles, although I will have to find that book and dig through the pages to find the entry again. 

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