dining out on the street

Yvan, our son and hair, flew in from Wuhan on Saturday night the 29^th of Sept.  The North American teachers were having a barbeque (with coals) in the complex.  It was a “bring your own plates, meat and a dish to share” event.  We barbequed and ate outside.  Night seems to arrive about six for now, but evenings are pleasant; one may occasionally need a light jacket later in the evening if the breeze comes up.   Mike and I had to keep going to sit by the gate every so often to make sure that one of us was there when Yvan arrived.  We finally got a phone call from him saying that he had arrived at Wuxi and that he was en route in a cab.  Everyone assured us that the ride from the airport would be at least half an hour, so Mike and I sat down to eat our dinner. After about 20 minutes, I went back to the main gate to wait. And there he was, sitting patiently thinking that he had been forgotten.  After dinner we three escaped upstairs to drink a glass or two of red wine and talk about the last year.

The next night we went out for dinner.

First of all let me explain about the food available immediately off campus.  These are generally street vendors.  They arrive on the boulevard kitty-corner to the main gate around three p.m. and begin to set up shop. The cookers are heated up and the previously prepared items are laid out.   There are maybe 15 vendors there selling “take out” to eat at home or while continuing to stroll.  I buy much here, not because I am nervous of the food, but I can’t stand the smell coming from one of the stands.  A favourite here seems to be a fermented tofu of some sort and it smells absolutely foul, the oil it is cooked in that may  be fresh at the beginning of the day (or not) reeks for several meters around.  The only way that I can describe the smell is to tell you that it is to tofu as limburger cheese is to cheddar.  Worse.  In your face worse. 

One favorite vendor uses what seems to be a crepe batter.  The cook pours the batter on a hot griddle the shape and size of a large pizza pan.  As it cooks, one points at different ingredients offered (meat, cheese, eggs, vegetables, noodles) saying ‘jigga’ (that one) and it is added to the middle of the crepe, along with sauces. After the vegetables are hot, and the crepe brown, it is folded like a wide wrap and put in a brown bag and then in a clear plastic one.  Mike and I have had them (or a variation thereof) a couple of times and they seem to stay hot until we get into the apartment.  Another vendor sells sweet cakes and little meat pies.  I particularly like the sweet potato stall.  Cooked perfectly and piping hot.   All these things are common street vendor items. 

But Barbeque is different. It is just as easily found, but a whole meal rather than quick take away.

About a ten minute walk from the front gates is a side street; an illegal market that gets cleared out every so often.  After a couple of weeks the vendors all move back into their semi-permanent stalls. Dumpling stalls, bakery goods, popcorn, bike sales and repairs, fruit and veg stands; and lots of restaurants, under tarp, with plastic tables and chairs.

There one finds Barbeque.  Everything is prepared, raw, on skewers: bread, tofu, thin onions, garlic, aubergine, zucchini, meats, cakes and mushrooms.  You name it.

 Mike, a couple of new friends and Yvan.  Dinner for five was just over 100 yuan, including four beers.

I believe they were inspecting a coin.

The cook gives you a basket and you fill it up with the items you want, pay for it and then it is put on a grill. When cooked, they serve it on metal trays covered with a plastic bag to your table.  Along with a couple of Chinese not-quite beer you have supper.

If you have the need to for dessert, it can be satisfied by going to the popcorn stand where the venders use an old pressure cooker with the valve taken off.  Oil and sugar is put in with the popping corn which is then stirred with a wire through the top of the lid.  If you are really fancy the vendor breaks up a chocolate bar into the mix—pretty good, actually.