A Taste of China

I just got back from a two week tour of the supply chain in southern China and had the opportunity to try lots of cool fruits and foods and wanted to share a few of them with you here.  If you have a chance to try any, DEFINITELY SAY YES.

yangmei (Chinese Strawberry)

These strawberry-like fruits were probably my favorite food I had while in China.  They taste and have a texture similar to strawberries, while being a bit like blackberries in their tartness and outside appearance.  Although upon further inspection, apparently they are not in the strawberry family.

Lychee

I had lychee for the first time while on a factory visit.  You peel the skin back with your nail and the juicy white fruit is sweet and refreshing.  There is a large seed in the middle that is best to eat around, and while these are a bit messy, they're sooooo good.

Kyoho Grapes

These grapes tasted like a mix between champagne grapes and tart plums but were quite large.  Ours were seedless, although some searching seems to say that they typically have seeds.  Traditionally, you do not eat the skin because of its sour taste.  I did not find this out until after I had already been eating the skin, so I just continued to eat it since I didn't mind the sourness.  The skin does come off pretty easily, even if you put the whole grape in your mouth it tends to separate itself.

Dragon Fruit

I had heard of dragon fruit before, but I never tried it.  On our first night, we were served a fruit salad of dragon fruit, apples, and bananas with a mayo-like dressing.  I'm not a raw banana fan, but I picked around them and this combo was SO GOOD.  I enjoyed trying plain dragon fruit (both purple and white varieties) and definitely suggest you do too if you haven't had it yet.

Cucumber lays

Sorry for the poor photo quality, I took this right after a few friends and I went exploring and found a small grocery about a block away from our hotel.  They were good!  I really like cucumbers and found these to be sweet and refreshing.  Definitely would try them again if the flavor came to the US.

Fried ice cream

One thing that I really liked was that there is no such meal as "dessert" in China.  Dessert-like items can come at anytime in the meal and especially in the case of these, you should eat them right away.  I had never seen fried ice cream done in this way before, so it was cool to try.  These particular fried patties were a bit oily so after one I had to call it quits, but I enjoyed trying a rare sweet Chinese dessert!

"一口酥" (Something that roughly Translates to "mouth of pastry")

I honestly don't know how best to refer to this Shanghai specialty.  The name has me lost.  The white part is like a stiff, sugary floss that pulls apart.  There is a pistachio/nut crumb that is throughout that is absolutely delicious.  The taste is similar to halva or like a dried peanut butter powder.

Bubble Waffle

These have slowly been making their way to big cities across the world, including NYC.  I tried it while in a mall in China and these bubble waffles blow any waffles I've had in the States out of the water.  The first one I had tasted almost cornbread-y, while the second was a bit more like a regular waffle.  They're fun and easy to eat!