Today is the equivalent of memorial day here. Most factories still operate, but with minimal staff. I ended up leaving earlier than usual and walked around Dong Cheng, the neighborhood where my hotel is located. It is a cool place. There is a mix of modern and traditional. On the same street, you can find really expensive restaurants flanked by hole in the wall ma & pa joints.
One of the problems with being here alone is that most Chinese restaurants in the city serve food family style. So, you end up ordering about 4-5 dishes and everyone gets their fill. It is definitely a 2 person minimum. If I'm eating alone, I end up at noodle houses.
So, this evening I was in that predicament. Instead of noodles, I ended up in a little hole in the wall restaurant. There was a bunch of people eating there, vs. other places that were almost empty, so I figured it was good. I was seated at the table and a menu was place in front of me. Most of the time, the menu has photos, but not this time. It was all written in Chinese. The only thing I understood was the prices (written in Arabic numerals). The waitress was a young girl, probably the daughter of the woman serving and the grand daughter of the woman at the register.
On my first trip to China (last fall), I bought a little digital translator with a robotic voice that does both English to Chinese and Chinese to English. It allows me to have Steven Hawkings-like conversations and has come in handy a few times. To avoid being there all night trying to make sense of about 40 items on the menu, I typed: bring me your favorite dish. She said, "Tianji", typed it into my translator and it in turn spit out "field chicken". I said (in my best English), "Well, come with it then!"
I wish I could have explained to her that you pay extra in the supermarket for chicken that wasn't born and raised in a poultry penitentiary. Chicken is good, but chicken that has lived the life it was meant to and had its fill of worms and bugs tastes that much better.
My meal came and I gave her a big thumbs up. It looked good. It was on an iron skillet with meat chunks and red pepper and green pepper and onions and garlic...still bubbling hot. I got a bowl of rice on the side. Oh man, it looked good.
I picked up a piece of meat and started chewing only to discover a bunch of little bones - tiny things. I figured it was the chicken foot or something. I kept picking up pieces and having to spit out these little bones, a bunch of them. It struck me that I was eating a bird much smaller than a full grown chicken, maybe a chick or cactus wren or pigeon. There was a moment of concern where I thought that I may be eating a mammal, in which case small bones like that are the perfect size for a rat. I polished off the-whatever-it-was and my bowl of rice. Rinsed it down with a Coke and asked for my bill. She thought she'd impress me with her English by saying 2-10-9 (29). It's about $4.15USD.
I got home and searched through the list of food names in my Mandarin phrasebook. As it were, it turns out I was wrong. I wasn't eating a bird or a mammal. Tianji is in fact a 'field chicken', but more commonly know in the English speaking world as a Frog. I was somewhat relieved. I didn't much enjoy the possibility of eating pigeon. I have had it before, but for some reason, it bothered me this time.
My unofficial foodie review: I'd order it again.
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