Pig’s Feet and Sichuan Cuisine

 

     I admit, I enjoy eating pig’s feet.

     The pork embraced by a thick blanket of fat and barely clinging to an inner bone is some of the most tender meat your taste buds will ever encounter.  

     Prepared with boiled potatoes covered with sauerkraut, the meal is among my all-time favorites. It was one of my most requested birthday meals, and my Mother happily obliged. At least when she could find pig’s feet, a.k.a. pig’s knuckles. Supermarkets don’t always carry them.

     Only one time can I recall ever seeing pig’s feet on a menu and that was at a German restaurant in Milwaukee. And they were delicious.

     The second time I encountered pig’s feet was at the Bifengxia Panda Bear Base, about two hours from Chengdu in the Sichuan Province.

     Among the 10 dishes I recall were deep-fried beans, sausage, a type of hashbrowns, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, a pork dish, a chicken dish — and pig’s feet!

Sichuan Cuisine

     We just needed boiled potatoes and sauerkraut.

     None of these dishes were what you’d call traditional Sichuan Cuisine, those hot and spicy dishes that create red faces and produce columns of steam from the ears. At least none that I tried.

     In case you didn’t know, spicy is synonymous with Sichuan in the culinary arts.  

     Some people actually enjoy eating something that is so spicy hot it numbs their palate. Me, I’ve had root canal and I don’t particularly care to have water dribbling down my chin because my mouth was too numb to notice.

     The spicy hot cuisine that Sichuan Province is famous for remained untouched by my chopsticks, which, like my taste buds, adapted quite nicely to Kung poa chicken.

Kung Poa Chicken

     Such was not the case for Rex Viehman of Houston. He came to Chengdu and the Sichuan Province specifically for the Sichuan Cuisine. He is among those who enjoy third-degree-burns of the taste buds.

     “I love the combination of the fiery and numbing sensation,” Rex told me. “What I learned…is that you don’t go to a high-end restaurant to get Sichuan, you go to the stalls (on the streets) where there’s people with the skewers and they’re just deep heating the grilled meat in those flavorings.

     “As a culinary tourist, I found actually going low end is better than going high end.”

     Rex truly was in culinary heaven.

Barbecue Duck

     Mind you, I’m not a picky eater. I’ll try everything once. But I admit I didn’t try the hot stuff, or the chicken feet or duck’s tongue that I saw for sale by street vendors. Neither did I opt to order the slithery snakes that were crawling around in an aquarium ready to be plucked out and BBQ’d. I bravely tried rattlesnake in Phoenix once. It didn’t taste like chicken. It was very salty and needed lots of cold beer.

     In Ya’an, my palate got its most challenging test at one of the many “Hot Pot” restaurants that line the Qingyi River, next to that cool bridge.

     Hot Pot is when they bring out a boiling pot and set it in the middle of your table over a flame. All the ingredients are put into the boiling water. Ours was duck soup .

The beak in a Hot Pot of Duck Soup

I tried the bamboo shoots. Not sure what panda bears see in bamboo. Yuk. I tried to try the mushrooms (I’ve never liked fungi, my family can attest), but they were large and so chewy I couldn’t break off a piece and I finally gave up. The seaweed was, well, I forget. I’ve tasted dry seaweed in Japan and it was OK. The pork meatballs were especially tasty, as was the beer — I enjoyed seconds and thirds on both. 

     And of course, I tried a piece of the boiled duck, which was put into the pot in its entirety — neck, head, beak and all. It wasn’t bad, but like a divining rod, my chopsticks kept going for the pork meatballs.

     See Duck Soup, the video.

     See more photos.

     Next week: The Ancient Town of Shangli.

     Still to come: Wild monkeys and panda bears.

Hey Hollywood! How’s This for a Movie Location?

      In the town of Ya’an, a bridge was built in the Qing Dynasty around the 18th century that today has Hollywood written all over it.

     As bridges go, its beauty is unrivaled.

Long Bridge in the city of Ya'an

     The Tower Bridge in London? Not bad but…

     The Golden Gate in San Francisco? Architecturally one of the better ones, but…

     Sydney Harbour Bridge in Australia? Nice, but…

     The Brooklyn Bridge? Sorry, but the Bridge over the River Qingyi gets my vote as the most unique bridge in the world, and one just waiting for Hollywood’s movie cameras to film scenes on it.

     One could imagine James Bond chasing — or being chased by — the bad guys over the bridge.

     Alas, when the motion-picture industry shows scenes in China, where does it go? Beijing, Hong Kong, Taiwan or Shanghai.

     Yo, Warner Bros., 20th Century Fox, MGM — you’re missing out. Check out the town of La’an the next time you want to shoot in China. The atmosphere is unique and the bridge spectacular, particularly when lit up at night.  

     The bridge is known as Long Bridge and it features souvenir shops, tea houses, stores and food stops housed in traditional pagoda-style buildings.

The west entrance to Long Bridge. At the left is where cars cross.

     One can drive across the bridge on one side, walk across on the other or walk down the middle between all the shops. It’s a fascinating place.

     You can even fish from the bridge. At one point, I saw a gentleman surrounded by his friends, who were urging him on as he battled a huge fish.

     The fishing rod was bent in half. Turned out, it wasn’t a fish but a rock, and the rock was winning the battle.

Hook up! Alas, it was only a rock.

     Northeast of the bridge, along the riverside, are numerous “hot pot” restaurants one right after another, as if queuing up to cross the bridge.

     The specialty is duck soup, brought in a boiling pot that sits on a flame in the middle of the table. The duck is whole — neck, beak and all. I’ll talk more about that in my next post.

     The shops are on both sides of the bridge, creating a tunnel right down the middle.

     On the sidewalks southwest of the bridge, men sit around a sidewalk table and play tile or card games. People surround them watching intently, as if they had money riding on the outcome.   

     Speaking about riding…

     Me and our guide Alex were a few blocks away from the bridge on one side and needed to be on the other side to meet the rest of our party.

     I hailed a three-wheel, two-legged-power cab for about 40 cents and we made it to our destination with time to spare. I recorded our ride on the Bridge over the River Qingyi  and accompanied it with a jazzy song called “The Highway Blues.”      

     It’s not exactly a Hollywood production, but you’ll get a sense for how ripe this spot is for a Hollywood movie.

     Wonder if Tom Cruise, Jodie Foster, Kevin Costner, Meryl Streep or Brad Pitt would enjoy duck soup.   

     See the video

     See more photos

     Coming next: Duck Soup and Sichuan Cuisine.

     Still to come: Wild monkeys, pandas and a Buddha the size of Mount Rushmore.

Playing Frogger in Real Life in Chengdu

The arcade game introduced in 1981 involved frogs crossing a busy street, trying to avoid getting run over by cars. An episode of Seinfeld featured George Castanza playing a human version. Of course, that was TV.

In downtown Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan Province in China, crossing the street is the real-life game of Frogger.

Pedestrians must use caution when crossing the street in Chengdu. Notice the people gathered in the foreground ready to cross the street. There is strength in those numbers.

     No doubt about it, crossing the street in Chengdu is an adventure and in some cases death-defying.

     “This is a very challenging place to be a pedestrian,” said Rex Viehman of Houston, Texas.

     A seasoned traveler to Asia, Viehman was visiting Chengdu for the first time and survived his street crossings, where he said pedestrians are the low man on the totem pole and where “bigger is best on the road.”

     “You’ve got to watch behind you, too,” he added. “The guys on bicycles are so used to getting beat up by the guys on scooters, they get to take it out on you as a pedestrian.”

     It wouldn’t be surprising to see someone with tire tracks on his or her back, though we didn’t spot any.

     There are 11 million people in Chengdu — about the size of the Greater Southern California region — and they’re all in a hurry to get there first, wherever “there” is.

     They travel on motor-scooters, motorcycles, bicycles and adult-sized tricycles (usually with a basket on the back). Many use two feet. Others use one foot — pressed down heavily on the car’s accelerator.

     Clearly, cars are kings of the road and you’d better pay attention when crossing the street lest you be hit by a king. And know this: A green walk sign displayed on the other side of the crosswalk doesn’t necessarily mean it is safe to cross. Best to be alert.

     In the U.S., pedestrians have the right of way. In Chengdu, pedestrians give cars — and everything that moves faster than them — the right of way.

     At a typical intersection, you look to see if anything is coming. When the coast appears clear, you quickly walk or run to the crowd of people 20 feet away gathered together in a safety zone of sorts waiting for the green.

     There is something to be said about safety in numbers while crossing the street in Chengdu.

     If something surprises you as you make your way across the street, it might be best to keep going because the driver of the bike, scooter or motorcycle is anticipating your next move. If it’s a car, stop and let it pass.

     The driver we had was notorious for cutting off pedestrians in the crosswalk. It really was a wonder he never killed anyone, or hit anyone, and never put a dent in the car. He always got us to our destination without incident. By the end, we had became impressed with his Indy-like actions. I’m not sure how close we came to a heart attack, however.

     “The safest place to be is in a taxi cab,” Viehman concluded. “You’re taking your life in your own hands as a pedestrian.”

     And you thought I was kidding?

     Take a look for yourself, this Real-Life Game of Frogger.

     See the video

     Next week: A Drink with Jam and Bread.

     Still to come: Duck Soup (the movie), a Mount Rushmore-sized Buddha and the Human Taxi.

Ear-Cleaners and the People’s Park

     You can hear him coming. A metal twanging. It’s the ear-picker and he makes music as he walks around soliciting the unusual business of cleaning out people’s ears.  

     Not sure how well this particular career plays out at parties. My guess is it’s an eyebrow raiser.  

     “What do you do for a living?”  

     “Oh, I’m an earwax remover.”      

A gentleman plays a tune on metal instruments he uses to clean people's ears in People's Park.

    On the streets of many U.S. cities, guys trying to make a buck wash your car windows, oftentimes without asking.  

     In Chengdu, the capital city of the Sichuan Province of China, men wash your ears, though thankfully they ask first.  

     The practice might be unique to us but is quite common in Chengdu, particularly in or around tea houses.  

     “Green tea and an ear-cleaning please.”  

     I first crossed paths with a professional ear-cleaner on my first full day in China while visiting the People’s Park , located near the city center.  

     The hard-metal tunes were created by a long pair of metal tongs and a long thingamajig with a cotton ball at the end — a glorified Q-Tip, really.  

     Neither were going to be entering my ears. I was hearing fine, thank you. The fact those instruments were long enough to go in one ear and come out the other was beside the point.    

     Ear-cleaners weren’t the only ones making music in the People’s Park, a 250-year-old, Chin Dynasty creation once reserved for top officials.  

     A group of 200 or so men and women, mostly elderly, gathered under a covered picnic area to sing songs. Some used nearby shrubs as music stands. They seemed happy and the locale had much to do with it.  

     The People’s Park is an escape from everyday life. It’s a place to relax, exercise, enjoy the scenery, feed the koi, dance, play Mahjong (a tile game), row a boat, practice Taichi (a slow, meditative and physical exercise designed for relaxation, balance and health), visit with friends, drink tea and clean your ears.  

People gather in People's Park in central Chengdu to dance, exercise, meet with others or just relax.

     If the Chinese were into country western, you’d no doubt see them doing the Texas Two-Step. Everywhere you looked, people were dancing, batting a shuttlecock back and forth with badminton racquets or doing something else to exercise.  

     “Chengdu is known as the most relaxed city in China,” said Yan Liao, one of our hosts.  

     The People’s Park helps them relax, especially the elderly. Retired people visit the park every day. Those 60 and older can buy annual passes.  

     Chen Sisi and Zhang Fengyou were among the many couples dancing to the music on the day of my visit. Everyday between 8 and 10 a.m., they are at People’s Park, enjoying the exercise and the spirituality.  

     “You’ll look younger if you do the morning exercise,” Zhang said. “Spiritually you’ll be happier. Because we’re all mostly retired people, it keeps us busy in a way.”  

     The sights and sounds of People’s Park were delightful and unique — not what you’d see in Central Park. Especially the ear-cleaners.  

     See the video    

     See more photos  

     Next week: Playing Frogger in Real Life. 

     Still to come: Giant pandas, wild monkeys and the city Hollywood moviemakers would fall in love with.