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I am not particularly a picky eater

By Jerry Woods (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2011-04-29 08:52

I am not a particularly picky eater, nor am I particularly adventurous.

After being in China for a few months, I think I have reached a milestone.

Jerry Woods [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Recently at dinner I was offered, accepted, and ate fish brains.

I even ate it with my chop sticks and, although it was slippery, I didn't even drop it.

It wasn't particularly tasty, but I cannot say that it was bad.

Much food here gets a bad rap because it doesn't fit in to our normal window of what we would consider eating and yet somehow, and without even trying, I am finding that my window is gradually opening.

Oh sure, I went through the usual reactions upon seeing menus filled with photos that looked like they were taken from Seventh Grade Biology Experiments Gone Wild!

I now flip past the chicken feet, duck head, and bullfrog whatever dishes without even flinching.

I did try to eat some chicken feet soup one night. I figured it would be better to try it on my own with no pressure from customers or other on-lookers.

I took a spoonful of the juice and tried to avoid looking at the partially submerged foot.

"Mmm, pretty good" I thought, "tastes like chicken!"

chicken feet

I was encouraged enough to grab my chop sticks and go in for the feet. They were slippery and I wasn't very good with my chop sticks yet so it was tough to get them totally out of the juice.

I finally did, unfortunately, and found myself staring at what appeared to be the hand of a three fingered circus midget (see photo).

Don't ask me why I thought this because I have never met a circus midget, much less one with three fingers.

There I was staring blankly at it thinking, "How did this circus midget's hand get in to my chicken feet soup?"

I considered asking the waitress this same question, but I knew I couldn't pull it off in Chinese and humor is often the first casualty in a foreign country, so I just sat there looking at it.

I must admit I almost put it back in the bowl, but since having watched a few episodes of Fear Factor I was always of the opinion I could eat anything since it was just a mind over matter issue.

But no one on the show ever had to eat a three fingered circus midget's hand either.

Nevertheless, I was determined.

I raised it slowly towards my mouth, but it slipped out from my chop sticks and back in to the murk.

I suppose I should have taken this as a sign from the universe, but I reluctantly picked it up again and looked around to make sure there wasn't a table full of onlookers placing bets as to whether I could pull it off.

I tried to take a nibble, but found myself wondering about the details of his life.

Maybe he was the first born son of Bulgarian immigrants and was named Lopatar, Skorpid, or Kokichka (that one is fun to say out loud).

Maybe he spoke with a slight accent and parted his hair down the middle using a dab of motor oil to grease it down.

Maybe he ran away at an early age to join the circus seeking fame and fortune, but by some bizarre twist of events, had his hands end up in a bowl of chicken feet soup in China.

In the end, I couldn't manage much more than the tiniest of nibbles.

Thinking back on this now, I guess the fish brains were easy in comparison because they did not conjure up any weird images involving huge colorful tents or elephant poop.

It may not be the "Greatest Show on Earth", but it is another interesting day in China.

The author is the General Manager Of Asian Operations for Automatic Systems, Inc., lived in Shanghai for a year and a half, and still travels frequently to China. Jerry is a guest lecturer on his experiences in China and of the Chinese Culture under the auspices of Dr. Dennis Karney at The University of Kansas Edwards Campus.

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