Cooking Up a Storm

There has been quite a bit of coverage in the media about the economic impact of the COVID-19 virus. Obviously, Chinese businesses have been hit quite hard, as have the businesses around the world that rely on Chinese consumers and manufacturers. 

One thing that has gone somewhat unnoticed is the effect it is having on some farmers. Katie has been following the chatter on the web about the struggles that some farmers are having because their products are not consumed as frequently as the staple grains, proteins, and vegetables that typically comprise the average Chinese diet. Many of them are selling their products for well below their average price in an attempt to increase demand; it is sad to think that their products are spoiling when they could be helping so many people. My wife has a huge heart, and over the past few weeks, she has been ordering things from these farmers online, and not just in small amounts… like a lot. So, we’ve had foods like, okra, asparagus, basil, and mussels showing up at our door. I usually don’t know about it until it arrives so I am usually shocked by the amounts and left perplexed at how we will use them all. Things like okra and asparagus are easy, but…

Challenge 1: One pound of fresh basil. The average Italian family probably doesn’t consume that much in a week. So, I looked at various recipes on the internet, trying to find a way to use it all. Eventually, I ended up thinking of an idea on my own. I’ve never made pesto before, but we both do like it. I found a recipe online, and we made it a few nights ago. It was awesome! I never knew how easy it was to make.

Chicken Pesto Penne

Challenge 2: Eleven pounds of fresh mussels. This one was a little trickier. Being from the midwestern USA, I am not too familiar with how to cook them. In fact, I had never even tried one until I was in my thirties. We ended up trying a few different ideas. First, Katie used the rice cooker and steamed them with ginger, soy sauce, yellow cooking wine, and black pepper. It was amazing! I made a batch of Classic French Mussels from a recipe that I found. They were okay, but I think Katie’s were the best. I felt like we were eating like royalty, given that they are so expensive where I am from, but we paid about $7 for 11 pounds. I was shocked when she told me the price. Now, being that they were fresh, live mussels, we had to eat them almost immediately. So, we did for lunch and dinner that day. They were good, but I am so done with mussels for now.

Katie's Asian Style Mussels with Crostini 

We also had a lot of cabbage and beans, but those were no-brainers…

Cole Slaw 

Chili 

I’ve learned a lot about cooking since I moved to China. From the moment that you arrive you are faced with the dilemma of how to get the food from your native area. Inevitably, for me and many others, it comes down to two choices:               
        1. Try to find a restaurant that makes a passable version of it, or  
        2. Learn how to make it yourself. If you choose to make it yourself, you have to learn to cook it from scratch because the supermarkets rarely have the sauces, seasoning combinations, cans, or box mixes that are found in supermarkets in the USA. I’ve found that cooking from scratch is more fun and tastes much better.

We’ve been having a ton of fun cooking and experimenting in the kitchen. We both love cooking from scratch, and the weird things that have been coming to the house have just made it even more fun and challenging. It will be very interesting to see what shows up at our door tomorrow.

“If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.” 

– J.R.R. Tolkien