The book “Chinese Research” has changed the ideas of millions of people about proper nutrition. Its author Thomas Campbell calls for switching to a plant-based diet, citing a large-scale study of the relationship between nutrition and health, which was conducted in China. And since I’m in China, I just can’t help but tell you what the Chinese eat in the south of the country.

What do the Chinese eat

There are practically no dairy products in China. Instead of regular milk — soy, instead of cheese-tofu. In neighboring Hong Kong, which is inseparable from Chinese culture, the traditional dish is Tofufa-a dessert made of soy cheese and sugar. Therefore, the Chinese really almost do not consume milk protein. However, as for meat, it is very popular in the south of China. And you can buy meat everywhere — duck, chicken, pork, beef. Everything is sold in large quantities and with the addition of hot spices.

At every step — a restaurant or a small eatery, where you can have a hearty snack. In addition, in the daytime, very popular places that are similar to our canteens-take a tray, put rice and other components of your future dish and enjoy a budget lunch.

The average Chinese lunch is a large portion of rice or noodles, a lot of pieces of meat, a side dish in the form of sliced zucchini or other vegetables, hot or soy sauce. Interestingly, rice replaces bread here, so almost any dish is served with rice. The problem with such dinners for a non-Chinese is that you never know what flavor a particular component will taste like. For example, carrots can be spicy and over-salted, while cherry tomatoes are considered sweet and are often served with dessert. By the way, the Chinese are very fond of sweets.

The Chinese love sweets

Almost in any store you can find ice cream with traditional and strange tastes (coffee, tomatoes, peas), as well as many other sweets

Also, every Chinese person always has a thermos of warm water with them, so they rarely buy drinks. You can fill this thermos in almost any institution — in cinemas, at train stations and in stores there are free coolers with hot water.

Street food

Street food is very popular in China. From about eleven o’clock in the evening, a cook appears at each house with his own barbecue. Passers-by choose raw vegetables, meat, oysters and other ingredients, put them on a tray and go to take a place at a table. After 10-15 minutes, they receive an order fried on a thick layer of oil. If you do not say “Boo lada” in time, then you risk getting a very spicy dish. I’ve been through this a few times.

Also among such braziers you can find guys who make noodles with additives from vegetables and meat, and cooks who specialize in dumplings or soup. They can even be placed a few meters away from each other, so there is always a choice.
The selected vegetables and meat are fried on the grill with you

It is necessary to choose vegetables, meat and other delicacies that are immediately prepared on the grill

Unfortunately, street vendors do not care about hygiene at all. That is, nothing at all. Therefore, every trip to such a street restaurant is a kind of Russian roulette. If you are lucky, you will enjoy a delicious dinner, if you are not lucky, your stomach will ache all tomorrow. In any case, you take a risk. Food is prepared with a huge amount of oil, it is necessarily brought to a fried state, so that the body is very uncomfortable from this.

How to survive in China for a foreigner

To be honest, the first month all Chinese food was a delight and I wanted to try as much exotic as possible. Now my appetite has somewhat decreased and I wanted less spicy food with a Russian touch. So now I eat at home more often. My girlfriend makes a great mix of rice, Chinese spices and familiar vegetables. It turns out a great lunch. For breakfast, we snack on porridge with raisins or make an omelet with vegetables.

If you do not want to cook at home, then I am looking for an institution for foreigners. You can always find a pizzeria or restaurant with a particular cuisine, but in any case, everything in these cafes will have Chinese components. It is very rare to find pizza with real cheese or fish without spicy spices.
A small snack in China is always Russian roulette

A small snack in China is always Russian roulette

When traveling, I always adhere to the principle:”You do not go to a foreign monastery with your own charter.” That is, I try to behave as much as possible, eat and practice the same habits as the local population. Therefore, if I find myself on the street in the evening, I always stop by the local chef. So far, so lucky.