Experiencing true Chinese Cuisine

So I'll begin by saying, this blog post is for all of my fellow food lovers. As I began to prepare for our journey to get Samuel, one of the things I was so excited to experience was REAL chinese food. I must say, it has been quite a treat. For those of you who don't know me well, I absolutely love cooking. I love trying new dishes and experimenting with new foods. I can truly say, I will be busy for months after coming home, trying to replicate many of the new tastes and ingredients I have learned about on this trip.

Our first experience of "real" chinese food came on the plane from San Francisco, CA to Beijing, China. We were on a 13 hour flight so we had 2 meals served. The first meal, was a chicken breast with a cheesy rice. We were guessing that was the more American meal.... the second meal served was a choice between hot ham and cheese and chinese noodles. Matt got the American sandwich, I was ready to try my first taste of Chinese as the noodles were what all the Chinese people around me were getting. So, Matt unwrapped his sandwich and began to eat, and I opened my noodles and stirred them around like everyone else. I took a bite..... not what I was expecting. I did not fall in love. In fact, quite the opposite. I took one more bite. Nope. If I were going to survive the rest of the flight, I decided I better cover them up and try to get the smell out of my nose. So I sat and watched Matt eat a very appetizing melted gooey hot ham and cheese.

After a good nights sleep, we awoke and went down to the continental breakfast at the hotel. Ok, I was ready to try again. There was a wide variety of foods to choose from, mostly westernized breakfast, but still different from what we were used to. Our plates were filled with, fried noodles, broccoli, pineapple and fried dough. We also both got yogurt with raisins and muesli, and chinese tea. Now this was a much better experience. While it was interesting eating these foods for breakfast, they were definitely good on the palate. All of our breakfasts since then have been truly amazing and very filling. We only eat twice a day here. After breakfast, we don't seem to get hungry again until 5pm or so. A few of the other unique items for breakfast have been steamed tomato slices with cheese (yummy), bread pudding, the best bacon EVER!!, and one of my new favorites, steamed pumpkin. Very interesting, but all so very good.

In Beijing, Matt was ready for a taste of home, so we ventured out on our own one evening and walked to a nearby Pizza Hut. China has 3 common American eateries, Pizza Hut, KFC, and McDonalds. The pizza was very yummy and was served in the old school deep pan dishes. We made it through that experience quite well knowing absolutely not one word of Chinese and no one else knowing any English.

And so I come to the point where this blog post becomes so exciting to share. When we picked up Samuel, 4 days ago now, we were given the disheartening news that we would not be able to visit his orphanage. We were really, really disappointed. So, now we had 2 free days in a row. As I began to talk with our guide, Krystal, I was telling her how much I would love to know how to fix some authentic Chinese food. She invited us to come to her apartment and said she would show me how to fix Chinese tea and tomatoes with cheese and eggs. I was very excited!! But then, she called us the next day and said she would meet us in the lobby at noon, and that she had talked with a friend of hers who was very touched that we had come to China to adopt a baby. She wanted to have us over to express her thanks, and would show me how to make Chinese dumplings. I was smiling from ear to ear, this was exactly what I had wanted to learn how to make!! So at 12pm yesterday, we all hopped into a cab, and started down the city streets to the muslim village in Xi'an. Let me just say, this was an experience of a lifetime. As the cab dropped us off, we began to walk down narrow streets and through alleyways packed with people. We got lots of stares..... We saw fruit markets, and meat vendors, and street sweepers, and I just could go on and on with all of the sights and smells on that 3 block walk. Krystal stopped at one of the markets to buy some fruit, apples and dragon fruit, and then again at a meat vendor for a cut of beef. Krystal's friends apartment was on the 5th floor, so by the time we walked up all the stairs, as I was carrying Samuel, we were all quite sweaty. We were greeted by Krystal's friend, her precious 1 1/2 year old son, and her mother-in-law. We were taken to the greeting chairs where we sat while they brought in "snacks" for us. They filled a table with fruit and crunchy noodles, chicken feet, chicken, and many little chocolate wafer and rice treats. Wow!!! We just looked at each other, as they told us to try everything. Everything?? Yep, Matt got handed a chicken foot..... well we couldn't be rude.... these people had welcomed us into their home, and we were being treated like royalty!! So Matt took a bite. He didn't make any faces, and he began to take another bite. "You need to try this" he told me. And so I did..... it was good!!! What?!?!?! It was spicy, not much meet to it, but the flavor was really good. And so we began to try just about everything on the table. It was all so very good. The chicken had more flavor than any chicken I've ever had. They steeped some Chinese green tea over their only source of heat, a charcoal burning radiator. It was a little bitter, but good. The mother-in-law and Krystal's friend were working hard in the kitchen. I asked if I could go observe. As I walked in, the kitchen was a very narrow room, probably about 10 feet long by about 4 feet wide. There was a counter and a sink. They were making the dough and the filling for the dumplings. After those were ready, they brought it in to the table where we sat up our assembly, and they began to show me how to roll out the dough, stuff and fold the dumplings. It was so much fun. We talked and shared stories and had a great time. Then it was time to cook them, and then the best part, to eat. AMAZING!!! Matt and I could not believe how incredible this food was. They also served us chinese noodles, and the beef Krystal had bought. It was an unforgettable experience, one I am so thankful to have and will cherish forever.

I'm sure you also want to know a bit about how our Samuel is doing. Yesterday was a turning point. He barely had any crying time, and began to play much more freely. We have been getting more smiles, and some short periods of eye contact. What a change we're already beginning to see in him. It is truly remarkable. This little boy has lost everything he's ever known, yet, is beginning to very slowly open his heart to his mommy and daddy.