Meat and fish are cooked simply, often just boiled, e.g. boiled chicken which is then just chopped up. Meat and fish aren’t prepared as cuts, e.g. chicken breast, the whole animal just seems to be cooked, chopped up and brought to the table with bones, gristle, skin, etc. intact. I find this quite difficult to eat but my Chinese friends love to chew and gnaw at the food. The more bones and gristle, the better the food.
Chicken, duck, pork and a variety of fish are common, but there are also stranger meats if you want to search them out. Unlike in the West, vegetables are just any green leaves found in the fields, gardens or road-side, that are boiled. There aren’t individually named varieties, pretty much any green leaf is a vegetable. This means there are quite a few different tastes and textures, from bland to bitter and everything between.
Noodles are common. Not so much the chow mein style that we might be used to in the west, although that is available. More common is what is perhaps best called spicy noodle soup. A big bowl full of liquid (mostly water), boiled noodles, boiled vegetables, possibly with some pieces of meat or a boiled egg in it. You can add spicy pickle to this. It’s quite common to have spicy noodles for breakfast, lunch and tea!
A variety of fruit in the market in Jinxiu
There are many fruits available, mostly seasonal and straight from the farm to the market. Apples, pears, mangoes, watermelon, durian fruit and oranges are common, but there are also many other species from the area that are unknown in the West.
More fruit in Jinxiu market
Yes – those really are rats, birds and frogs for sale.