When most people think of China the first thing that may come to mind is the strange food. Synonymous for bugs, frogs, seahorse and just about fried anything, China also has some really good food. When I first got here I was quite surprised at how good most of the food actually was here, despite my lack of chopstick skills at the time. I am not one to be very adventurous when it comes to food. I would even go as far as to dub myself a bit of a Plain Jane, but I decided that since I was in China I might as well. Now, the weird and wonderful creepy crawlies are not lurking at every restaurant, but there is a huge food market in Wangfujing that stocks these babies by the plentiful. I did some exploring and have no regrets in admitting that I did not eat a single thing while there. I just couldn’t bring myself to put any of that near my mouth! Eating scorpions, crickets or seahorse, dead or alive (yes, some of them are still moving!), is not exactly my cup of tea…
One afternoon after an intense training session, some of the older (more experienced) teachers decided to take us for lunch at a quaint little restaurant not too far from the centre. The food was great, really spicy, but really tasty! One particular dish quickly became my favourite of the lot and after just about devouring the whole dish by myself I decided to ask what it was. It is beef, right??! Nope…turns out it was donkey! Now, had I known it was donkey from the start, I probably wouldn’t have eaten it. I will admit though, it was the best, most tender meat I have ever eaten and I would probably have it again! So there you have it, the strangest thing I’ve ever eaten in China is donkey meat.