Sex and food colliding again at Rice Daddies? No, sorry.
Last nite at dinner, Mrs Thisislarry and I were discussing Phoenix Claws -I love them, she is disgusted by the concept- and I remembered a non-asian colleage and I having a similar conversation when I was in Shanghai a couple weeks back. He was amazed that someone could stick a portion of chicken foot into their mouth, and voila, out would pop the clean bones!
My father of course had this down, and as a child, I remembered being amazed by his prowess. Chicken feet, dim sum spareribs, fish with tiny bones: the food would go in his mouth, and out would pop the bones! Over the years, I think I have learned to master some of these tongue eating skills (as opposed to tongue-eating skills, which is another subject altogther, or maybe this other subject). I have become pretty adept at the phoenix claws, and now I see my son beginning the same journey: starting with a few nibbles, and looking up in awe at his daddy (made up that last part).
So, what eating skills have you been passed down, dear reader? And how is the next generation of phoenix claw eaters doing?
photo: from inju at flickr
7 comments:
Mmm... chicken feet...
:)
Check out this post I wrote a while back that's sorta related:
http://web.mac.com/quioguesperber/iWeb/daddyinastrangeland/blog/2F7E9C71-E73C-45E8-8555-C2C2C7F9F4BD.html
Okay, since we're linking to posts that are sorta related... here's a restaurant review that I wrote about chicken feet (or phoenix claws) which was just published(scroll down a little):
http://superha.blogspot.com/2006/06/so-happy-together-its-been-almost.html
The first time my dad taught us to eat silken tofu cubes with chopsticks and to do so without crushing them was a real feat. Almost as momentous as your chicken feet memory. Dad's are the coolest.
slurping is something that the kids are definitely picking up on more now that i am divorced from a (fairly) conservative white family . . .
the kids like to 'roll' their own kim bap.
The wonder of Fung Zhao! Originally I refused on the grounds that they were, well, feet, and not some yummy part of the chicken. But R2 watched grandad eat them and now, even with the occasional chili hot spot that makes him cry, they are his favorite dim sum.
I figured if my 3 year old eats them, maybe I could give it a try. The taste is fantastic and addictive, and now we fight for the last claw.
Unfortunately for R2Mum, she gets phoenix claw duty, which consists of pulling the skin off the bones. But R2 is hooked and will be doing it himself soon enough.
Grandad passed this along: save the sauce at the bottom and pour it over your lo mai gai. We have this funny moment that keeps recurring: every time Grandad comes for dim sum the waiter tries to take away the fung zhao sauce. Like a cobra, grandad's arm will shoot out and grab the waiter's arm before he can steal it, scaring the crap out of the waiter. It's actually funny when it happens with even Grandad, who is usually dour and quite unfunny, laughing about it. Then we get back to the serious business of eating!
My mom's side of the family can pop out clean bones with ease. My dad's side could never do it. I've inherited the paternal side as no matter how hard I try, there's always some bits and pieces left. We'll find out in a few years if baby boy gets grandma's genes in this area or not.
Speaking of tongues, I remember a Sanford & Son episode where Lamont was talking about how some cultures eat beef tongue. Fred of course brought home a huge beef tongue and found the perfect use for it. He used it to lick stamps.
LN is too young for me to test the clean chicken/fish bone theory... a cheap parlor trick I can do is tie a knot with a cherry stem with my tongue and teeth. I plan on passing that little tidbit on to LN. Sure, she can't make a living with it but she sure can entertain herself on a bad date.
Post a Comment