Crawfish in China

During a trip to China in the Summer of 2018, I was taken out to dinner by some friends. They were kind enough to take me to a restaurant that had a special room with air conditioning. Chongqing is a very hot city in the summertime. Speaking of which, if you’re interested in going to China, but don’t know much about it, read my 9 Tips for Your First Visit to China.

While we are eating dinner, my friends and I had discussed that I was from New Orleans originally. While they were very excited to share their different foodie options with me over dinner, they told me they had a surprise for me during the meal. I’m sure you’ve guessed by now what that surprise was. Crawfish!

Among the many dishes of food that made their way to the table, one bowl, in particular was intended for me specifically. It was a tiny bowl of crawfish.

It was so thoughtful of them to make me feel welcome with this dish. There was a raucous round of laughter when they saw my face light up at seeing my hometown treat. I immediately dug in to which they all reacted as if I had just slapped someone’s puppy.

When they serve crawfish in this way in China, it comes with a pair of plastic gloves to wear while you shell the crawfish to keep your hands clean. Well, pardon me. I had no idea. I come from the land of crawfish boils where gloves would get you laughed at. We just dump it all out on a table a chow down. What did I know? I’m just a southerner.

The seasoning on these crawfish was interesting. There was a lot of flavor, but not like anything I had ever tasted before. The cooking method was different too. They were steamed, with seasoning on the outside of the shell. In New Orleans, the crawfish is boiled in water with the spices.

It’s funny to me how being faced with something that is similar enough to something we know, but just different enough, we seem to run headlong into putting our foot in our mouths. Or, in this case, digging into food without the proper protection.

I hope y’all enjoyed this story. Please check out the others like it in the Storytime section of my website. If you care to learn more about my travels, don’t forget I have a book out and remember to check back every other week for a new post. Hop on the mailing list if you want to be alerted when they come out.

Thanks, y’all!