A large helping of Chinese with a dash of Japanese

Having Gu with us has/and is enjoyable. We (including him) are learning all sorts of new things.

Gu often tells us how to pronounce things in Chinese. We don't remember much but it is still good to hear the his native tongue.

Gu and I have negotiated a bit on his rent. First we are cutting out the university so he will save an extra $56/week. I also told him if he wanted to save more he could cook once a week for us. He does not know how to cook, at all. I told him if he ever wants to live on his own or with some flatmates it is imperative that he learns. I also said we were willing to be his guinea pigs (an expression that he totally did not get and after five minutes of trying to explain we gave up) more so than his future flatmates. So he talked to his mom and she told him to cook. So here goes the experimental stage. Once Gu knows his way around the kitchen I am planning on him cooking for me on one of my more busy days (soccer nights). Saves me the worry of what to cook that night.

Special vinegar instead of soy sauce

Last week was his debut. Here are some of the things I learned from cooking for the first time with Gu.

1. The Chinese, at least those from the Henan province, never eat noodles dry. Meaning they always eat them in a soup like dish.

2. The soy sauce we usually have with our sushi and dim sims is not what the Chinese usually have. They have something similar in color but much different in taste.

MSG in all of its glory

3. While shopping at the Asian Grocery Gu asked me if we had this at home. I said no and what was it? He said it was like salt and that everyone at home uses it in their cooking. I had a look at the package but at that moment in time nothing clicked with me. It wasn't until I was searching for a good Chinese restaurant in China Town that it finally dawned on me what was actually in that little bag. Many reviews I had read about Chinese restaurants in town kept mentioning that the taste of MSG wasn't overpowering. I thought it was interesting that people would make a point of mentioning that. And then I went, ohhhhhhhh. I ran to the pantry and behold there in front of me sat a nice little bag of white crystals. I looked at the writing and there in nice red writing was MonoSodium Glutamat. So apparently throwing in a t. or so of MSG into every dish is what most people do over there. Correct me I'm wrong. It could also be just something his family and friends do. I tend to think not. The grocery store that we were at had some pretty big bags of the stuff. After my discovery I chuckled to myself knowing that a few people I know would have a heart attack if they realized what Gu was throwing into the pots of food.

Special meat seasoning

4. According to Gu you must always use this stuff (over there on the right) when cooking meat. When I mean "according to Gu" I should actually make it clear that he talked extensively to his mom before cooking to make sure he did everything correctly. So it should actually read "according to Gu's mom."

5. I am making a lot more rice and maki sushi these days. The sushi is a good lunch to send with Gu on school days. This morning I made sushi with teryiaki chicken, zucchini, and carrot. I bought some rice vinegar to mix into the rice before rolling. Not sure why I didn't use this stuff earlier, I love the flavor it adds to the rice.

6. Gu has never seen measuring spoons. This doesn't surprise me seeing as though they hardly eat any bread products.

Japanese Green Tea - Twigs included!

7.  I bought some proper Japanese green tea while shopping with Gu. This stuff looks like the grass I just cut in the backyard. Heavy duty tea for sure. You must definitely use a plunger. I mean look! There are twigs in the tea! I'm sure the twigs have an even higher concentration of good stuff than the leaves do. I'm sure of it trust me. The first time I brewed it I think I used too much. I kind of just dumped in some. Gu was watching and said a few things that made me think I shouldn't have added so much. Will try less next time.