A PLACE FILLED WITH WHITE PEOPLE

Usually the only ones who eat at odd hours of the day are tourists.
It's that temporal dysfunction that afflicts them when not in their regular place and off their normal schedule. When I entered, there were three occupied tables, all occupied by Caucasians.
Well, it WAS around tea-time.
And I was hungry.

Single people ALSO eat at unsettled times.

Only two of the regular staff were on duty, but one of them handled the non-crowd quite ably. The second was, more or less, taking it easy. Seeing as she's the mom, she's entitled.

I was the only white person there not fluent in German.
But the only customer who spoke Cantonese.
I did not order sweet and sour pork.
Also unlike them.


咕噜肉 GU LOU YIUK

Cantonese-style sweet and sour pork contains sugar, Worcestershire, red food colouring, and vinegar. Plus pork. And frequently tomato ketchup, soy sauce, and canned pineapple. The meat is often battered (egg white and corn flour), deep-fried, then sauced, with scallion, ginger, chopped green bell pepper, and onion, chopped celery optional.
It is a very educational dish.
And you should know that outside of Cantonese Restaurants in foreign climes, this version is rare, almost unknown. It was invented in California for sex, sugar, and nutrition starved gold miners. They were still sex-starved after eating, but at least their tummies were full.

Why all three tables of German tourists ordered sweet and sour pork -- one table ONLY had sweet and sour pork, four orders -- is beyond me. The behaviour of Europeans is often baffling. Drinks: Heineken, Budweiser, Tsingtao, Coca Cola, Sprite, Diet Coke, red wine, and lemon tea.
Same food, but entirely different beverages.
Maybe they were contemplating sex.
I have no way of knowing.
It's possible.


茄子龍利飯 KE-JI LUNG-LEI FAAN

Sik mat-ye? Ke-ji lung-lei faan, m-koi. Hou.
食乜嘢？茄子龍脷飯，唔該。 好。
'What are you going to eat?' 'Eggplant with flounder collops over rice, please.' 'Okay.'

Flounder and sole are both called 'dragon tongue fish' (龍脷魚 'lung lei yü' in Cantonese. Because these and related fishes are flat (因魚身係扁平嘅 'yen yü san pin ping ge'), and due to the fact that specificity in English does not perfectly match terminology in Chinese, there are several similar piscinates under the same name. All combine well with eggplant first fried to colour with ginger and scallion, then seethed with a touch of stock or rice wine and corn flour liquid to sauce. The essence of the dish is speed, as it is with so many Cantonese dishes. In this case a deft hand is doubly essential, because delicately fleshed seafood does not stand up well to a prolonged presence in the pan. Not uncommonly the flounder collops are battered and fried separately, then added at the last moment, as is the approach of mediocre cooks, and many restaurants that lack confidence.
This was not thus; they know what they're doing.
The result was infinitely satisfying.
Especially with hot-sauce.
And 老火湯。


你食咗飯未呀？NEI SIK-JO FAAN MEI AH?

One of the normal greetings when people meet is 'have you eaten yet?'
Obviously this is rather ridiculous when entering a restaurant.
Why would you be there, if you've already eaten?
But the courteous sentiment is implied.
You will eat; that is good.


食咗啦，你有心。Sik-jo laa, nei yau sam. I've eaten, thank you.


"Have heart" (有心 'yau sam') is largely a question of being forthrightly considerate (忠厚 'jung haau'). It is one of those qualities that one should always appreciate in others.
Because in all honesty (老老實實 'lou lou sat sat'), it is rare.
It adds a glow to human relations.



==========================================================================
NOTE: Readers may contact me directly:
LETTER BOX.
All correspondence will be kept in confidence.
==========================================================================