To my birth family,

My last few letters were pretty heavy. Sorry if it was overwhelming, but I hope my feelings got through to you. And through the translation site I’m using to convert this to Mandarin.

I’m thinking a lighter topic for this letter. How about food? I love food. Food is my life. It’s definitely Su’s life, given how much she eats (and never gains a pound like wtf?).

What do you eat in China on a regular basis? I’ve heard congee is a popular thing, and rice (wait, congee is rice). How do you like your rice? Boiled? Fried? Rice cooker cooked? 

My Chinese friends don’t believe rice can be boiled (they say that’s congee), but Chinese were boiling rice since before antiquity (I know this because I wrote a paper on it in university). It's become a recurring joke between us, but in all seriousness, rice cookers are a very recent thing! If you meet any of them please tell them I'm right! Rice cookers are not the only way to go!

Also, is it true that every Chinese meal is eaten with rice or noodles? My Chinese friends don’t know what other starches to add to a meal that isn’t rice or noodles. It’s kinda sad, to be honest. It didn’t even occur to them in that conversation that there's this thing the Irish call a potato.

I eat rice a lot at home topped with fried or oven-cooked vegetables. Mum tries to incorporate asian spices to give her dishes a nice flare. Spices like Chinese five spice, curry powders, ginger, and miso have become popular in my house.

My favourite asian foods to date are dumplings, ramen, and tempura, preferably the ones with meat. I love my pork dumplings and shrimp tempura, so unless all the livestock on Earth went extinct I won't go vegetarian or vegan. Ever.

Lately I’ve been trying to think of how to cook different kinds of meat. I can do chicken, sausages, ground beef, and frozen fish, but I’m always worried about getting them right. Once I cooked sausages over the stove and got burned by spitting oil. Another time I bit into a chicken breast and found blood. Clearly, I’m still a beginner.

Any suggestions from my birth mother, if you’re reading this? Asian moms are supposed to be good at cooking, right? If my birth father is the one who cooks then do you have any advice? 

What's the best protein to cook in the summer? The most popular fish on the island? What was the first thing you cooked? Did it take long for you to master it?

How about your favourite foods? I heard Peking duck is a big thing in Beijing. I haven’t tried it yet, but Mum and Dad had it when they went to adopt me. They said it was Heaven on the tip of your tongue. Whenever we go to Chinatown in Toronto we always pass this grocery store with prepped ducks hanging in the window. There’s always this delicious, tangy aroma wafting from that place from the stuff they cook in the back. I wonder if that’s what Peking duck smells like.

All this talk of food is making me hungry. Man, sometimes I want nothing more than to go out and eat, but that costs money which I don’t have. Ugh.

If we ever meet we’re going out to eat, no question.

I'll probably come to China first, so you’ll have to show me around to all the hot spots. Please take me to eat street food. I’ve only seen Chinese night markets on TV, but everything at the food stalls looks so tantalizing!

Please cook me homemade food, too, even if it's just a snack. It can be whatever you want. Rice, noodles, dumplings. . . I’ll eat anything you offer me. Children want to eat their parents’ cooking, after all.

Since we can't really speak each other’s languages, eating a meal together is a good way to spend time with each other. No words need be spoken.

Let me know if this sounds like a good idea to you. We can do whichever you want first.

Sincerely,

Lillian