Do you cook at home?

I'm wondering how many of you already in China cook at home and, if so, do you do so because you prefer it or because you find it necessary, i.e. you miss foods you had back at home or it's an economic necessity? How has your grocery shopping changed since you've been there? Did you have to substitute certain things?

On a slightly related note: I just figured out that cutting things into smaller pieces can make such a huge difference in the way they "taste." Like, I just sliced a banana. It's a whole new experience. I'm enjoying this banana a lot more than if I'd scarfed it down in a few bites.

i cook myself curry or pasta at least twice a week because otherwise i end up eating badly cooked stuff at the cheap restaraunts or even worse just snacking on junk food. and now i have a girlfriend i like cooking for her

i did live on chinese food last year but i find it gets boring after a while

I hope that I'll keep up the healthy cooking habits I've maintained here in Ireland when I return to China. Eating out in China is one of the joys of living there, but you're right Kitano, it's a pity when that becomes boring, and also it's very easy to get fat eating in Chinese restaurants where you have little or no idea of the quality and content of the food you're eating.

Best not to think about it. 

I found it to be a lesson in futility to try and duplicate meals from home in China (they're never quite the same, ever), and it isn't much cheaper than eating out.  When you can get greasy xiao chi for 2 kuai or a block of tofu and some peppers for 2 kuai... most people go with the more convenient option.   

BUT...If you want to eat Chinese food and not get fat, you need to eat like Chinese people, which can be pretty awful.  Most foreigners don't realize that they tend to choose food that is more calorie-dense and heavier on the meat than Chinese people do.  They also may not realize that they eat more over the course of a day than their slim native friends do (as they're often fooled by how much those people eat in one sitting)... and wonder why they've gained twenty pounds (ahem). 
 

But, it can be hard to cook in the pathetic little kitchens that often come with the apartments there, particularly if one isn't rock solid in the basics of cooking.   

I suggest using the rice cooker and steamer basket often, and learning to love eggs prepared with no extra fat (boiled or poached).  It is easiest to cook Chinese food in Chinese kitchens, so take a few cooking classes (while totally ignoring the amount of oil they're likely to use). 

As far as grocery shopping - learn to shop every other day, instead of doing a big shopping trip once a week.  Veggies will be fresher and tastier, and you won't have to worry about carrying huge shopping bags on the bus.  Speaking of vegetables, definitely buy them at little stands instead of Wal-Mart.  More local, less pesticides.

Sliced banana without peanut butter is some kind of crime against nature.

...China has Walmart?

Yep!  You won't find it out in the boonies, but most cities of a certain size (at least, most cities of a certain size in the more prosperous provinces, I don't know about everywhere) have Wal-Mart.  I boycott them in America, mostly because it is easy to do, but sometimes I just want cheese and to buy a DVD player without haggling for 30 minutes.

So now...what are the chances China also has Whole Foods?

Oh, don't even talk about it!  I'm going to cry on my last visit to Trader Joe's before heading back. 

I'm going to cry on my last visit to Trader Joe's before heading back.  

Me too!  

I learned to cook for myself when I was a teenager. All my life I have enjoyed cooking. I'm not good at it, but I do feel at home in a good kitchen. Before Mrs Late and I married, I loved cooking for her (You're hardly the only one, Kit), and now she cooks, ahem, chinadian pastas and beef stews for me. Haven't got her to roast a leg of lamb or a chicken yet, but I'm working on it.

Mimi is right, these tiny kitchens can be a bugger to work in, and you really can't quite duplicate what you made back home. You can, however, adapt. Experimenting, learning, overcoming the difficulties; these are all part of the fun. If and when you get to Carrefour or Metro or whatever, stock up on the western stuff, especially Italian seasoning (you know that already), but be prepared to get by without. When you're learning to cook, you learn to eat your mistakes. When I was a kid, I ate a lot of burnt dinosaurs.

My present job is located at the opposite end of the city from our home. I often get home a 9 at night or later, so as you can imagine I eat a lot of take-away and street food. (OOOh Mama, the weight I've gained) I'm making the money this year, but when this project is done I'll trade this job for teaching and live quite happily on half the salary. An improvement in diet isn't the first reason, but it is another reason.

I often cook and bake. If I want my liverpate with sliced cucumber on wholegrain, I have to make it myself.

If I want my liverpate with sliced cucumber on wholegrain, I have to make it myself.

I would certainly hope so.

In China I rarely cooked at home. I'm actually quite a good cook, if I may say so, but it seemed to make little sense to spend an hour prepping and cooking, and another hour cleaning up, just to cook a meal for one person...when it was so easy and cheap to get dwlicious, varied, and nutritious meals from a galaxy of restaurants.

Plus, the waitresses are often very cute.

I NEVER cook at home. When I want a taste of home I might make an egg salad sandwich or break out a box of mac and cheese a friend sent, but that's it. I'm very happy eating the chinese diet and while I get tired of lack of new options there is a ton of variety in my campus and right outside of it.

Plus eating out is so cheap, about 7-10 kuai a meal, that it makes no sense for me to cook. If I go to the store I tend to buy 'western' food, like butter, or cheese. So I save myself the expense and the hassle of washing dishes and eat every meal out! (Okay, I lied, I do eat breakfast at home. Usually a thing of yogurt with raisins and peanuts.)

I only cook when I want western food. After half a year oily chinese food twice a day just got to be too much and I needed to mix it up sometimes. If you don't live in a big tourist or business city, good western restaurants can be hard to come by and even the bad stuff is expensive. I'll swing by metro, walmart or carrefour and pick up some special ingredients every now and then, but most stuff you can find in regular supermarkets. Here things like spices are the hardest to find (metro has them, but only giant economy size). One of the easiest things to do is pick up some ground meat, buns/bread and ketchup and make some legit burgers. While they're cooking call or run to the nearest restaurant and have them fry you up some 干煸土豆丝 and tell them not to add any spices. You end up with a good burger and fries. Other things, like chicken parm, are easy enough so long as you can find some mozzarella. 

Now that I have a Chinese wife, as opposed to GF, we don't eat out very much. I cook whatever I like in an adapted way. Instead of spices, I use a mix of local sauces for flavour. Works well. Everything has a chopped tomato base, adjusted for whatever I feel like at the time. Having cheap tomatoes every day is a China advantage! I rarely buy cheese, although I wish I could find Mozzarella  for spaghetti! I never shop at Walmart.