Whenever People Ask Me If I Got Homesick

I believe that a big part of our cultural identity comes from food. When you think about Sichuan, spicy hot pot would be one of the first things that come to your mind; it's like pasta and pizza for Italian, tacos for Mexicans, sushi and ramen for Japanese, cheese, wine and more cheese for French.

Dim sum for Cantonese is not only food, it is a life style. 

Eating a proper dim sum meal on a weekend morning means a great deal to Cantonese people. People finally have a chance to be as slow as they want to and to chat while having some nice tea and food. The art of eating dim sum is to share. They are designed for small portions, usually come in small bamboo steamers or plates; in this way, you can try various different food without being stuffed (although I'm usually stuffed). Dim sum is a social event, people talk while eating, from global affairs to their neighbour's love affairs. Sometimes, eating is not even that important for frequent dim-sum-goers (such as my parents), that's why they usually call it "飲茶 (drinking tea, in Cantonese: Yam Caa)". 

For me, however, since I moved away from home after 18, my spoiled stomach can hardly find good dim sum outside of Guangdong, so everytime when I have a chance, I get very serious. I dress up, I put on make up, I try to think what I want to order the night before, etc etc.

As a Southern China girl, it is not only convenient to order food in Cantonese, it is a privilege and almost a ritual for me to do so. How are you supposed to order 馬蹄糕 without actually saying "ma tai gou"? Water chestnut cake does not sound right to me. I feel extremely lucky and that good dim sum is not hard to find outside of China, and I am constantly awed by the preservation of traditional culture by oversea Chinese.

Northwest Tofu near Chinatown, Seattle

Rice noodle rolls with mushroom

I was never tempted to taste Chinese food in the UK (except for several restaurants in Chinatown London). British food is already...bleh, British Chinese food seems even more so. There is a much bigger Asian community in Seattle. My favourite place for Chinese breakfast in the town so far is Northwest Tofu (西北小食). This place, according to a Chinese friend, is running by a family from Taishan, Guangdong. The restaurant is linked with a wee tofu factory and you can buy some fresh soy milk or tofu directly from their deli. I especially like their 腸粉 (chang fen, rice noodle rolls), 奶黃包 (nai huang bao, cream custard buns) and 粥 (zhou, congee). I'd say apart from the American portion, the food at Northwest Tofu is very authentic. The old-fashioned decoration and those kind of crappy tables and chairs seem so nostalgic to me.

Whenever people ask me if I got homesick, I answer: "I miss the food the most." For the tastes always remind me that I am Cantonese wherever I go.