The supermarket experience

You don't realize how many products, ingredients and variations there are with respect to the food and toiletries you buy until you are in a place where you can't even guess what the label says. The fruit and vegetables, you can at least see. They might be hazardous to your health due to pesticides and fungicides, but at least you know what you are getting (and there is also a small selection of "green food" and "organic food" certified products in some stores). There are a lot of green veggies, mushrooms and some fruits that we don't have, but I am adventurous on that front.

When it comes to packaged items, it starts to get challenging. Fortunately, there are pictures on a lot of products, and I can at least tell if the main ingredient is pork (most common) or vegetable, although those often have meat in them, too...But that's about it, so there is a lot of trial and error involved. It is now moon cake season, and there are often 20 or more types on sale with different fillings, which I have not yet figured out. There is also an amazing variety of milk and yoghurt products, with all of the usual variations (low-fat, with vitamins added...), as well as a lot of creative flavors that we're not used to, like sweet corn flavored yoghurt.

Then come the sections of the supermarkets that offer fresh meat and fish and freshly cooked delicacies. Here, the problem is usually not that you don't know what you're looking at, but you really wonder whether you want to eat it. Turtle soup or ??? for dinner (see photo)? Or how about some boiled duck feet or jellyfish as an appetizer? Is the meat fresh/non-toxic? If the fish are not still alive, will you be after you eat them?

In situations where I'm clueless, I tend to watch and imitate the locals. These crepe-looking things are folded and chopped up into wide rice noodles, mixed with fresh cucumber, tofu, and 6 different sauces, ranging from vinegar to some hellishly hot chile sauce, and then poured into a plastic bag for you to take home and eat for lunch cold - delicious!

Time to go cook dinner! Will you join?