Factory lunch

We ate at our main factory yesterday, where they have a chef from a local restaurant come in to prepare the food. It's mostly seafood - lots of crabs and shrimp - but again the owner is nice enough to make sure to have a dish or two that is really more for me, like a beef or chicken. Not like I don't eat the fish or soup, or the veggies and peasant food, but the whole shellfish thing is totally lost on me. Just so happens that one of my all-time favorite dishes here is one of the chef's specialties:

Kun pao qi di. Had this first about two years ago, and couldn't stop eating it. I asked for its name so that maybe I could find a place at home that could make it, and after the fog of too much drink faded, I realised it was Kung Pao chicken. Only actually worth eating. It's spicy, the peanuts add a lot of flavor, and it's not the kind of syrupy sauce you get in the states. Over here, it's as clean a dish as you could ask for.

 

Fried peppers. I was eating them like potato chips.

 

Why waste energy storing cabbage in a refrigerator when it's 36 degrees outside and there's room in the parking lot?

 

A full table to start with, then as dishes get eaten they are moved to smaller plates to make room for more food. I would peg the cost in US dollars for the whole meal, excluding multiple bottles of beer and liquor, at maybe $50. For eight of us.

 

The one thing I missed this time is a chicken dish that's served cold, and it tastes like the meat has been salted. It's just a couple of breasts with the skin still on, but it's soooo flavorful. Hopefully next time - I'll put my request in early.