Day: June 6, 2010

Oats, apples, and eggs

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Healthy eating while traveling is HARD!  Especially as a vegetarian and especially when you have to eat most meals at restaurants.  I have never been a huge fan of eating out because I like my plate to be full of vegetables with a little bit of fat, protein, and grains-the exact opposite of most restaurant meals.  In South America we stayed at hostels with kitchens and I was able to make up great salads and stirfrys just to my liking.

Since arriving in Asia I haven’t so much as opened a fridge door (on the bright side, I haven’t washed many dishes either) and so I am having to figure out some restaurant strategies and how to “self-cater” in countries where “grocery stores” are nutritionally worse than American quicky marts.

In Nepal I learned to rely on bananas, apples, or muesli for a quick meal or snack.  In restaurants I could always get oatmeal (made without sugar) and/or eggs (I just started eating them poached and am now a big fan, it tastes like a cross between hardboiled and fried). 

Tibet/China-new county, new staples.  Apples and bananas seem readily available, as do eggs in restaurants, but I can’t find muesli or even plain oats.  I did find puffed wheat and when mixed with raw, unsalted peanuts (also cheap and everywhere) and banana it makes a very good snack/meal.  Tofu is also commonplace in restaurants and although sometimes on the oily side it is very good.

I have found some yummy things along the way and had some delicious restaurant meals but I am really looking forward to grocery shopping and cooking!  It won’t be long now, only another month or so and I will be at my sister’s house in Portland.

“No” in Chinese means “you need more potatoes!”

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I usually love anything resembling a farmers market. Fresh fruits and veg stacked in colorful arrangements just inspire healthy eating and while traveling these are great places to sample local produce. Markets are usually cheap too, as the vendors have little overhead.
Yesterdays experience was unlike any I have ever had at a market.  After a very unsatisfactory lunch Tate and I ventured into a local market to grab some veg to snack on (and help erase memories of lunch).  I picked up a red pepper, a tomato, and two carrots from a women’s stall. She immediately put the items in a big bag and added more of everything plus radishes, cauliflower, and a giant piece of ginger. I wrestled the bag back and closed the top firmly just as she tried to throw a few pounds of raw potatoes in.  She was very insistent on more, more, more but I kept the bag clamped shut and shook my head “no”. She laughed at me and repeated “no” while shaking vegetables at me.
Finally I convinced her to weigh the bag and she typed 50 yuan into the calculator. $8 for a few carrots, tomatoes, and peppers! I made some universal gestures indicating “no way” and the price dropped to 40 yuan, still too much!
This dance went on for a while, me choosing a few items, her adding more, me taking them out, her giving us an inflated price.  She was really pushing the radishes and the potatoes!  In the end we had to walk away, frustrated and empty-handed.