Fishy tales. And heads. And dogs and frogs... (I)
“不靠譜”的美食：魚頭、狗肉和青蛙的故事（上）
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By David Ferguson
China.org.cn staff reporter
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| The first dish I was ever served in China was cold pickled chicken's feet. |
| The very first time I arrived in China, my wife and I were collected at Beijing airport by one of her friends, who insisted on taking us for a sumptuous lunch. It was about four in the morning UK time, and, as ever following a long flight, I was feeling queasy from the lack of sleep and the alcohol that had failed yet again to induce it. Sumptuous lunch was not high on my agenda. |
我第一次來到中國的時候，我妻子的一個朋友在北京機場迎接我們。這位朋友堅持要帶我們去吃豪華大餐。當時是英國時間凌晨四點，我在長途飛行過后通常會有些反胃，因為在飛機上難以入睡，不得不求助于酒精，卻又無濟于事。在這種情況下，當務之急顯然不是去吃大餐。 |
| On that day, the first dish I was ever served in China was cold pickled chicken's feet. It's hard to describe what these are like – "imagine eating a cold, pickled, chicken's foot" is about the best I can do. They consist of skin, bone, cartilage, and a claw. Once you've developed a taste for them, you can move on to hot spicy chicken's feet, although I didn't try these until later. |
那一天，我平生在中國吃的第一道菜是一盤腌制過的雞爪冷盤。我很難向你描述這菜的味道，只能說：“想像一下你在啃一只冰涼的、腌制過的雞爪子。”它們吃起來全都是皮、骨頭、軟骨和腳爪。等到你吃慣了這道菜，可以進一步去嘗試麻辣雞爪，不過我是到后來才做這樣的嘗試的。 |
| My local food market in Jilin is a cavernous hall – a riot of fruits, vegetables, herbs, spices, oils, meats, poultry, and (mostly live) fish. It's almost, dare I say it, "vibrant". |
在吉林市，我家附近的菜市場是一個寬廣深邃的大廳，各種瓜果蔬菜、油鹽醬醋、雞鴨魚肉、生鮮產品，應有盡有，琳瑯滿目；簡直可以用“生機勃勃”來形容。 |
| The first time I saw a dog's carcass for sale I was quite startled. It was skinned whole, from the nose to the tip of the tail, and it lay on the market butcher's slab like a white marble statue. Dog is primarily a Korean dish, but Jilin Province borders on Korea so there is a strong influence on the local culture. Eating-dogs are farmed for the purpose – a big, mastiff-type breed. |
第一次見到有人賣狗肉時，我嚇了一跳。那只狗整個剝了皮，從鼻頭到尾巴尖都光溜溜的，躺在市場肉鋪的案板上好似一座白色的大理石雕像。狗肉本來是道朝鮮菜，但是吉林與朝鮮接壤，所以當地受外來文化影響很深。食用狗體態很大，屬獒犬類，是專門養殖以供食用的。 |
| As a general rule, dog is good to eat, apart from dog skin salad, which I generally try to dodge. Peppery dog soup is an effective hangover cure, and fried dog, in flavour and texture, is somewhere between beef and brown turkey meat. |
通常來說，狗肉很好吃；不過涼拌狗皮除外，我一向對那個敬謝不敏。辣味狗肉湯對于解除宿醉有奇效；而炸狗肉吃起來，味道、口感介于牛肉和棕色火雞肉之間。 |
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