Dave's Sketch Journal

After our Chinese lesson we went to the corner restaurant and ordered Huodun (whoh-done). The best way to describe it is to say that it's similar to fried wonton with a surprise inside.

We were introduced to this place two days ago when Frank complained that he hadn't had any breakfast. Frank ordered a basket of these and told me: "They are like potato chips, you can't eat just one." As he said this he filled a dish the size of a quarter with soy sauce, vinegar, and a half thimble of hot sauce.

I was full from my breakfast of pancakes and eggs. When the basket of these crunchy wantons came I half-heartedly fetched one using an extra pair of chopsticks. The crunch was as an oily potato chip but with a prize inside of hot pork. My gastric juices increased as I swallowed my first huodun (whoh-done). I snatched another while Frank wasn't looking . . . and then another . . . and another. I dipped each into the sauce and let them melt on my tongue. The hot sauce hit the back of my throat and went up my nose. And then I ate another.

Frank looked at me suspiciously and called to the cook for another basket...and then another. Altogether we ate four baskets of these.

It was with this experience in mind that Ruth and I visited the same restaurant today. We ordered two baskets before we unzipped our coats. Ruth added fried jiaozi and rice to our meal.

The husband is the cook and the wife takes our order. Her face is round and warm. She smiles often. Her husband came from the kitchen and bent slightly forward to listen to us order in Chinese. But both of them already knew what we wanted. Within minutes it was set in front of us.

The beeping trucks and passing traffic didn't mater anymore. We were in paradise.

...dave
Nothing would be more tiresome than eating and drinking if God had not made them a pleasure as well as a necessity. - Voltaire

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