Fried Chicken Grandma
Immediately near the main entrance to my apartment complex are some wonderfully smelling hole-in the-wall shops selling things like piquant deep-fried duck and what I believe to be some kind of mala-flavoured duck. Being raised on chicken though, duck won't suffice. Home and relaxed and happy after assembling IKEA lamps, suffering only a minor stroke from shoddy instructions, I crossed to the other side of the street to the small shop with two elderly ladies gabbing out loud out the front. I went in, and got eyeballed by one who hurriedly went in after me. At the counter was a window with various chicklen portions, including various wings and drumettes. I ordered a few of each, and the fried chicken grandma set to work. It looked like she was first massaging the chicken and shaking some powder on them, then deep fried them in a vat of oil. I was then asked if I wanted spicy or some other powder. I told her I wanted a little spicy, then she shook the cannister quite a lot, put the wings on some paper in a box, and the box in a bag.
Back home I took the first bite. It was amazing! A flavour I'd never had before, with fried chicken anyway. Different from the Taiwanese salt and pepper and plum styles, this had a delicate mala flavour, slightly fragrant and sweet, although not particularly spicy. Mala or hua jiao, is Sichuan peppercorns, which have the spicy, numbing sensation, especially when simmered in hotpot. I suspect there may have been a miniscule hint of star anise and perhaps cinammon, given their popularity here as well. I think I paid about $2 for 6 wings all up. Unbelievable value for something so good.
The Live Music Bar
Invigorated from my fried chicken extravaganza, and being the last Saturday before work commences, I had to go out. I contacted one of the Chinese people I'd met a few days earlier and asked for a recommendation close by. He suggested a place called Bar 22, which was some new live music bar. He said he could meet up with me later on. I booked a ride and it seemed to take forever to get there but it was only 20 minutes all up. The bar was locaed quite close to one of the Wanda Plaza shopping malls here as well as Jiangsu Normal University. but I had no idea where I was. I was let out in some shopping street tha thad a few student types milling around. I could here some loud music a few doors up, and so walked over and then followed the stairs up.
The stairs opened out onto a side room with a bar area and beer fridges and tables, which joined directly onto the main room. Ahead was some band belting out songs in Chinese. In the fridges were a few standard foreign beers, like Budweiser, Heineken and Corona, but also there was an interesting mix of strong Belgian varieties such as Trappist beer and Vedett. The attractive bar owner, who spoke zero English, via the power of technology asked if I wanted craft beer. I was trying to work out if they had beer on tap, but in the end I settled on the craft beer. It came in a glass and had a kind of fruity beer taste. It was quite nice but after 2 glasses, didn't really seeme like it had much alcohol content. By then my friend had arrived, and he promptly ordered shots of tequila. The music was loud and raw but alright .
We stayed for quite a bit but I don't remember much of what was said other than my friend yelling out at one point "that's why I f#cking like you from when I first met you". Not sure what prompted that, but it was nice to hear nonetheless. We did end up in some big chat with the owner, and then it was time to go. I do remember quite a few bottles on the table, and arriving home to be locked out of the gate and following someone else into the complex.
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