It’s nearly the Lunar New Year, and celebrations are happening. Fireworks are constant throughout our village, as the neighbors prepare to usher out the Year of the Dragon and usher in the Year of the Snake, the year of change.
One major part of the celebration, of course, is the food. Our area is nationally famous for its Roast Baby Pig (pictured), a delectable dish of tender meat with candied skin that runs about USD $4 per bite! This province is also famous for four other dishes: the Coconut Chicken, the Big-Claw Crab, the East-Mountain Goat, and the White-Lily Goose.
We recently took a trip to my wife’s hometown, where some friends took us out to lunch at a restaurant specializing in their local delicacy, the White-Lily Goose. This goose is rich and fatty but not as greasy as other waterfowl and is known especially for its delicate taste. While many outsiders consider the flavors in our province “bland” (I know I did at first!), locals instead view them as light, fresh, and natural. You definitely can get used to it!
After boiling or braising the whole goose for several hours, the chefs slice the body from head to foot much like they do a chicken, ensuring that each morsel contains a fair amount of tender meat, sticky cartilage, and slightly bloody bones. Again, you can get used to it…eventually. I’m personally still a few years away from enjoying goose head, but enjoy pretty much everything else.
For side dishes, the restaurant also served sprouts with pickles and onions (pictured), steamed pumpkin, and a dish of pickled vegetables mixed with the goose’s intestines all sliced to bits (sadly not pictured). The people waste nothing here.
Apart from the slices of breast meat I was able to corner and dip into the garlic-ginger-soy-pepper sauce I concocted, my favorite dish on the table that meal was the pickled intestines over rice. Whatever seasoned broth dripped from that dish was delicious, a mixture of flavors that surprised and delighted me.
I happened to share photos of both the meal and our friends with some folks back in the States, and I was a bit shocked at the responses I got. To the description of my meal, I received emojis like 🤮 and 🤢 as well as comments like “Nasty!”, “Gross!” and “Disgusting!”
Now I get it: pickled-greens and bird-intestines are certainly both an acquired taste. I don’t plan to share it with most Americans who ever choose to visit us here, but I will likely comment on how delicious it is, just to see if anyone’s willing to step across their cultural boundaries and live a little.
What I don’t get is the response. Puke emojis and comments about how nasty and disgusting my meal must have been? Have these same folks ever considered that their own food—a hotdog with relish, for example—is the exact same food, just packaged differently?
As an immigrant, my wife long ago taught me (and still teaches our kids and their friends regularly) that “Gross!” is never a kind response when someone describes or shows you their food—yet somehow it’s a knee-jerk response for so many!
I’ve got nothing profound to declare with this tale beyond this: Guard your knee-jerk response when a foreigner shares with you a photo, a meal, or a tradition that you don’t initially understand. Inappropriate or rude responses can be incredibly hurtful, and beyond this, they evidence a cultural insensitivity that is sadly all-too American.
Instead of puke emojis or “Nasty!” interjections, be curious and courteous. Ask questions. Show a willingness to explore new things. Don’t miss out on something that broadens your horizons simply because it’s got a weird name, smells a little funky, or looks a little bit like roadkill.
Be adventurous. Be respectful. Try before you judge.
Happy Year of the Snake! [Editor’s Note: They’re delicious.]
©2025 E.T.