Want to cure your child from picky eating habits? Send them to China!
A recent New York Times article entitled, “Scorpions for Breakfast and Snails for Dinner” suggests that there’s no reason why kids should hate veggies, and that it’s even more absurd that parents have to resort to hiding veggies in junk food to get kids to eat healthy (think Jerry Seinfeld’s wife’s cookbook, Deceptively Delicious…)
The proof? Kids in China (and all around Asia) eat “crazy” things like deep fried scorpions and duck necks all the time, and they never think it’s weird or disgusting. Even crazier, kids in Asia in general have no problems eating vegetables and tofu WITHOUT ceaseless hounding or coercion from parents…contrary to their Western counterparts.
The article offers a reason why Asian kids aren’t as picky: in poor [Asian] countries, it’s a privilege just to have food on the table, and people can’t afford to be picky with their food. Maybe this was the case in my Dad’s generation, but things are definitely different now, so this explanation is only half the story. Lots of Asian nations have risen above sustenance level and the people aren’t afraid of starving to death anymore. Asian people eat everything - including vegetables - because they’re cooked in a totally DELICIOUS way! Maybe Asian kids are better at eating veggies because vegetables are just yummier, Asian-style.
As an immigrant Chinese kid, I truly didn’t understand why my American friends hated veggies….until I TASTED American-style veggies. Beans were flavorless and mushy, carrots and broccoli were flavorless and mushy, and the prevalent cooking method was to boil veggies till they turned to, well, mush. If I had to grow up on that, I’d throw hunger strikes every day.
If you grew up on ma-po tofu, gailan with oyster sauce, bibimbob, and veggie tempura on the other hand, how could you EVER view veggies as foe?
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uRB4N wrote:
Same here.
Almost all the veggies I’ve eaten at my friends’ homes while growing up were all boiled into some nasty paste. Everyone looked at me as if I had 3 eyes when I said “broccoli rocks!”
The thing is that Chinese people cook veggies for a max of 1 minute so it’s still crisp. To add onto it, they drizzle on some type of sauce.
Posted on 11-Jun-08 at 2:11 pm | Permalink
UCB wrote:
I absolutely agree with you, vegetables taste so much better stir fried than boiled. This article has made me want to cook some bok choy!
Posted on 11-Jun-08 at 2:31 pm | Permalink
sc wrote:
Either that or you get American places that serve vegetables that are basically raw and passed it off as cooked and yummy. Vegetables in American places seem like just something annoying that they got to serve instead of it being an legitimate dish.
Posted on 11-Jun-08 at 4:39 pm | Permalink
Rob wrote:
I’d much rather eat veggies raw than boiled into mush.
Posted on 12-Jun-08 at 7:33 am | Permalink
Asianmommy wrote:
You’re right. Asians cook vegetables in a flavorful sauce, mixed with beef, mixed in rice or noodles, or within dumplings. It’s a necessary part of the meal!
Posted on 12-Jun-08 at 5:47 pm | Permalink
Xxxtine wrote:
I’m now waiting on a post regarding the culinary delicacy that is SPAM.
Posted on 13-Jun-08 at 9:24 am | Permalink
Efren wrote:
xxxtine: I remember my first Asian American studies class was on folklore and the professor was OBSESSED over Spam, citing that 50% of the world’s Spam was eaten in Hawai’i, and that Spam is eaten in Korea, the Philippines, etc.
I do admit to having a Spam musubi habit myself…ack.
Posted on 13-Jun-08 at 10:13 am | Permalink
UCB wrote:
Hey Sharon, don’t you mean a ratio of 3:1 veggie to meat?
Posted on 13-Jun-08 at 7:40 pm | Permalink
Sharon wrote:
Yea, sorry. Asian food typically has a veggie to meat ratio of 3:1, 3 parts veggie to 1 part meat. Typo
Posted on 14-Jun-08 at 6:16 am | Permalink