Monday, June 4, 2007

Pancakes in Paradise

On our second day in Yubeng Village Roy broke out a bag of Krusteez pancake mix, improvised a skillet, and made pancakes for everyone. Our gracious hosts even offered a little jam to spread on the cakes. Eating them with chopsticks in our rice bowls was a little tricky, but having a little treat from home was well worth it. Though our hosts tried our pancakes and thought they tasted fine, they much preferred their own mantou, a steamed bun made from flour, water, yeast, and a pinch of sugar. In other areas the buns are stuffed with ham, fried, and coated with onion or sesame seeds, but in Deqin County plain buns are the norm. And I have to say, I am not a fan of the mantou. They are dense, tasteless, and gluey. It is like eating an undercooked highly processed gas station bagel and is guaranteed digest as slowly as a wad of Hubba Bubba. But since every breakfast also came with an amazing assortment of scrambled eggs, rice pourage, and the most delicious ham on the planet I could diplomatically pass on the mantou.

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