Traditional Chinese meal at the Zhu’s house on Chongming Island

This past Sunday we were invited to the parent’s house of one of Glenn’s business associates. His mother cooked us the most fantastic traditional Chinese meal. His father is a farmer and they have lived on the land their whole life and while it was originally a grape farm, it now grows many types of fruits and vegetables. One of my favourite dishes was the “golden melon” and they told me it is only grown in Chongming. It is similar to spaghetti squash and was prepared beautifully.

Here are some of the pictures from our beautiful day on Chongming Island.

Traffic was brutal because apparently everyone was going to Chongming Island. 😃 It was a sunny day and we all enjoyed the drive. 

 

But the 3 hour drive was totally worth it.  We were greeted with smiles and amazing dishes….just incredible!  

The yellow dish below is the golden melon that I mentioned earlier.  It was so delicious. 

Zhu Lei’s friends pouring Baijiu. It’s liquor….strong liquor… but if you sip it, it’s actually quite nice.  

Zhu Lei’s Dad wanted to drink his homemade stuff.  

 

We took a stroll around the neighbourhood after we finished our meal.

The woodshed….with dried bamboo and corn husks.  

Neighbours scaling their fish.

Zhu Lei and his Dad giving us a tour of his fields.

Glenn and Zhu Lei posing for a photo.

The next few pictures are of Zhu Lei’s mom teaching the girls to make dessert dumplings with sweet fillings of either red bean or sesame. The girls had a ton of fun learning how to make them.

I  think my favourite part of the whole house was the double wok that was heated with fire.  Georgia loved stoking the fire with Zhu Lei. 

We left Chongming Island with our bellies and hearts full.  We can’t thank Zhu Lei and his family enough for the invitation and hospitality.  It was a day for the books!

Until next time.

Only joy, only love,

Michelle

xoxo