— Space Mountain Bacterium, Anyone? —

April 20, 2009 – Dining in Shanghai was always an adventure. Deciding what to order was a challenge. One of our favorite neighborhood restaurants had a particularly interesting menu. Since we couldn't read Chinese and none of the staff spoke English, we had to choose our food based on small photos accompanied by rather bizarre translations. Here is a sampling of some of the featured dishes:

• Pond Grass Shrimp Staying out of Trouble
• The Old Vinegar Sea Hibernates
• Four Are Fond of Roasting Husband
• Trunk Freshwater Mussel, the Bay Dragon Thornbody
• U.S. Boils in Water for Awhile, then Dresses in Soy
• Hand Grasps Small Lobster of Xuyi
• Soil Chicken and Old Duck Marmite
• Water Cooks the Mountain Space Mountain Bacterium
• Griddle Cooked Chicken with Pepper is Miscellaneous
• The Young Smooth Mushroom Stir Fries Dices Chicken
• The Crow Gingsing Braises Three Fresh

We never really knew what we'd be eating until it actually arrived at the table. One evening we ordered what we hoped would be a fried fish. About 15 minutes later our conversation was interrupted by somebody carrying a dirty plastic bucket. We had no clue what he wanted until he thrust the bucket at us and pointed. I peered into the bucket. A large fish was flopping around inside, gasping for breath. I felt like a murderer, but we "approved" the fish. When we saw it again it looked quite different and, happily for us, it tasted delicious.

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