Home grown, balcony tomatoes fresh off the vine

We picked these babies yesterday when we got home from China!  Delicious, but they have really thick skin... Don't know why...

A Guide to the Tasty Chinese Hotpot!

Chinese hotpot is one of the greatest meals you can ever have. Basically you have a large boiling pot in front of you (sometimes shared, sometimes individual), and you boil various meats, veggies, seafood etc., then dip them in your tasting tray. This one my wife and I tried in Yanjiao, a suburb of Beijing, and it specializes in seafood.

Basically you have a heater that continually boils a soup (water, some seasonings, maybe a pidan, etc.). You can also add some hot spices to the water, if you like it southern-spicy Chinese style. 

 Here's the pot.

 The tea bag has some spices in it.

 The hot pot catered to your personal taste via the dipping bowl, where you grab lots of spices and dip whatever you take out of the pot in it.

 This place had a lot of live seafood.

 Mmmm... so delicious!

 I don't know what they are...

 Soft-shelled turtles.

 Lobsters!

 Meat often comes in thin slices so it can cook quickly.

 Shrimp are always whole in China it seams.

 They cook and turn red!

 Ahh so delicious!

 Garlic is always a must on the mussels. They don't go in the hotpot, but that's alright!

It's common for Chinese to drink beer at lunch too. 

Making Chinese Zhamantou - What to do with Mantou after it get's old

My wife is Chinese so I get to experience a lot of good Chinese food. One we tried today while visiting her parents was to fry mantou just like french toast, or pan perdu, after dipping in eggs. It tastes pretty good, but could use some syrup!

 First you make batter. You can tell this is authentic Chinese, due to the Chopsticks.

 Then you dip bread.

 You fry them in a pan.

 Flip, and eat!