Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Desserts in China

Mystery dessert

Just what is that a picture of?  Well, I tasted it and I'm still not sure!  The best our group could surmise, it's a deep purple, lightly-sweet bean paste on a bed of cucumbers, topped festively with sprinkles.  This was one of the more remarkable desserts in China. Actually, we didn't really have dessert in China.  Melons would accompany the meal, and that was the extent of the sweets.  Not a bad plan, really.  China has far less dependence on sugar, and significantly fewer overindulgence-based health issues.

I can do without dessert, but I often need want "just a little something" after dinner, which turns into a square of dark chocolate.  By the time we got through China, this girl was hurting for chocolate in a big way.  I never found it in China proper!  Interestingly, in Tibet, there was a corner market near our hotel that sold Dairy Milk and Toblerone products.  Our tour group was happy!

After dinner on another fine Chinese fall evening, we headed to a tea house.  The young woman below explained the teas and brewed them for us.  We were served a trio of dried fruits (bottom picture) and that was actually my favorite dessert in all of China. 


5 comments:

Marilyn Miller said...

Funny, but I craved chocolate after our trip in Asia last year too. Love dried fruit with tea and would have enjoyed that little treat immensely. The dessert with the sprinkles is funny. Wondering if they added the sprinkles to make it special for their visitors?

Rosemary said...

That certainly is an interesting dessert! Had to chuckle at the chocolate deprived travelers! Glad you found a market that sold Dairy Milk & Toblerone!

Anonymous said...

I remember that dessert and just loved the pretty sprinkles that they put on it. It was interesting with the cucumbers!

A fun memory of our great adventure last year.

Mary Jane

Angela McRae said...

That mystery dessert is certainly an interesting one!

Vee said...

Hmm, it might have taro. Taro would give it a purplish color (though not usually so dark!) and it is commonly used in sweets in Chinese cuisines.

The sprinkles are too funny! A few years ago, sprinkles were a trend ingredient in Taiwan. It was on EVERYTHING, and I don't just mean desserts. At lunch, my group was once served sashimi with a mayo drizzle and, yup, sprinkles. Yikes!