Post-Birthday Challenge 1: I Took the Food Leap

After leaving a jazz show with a new friend - story for another post - I had a chance to finish what I started in Queens. My friend and I wandered from the Lower East Side to Chinatown for dinner. At this stage in my New York residence, I'm fairly comfortable and confident with dim sum, and I wasn't expecting anything out of the ordinary from the restaurant we chose. I was wrong.

First, hundred-year eggs were on the menu. I'd read about them in a novel and seen them in 6-packs at an Asian grocery but never tried them, and, truth be told, was scared to. I don't like fresh eggs, let alone eggs fermented in some kind of mineral compound and buried underground for months. But I was still curious, and in the spirit of the Birthday Exercises, decided to push my limits. I ordered them. While the waiter was at our table, I asked him about a fish dish that piqued my curiosity. He recommended another dish and I accepted.

When my fish and eggs arrived, they were utterly different from my expectations. (Although I was pretty free from expectations, anyway.) The fish casserole was two whole fish, sliced in thirds, baked into white rice in a stone dish. Well, I think it was two whole fish — I found two heads, two flanks, and three tails. My dining companion and I made the requisite joke about radioactivity, and I began eating. The fish had a delicate flavor, with just the right amount of saltiness and an earthy roasted-ness. My friend challenged me to eat the eye, which he had done before. It felt like eating a sequin.

The eggs were a discovery of a higher order. They were quartered open; swirled like agate, transluscent and smokey. I stared at them like I'd found a geode, and then I ate them: dark-tasting and creamy, a delicacy.


How I Left My Comfort Zone:
For the most part, I was thrilled to be trying new dishes. But trying new things in front of someone who'd stuck to the safe side for his own meal made me self conscious. He seemed glad he hadn't ordered a two-headed, three-tailed fish, and seemed to be trying not to think about the eggs.

What I Learned:
Who cares about what anyone thinks? Hundred Year Eggs are off the chain! But if you're eating with someone you don't know well, perhaps go with a less polarizing palate.