http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/07/12/cardboard.food.ap/index.html Chinese Food Made From Cardboard BEIJING, China (AP) -- Chopped cardboard, softened with an industrial chemical and flavored with fatty pork and powdered seasoning, is a main ingredient in batches of steamed buns sold in one Beijing neighborhood, state television said. art.cardboardfood.jpg Steamed buns sold in Beijing contain 60 percent cardboard, a report on China Central Television said. The report, aired late Wednesday on China Central Television, highlights the country's problems with food safety despite government efforts to improve the situation. Countless small, often illegally run operations exist across China and make money cutting corners by using inexpensive ingredients or unsavory substitutes. They are almost impossible to regulate. State TV's undercover investigation features the shirtless, shorts-clad maker of the buns, called baozi, explaining the contents of the product sold in Beijing's sprawling Chaoyang district. Baozi are a common snack in China, with an outer skin made from wheat or rice flour and and a filling of sliced pork. Cooked by steaming in immense bamboo baskets, they are similar to but usually much bigger than the dumplings found on dim sum menus familiar to many Americans. The hidden camera follows the man, whose face is not shown, into a ramshackle building where steamers are filled with the fluffy white buns, traditionally stuffed with minced pork. The surroundings are filthy, with water puddles and piles of old furniture and cardboard on the ground. "What's in the recipe?" the reporter asks. "Six to four," the man says. "You mean 60 percent cardboard? What is the other 40 percent?" asks the reporter. "Fatty meat," the man replies. The bun maker and his assistants then give a demonstration on how the product is made. Squares of cardboard picked from the ground are first soaked to a pulp in a plastic basin of caustic soda -- a chemical base commonly used in manufacturing paper and soap -- then chopped into tiny morsels with a cleaver. Fatty pork and powdered seasoning are stirred in. Soon, steaming servings of the buns appear on the screen. The reporter takes a bite. "This baozi filling is kind of tough. Not much taste," he says. "Can other people taste the difference?" "Most people can't. It fools the average person," the maker says. "I don't eat them myself." The police eventually showed up and shut down the operation
funny part is that i just sat down with my Chinese takeout and jumped on the forum, this is the first thread i see!
And people worry about us going to war with them. No amphibious assets, A joke of an Air Force and Navy and now we find out they're feeding each other cardboard? Seriously though, this sounds like the US in the mid to late 1800's when people were falling into the meat grinders at the factories and being served. The book "The Jungle" sounds very similar to this...just waiting on the labor reform movement to really hurry things along over there. :crazy:
I like chinese food too, but obviously one needs to be discriminating when it comes to eating street food in china.
With their Navy producing 2 nuclear powered submarines a year that are as capable as the US Los Angeles class attack subs, I wouldn't call their navy a joke.
There is no way they're anywhere close to a 688, let alone a 688I. No VLS capability, meh sonar, etc. I'd put them around a 637 (Sturgeon) class boat, and that's being generous. One Carrier Battle Group and the only thing the Chinese Navy will be sailing are toy boats in their bathtub. Their diesel/electric boats are a cause for some concern but they've got their limitations and liabilities due to their design.
I bet this cardboard-selling street vendor got his inspiration from recent articles of the "Long Schlong Restaurant" (animal genitals).
I don't know, I thought the food was great. But taiwan isn't exactly china either. mmmmmmm, look how fried and tasty everything looks. and don't forget about the snacks either. tasty tasty
