Common Talk Weeklyshuang yu zhou kan
issue date

Culture Clash
February 18, 2004
By Andrea
Picture by Zhu Lijun

My squeamishness

I’m told that seafood is freshest when cooked live—a waitress at a restaurant here in Xiamen said it tasted better that way. From the stories I’ve heard about Chinese cuisine, I presume this is true all over the country. My mother told me about eating a deep fried fish that was still gasping as diners dug in (Beijing). My boyfriend told me about eating a seafood hotpot meal where the dinner was trying to escape.

In Singapore, we also value fresh seafood, but I am already uncomfortable with eating seafood that I saw swimming in a tank only ten minutes ago. I know that I must be open to new experiences and try things that I’ve never even heard of —life is all about learning, is it not?

Last night, we went out to dinner, and everyone was nice enough to accommodate my squeamishness（神经质）—no live hotpot at the table. The waitress recommended live squid, and said they would cook the poor thing away from our table, which does not make things any better in my book. So everyone else dug in while I sat there looking green.

I have to draw the line at eating any food that is that freshly dead. I imagine myself being reincarnated（再生） as a squid, and I don’t like my prospects.