Diving into the menu...

[khiemtran]

So, about those soups at First Taste...

I brought a takeaway menu home and happened to notice an extra row of Chinese characters underneath each description. At first I thought they were a list of ingredients, but the first two characters of each line turned out to be 功效 (Gōngxiào, "good for" or "efficacy")...





As you might have guessed, these are medicinal soups. #3, Hairy Melon Stewed Dried Scallop with Pork for instance, is good for "clearing heat and reducing fire". While #4, Coconut and Herbs Stewed Crocodile Meat Soup, is good for stopping coughs and removing phlegm. Not that I could have read these on my own. Fortunately, as it happened, we went to visit HL's godparents today and so were able to get an expert translation.

Reading on, #4, Combination Herbs Stewed Beef Soup, is good for increasing energy "qi" and improving the blood. #7, Pork & Mushroom Stewed With Chicken Feet, is also good for "qi", but is also good for the stomach and for "women" (using the "yin" of "yin and yang").

So, from an English-only perspective, what we have is just a list of exotic soups. When you read the Chinese characters, it's more like a list of ailments. (We were warned though, that these aren't "magic potions", and that you have to keep eating them for a month to have any effect.)

Moving down the menu, things start to get a little odd...



#11, good for "clearing heat and improving the lungs" is apparently Dried Scallop and Watercress with Preserved Kidney, not necessarily Duck Kidney.

The "Coconut" in #12, Coconut Stewed Clam Meat Soup (good for "yin", increasing energy ("qi") and strengthening the blood) is actually Sea Coconut.

Over the page now. Please excuse the notes and annotations (the circled numbers are the ones HL's godmother prescribed for her to drink).



"Special Beef Clans Soup"? Good for increasing "yang" (the male side of yin and yang)? Turns out the literal reading is actually "bull whip", but it means bull penis. This is why it pays to be able to read Chinese. As for "clans", I can only guess there was some sort of chain of mishearings, starting with gland. (Note to self: make sure you memorize the character for "whip" in case it appears on any future menus... While I'm at it, best not to try anything with the character for "yin" in it, either.)

#16, Rock Sugar Stewed with Herbs and Paw Paw, is interesting because Fuchsia Dunlop mentioned it as a reputed antidote during the first big SARS epidemic. It is listed here as being good for stopping coughs and removing phlegm.

And as for #59? Well, it turns out it's certainly not frog fat that goes into it (HL's godmother told us a funny story about trying to translate this for a big restaurant once).

Also, it turns out that "First Taste" doesn't quite capture the full nuance of the Chinese name. A better translation would be something like "First Infusion". There's a Cantonese expression, "First Taste Tea", which means tea made with the first infusion and so the implication here is that the soup is made with fresh ingredients each time.

So, there you have it. Another little secret world opens up. And take care if you ever see "beef clans" on the menu...

Comments

[behindpyramids.livejournal.com]

This made me so happy. thanks for posting!

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

Thanks for reading!

[dsgood.livejournal.com]

I remember a Korean restaurant in Los Angeles whose menu included "Beef with vegetables" and "Same as #__, but different kind of beef." The descriptions in Korean may have been more informative.

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

:) There's a Chinese-Cambodian restaurant near my work that has (among approx 160 other combinations) "beef in beef flavour hotpot". We haven't tried it yet, but I presume it tastes like beef.