Comment on 2/27/09 and response

Chewenlai wrote on Mar 4, 2009 4:04 AM:

"You look like you could use all the help A Dong could provide. I used a ruler once, but that didn't make me wish I was the King of England for the rest of me life. If you are so enamored of peanut-walnut milk, feed your cow some Jiff, poke its teats with a sack of walnuts and enjoy the ensooooing results. Of course it would fall short of the high standards of the Chinese people, but in America we have a lot to learn."

*****

I'm posting this comment here not so much because I have a response, but because I found it amusing.

I can use all the help A Dong provides. I like that store; I go there pretty frequently, and I'm always pleased with the things I find there. I've never claimed to be a chef, in any culture, and making jiaozi (dumpling) wrappers, for instance, would be impossible for me -- thank goodness I don't have to.

I've tried to make my own hot pot mix and not done very well at that, either.

I think your recipe for peanut-walnut milk probably leaves a lot to be desired (like scientific support), but I like the use of "ensooooing." And I'm going to keep my eye out for it, as usual, at A Dong.

I'm not sure what the King of England or "high standards" have to do with my column, which was much too short to deal with any of the controversy over trade with China, FDA standards and their implementation in foreign countries, American-Chinese political relations of any kind, or even dumplings.

I only wish I could have included something about that last one. The other topics aren't suited to a weekly 600-word column written by a citizen.

I don't claim to be a chef, a ruler, a standard-maker or a political expert of any kind. I'm a writer. I write about what I know...like Ramen noodles.