Street Finds

As part of a personal goal to try something new every day- no matter how small or insignificant, I stopped by the local roaster today to pick up some goodies. On the opposite side of the street from the bakery where I picked up the cookies the other day, stands a small shop that is tucked in a corner of a building. In fact the next two shops to the left of it are really located in the alley. At the front of the shop, on the street, stands a plexiglass case that is sectioned into four parts; some have small chestnuts, others have sunflower seeds, and today, one was empty. Next to it is a table with various sacks filled with peanuts in the shell, more sunflower seeds and other nuts. Next to the table, and partway on the street, is the roaster (pictured above). There have been times when I walked by, and the shop owners have been busy emptying the nuts into a basket. Behind the table and case is the rest of the shop. I've only looked quickly so I don't really know what is behind there. However, given the placement of the sellers, the case and the table, customers are discouraged to wander back there, and so I am guessing that they have the unroasted material sitting there waiting for customer demand.



Intrigued by the potential freshness of the roasting process, I finally stopped today to purchase something. I greeted the woman and asked to buy some of the peanuts (which I pointed to). She scooped, then weighed and informed me that the cost would be 4RMB (roughly 40-50 cents). She complimented me on my Mandarin, and I said thank you, but it really is quite rough ( I wish I had remembered the phrase "You are too kind"). I walked away with a good size bag of peanuts that were still warm from the roaster. I quickly took them home, where I posed them for the photos and then cracked a few open for tasting. I found them to be slightly different than the peanuts we have in North America on a couple of counts. While they are clearly peanuts, they have less peanut flavor (if that makes sense). They are smaller, and they come incredibly, sometimes three or four nuts to the shell. Not a bad snack, and there is lots left for another day.



If I am still pairing food with drink for you, I would definitely have these with a lovely, ice cold Chinese beer (like Tsing Tao- which we pronounce differently here- it sounds more like "jing dow")