A lunch to drool over

I've been spending an unhealthy amount of time fantasizing about eating saliva chicken after spotting it in a local shop last month.

Despite its disgusting connotations, the dish’s unconventional name utterly intrigued me so I sought enlightenment from a Chinese friend.

Apparently saliva chicken tastes so delicious that one’s mouth salivates at the mere thought, hence the name; I would have thought “mouth watering” to be a far more marketable title.

I’ve been eating out a lot lately and have felt the need to give my body a bit of a rest over the past week but today the temptation of an ecstatic food experience proved irresistible. So off I headed to buy myself a chicken saliva lunch.

It’s sold in an unprepossessing little outlet in Mt Albert’s Lim Chhour complex. Tables outside the shop display a range of fried doughy snacks, and suchlike. I’ve tried a few but they’re nothing amazing although the massive omelettey square looks like it could be worth a go one hungry day.

Beyond briefly ogling the saliva chicken, I’d never taken much notice of the contents of a chiller insider the shop. Closer inspection revealed all sorts of northern Chinese goodies, so I decided to buy myself a mini banquet.



Saliva chicken.  The
lumpy bits are peanuts,
sesame seeds and chilli
flakes.



The saliva chicken lived up to its promise and was really nice: salty, slightly acetic, savoury, chilli spiced. I suspect that today's version was probably a bit more basic than some but it was still good.

Bean curd stick salad.

Less delicious was the bean curd stick and carrot salad, served in a very light oil and slightly chillied dressing. It was okay, but smelled disconcertingly of old socks. The taste was improved by combining the coriander garnish with the bean curd stick but there was far too little garnish to lift the dish to a new level.

"Crispy" kigou.  Tasted
more like
"chewy" kigou!

As for the crispy kigou, I had no idea what it was when I bought it and, now I’ve eaten some, I still have no idea. I’m pretty sure it’s vegetal. It tastes similar to Korean kimchi and it’s really, really chewy so I didn’t eat my way through much before aborting the mission.

A crispy kigou fights
back.

Although I enjoy pushing my foodie boundaries, there are some lines I never intend cross - unlike a blogger that I recently discovered. Here’s one of the most stomach churning foodie accounts I have ever read: http://www.allyoucanteat.com/2011/05/pig-brain-and-pig-spine-soup/