There are two sisters who live here in JH who I have become more than acquaintances w/ over the past few weeks. They own and run a milk tea/smoothie shop. Yesterday they asked me what I did every day, since right now we are still on school holiday. I started off w/, "Well, usually I go and buy food....". They interrupted me before I could continue, saying, "Why? You don't cook!" I politely reminded them that I had told them before that I don't cook Chinese food; if we want that, we go out. And that I can cook a decent range of western food at home. So the younger sister handed me a note pad and pen and said, "Write down a recipe, for something easy...like...a salad!" My stomach churned and my head began to spin and ache immediately. She didn't know what she was asking me to do. Although I could say probably every word, I have no idea how to write most of the characters, except for the easy ones...like 个 (ge), which is a measure word. Thankfully, Logan walked by on his way home, and they took this as a sign that I should be going too. I told them I would type it up and bring it by today.
Of course, today, I sat down at my computer and wondered how in the world would I write a recipe for a salad. Not to mention that there is no true lettuce here. An abundance of different types of cabbage, and some spinach too, but no lettuce like we know it in the states. In fact, I made sandwiches a few days ago and didn't buy "lettuce" b/c I always end up w/ something slightly bitter. I have been told what I can use, but what exactly this leafy plant looks like escapes me every time I go to the market. (And regardless of what it looks like, most everything is called baicai, which we translate into cabbage.)
Anyways, this is what I came up with. I'm not entirely sure if it is all correct, chances are that there are mistakes. I'm not for sure on the word used for chop or tear, and I converted the dressing measurements to mL and grams, although I'm not for sure if the words my dictionary gave me are the right ones for those measurements. I am not for sure if it honestly matters, though. Every time I have seen a Chinese person cook, they just "eyeball" it. Oh well.....
沙拉 Salad
一些 菠菜 spinach
1 个 白菜 cabbage (不苦)(not bitter)
2 个 番茄 tomato
1 个 胡萝卜 carrot
1 个 黄瓜 cucumber
½ 个 洋葱 onion (紫色的)(purple)
½ 个 美国 菜花 broccoli
1 个 红青椒 red bell pepper (不辣)(not hot)
撕毁菠菜和白菜。Tear the spinach and cabbage.
剁其他的材料。Chop the other ingredients.
拌。Mix.
把酱放在上面。Put the sauce (dressing) on top.
酱 Dressing
120 毫升 油 oil
120 毫升 醋 vinegar
1 个 瓣大蒜 garlic （剁）
8 公分（克） 白糖 sugar
10 公分（克） 盐 salt
拌。Mix.
--da
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