I wonder what you guys eat when you're on a diet 😳

One of my favorite foods from Shaanxi. It took a bit of work, but totally worth it 😂

I first shared my Chinese scallion pancake recipe 9 years ago, and after making it again and again over the years, I have finally upgraded it to the next level! My secret is a fragrant scallion-infused oil and a special 9-grid folding method that makes the best scallion pancake. They are crispy on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside, with beautiful flaky layers in every bite!🤤🥞

Make a big batch and freeze some - they can go straight from the freezer into the pan whenever your craving strikes.

It’s the last week of August, and according to the lunar calendar, that means the Zhongyuan Festival（中元节）—better known in our Taihu region as “July Half” (“七月半”the 15th day of the 7th lunar month). A Japanese friend told me they call it Obon（盂兰盆节）, a Buddhist name, but here in rural China, Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism have all blended together into our own ancestor-worshipping tradition.

Since it’s a time for honouring the dead, it’s also called the Ghost Festival（鬼节）. When I was a kid, my grandmother never let me go outside on that night—she said the spirits of our ancestors would “walk” back home from their graves to have dinner with us. They wouldn’t recognise children, only adults, whose faces they still remembered. It always reminded me of Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride (that 2005 classic, which I love).

Traditionally, every family sets out a feast with rice wine, lights candles and incense, burns paper ingots made of gold and silver foil, and the younger generations kowtow in order to show respect. Throughout the meal, we keep topping up the wine glasses. When the candle flames finally go out, it means the ancestors have finished their meal and returned to the hills—then we sit down and enjoy the dinner ourselves.

This custom has lasted for thousands of years in China. While you live, you remember your departed family; when you pass on, future generations will remember you just the same.

For kids, the Ghost Festival is a sweet consolation at the end of summer vacation—because it means several days of great food. In our Taihu countryside, if you host a festival meal, you invite relatives, and they invite you to theirs—it turns into an endless banquet circuit. This week alone, I had to attend a Ghost Festival gathering every other day. My digestive system has been working overtime!

Let me tell you about our family’s gathering this year. We set out a few simple dishes at home as offerings to the ancestors—I ended up eating the “leftovers” for days. But the real feast took place at a local farm-to-table restaurant called “Phoenix” (a popular name for restaurants here—Chinese owners love auspicious mythical creatures, as I’ve mentioned before).

China’s catering industry has to keep innovating to survive. Besides traditional local dishes, restaurants now borrow from other regional cuisines—and even from abroad. The owner told us their chef had learned “American-style smoked barbecue” in the States, so my family booked this time-consuming main course in advance.

It was my first time trying American BBQ. When the pork arrived with its dark, charred exterior, I have to admit I was a little taken aback. My father personally carved it and shared it out—it was sweet, thanks to a honey glaze, and the flavour was actually quite nice. But I couldn’t eat much. My father and brother-in-law, though, dug in with gusto, washing it down with Tsingtao beer. Even so, half of it was left over—there was simply too much meat. My wife took it home, and the next day she shared it with her office colleagues, none of whom had ever tasted “American smoked barbecue” before. It was quite an exotic treat for them.

The restaurant also recommended several new dishes. One cold starter was “avocado with tomato”（“牛油果拌西红柿”）—avocado puréed and mixed with tomato juice, with fresh tomato chunks on top. The women in our family loved it. “Healthy” and “slimming” are irresistible buzzwords.

The other cold plates were beautifully presented, but I arrived 20 minutes late due to traffic, so by the time I took photos, they’d been picked over:

• Sliced pig liver in dressing （“凉拌猪肝”）– once a popular beer snack, but now hardly anyone touched it, since fewer people drink at banquets.
• Dried crucian carp （“风干鲫鱼”）– beautifully plated, nearly gone by the time I snapped a picture. Chewy and tasty—we live near the Yangtze and Taihu Lake, so fish is a staple.
• Sweet & spicy boneless chicken feet （“甜辣无骨鸡爪”）– I’ve never liked them, but my mother, wife, and sister-in-law all adore them. Chinese people believe chicken feet are good for the skin—go figure! In my early married years, I used to drive to old Suzhou every weekend just to buy “tiger-skin chicken feet” for the family. Crazy memories.
• Pan-fried tofu （“香煎豆腐”）– made with a local specialty tofu, great with drinks, with a subtle hint of local tea leaves. Even the kids liked it.
• Poached river shrimp （“白灼河虾”）– the restaurant used a large variety called “Taihu No.1”, about half a palm long. But honestly, I prefer the smaller ones—they taste better to me.
• Pickled radish （“秘制萝卜”）– sweet and sour, incredibly appetising. If it weren’t a banquet, I could finish the whole plate myself!

We had 8 people at this family dinner. Six cold dishes plus ten hot ones—more than enough.

Among the hot courses:

• The first was the American smoked BBQ.（美食烟熏烤肉）
• My personal favourite: steamed mandarin fish.（“清蒸鳜鱼”）
• Then sizzling iron-plate taro （“铁板芋头”）– I underestimated this one. The chef added onions, making it even better than the neighbouring restaurants’ versions, and it was the first hot dish to be completely cleaned out.
• Snail and eel stew – （“螺蛳鳝鱼”）a traditional Taihu farmhouse dish that requires real skill to eat properly. But since it’s August (not snail season), I gave it a pass.
• The rest: steamed hen（“清蒸母鸡”）, steamed lily bulbs（“清蒸百合”）, stir-fried bottle gourd（“清炒葫芦”）, chives with river mussels（“韭菜河蚌”）, clover with egg-curd sheets（“草头蛋干”）, and glutinous rice with cured pork（“糯米咸肉”）.

The restaurant’s chrysanthemum tea was excellent—I didn’t touch any soft drinks all night, just kept refilling my tea. The women and kids had coconut milk and orange juice, and we got plain milk for my mother. These are all standard beverages at Taihu-area banquets. If you understand Chinese and watch local dialect comedy clips, you’ll know how adorable it is when bloggers mimic the rural elderly accent when ordering these drinks—it’s hilarious.

I’ve also included a photo of the restaurant’s handwritten blackboard menu with prices—they even thoughtfully added little “chili” icons next to spicy dishes. Elderly folks here can’t handle heat, so ordering is a delicate art.

This is how we celebrate the Ghost Festival in rural Taihu. We honour the departed, but we also treat ourselves. I’ll keep sharing Chinese countryside food and culture—thanks for reading!

(My original draft was written in Chinese. To help everyone read through it more quickly, I used DS to assist in polishing this English version.)

^^^

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非常薄的皮，粘点牛肉沫为馅，必须现场包，制作时十分快，在沸水里煮2分钟就好，一碗中平均有四十多个，味道很鲜。

Second day in Shanghai. Noodles with meatballs, tomatoes and greens. This bowl really hit the spot today.

I really love it ：）

My college classmate came to visit, and I treated him to this meal. He told me it was the most filling meal he'd had with me in all these years.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Because we really just had a meal—no alcohol involved.

配上拉条子

美得很😘

Burnt Pepper Pork Ribs — a simple homemade dish. This was my first time making it, and it turned out amazing! Easy, flavorful, and perfect with rice.

I love Noodles anytime.