Our six-year-old picky eater has one fishy sense of humour.
This past weekend, we celebrated my second cousin’s 18th birthday.
My cousin and her husband treated the family to a sumptuous lunch at Congee Queen, one of my fave Chinese restaurants.
Anytime we eat at a restaurant, we pack food for picky eater T; this time, six meatballs, Goldfish crackers and chocolate milk.
Lunch was very delicious and included ginger fried lobster chow mein; Peking duck cabbage roll; roasted pork and jelly fish; BBQ eel fried rice.
It’s Chinese tradition to start a meal with soup. For special occasions, fish maw soup is a staple.
The main ingredient is dried fish bladder (i.e. fish maw). It sounds gross, but it is very tasty. It is rich in collagen and has a reputed benefit of giving a youthful complexion.
I looked at the bowl of soup and wondered if T would drink it.
And I sure as hell didn’t tell him what it was made out of!
This is a kid who has a tiny repertoire of food he’ll eat: plain pasta, buttered toast, chicken nuggets (McDonald’s only), Pizza Hut pizza with everything scraped off, pancakes (for dinner).
But sure enough, T likes to subvert expectations. He inhaled not one, but two bowls.
I was utterly amused. This is a kid who dropped the F-bomb when we packed carrots for his school lunch. Yet he downed dried fish bladder soup like it was a vanilla milkshake.
Life is full of surprises, if you leave the door open to it, is what T teaches us every day.
The hubby laughed and said, “He better not expect us to be making this for him at home.”
It’ certainly not something we’d find at No Frill’s next to cans of Campbell’s soup.
I thought about other obscure Chinese food we could try with T. Wait till I tell T about the time I was his age and Ma tricked me into drinking snake soup!
It goes to show that it’s still worth the effort to keep suggesting new foods for T to try. You never know, he might actually give it a whirl AND enjoy it. Good call on not telling him what it’s made of! I gotta ask, how did the snake soup taste?
The snake soup tasted like chicken soup. 😆 I was around 6 and joined my mom on a work trip to Hong Kong (when we lived in that side of the world). They served snake soup and to make me eat it without fussing, she told me it was chicken soup and didn’t tell me what it really was until after I ate it. I should do the same with T. Pretend everything is a chicken nugget. 😆
That is wonderful. It sounds like your T is full of wonder and great surprises <3.
Thanks LaDonna! He’s full of something all right. 😊😆
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You are so clever and maybe this will get T to try even more dishes!
Haha. We shall see, Diane. 😆 Soups do seem like a good way to hide lots of ingredients and nutrients.
That’s fantastic, and I don’t blame your husband for not wanting to make that at home 😜
But it’s so cool when kids try and like something crazy new.
Thanks Rachel! For sure, getting kids to try new stuff and then actually trying it is such a wonderful feeling. I know your kids are picky eaters too and that you can relate! 😆
Haha I really can relate 🤣
Oh my goodness, I love this. Especially the line, “Life is full of surprises, if you leave the door open to it, is what T teaches us every day.”
Go, T – keep teaching us!! <3 <3 <3
Thank you, Wynne. T certainly is full of unexpected wisdom and lessons! 😊
That’s adorable!! Yes T! I love how surprising kids can be, with their palates. 😁
Thank you, Lizi! Surprising is an apt word. 😊
Lol, I’m with team “T” ❣️
Thank you Tammy! 💕
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