幼河

“老外”吃皮蛋

  忽然想到亚马逊网（amazon）看看有否传统中国食品卖，竟在上面看到有中国虾米仁。当然贵得出奇。有“老外”买了，给了一星的差评。他说他有个养了14年的乌龟，他买干虾米仁打算喂他的宠物。有点好笑。“老外”大概怎么也想象不出来虾米仁是华人为了烧汤提味儿用。我想这是中国食品中最让老外想不明白的东西。

  I was looking for something to feed my turtle of 14 years. The freeze dried shrimp I used to get at the pet store doubled in price and I stop buying things that increase in price more than 25 cents a time. I wasn't familiar with gram weight. For $12.50 I got less than a baggie full. Got bout a half size of a sandwich size baggie! Which IMO is rediculous! on a side note, i highly doubt it is organic as my daughter pointed out to me “shrimp swim in the ocean”kinda hard to control what they eat in that environment. It took for freaking ever to arrive. I do not recommend buying this.

  大意是：想找些东西喂我养了14年的乌龟。过去我在宠物店买冷冻干虾，后来因为价格上涨一倍，每次我要多花两毛五，我不买了。我对公制重量单位不熟悉。12.5元我只得到不到一袋，像半个三明治那样的小口袋。可笑！我高度怀疑这是我女儿说的“大洋里的虾”。这东西很怪，我不会推荐买它。

……………………………………………………

  通常，我们很难当面得到“老外”对典型中国食品的直率评价，他们总是很婉转。可在网上他们就很直接地表达出他们对这些典型中国传统食品的印象。

  是啊，这“老外”。东西方饮食习惯太不同了。我们华人做饭烧汤时会用点干虾仁；他却想着用来喂他的乌龟。还真不知道他养的乌龟有多大呢？对中国食品的“鲜味”，西方人是很不容易想象的。下面我又看了看中国的皮蛋在亚马逊网上销售的反馈。顺便说一句，网上中国皮蛋的价格比中国超市里的高得多。打*号的评论是我写的。

  a great taste until about halfway through I got a taste……

  By Amazon Customer on April 30, 2017

  Had a great taste until about halfway through I got a taste of strong chemical. My throat began to burn like I had been inhaling chemicals. I should have stopped there but I continued to eat the rest of the egg. A few hours later I woke up very sick to the stomach. I will never order this again.

  吃到一半我感觉味道“太好了”。

  吃的时候我就感到强烈的化学品的味道。我的喉咙“烧”了起来，像是吸入了某种化学物质。真不该再吃下去，可我却把剩下的一半也吃了。几小时后我被剧烈的胃疼惊醒。我绝不会再买中国皮蛋。

  * 我怀疑他吃的时候没加相应的佐料。事后还胃疼了？是否原来就有点胃病啊？

  SPOILED EGGS

  Chrison July 8, 2014

  I just got my eggs in the mail and sure enough as soon as I open it, it says “keep refrigerated”on the box. So fearing the worst I crack one open to find exactly what I thought……spoiled eggs -_- Why would you ship these without refrigerating them?

  蛋变质啦！

  邮来后我便打开，里面写着“保存在冰箱里”。我怕到极点，立刻打开一个皮蛋……和我想的一样……整个一个臭蛋！既然这样，为什么不在在冷冻状态下运输？

  *冷冻条件下运输？想象的吧？味道和是否冷冻下无关。

  undersrand they are“gross”. but I don't……

  Johnon February 26, 2018

  I undersrand they are “gross”. but I don't think they are supposed to be putrified into goo form. They were all broken and definitely rotten.

  我想这些东西很粗糙，不过我没有想到会恐怖到粘糊糊。所有的都破掉并绝对的恶臭。

  *抱歉。不过我必须说，这种“恐怖”的印象是主观的。

  Arrived Broken

  Customer on February 6, 2018

  Package arrived quickly, but all the eggs were crushed……

  东西很快就邮来了，但所有的蛋都压碎了……

  *真抱歉。

  Heavy metals and HORRENDOUS smell!

  AnonaMron November 5, 2017

  Served by my friend, Chen, quartered w/soy sauce and sesame oil sprinkled on and w/grated ginger. Out of the box, they smell HORRENDOUS! Absolutely induced nausea. They do not say “Lead free”so I am going to assume they have the heavy metals that the Chinese government do NOT monitor or control (Per Chen, whose father is an exporter/importer).

  可怕的、不得了的！

  这是姓陈的朋友招待我的；皮蛋上有点酱油和香油，还有些姜末。打开盒子那味道真是“不得了”，绝对有恶心的成分。皮蛋的说明没有标有“无铅”的字样。我认为这香油里有重金属。中国政府是不监测和控制食品里这重金属的（陈的父亲是个中国进出口商人）。

  * 中国政府可能没有监控食品中的重金属；但与味道无关好不好？

  Francisco Ramirezon February 27, 2017

  rotten on arrival

  邮到的时候就腐臭的。

  *从名字上看还是个南美人呢。他也如此评价中国的皮蛋？有点遗憾；毕竟不懂得如何制作的，更不会理解其中的味道。

  Wrong product

  ApplePieon September 16, 2013

  The picture says it was presevered egg. However, when I receive the product, it's cooked salted duck egg.

  弄错了商品。

  广告照片上说是皮蛋。但我收到的东西是咸鸭蛋。

  * 这是销售商的错误。会不会买的时候看错了？

  warning

  O_Oon August 8, 2014

  Zoom in on the bottom right corner it says keep refridgerated

  警告。

  右下角有提示，说是保持在冰箱里。

  *这你就给了个差评？

  Fun but taste bad.

  Josh new byon March 25, 2016

  They are a novelty but they taste awful.

  皮蛋很新奇，但味道真糟糕。

  *可以理解。

  有个“老美”的差评郑重其事地引用了南华早报对中国皮蛋的评价。反正就是制作中国皮蛋的原料里含有砷、铅和镉等毒素。我在想，中国的皮蛋制作恐怕有几百年的历史了。如果皮蛋有很强的毒性，怎么就一直被忽视呢？我认为毒素是有的，但没那么强。现在说到食品“有毒”，常常耸人听闻，其实这里面有个“量”的问题。

……………………………………………………

  亚马逊网上也卖中国餐馆的饭菜。基本是冷冻的，价钱比较贵，买了要好几天才能送来。也有现卖的，当然需要你自己打电话联系，跟叫外卖差不多。我估计在你住所附近的中国餐馆的外卖挂在亚马逊网上。网店什么都能买到。

……………………………………………………

  亚马逊网上的中国食品栏目中有一部有关食品的平装书（paperback），竟然995美元一本。莫名其妙。下面是书的名字。

  The World Market for Fresh, Preserved, or Cooked Birds' Eggs In Shells: A 2018 Global Trade Perspective.

  在中国皮蛋栏目中我还看到“The Fatal Eggs”。这也是平装书，和皮蛋没关系。如果你希望了解上个世纪1917年俄国的“十月革命”，你可以买一本看看。书不贵，8.99美元一本。