Alfred

Alfred identifies as Chinese, and I met him in the hospital the evening he was born. I was still at school when he was actually born, and I remember being so excited to see the little baby I waited for for months. My mom had this pretty detailed picture book of how babies develop in the womb, and I followed along each week, watching this 2D bean grow into an upside down human baby. I still remember when he first started kicking, and I could see the outline of his tiny little foot stretch my momma's belly. I loved this little thing the moment I saw him swaddled in his hospital blanket. He was more like a little play thing to me. My own little living doll that I could help feed and change and nap next to. I barely remember leaving my mom's side after they brought him home. He was only six months old when he was injured in the same accident that killed my mom. There was a long period when I didn't get to see him as he recovered, and when I finally did, I was afraid to go near him, seeing the egg shaped bump on the back of his head and his delicate skin etched with scratches and wounds. Sometimes I forget that had happened to him because he was the happiest little kid. My entire family loved him and doted on him because he was so joyful and silly. We're nine years apart, so I don't know when I finally processed that he is a full person. Somewhere along the way, he developed a sensitivity to others that couldn't possibly have been taught by dad.

 

One time I came to hyperventilating in tears from stress and hunger and heat in a Greek museum. My dad sat across from me in the cafe and whisper yelled at me until someone told him to leave me alone. Then my little brother came to sit in the vacant spot and quietly watched me drink the orange juice the concerned waitress brought me. This memory is seared into my brain because it was the first time I registered my baby brother as a sensitive human adult.

My dad thinks that since Alfred and I are both his offspring, we are ~the same~. Same genes, same childhood. Despite our almost decade-long age gap *rolls eyes*. I mean one thing's for sure - his empathy skills far outweigh mine.

But I will cede that our favorite childhood foods overlap greatly. [Although I would also be willing to bet it overlaps with a lot of ABC's.] And maybe nothing compares to hot pot. It is maybe the first meal I watched Alfred eat with gusto - he was unfortunately a picky eater. And it is also the meal my family always prepares to welcome me home these days.

So when I was home for the holidays, I made hot pot soup dumplings. Imagine, biting into a little pouch that first bursts forth with savory spicy hot pot flavor, and after you slurp that all up, you find the classic pork filling actually has bites of thinly shaved hot pot beef and strands of glass noodles. I even made my own aspic this time.

I loaded the filling with bits of chopped beef, a lot of peanut-y hot pot sauce, glass noodles, and a couple spoonfuls of leftover hot pot broth that was infused with all the beef and napa cabbage and mushrooms that are my family's favorites.

I will say unfortunately these little pockets did not burst forth with scalding hot soup because I later learned (when I made traditional soup dumplings for the first time heh) that my filling was too dry.

Maybe a good lesson in learning the basics before getting adventurous? Doesn't matter, we still ate them all.

Things I would've done differently: make the aspic with hot pot broth, add more leftover hot pot broth to the filling, blend the glass noodles into the filling, reserve the dipping sauce for dipping the soup dumplings.

more on his list:

white rabbit candy

anything pastry with red bean in it

hong shao rou

beef noodles

homemade dumplings

peking duck
hot pot
rice crackers
lychee jellies and lychee in general

xi'an lamb kebabs

zhajiang mian

cold noodles
sesame chicken

baozi

shrimp chips
shredded squid snacks
persimmons
green beans with oyster sauce
frozen scallion pancakes or anything with green onions
pork burgers with peppers

chinese broccoli

bok choy