Current food obsessions

Every few weeks in China I try some new dish, or learn how to say a new word, and then it's all I eat and all I talk about until I find the new thing. So I decided to share these (and some photos!) with you.
First off, congee (which is not called congee in Mandarin, but zhou).

This is a boiled rice porridge that is surprisingly delicious. Some reviews I saw on the internet called it boring and flavorless, but you're supposed to put stuff in it to make it taste better. It's like oatmeal, but more awesome because you add savory flavors, not sweet. It is also an excellent hangover cure and very good if you're sick. Dan's favorite variety has pork, mushrooms, and "century eggs" (preserved eggs that turn black from whatever they're preserved in). My favorite has chunks of boneless fish. Either way, you dump some soy sauce and white pepper in, stir thoroughly, then wait 20 minutes so it cools enough to eat. It is often served with a chopped-up fried dough stick (in Cantonese, the name means "fried ghost") which you dip in the soupy goodness. I ate this two hours ago and now that I'm typing about it I want it again.

My new favorite drink is ginger coke (jiang le). This is nothing but coca cola boiled with julienned or sliced ginger, then served in a coffee cup. It looks just like coffee until you stir it and all the ginger rises to the top. As Dan said in his blog, I drank this yesterday, today, and will probably drink it tomorrow and every day until I learn the name of a new beverage.

The last new food is not that new. It's French toast.

Back in late September, when we went to Wan Shan island, we saw someone else ordering this and managed to get our own. We even took this photo so we could order it the next day, but they were all out. The mythical French toast was forgotten until a few days ago Dan and I randomly pointed at the sandwich section of the Hong Kong restaurant's menu, and they brought us French toast (with syrup)! I don't know how to say this in Mandarin but I do know how to read it on a menu. Also, it is delicious to eat while waiting for your boiling congee to cool down.