When I moved from Shanghai to Shenyang to join the BMW joint venture in China, BMW Brilliance Automotive (BBA), I was low on budget. I wasn’t working for a few months prior to that and also I had to fork out a month’s hotel bill for the first month when I moved to Shenyang before I found a rental apartment (reimbursed by the company later). So I tried to find some ways to save money and started trying all the cheap food in my new city, in the small food places around the hotel and also around my rental apartment eventually when I found one.
I call this a poor man’s dish and it costed RMB7 (USD1.11). Its definitely one of those dishes which reminds me of my humble times and makes me thankful for the journeys I have taken in my life and for being where I am now. But please do not misunderstand that this was by any means a mediocre dish. It’s made from leftover chicken pieces stir-fried with spicy sauces and red chillies and garnished with sesame seeds and coriander leaves. This poor man’s dish fires up your body in Shenyang’s bloody cold weather and if you wash it down with a few shot glasses of baiju, mate you are in wonderland.