Ling Du

Yesterday, a Chinese woman came over to make jiaozi for us.  Jiaozi (dumplings or pot stickers) are a Northeast specialty.  We've made them with Chinese friends in the US.  Trust me, you could taste the difference between the ones that the Americans made and the ones that Chinese people had made.  So we asked our friend to make them for us.
We checked our supplies the day before.  We needed jiaozi flour, ground pork, da bai cai (napa cabbage), some spices and soy sauce.  Our friend picked up the supplies and came over.
I was still at language school when she started (Elisabeth and Paul were home) so I came home to cute little rolled up jiaozi on my dining room table.  I walked into the kitchen where I saw this.

That is Coke Zero, or as it's called in China "Ling Du."  "Ling" means zero and "du" is the word used to indicate temperature.  Now, the only person who drinks Ling Du is me.  Our fridge is tiny so I usually buy one bottle at a time.  I had bought one on my way home yesterday and opened it.  I thought that maybe Paul had bought one and left it open on the counter.

Our friend kept saying "No lid" and picking up the bottle.  I was a little confused, since Paul said it wasn't his, so I gave her my Coke bottle lid.  She put it in the fridge, cooked up some of the jiaozi and froze the others.

Later that afternoon, I went to get the Ling Du out of the fridge.  I took a sip and immediately spit it out.  It was soy sauce!  Somehow, our friend brought soy sauce into our house and put it in the bottle.   She may have told us and we may have completely missed it.  She speaks a rather strong dialectical Chinese and she is fast talker!

It really was a hilarious and it makes a great story.  

I reminds me a little of the time I cooked chili with peanuts! http://walkingtochina.blogspot.com/2010/01/when-things-are-not-as-they-seem.html

It's just a great reminder that humor is key to survival overseas and that you must be able to laugh at your selves.  Also, to be sure you know the Chinese word for soy sauce!