Comments on: Shopping at the Wet Market

By: Marsha

Marsha — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 20:14:52 +0000

I would pass on the blood cubes– ewww! The fresh veggies look AMAZING. It would definitely encourage me to eat healthier, that’s for sure. Do you buy your meat at the market too? Can you count on it being pretty fresh or do you really have to be cautious as to not get a piece that will make you sick?

By: Emily

Emily — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 19:34:09 +0000

the meat stalls did make me cringe a little…thanks for the heads up.

By: Lori

Lori — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 15:12:06 +0000

This has been an education!! The only thing I have to compare this to, are our farmers markets, but I’ve NEVER seen meat hanging out in the “open air” like that. It’s amazing!
We’ve over civilized ourselves into allergies and sickness in our efforts to avoid those exact things. We have all forgotten how our ancestors lived.
Not much beef, eh? Interesting.
And “blood cubes”?? Ew.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 11:16:02 +0000

Great post. I am really enjoying your new blog (liked the other one too actually!). When I lived in Africa we mainly used open air markets and like you say, it is amazing how ‘safety’ has a very different meaning in such cultures. I totally agree with your comment on allergies and as a result I refuse to make my home TOO clean and I encourage my boys to play in the dirt!! Not come across ‘blood cubes’ before -sounds yucky!
God bless you!
Sarah

By: Jimmie

Jimmie — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 10:50:44 +0000

@ Amanda,
You are probably right about the blood. I don’t ask too many questions about it. It’s pretty distasteful to me.

By: Jimmie

Jimmie — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 10:49:13 +0000

@ short– You are so right! We survive! And the people here are certainly surviving as well! Our bodies are amazingly resilient. Isn’t in interesting that allergies come from LACK of exposure to germs and viruses? We’re almost too healthy for our own good.

By: amanda wu

amanda wu — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 08:53:11 +0000

What a great lens!! That’s fantastic, Jimmie!!

I read on the lens about your guesses as to the origin of the term “wet market” . . . .so it is called a wet market in Chinese too? Or is that only an English thing? Do you know??

Here this kind of meat and veggie market is called by the time of day (ie. morning market or evening market). Other markets like flower, fruit, jade, and so on are called by their product names.

VERY INTERESTING . . . thanks for sharing.

P.S. after I pushed submit I realized I left off the apostrophes to make my pigs and ducks possessive in the last comment. Shame on me . . .

By: amanda wu

amanda wu — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 08:43:58 +0000

So, why did you call it a “wet market”? . . . I’ve never heard that term before. Maybe you answer that question on the lens.

Thanks for the info on exactly what a jing is. I never have actually taken the time to figure it out beyond what it “da gai” feels like to me.

Here in Tw, we have blood cubes from ducks and pigs. The pigs blood is darker–almost black–while the ducks blood is more of a reddish brown. Never heard of or seen chicken blood cubes.

By: short

short — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 08:39:48 +0000

Oh what fun to see your markets! They are pretty similar to ours sans tofu and of course pork and blood (because of the religious laws). When we take people to our markets they are amazed that the meat just hangs there with no refrigeration or packaging. This is how people have lived for centuries and not got sick. Hygiene and safety (like you mentioned) has a totally different spin on it here