#ChineseFoodiesofIG: Michelle Zhao
This is part of an ongoing series of interviews I’m doing with my favourite Chinese foodies that I follow on Instagram. Come and follow the #ChineseFoodiesofIG hashtag on Instagram and leave a comment showing your support for these talented folk!
What do you do?
I started my site and Instagram nosweetsour late in 2018 with an initial thought to teach my friends in Norway to prepare home made Chinese food. I am a passionate amateur chef who is self learning by doing, also sharing the knowledge I know.
Where are you from? (Where are you really from?)
I was born and raised in Kunming, I am a Yi minority in China. I moved to Bergen because of family immigration in 2012.
What does Chinese food mean to you?
Chinese food is the definition of “food” before I discovered there are burgers, fries and other cuisines in the world. I moved to Vienna when I was 18 and I adapted my appetite completely to “Western food” because I was curious about new things and also because I felt I had explain to people about Chinese food. Later I realised if I don’t start to explain to people about my own cuisine, who is going to? Chinese food is my heritage, I should feel proud to present them to my friends and people in the world.
Rice or noodles?
How about rice noodles? As a Kunming person, I can not live with out rice noodles ;-).
What does home taste like?
Home taste is comfortable, simple and knowing what you like and need. It is the first meal my parents prepare for me whenever I travel back home, table full of foods I love. There is no need to tell them what I want for that meal, they know it.
Know any good Chinese restaurants?
Little Tong Noodle Shop, Dian Kitchen and Plenty of Clouds are restaurants serving Yunnan cuisine in the US. I have not been to those restaurants but I would love to once I have the opportunity. I admire what they are working with and I hope one day I will be able to own a place that serves food from my home town :)
What’s in your fridge?
I always have a bag of Thai red chillies and other basic ingredients for Chinese cooking such as green onion, garlic. There are also all types of pickled vegetables that I brought from Kunming or have been experimenting with, bottles of opened Chinese sauces… I make sure I have eggs, enough fresh vegetables in case I need a quick meal. I have some cheese, because I love to snack on them.
What would you like to tell the world about Chinese food?
Chinese food is not about one dish made in one way, let’s take wontons as an example, they are named differently and prepared, served in different ways in north and south of China.
There is a Chinese expression:
百闻不如一见
