Di San Xian

I got some free bell peppers from my friend who works with a person who has a garden. Whenever her coworker brings vegetables, my friend brings fresh vegetables for me...because I'm a vegetarian. It works out nicely. One week she brought a cucumber and 2 zucchinis, all as big as my forearm. Then, shopping in SF, I found an Asian eggplant. I knew I had to make "three fresh things" or "three treasures of the earth," a dish that I ate almost weekly in China at the Banyan Tree restaurant.


As I told my friend, who lives in China, about this little excursion, she informed me that the Banyan Tree has been gone for almost as long as I have. Even if I lived in China, I would still have to make my own di san xian. However, luckily before I left, some other teachers were able to receive the revelation of the recipe, and translated the ingredients and directions into English from the laoban (the boss) at the Banyan Tree. However, I'm still bummed that I can't go back to China to eat all of the delicacies and risk my life by eating food in their sketchy facility.

-吴碧芙