Wendy's Cooking

In China, the middle class and above have a staff working in their home. The least paid people in Dave's office have someone who comes to clean their house and do their shopping at least a few days a week. The expatriates have wisely followed suit, and we employ a wonderful woman 40 hours per week as our ayi.

Wendy began working for us in September. She had worked for Americans in the past, but had spent the last two years at home, first as an expecting mother and then caring for her daughter. After a few months, her in-laws moved into their home and Wendy went back to work. I asked her why she was choosing to return to work. And she asked if I've ever spent the entire day, every day with a 14 month old. She and I understand each other.

Wendy is a smart woman, who taught herself amazing English over the last few years. She comes from Nanjing, but her husband in from Shanghai and this is now her home. Her husband drives a bus and her in-laws care for her baby while she's working. She was not looking to be a nanny, and so she focuses her time on housekeeping. But she enjoys S-- and she thinks L-- is quite clever. She keeps a keen eye on both of my kids, rarely spoiling them, and S-- is entirely comfortable with her.

We asked all of the appropriate questions when I hired her, but I didn't think to ask about her cooking. After a few weeks of her working for our family, I asked her to make lunch for S-- and I a few days a week. For 3 weeks she made simple vegetables and rice, but somehow every meal tasted different and each meal tasted wonderful. As I increased the amount of money she could spend at the store, the meals became increasingly better. More meat, bigger variety of vegetables. Wendy clearly enjoys cooking, and her knowledge is tremendous. As we are leaving on Friday, I've asked her only to cook with what's in the house this week. I showed her the pantry - please use up the meat in the freezer, go through as many eggs as you can, and use up the carrots and cucumbers in the fridge. Based on that criteria, today's lunch was amazing. I'm looking forward to tomorrow.

I've asked her to teach me to cook Chinese food, and today I had my first lesson. She taught me to make ma na dofou. When I searched for it online, I was referred to mapo doufu. This sounds like exactly the same dish, and I have to assume that she has taught me the Shanghainese pronunciation. Its quite simple and relatively healthy - tofu, minced pork, Sichuanese chilis, and all of the standard Chinese seasonings, all served over rice. Although I just watched her cook today, I took copious notes (a point she thought was quite amusing) and I'm confident in my ability to recreate the dish.

I may return from my time in China with a shamefully small amount of language skills to my name, but I will be one of the best Chinese chefs around after Wendy is finished with me.