油渣麵

On an recent occasion, I was asked to sit in a meeting and listen to the students’ feedback to our medical curriculum.

I shall not tell you the exact details. By and large the points are much expected. Nonetheless, while I was sitting there and playing with my Nexus, a joke that I heard many years ago flashed through my mind:

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A man goes into a bean curd bistro (荳品舖), sits down by the table, and makes his order, “A bowl of cracklings noodle (油渣麵), please.”

“Sir, do you have any specific order for your noodle?” The waiter asks.

“More cracklings for me, please” the man replies, and, then, he thinks for a while and adds, “Oh, I also want more dongcai (冬菜) and more noodles.”

“Kitchen!” The waiter yelled, “Two bowls of cracklings noodle!”

PS. For those who are not familiar with the Hong Kong culture, it is a tradition of many bean curd bistros to serve cracklings noodle. The reason for this association is not entirely clear.