the chicken or the egg dilemma

The age old saying: If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck - can usually be tossed out the window here. Beef and chicken taste different yet they look the same. Seafood looks different yet it tastes the same (see farmer's tan). Sometimes water buffalo meat is passed off as beef. Asia is not really known for innovation as much as it's known for the ability to make a damn good copy of anything, including the iPhone. Yet, one would think there are limits to what can be imitated and copied.

During busy season (mid-December to end of March), our company orders in dinner for staff since they are working until midnight for many days. In many cases, staff are at client sites but they would come back to the office for the food before they head home to work or continue to work in the office. One would think that these are elaborate meals that people are returning for, but alas, no...they are usually the equivalent of small appetizers - most of the time, it is the banh bao, which is a form of dumpling containing a mixture of ground pork or chicken meat, onion, mushroom and egg that costs about 50 cents.

The first time I had one of these, I thought that the egg tasted different because it was perhaps quail egg or some other fowl. Subsequently, I started to just take out the egg, which I normally like in a banh bao, and toss it in the trash bin as I thought the egg actually tasted foul. We have now started up busy season again, which usually conjures up the image of the banh bao. Recently, I mentioned the egg and my lack of appreciation for the local egg. I soon got an education on the reality of the fake egg in Asia. While we may think that the cost of an egg is trivial compared to other food stuff, when your product is 50 cents, a 5-10 cents difference significantly influences the margin. Surprisingly the cost to make a fake egg with fake eggshell as well is cheaper than the real thing.

The video also shows how to make fake grapes. There have been suggestions that these products are cancerous. As if the debate of what came first - the chicken or the egg was confusing enough, my brain is now fried.