The Making of Gutter Oil

Sometimes people ask me why I didn't eat street food. This is one good reason.

Watching this short video reminded me of so many things I saw in China. For instance, a food vendor puts the food in a smallish plastic bag propped up in a bowl. The purchaser then carries the bag to wherever he/she will eat and usually has a bowl there waiting to lay the plastic bag in; and then he/she eats the contents of the plastic bag. I saw Chinese folks carrying plastic bags of stir fried food everywhere at lunchtime in Jinan.

I was always amazed to see small makeshift street "cafes" pop up on the sidewalk at dusk, complete with 10" folding X-stools for chairs and tiny tables.

The authorities may dismantle those hole-in-the-wall gutter oil factories, but the operators quickly find another spot and jump right back into business. There are so many millions of back allies ripe hole-in-the-wall operations of many kinds.