Schema Magazine

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I secretly love watching my white boyfriend eat things my Chinese mother shoves at him.

"Eat, eat!" she says.

He's been a picky eater since childhood. In the comfort of his own home, he will shamelessly scoop only the pork out of a pork and vegetable stir-fry.

Our favourite story is when my mother gave him a bowl of Chinese soup with Chinese medicinal herbs. He calls it the "mushroom soup". Apparently he took a sip, wanted to spit it back out, but decided it was better etiquette to drink it all.

Full disclosure: I hate the soup as well. My mom has to skilfully beg and threaten me before I'll down a full bowl of this stuff.

For Chinese New Year, Chinese people like to have a New Year's Eve dinner eaten before the big day. There is a "lucky" dish which involves a black vegetable that looks like hair, and its name sounds like "fortune" and "good happenings". The dish also involves dried oysters and pork.

Photo credit: FriedWontons4u.com

I will never forget the look on his face when I placed a full chopsticks' load of the hairy-looking vegetable on his plate. With his nose scrunched, he ate it.

"I'm not sure what to think," he said. "It's okay."

I know I'm cruel for delighting in this but I think it says something about our relationship. I've turned the pickiest eater ever into someone who is willing to try suspicious-looking foods for the sake of our relationship.

Or he's just really intimidated by my mom.

Either way, it's cool with me.