Unlikely food pairings, delicious match

"I love Sichuan, Anhui, Cantonese, and Shandong cuisine," said Oscar Felipe Rueda Plata, commercial counselor of the Colombian Embassy in China, in fluent Chinese. He noted that, although Chinese and Colombian culinary cultures are quite different, he still finds flavors from home in Chinese cuisine. For example, hongshaorou, or red-braised pork, reminds him of Colombia's chicharrón, and jiaozi, or dumplings, are surprisingly similar to empanadas.