Astronaut: Chinese space food tastes 'great'

China's first astronaut, Yang Liwei, waves from outside his space capsule in this image from TV taken upon his return to Earth. Story Tools SPECIAL REPORT • Gallery: China lauds space hero • Gallery: The Shenzhou V lifts off • Gallery: China's first astronaut • Satellite image: Launch site • Explainer: The Shenzhou V • Timeline: China's space program • Quiz: Test your knowledge • Special report: Space quest HOW DOES IT TASTE? China's first man in space told his wife and son Wednesday that the bite-size food he took along for his 21-hour journey around Earth tasted "great." "Daddy, have you eaten rice yet? What did you eat?" eight-year-old Yang Ningkang asked his astronaut father in a conversation broadcast on state television. "I've already eaten, ate space food," said Yang Liwei, 38, during his eighth orbit around Earth. "It tastes great." -- Reuters YOUR E-MAIL ALERTS Xinhua News Agency Yang Liwei China or Create your own Manage alerts | What is this?

BEIJING, China (AP) -- Now that's Chinese takeout.

Lt. Col. Yang Liwei, China's first human being in space, spent some of his time miles above the Earth eating from his choice of 20 Chinese dishes -- including one-bite nuggets of spicy shredded pork, diced chicken and fried rice cooked "with nuts, dates and other delicacies."

"The astronaut will enjoy himself over a rich variety of Chinese food," the government's Xinhua News Agency reported after Yang was safely in orbit. The agency's rather emphatic headline: "Chinese food for Chinese astronauts."

"We planned the recipes in a scientific way, in such a way as to ensure that the food will be nutritious enough for space missions while tasting good," Su Shuangning, head of China's astronaut program, was quoted as saying.

Tonics to assist digestion

Yang, who was launched in Shenzhou 5 on Wednesday morning, also could drink medicinal herbs and tonics after his meal to assist digestion.

Even more than most cultures, Chinese take their food seriously. So the repeated mentions of it in reports about Yang's trip are not unexpected, especially from a public-relations perspective: It's what the public can identify with.

Xinhua said any Chinese food engineered for space should "be limited in quantity and size but highly nutritious."

Soviet and American space pioneers consumed some of their meals as liquid or semi-solid food that came from tubes. Today, such novelties as "space ice cream" -- dry and crispy, in a foil envelope -- are for sale in places like the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum.

That's changed, China says. "Astronauts now can eat roughly the same way as when they are on earth," Xinhua said.

Keeping things clean

The Web site China.com was more competitive earlier this week. "It will be more tasty than Western food," it said.

The one-bite nuggets of Chinese food, consisting of meat, fish or dessert, are coated with what Xinhua called "an edible protective covering" to keep things from getting messy in zero gravity.

That, it said, is "for the convenience of the astronaut who can eat one piece at each bite in order not to produce residue that may keep sputtering in the capsule."

No word on whether Yang brought chopsticks along just, though his 100 million-yuan (US$12 million) space suit did appear to have an assortment of pockets and pouches.

The government did have this to say, however: After finishing the lunch, Yang took a three-hour nap.

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