I wake early every morning to boil a huge pot of hot congee. Dinner is the only meal we tend to all eat together up on the deck; during the day everyone is on different shifts and taking their meals when they can. I can barely remember the way I would eat breakfast at home, quietly eating the congee plain or with a slight sprinkle of spring onions or soy sauce. Here we fry up mounds of glistening youtiao to go with it, and the crew laughs as they break off pieces to dip in their bowls, dunking it clumsily and bringing it to their mouths, speaking as they go.
