liuzhou

The cucumber is fine because they didn't have to cook it. One of the few things the locals will eat raw.

The goose used is a breed native to China, Anser cygnoides domesticus, a domesticated swan goose. The goose is highly glazed using maltose and the skin very crisp (and remains so for a long time). It is traditionally roasted over charcoal, but in recent years more often in gas fired ovens. It is very popular in HK as well as Guangdong and southern Guangxi. Widely available in HK, including in some Michelin starred goose restaurants as well as smaller mon 'n pop restaurants. They are always good - HK people don't put up with low quality geese.

Another lunch. A visit to a Hong Kong style roast goose place. and the oven for the geese.

Apologies. I meant to write it is just regular rice vinegar combined with soy sauce as a dip.

Happy mooncakes! 🥮🥮🥮🥮🥮🥮🥮🥮

Today, Sunday is your last chance to get your mooncake shopping done till next year. Tomorrow is the Mid-Autumn festival. The street and roads around the 5-star hotel are rammed with cars and last minute shoppers trying to get the city’s most prized mooncakes. These are traditional, regular Cantonese mooncakes but of ‘elevated’ quality. And elevated price. If I may be allowed a slight Sunday Aside. A special friend’s lovely young daughter is a budding equestrian and chose not to go travelling during this 8-day public holiday, but to stay home to look after her horse friends. Then, in anticipation of Mid-Autumn Festival (Mooncake day), October 6th this year, decided it would be a good idea to make mooncakes for her best friends. The horses! With a little help from her 妈妈 (mā ma), she did just that. Filled with horse friendly ingredients. Image pixelated at her mother’s request for privacy. The horses are unpixelated; they gave permission..

Obviously, I meant "hadn't" realised.

Marketing. So far as I can make out they are claiming it's specially formulated to enhance crab. It contains no crab and is just regular rice vinegar.

Another day; another lunch 大闸蟹 (dà zhá xiè), mitten crabs aka hairy crabs. With 蟹醋 (xiè cù), crab vinegar for a dip (in the bottle).

They're at it again! This a screenshot of a dish sold as western food. The video is going viral here in China. Overcooked but unseared steak, some kind of spaghetti, random salad, a fried egg and a lump of cØrn. As served in every western home every day! Thankfully, the restaurant is over 1,000 miles from me.

You may have noticed that a number of the mooncakes I’ve mentioned are described as 冰皮 (bīng pí) something. This means ice skin. They are not baked like normal cakes but are fresh and are sold and stored frozen. They are not ice cream like, but are defrosted and then immediately eaten. These have been around a couple of years but have really exploded this year with lots of ‘new’ flavours turning up. These two are from the grasslands of China’s northern province, Inner Mongolia. First up is 醇厚奶香地道蒙味 (chún hòu nǎi xiāng dì dào méng wèi), full milk flavour authentic taste. Hmmmm. Next is 咖啡混合味月饼 (kā fēi hùn hé wèi yuè bǐng), coffee blend flavour mooncakes. Blended with what?

Yesterday. Crayfish in a Sichuan style mala sauce. Vinegar fried potato slivers and stir fried cabbage. Served with rice.

Good to see you back!

I was sitting yesterday thinking about some of the stranger fillings found in mooncakes when an idea struck me “I bet someone’s tried it” I said to no one in particular, so I had a look and sure enough some clot has. 冰皮半熟芝士月饼 (bīng pí bàn shú zhī shì yuè bǐng), Ice skin half-cooked cheese mooncake! Half cooked? More like half-baked idea! For a country supposedly running with end to end lactose intolerant citizens, they sure like to mess around with what they imaging to be cheese. In fact, it’s usually local renditions of the revolting additive-ridden slurry that is supposedly American “Cheese”. Bah humbug! Sorry, bout the crappy image from their advertising, but I ain’t going to buy one to do a better job. Note: So far they haven’t got round to making mooncakes from the dreaded evil yellow peril, but give ‘em time.

I think I'm turning Japanese. White Crane Dai Ginjo. 大吟醸 (dai ginjo) is sort of the equivalent of premier cru in French wines;; in other words a cut above every day drinking.