liuzhou

Sorry, but no. I agree with @Tropicalsenior Also, I've seen so many of things along these lines come and go from cups that automatically stir your coffee to automated stir fry woks. They never succeed. There was even a trend here for automatic 'chefs' a couple of years back. None of the restaurants using them lasted more than a few months. Amusing ideas but ultimately just gimmicky.

My lazy days go to. Seafood fried rice.

Liuzhou Luosifen There is a bit of story behind this particular meal, but it's still ongoing. I'll report when it reaches its conclusion.

About an hour ago, I took delivery of a nominally 500g 'nduja sausage. (Actually, it was a tickle over 553g.) That may not seem much fun to many of you, but after many years searching, I tracked down what seems to be the only stockist in China. It was described as 'mildly spicy' but they are in Sichuan where 'mildly' translates as 'very'. I'll soon find out. Actually it is Beretta brand* - not the greatest but I haven't had it in any form since 1997, the last time I was in that Italy. * I hope not the gun people.

Yes. They taste the same. You can use them in the same way as other eggs like chicken or duck. One goose egg is the equivalent of two chicken eggs.

I can believe it. I'm currently in dispute with the British Government's Pensions office, because they point-blank refuse to accept any communication from me In China by any means other than mail. Mail is almost extinct here and none of their letters have ever arrived. So, they stopped paying my pension because I didn't reply to a letter that never arrived. Fortunately, it's not my only income but they don't know that. I get the impression they hope I've died to save them a quid or two. I must say the staff I have managed to communicate with by expensive phone calls seem to agree with me how ridiculous it is but are powerless. Most post offices here have closed or converted to post office banks, only offering banking services. Everything is delivered by private courier companies. Must be that communism! /endrant

I would think so. As @KennethTsaid the seeds are bitter as is the pith. Definitely needs removing.

What is mail? You still have that? I haven't had anything through the mail for about 25 years.

Fusui County in eastern Guangxi has an 82% Zhuang ethnicity population. This is a specialty of the county and can be eaten at any time of day. 酸粥 (suān zhōu), literally pickle (rice) porridge. It is freshwater bass with pickles, here topped with some perilla.

Maybe not.

No. Not your fault! Thanks for trying.

Not my experience.

- This phrase stood out to me. How are the 'top sites' decided upon? What criteria? This is a very subjective choice. There are highly popular sites which I find terrible and I've never found any one site that is strong on all cuisines or areas of culinary effort. Recipes, too are very personal. One person's favourite recipe for a dish may well not be my first or even tenth choice. Some sites have great writers and bad writers. And people have their own quirks. Some famous and 'influential' cooks irritate the hell out of me and I steer clear of them.

I’m poised to enter the deep and treacherous waters of nomenclature. This time not only in the Chinese but also the English. I’m looking at the Testudines order of reptiles. These include what I will refer to as turtles, tortoises and terrapins, although not everyone may agree. This is the preferred British nomenclature and that’s what I’m most used to. In the Chinese mind and the minds of many other cultures, they’re all the same thing. In Mandarin, 龟 (guī) is used for all three, although 海龟 (hǎi guī) can be used to specify the marine variety as can 鼋 (yuán). 甲鱼 (jiǎ yú) is used for both sea turtles and freshwater terrapins; rarely for tortoises. 甲鱼 (jiǎ yú) is perhaps odd as individually the characters mean ‘shell fish’. The shell part is easy to understand, but fish? Clearly not. However, 鱼 is often used in the names of aquatic animals other than fish. There are a few other names used in the names of specific types of whatever you call them, but they are not relevant here. In common British usage turtles are marine whereas tortoises are land based. Terrapins are tiny freshwater turtles. These distinctions are not always observed in other English speaking countries. But it’s as food we are thinking here. Both turtles and tortoises are eaten, rarely terrapins which tend instead to be sold as pets for children. They are also often served at wedding banquets,. When I lived in Hunan, there was a whole street of turtle restaurants. I’ve never really seen the point. They aren’t, in my opinion, good eating. Tough and bland. I suspect they are popular for a misplaced belief that they have aphrodisiac properties and an absurd belief that, because they can live long lives, eating turtles will do the same for you. They do live a long time. A tortoise collected by Charles Darwin in the Galápagos in 1835 lived until 2006; a lot longer than Darwin did. Braised Turtle Turtles, particularly their shells are used in TCM for all the usual nonsense. Guilinggao (龟苓膏 guī líng gāo), a herbal medicine / dessert was traditionally used making a specific type of turtle shell, but today rarely contains any at all. The link gives more information on that. A 2 kg turtle costs around ¥100 / $14 USD. A pet terrapin costs ¥5 // 70 cents. Pet Terrapins

There is little if any evidence of that. You have to remember that for much of those two centuries, China was closed or had only very restricted access. It was at war, both international and civil. It was occupied by the Japanese. It's also unlikely that early Chinese emigrants to the Americas were in any position economically to pop home bearing 'exotic' foodstuffs as gifts. They were struggling to survive. Many would have been political refugees, too. The few central American foodstuffs here were introduced, not by returning Chinese, but by European colonisers, particularly the Spanish and Portuguese. Chili peppers were introduced by the latter through their colony in Macao. China has developed its own cultivars. Central American varieties are largely unknown. Potatoes have long been looked down upon as 'peasants' food' at best. Only the arrival of first KFC, then McDonald's in the 1980s widened their availability. Tomatoes are a recent import, again through Europeans. Corn/maize was introduced much more than two centuries ago by the Arabs and Persians. More like five centuries.