liuzhou

A related issue here is that we get streets full of small stores all offering the same basic product. Whereas in western countries we tend to locate businesses in areas with no others doing the same, but with customers who would prefer to buy locally, here the businesses like to cluster together. So, we have light bulb alley, kitchen equipment avenue, liquor lane (aka whisky street), tobacco terrace, banana boulevard etc. OK, I made up the banana one. Beats me.

People in Scotland don't think so.

I posted the Chinese version of the Luosifen and Health video above. Yesterday, we completed the English language version. Translated and narrated by the me.

Sardinella.

As @SusieQ said.

Many prime cuts are subdivided onto secondary (sub-primal cuts) cuts. The images above reflect the prime cuts in the relevant countries.

I'm British, but left there 30 years ago. You're in the right place to ask questions and contribute answer to other people's. This may help you with British v American cuts. It isn't comprehensive but cut names can vary regionally across both countries. French cuts are different again. British Beef Cuts US Beef Cuts

While on the internet today, I discovered that I can have live donkeys delivered to my home! As you do. I quite fancy getting a couple to keep in my spare bedroom (to keep the ostriches company). How I'll get them up to the 6th floor of my apartment building is a mystery. I don't think they'll fit in the escalator. No. 6 looks meaty. P.S. They come with a free hay cutter. I'll have to source some hay, too.

Just went shopping. Big mistake. Everywhere I looked I saw these. 粽子 (zòng zi). Traditionally, eaten on The Dragon Boat Festival (tomorrow), they are glutinous rice balls stuffed into bamboo leaves. The rice is flavoured with other ingredients such as pork or chestnuts (or both). There are also sweet versions. Many people make their own, but it seems that is falling away, judging by the number of people buying them today. I can't stand the things. The taste is ok but the texture and the stickiness is not pleasant to me. Millions disagree!

Any comparison is going to be somewhat meaningless. It depends on the grade you buy. Also, I live an hour away from Vietnam whereas Cambodia is considerably further. Then we look at 'favourable nation status'. Vietnam has a strong trading links with China; Cambodia almost none. Then there is scale. Vietnam is the largest producing nation of all. Cambodia is way down the list. But for an example, I usually buy Vietnamese for around ¥69 / $9.58 USD per 500g. Those Cambodian peppers are ¥134 / $18.60 for 100g. Approximately 1/10

Here's what we are up against. Sounds good. Right? Wild, sustainable. Very good from a wild planet. No salt added. Then turn the box over. Caught in the North Pacific, flown all the way to Thailand, processed there and shipped all the way back to the US. Then shipped to me in China. Near Thailand. And what's this in the ingredients. Salt! I am however surprised but delighted to learn the can of sardines contains, of all things, fish.

I occasionally buy this for special meals. It ain't cheap, even though Cambodia is only a short way away. They also do white and pink peppercorns, but I've never bought them. For daily use , I go for Vietnamese.

The place where I fond the samphire immediately above has expanded its range of offerings. The first, I've been looking for for years. It is native to China but hitherto has only been sold dried in TCM stores. 大黄 (dà huáng), Rheum × hybridum, Rhubarb. ¥25 / $ 3.50 USD for 500g And 蒔蘿 (shí luó), Anethum graveolens, Dill. This is not native to China and I've no idea what people here may do with it. I use it, of course, with fish. ¥18 / $2.50 USD for 250g.

They are here too. Things come and go in mysterious ways. I've seen stuff selling like hotcakes and the stores never restocking. I think they find it messes up t heir shelf stacking rotas or something. We don't want to sell that! People just go and buy it!" Also stores disappear, too; restaurants more so but that's common everywhere. But this is different. Several stores carried those sardines. And I've been buying them for years. Suddenly they disappeared from al the stores at once. The stores are still there and trading though. Even through the pandemic, I could fins them easily. Í've never seen anything like that before. Also, the donkey restaurant is still there doing all the same dishes as before except the burgers. Most odd.

I was idly flicking through my food delivery app, looking for inspiration. This momentarily baffled me. At first I thought it was a black trash bag but then noticed the whitish semi-transparent top. Then the penny dropped. The contents are an ingredient for dinner. It is a mixture of duck blood and rice vinegar. The vinegar prevents the blood from congealing and adds tartness. Used in a Yao minority dish called 醋血鸭 (cù xuè yā), literally ‘vinegar blood duck’. A young duck is chopped on the bone and stir fried with garlic, ginger, chilli, bitter melon, sesame and peanuts and finished in a rich sauce made from the bird’s blood and vinegar. Served with green vegetables of choice and rice, it makes for a delicious lunch or instead can be served as part of a larger family style meal. The vinegar cuts the richness of the blood, whereas the blood limits the astringency of the vinegar, leaving the duck tender and juicy, but not at all greasy. I have made the dish but never seen the premixed blood and vinegar before. Very fresh blood is on sale in my local market so I grab it before it congeals. Yao Blood and Vinegar Duck