liuzhou

... get up in the morning and wash the jug for the filter coffee machine, get the coffee from its cupboard, fill the water reservoir and switch it on while I wander off to do some routine tasks, return five minutes later with my favourite cup and attempt to fill it, only to find out that, because I had forgotten to actually put the coffee in the filter cone, all I had was a jug of hot water.. But I have an excuse! I hadn't had my morning coffee yet!

This one goes into more detail.

No.

Yes. That's why Chinese cuisine uses white pepper much more than black but much less than chilli. In fact, it almost always only uses black with western food (or their re-imaginations of western food).

Have you considered aloo bhorta? That's what I call it and I'm definitely not your mother!

Chilli in all its forms (and spellings) 🌶 .

And another Beuckelaer The Butcher

Mala fried rice with beef and squid and fried dried daikon radish. Sichuan flavours.

The dates in the above post should be 1533-1570/74. Here's another, this time confirmed as a Beuckelaer. Fish Market

Somehow, I for got to mention 鸵鸟 (tuó niǎo), ostrich in my last post above. Although I've never seen it in any store or market here, it is widely farmed, even in Liuzhou, mainly for their feathers. However the meat is available although most seems to go to pet food. I can, however, buy it online for delivery. The problem is what is used for human consumption goes to the restaurants and I have to buy most cuts, including their offal, in bulk from 1kg to 10 g in some cases. Way too much for little me. I have eaten it in restaurants several times. The only practical size for me is leg meat which I can buy in 500g (1.1 lb) packs for around $8 USD. Other available cuts include neck, belly, ribs and wings. Offal includes liver, gizzard, heart, palms tendons and intestines. Eggs are easier to find. The meat is very similar to beef in appearance and texture, but gamier. Used in stir fries and hotpots. Ostrich Leg I can have live baby ostriches delivered should I take the notion to start an ostrich farm in my spare bedroom. $90 to $270 depending on age. Peacocks are also available but not for eating so far as I know. Although I bet some people have. Peacocks are around $300 with the rare white variety much more.

The Vegetable Seller - possibly Joachim Beuckelaer 1533-150/4 - Audley End House, England. Public Domain

@ElsieD I just noticed the expiry date of October 2016! It is now 8 years over that, so it may well be vinegar after all. I'd bin it. It was never intended to be vinegar.

Yes. It's Cantonese rice wine of cooking quality, rather than for drinking. The Chinese on the front label reads 廣東米酒 (guǎng dōng mǐ jiǔ) in Traditional Chinese characters as still used in Hong Kong, Taiwan and much of the Chinese diaspora. The reverse label repeats this, but in the simplified characters used in the Chinese mainland. This refers to Guangdong, the Cantonese speaking mainland province opposite Hong Kong. Kwangtung is the Cantonese pronunciation for Guangdong (the Mandarin name). Mijiu is literally rice wine. It is not vinegar (unless it's been there a very long time). The wine is mainly used in marinades and sauces with some Cantonese dishes.

One thing I intended to mention but forgot is that Zhenjiang vinegar is aged for at least three years (not the three months Wikipedia ridiculously suggests) but can be much longer. If no age is given on the bottle, it is 3 years. The oldest I've had was 10 years. The older the better. The number may be in Arabic numerals or Chinese characters, the most common being: 3 year old - 三年陈 6 year old - 六年陈 8 year old - 八年陈 10 year old - 十年陈

The main thing to look for is "Is it real?" "Chinkiang vinegar" is actually known as "Zhenjiang Vinegar" in China as it comes from "镇江 or 鎮江* (zhèn jiāng)" a city in Jiangsu Province near Shanghai. "Chinkiang" is a prehistoric transliteration only used in America and unknown in China. The vinegar is a strictly controlled product, having a geographically protected status, meaning it can only be legally sold under that name if it is made in Zhenjiang. Yours appears to be. Brand choice is not really a worry. They are all made to the same standard, as they have been for around 1,400 years. Ingredients should only be water, rice, with small amounts of wheat and barley. There are other Chinese black vinegars which are cheaper but acceptable when used in small amounts like a splash in some soups. There is more information on Chinese vinegars in this topic here. * The first is Simplified Chinese as used in Mainland China; the second Traditional Chinese as used in Hong, Kong, Taiwan and among much of the Chinese diaspora.