liuzhou

While I have no reason to believe that this banquet didn't happen, that it was the first to use refrigerated food, is definitely wrong . Food has ben refrigerated since ancient times - the ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans all stored ice for refrigeration and built ice storage rooms. None of these cultures were unappreciative of the odd banquet or five. Prior to those classical times, food had been stored in ice for millennia. The banquet in the article may have been the first to use refrigerated food in America (highly unlikely), or perhaps the first to use foods refrigerated using mechanical refrigeration. Note: I haven't read Ms Tilley's book (but will if I can find it) but Gastro Obscura is not infallible. PS: Were the cigars on the menu refrigerated?

Chicken Fried Rice

Yesterday, a friend asked me (in English despite being Chinese) if I liked Wogan. I had no idea what she was talking about. The only Wogan I was aware of was an Irish radio and television presenter who later also took British nationality and was knighted by the late Mrs Queen before dying in 2016. It turned out she was not referring to deceased knights, but a fruit! 沃柑 (wò gān) is a type of mandarin orange, Citrus reticulata, originally a cultivar developed in Israel where they are know as 'orah oranges', but now mainly grown in in their ancestral homeland of China, particularly right here in Guangxi. They are extremely sweet and juicy but still not my favourite, 耙耙柑 (pá pá gān) as mentioned here.

I have many times made 'en papillote' fish of various species, but I seldom use actual paper, most often instead going for tinfoil / aluminum foil. I also, less frequently, use bamboo or banana leaves. The locals claim the leaves impart flavour, but I don't detect any difference. Bamboo Leaves While parchment paper probably makes for a better crowd pleaser at the table, I don't think it really adds anything to the dish. The point of wrapping the food then unwrapping it is that the diners get the aroma of the ingredients when it is open and the steam comes out. Foil is certainly more clean-up friendly. I did find that recipe confusing though, in that she opens the bag to check for doneness, letting out the steam and aroma. Major abuse of food! My French grandmother would have roasted her for doing that! Not opening the bag until served does make it harder to prepare but it's a dish to show off your skill! The technique is used here in China, but not often.

Better late than never. The bottle above is not real mirin. In fact it's difficult to know what it is. Real mirin is hon mirin and labelled in Japanese as 本みりん, literally 'true mirin'. That first character 本 is the important one. This is the one I use. Caveat Emptor

Interesting article in the Grauniad this morning. ‘Without time, there is no flavour’: a South Korean grand master on the art of the perfect soy sauce | South Korea | The Guardian

Salmon Sushi Porgy Sushi Black Pepper Duck Breast Sushi

But they're cod lovers and messy on top of toast? 😃

Inspired by a salad made by @blue_dolphin here, I went in search (online) for one of my favourite vegetables. Being British, I call it marsh samphire whereas in America it’s generally known as sea beans – one of those confusing differences. Usually Salicornia europaea in Europe and Salicornia pacifica in America, although both are now found worldwide. The differences are minimal. In Chinese, it's 海蓬子 (hǎi péng zǐ). It is not well known in China, but is found here on the east coast. It is all foraged and available to me online at a hefty price of ¥55 or $7.63 USD for 500 grams, expensive for a vegetable in China. I like it fresh with seafood or in a salad. @blue_dolphin indicated that she would prefer it pickled. Both treatments are common.

Birthday Breakfast! Very traditional.

I don't really have a recipe, but I detailed my method back in this post. Sure, but it's still more than I have. 😬

Things are not what they appear to be. This is called 斑马肉 (bān mǎ ròu) on the packaging. This literally means 'striped horse meat' non-literally, 'zebra meat', hence the image of said well-known equines, Equus quagga. Except, it isn't zebra meat. Underneath the image, it says 素食 (sù shí), which means 'vegetarian'. It is vegetarian zebra meat, not the meat of zebras, although, of course, they are vegetarian. incidentally a homophone of 素食 is 俗世 which means ‘the vulgar world' in Chinese Buddhism. This is no coincidence, I'm sure. Of course it's ultra-processed crap like all these fake atrocities. Full of unpronounceable additives and preservatives, the only thing like zebra is that it is striped. An approximation of a meaty texture misses the mark. completely, but it is coated in a nice spicy Sichuan flavoured sauce. If chemically enhanced cardboard prepared Sichuan style is your thing, then I highly recommend it you see a shrink. NOTE: I didn't buy this; it came as a freebie with a six-pack of beer I had delivered. I'd need a lot more than six cans before I'd eat it.

There is an explanation here from ATK. I used this method once and, though the results were acceptable, never repeated it. This was only because I was taught to make it the traditional way and have been making it that way for decades. Also my freezer space is usually too busy, anyway!

Encore! Goji Leaf and Pork Congee Cantonese Style Ribs and Mustard Greens Congee Pork and Peanut Congee Clam and Mustard Greens Congee Organic Egg Congee I'll stop there, not because there are no more, but I think I've made the point - the possibilities are endless.

Which makes it fake in China in legal terms. Under Chinese regulations, Shaoxing wine is a protected name and can only be used for wines made in Shaoxing. That bottle couldn't be sold legally here. That doesn't mean it's inferior but I do find it misleading.

Shaoxing wine is barrel aged. That aging usually stops when bottled of jarred for sale. Any maturing is minimal to non-existent, mainly because the wine is pasteurised. Some unpasteurised wine is sold, but is rare. Even then, the maturation is minimal. So a 2020 Shaoxing kept for 20 years will be old, yes, but no better or more mature than is was 20 years earlier. It may even be unusable. Shaoxing can deteriorate or even go 'off'.

One thing that really confused me when I came to China was what I call syllable switching. For example, 蜜蜂 (mì fēng) and 蜂蜜 (fēng mì) honey, are each made up of the same two characters but with syllables switched. The two have different meanings and, for a very long time, I couldn’t remember which was which. 蜜蜂 (mì fēng) means ‘ 🐝 bee’ and 蜂蜜 (fēng mì) means ‘🍯honey’. There are many other such pairs, but they are not relevant here. In a way, they're not so odd; they are the equivalent of us saying in English honey bee and bee honey. OK, we don’t usually use the latter, but we could. For many years, as I’m sure most of you will know, Chinese honey has had a bad reputation internationally. However, newer detection methods and increased vigilance has reduced the level of fraudulent use of cheaper ingredients such as sugar syrup or, heaven help us, cØrn syrup. Also, it should be pointed out that such fraud isn’t only in China but worldwide. I suspect attention focussed on China as the main offender for the amount of fakes exported, but that is possibly because China is the world’s largest producer of honey with 26% of the world production in 2020. The percentage of fraudulent honey produced in China could be the same as elsewhere. I can’t find any statistics giving that critical figure. And yet, I still rarely buy honey here. When I lived in Hunan in the late 90s’, a colleague’s parents had a bee keeping business and each summer I’d see them packing the hives onto trucks and heading for the mountains to give the bees access to wild mountain flora. Their honey was delicious and, I’m sure, unadulterated. Here, now in Guangxi, I have a friend whose parents are lychee and longan farmers but also keep bees, collecting honey mainly for their own use. Every now and again my friend sends my free jars of whichever they have at the time. When I have the lychee honey it’s my favourite, but when I have the longan honey, it’s my favourite. I am fickle. Lychee Honey Longan Honey Every supermarket and small store carries industrially produced honey of varying provenance and price. Some are suspiciously cheap. Honey isn’t cheap to produce. Not that fraudsters are always dumb enough to make their offerings too cheap. We also get imported honeys, particularly mānuka honey from New Zealand. Incidentally this honey also has counterfeits. In fact six times more New Zealand mānuka is sold internationally than NZ even makes. I'm not suggesting the image below is of a fake one - I don't know.. We also get honeycomb, which I suspect is difficult to fake, but really don’t know. Honeycomb Recently there has been a trend for 蜂王浆 (fēng wáng jiāng), royal jelly among the fraudulent internet health morons influencers. Whether the jelly is fake, I can’t say. However the European Food Safety Authority has said there is no evidence of health benefits and the US FDA has taken legal action against companies promoting any such benefits. Royal Jelly "Caveat emptor", as Cæsar said.

indeed. I use both, although it's nearly always black with western food and white with Chinese. White is the standard pepper here.

Actually, it was originally lallygag and only changed later to lollygag. Also, it originally meant to act flirtatiously.

you didn't think that was it, did you? Beef and Egg Congee Chicken and Cordycep Militaris Mushrooms Sweet Potato Congee Emerald Shrimp Congee Shiitake and Chicken Congee

and if you still haven't found what you want... Pork and Yam Congee Pork Liver and Lean Meat Congee Shiitake and Lean Pork Congee Steamed Fish with Green Vegetable Congee Swamp Eel Congee

It's described as something else on the menu, but my fingers won't allow me to type it for the sake of public decency!

it never ends Beef and Greens Congee Pig Bone Marrow Congee Fish and Shrimp Congee Lean Pork and Greens Congee Mixed Pig Offal Congee

and five more. Shrimp and Marrow Bone Congee Century Egg and Lean Pork Slivers Congee Poisonous Yellow Peril Congee Mung Bean Congee Marrow Bone and Lean Pork Congee

Near my home is a small 'breakfast' restaurant. All day 'breakfast'. They specialise in congee, so much so that their name translates literally as 'congee great happiness'. They do several types and offer many optional additions making the number of choices huge. I'll post a few today and more later. These images are from their on-line delivery menu. Plain Rice Congee Leaf Mustard Congee Coriander / Cilantro Congee Taro Congee Century Egg Congee