liuzhou

Tonight, 子姜炒鸭 (zǐ jiāng chǎo yā), young ginger fried duck; with rice. There was also an unphotographed side of 空心菜 (kōng xīn cài) stir fried water spinach / morning glory. Young ginger

They're raw.

Delivered to my door this evening. 1 kg of them. Frozen. Will appear on the dinner, lunch or perhaps breakfast topics soon. Or snacking. Or all four.

绿茶佛饼 (lǜ chá fú bǐng) These popular cakes are made from glutinous rice, green tea and toasted sesame seeds. The one on the right is upside down to show you the bottom. Approximately 6.5 cm / 2½ inches in diameter. I had them delivered and they arrived still oven warm. There wer eight in total. $0.33 USD each.

But I wasn't talking about the US. As I said, people here use Starbucks for the wi-fi.

麻辣无骨酸菜鱼 (má là wú gǔ suān cài yú）Mala (hot and numbing), boneless grass carp with pickled mustard greens. A Sichuan classic, the fish and greens are served in a (very) spicy soup with Sichuan peppercorns and raw garlic. With rice, of course. Grass Carp

This is restaurant related so I think fits here. From a bar/restaurant menu in Shanghai.

Another non-pretty delivery dinner. 香菇蒸滑鸡 (xiāng gū zhēng huá jī), steamed slippery shiitake and chicken. 虫草花乌鸡汤 (chóng cǎo huā wū jī tāng), cordyceps militaris black-bone chicken (silkie) soup. 米饭 (mǐ fàn), steamed rice. This is considered medicinal, especially the soup. A general tonic. Sorry, I tried several times to get a decent picture, but the soup is camera shy. Cordycep militaris Silkie (Black-boned chicken) It may seem strange to have two chicken and mushroom dishes together, but in Chinese thinking it's acceptable so long as the cooking methods are different. Cost ¥24.80 ($3.45 USD) including dellivery to the door. Arrived in twenty minutes. It certainly looked better in the delivery app listing, but the tastes were on point. Delivery app image

A small but growing amount of coffee is grown in China's Yunnan province (云南省 - yún nán shěng) which borders Guangxi and also Vietnam (which has excellent coffee). Much of the Yunnan coffee is snapped up by Starbucks, a lot goes to making instant coffee and only a little reaches the market as beans. A little of that little gets to the international market. It is usually labelled as Blue Mountain. Yunnan "Blue Mountain" Coffee - Image from listing on www.taobao.com, China's leading online shopping portal But Nescafé is what people mostly drink. It is predominantly sold as 3-in-1 (instant coffe premixed with sugar and whitener). There are local clones, too. Whether Nestlé uses Yunnan beans, I don't know.

I don't think they actually drink it. It's just a ticket to the wi-fi. At least, I hope that's the case.

As far as I can make out, the main reason people here use the SB stores is to access the free wi-fi. People sit there nursing a cold coffee all day while tapping away on their laptops.

全家福海鲜铁板炒饭 (quán jiā fú hǎi xiān tiě bǎn chǎo fàn), Family portrait seafood iron plate* fried rice (with extra shrimp). Contained the augmented shrimp plus scallops and squid. No egg. No c⊘rn. * Iron plate cooking is the origin of both the Japanese word teppanyaki and the technique.

皮蛋瘦肉粥 (pí dàn shòu ròu zhōu), century egg and lean pork congee. The red bag contains 香辣萝卜干 (xiāng là luó bo gān), Spicy dried daikon radish, a Chinese forerunner of kimchi.

What is common is something called 二米饭 (èr mǐ fàn) which means 'two rices'. This refers to 米饭 (mǐ fàn) - rice and 碎玉米 (suì yù mǐ) - crushed corn mixed together. That's what I thought they had sent me but on closer investigation it seemed they had run out of corn and substituted 小米 (xiǎo mǐ) - millet. Most unusual except in congee where mixed grains are very common.

Update: The consensus is that it is millet. Certainly looks like it.

I've been trying to work that out all evening! It's not the dreaded yellow devil seeds. I'll have to get back to you on that.

Dinner tonight was ugly but tasty. 苦瓜炒牛肉 (kǔ guā chǎo niú ròu). Stir-fried bitter melon and beef.

Most people seem to prepare it similarly to how @KennethT suggests. Personally, I slice about a thumb sized piece of fresh ginger and simmer it in water for about 5 - 10 minutes then strain it through a tea strainer. I don't sugar it, but occasionally use a little honey. Sweeten to taste, I suppose. I am not particularly sweet-toothed. I could buy commercially prepared ginger tea powder as many people do and use that, but prefer to use fresh, non-industrial ingredients. Also, before I retired, I regularly carried some home-made crystalised ginger to chew on before lecturing. It seems to me ginger in any form helps with any dyspeptic symptoms. Failing that dried ginger flakes are widely available here. Home-made Crystalised Ginger

Dunlop's 豆豉烧辣椒 (dòu chǐ shāo là jiāo) is the same thing. Saying 辣椒 (là jiāo) or 椒 (jiāo) is the same as saying hot chilies or chillies. No real difference. The main difference, if I remember correctly, is that she uses a technique involving frying whereas in what I had today, the peppers were roasted. 烧 (shāo) covers a number of different techniques. It is the same word as the Cantonese siu as in char siu, 叉烧 (chā shāo).

I found a new Hunan restaurant on my on-line delivery app. Ordered two dishes. 爆炒猪腰 [加菜] (bào chǎo zhū yāo [jiā cài]), Stir fried* pork kidney [with added vegetables]. 豆豉烧椒 (dòu chǐ shāo jiāo), Roasted peppers with fermented black beans. These came with rice and a simple soup. Easily enough to feed two. Unusually, and not what I expected, the two dishes had been packed in one bowl over the rice. I don’t mind, but if I weren't having to eat in bed, I would prefer to serve them separately. The meal arrived within 20 minutes and cost me the equivalent of $3.56 USD. Their menu is rather limited, but they are new. Hopefully this will change. It tasted just like what I ate when I lived in Hunan. * 爆炒 (bào chǎo) specifically means stir-frying at a very high temperature.

Yes. And here is the print it's formed from:

The younger generation! Mutter, mumble. End of civilisation. Grr. Stutter. Apoplectic rage! Apparently there is a thing called Tik-Tok which has nothing to do with good old clocks with hands and clockwork mechanisms and certainly nothing to do with spelling. No. this tik-tok is apparently a place for the young to display their vacuity and addiction to the trivial by posting short video movies showing the mundanity of their sad lives. And like the pandemic it respects no borders. Thailand, a country I love is no longer the land of tuk-tuks, the motorized samlors used to transport the denizens of the capital to the next temple. Tuk-tuks are being forced out in favour of tik-toks. Latest example to hit the detritus of modern communication and life enhancement is hordes of the sad offspring of the loins of the good people of Bangkok venturing into branches of some outfit with the non-traditional Thai name of Burger King and request an off-menu item by the equally non-traditional name of a Real Cheeseburger. This is purportedly a food item. It isn't a burger and it isn't real. It consists of a slightly sweet bread bun with the consistency of a sponge cake, in which rests in peace the contents of one or two packets of pre-sliced industrial paste mysteriously described as cheese, in defiance of etymology, renneculture and common sense. The object of this exercise is neither nutrition nor the pursuit of gustatory satisfation but to video oneself consuming said item in order to prove oneself beyond a doubt to be as big a moron as your peers. Success in this venture will lead to hordes of people you've never met and never will meet voting to 'like' you. No one else will. The most successful not only get liked but get followed, resulting in some cult-like disciple ritual and you become a messiah of shallowness. Mutter, mumble. Bring back flogging! A spell of conscription is what they need! Off with their heads! Image found via Tuk-Tuk, reposted on weChat

Of course, salt required. The rankings are merely opinion. However, they are informed opinion from industry experts. There may only be one Canadian, but that is one more than most countries. None from England, which does have great wineries. I would also have expected more from Italy, personally. Wines of the calibre here are a luxury purchase and luxury goods are usually sold from luxury premises. People don't buy Roll's Royce's from Sid's Autos. And no one buys Chateau D'Yquem from Bert's Booze. Yes, most wineries also do second wines at lower prices (still often beyond most people's reach) but they are never allowed to outbid the stars.

... and finally, cinnamon and sweet milk chocolate. This was the most like a typical milk chocolate (and so, for me, the least interesting). The cinnamon flavour was so subtle it was hardly there. All said, three good chocolates. This is a new venture and supplies are limited even here. I can't see it being available out of China anytime soon, if ever. But, that's not their plan.

Here for your viewing (if not tasting) pleasure is more of my chocolate. This one is the 70% dark chocolate with osmanthus and longan. Curiously, despite being the only one described as 'dark', it is the lightest coloured so far, by a long shot. Presumably due to the longan and osmanthus, two light ingredients. One left.