liuzhou

As I've already acknowledged and explained upthread.

Being half Scottish, I hate oatmeal porridge (but not oats per se). I grew up the stuff - every morning for decades. However, now once a week I make a large batch of rice congee for breakfast. This I do overnight in my slow cooker. It lasts near on a week in the fridge with no deterioration. I take out what I need, add chopped century eggs and fry some lean pork mince and add that too then heat it up. Breakfast of champions. 皮蛋瘦肉粥 (pí dàn shòu ròu zhōu)

My take on 青椒肉片 (qīng jiāo ròu piàn), green chilli pork slices, a very common dish here. There isn't a restaurant or home cook in the land that couldn't make it. Pork tenderloin, green chilli peppers, garlic, ginger, Shaoxing wine, soy sauce, cilantro and chives. Served with rice and a mixed mushroom medley which escaped the camera.

I obtained some of the Mi Goreng variety (and a re-order of the chicken ones) and the vendor included four 'free' packs of another brand and flavour which weren't even advertised. 麻辣小龙虾拌面 (má là xiǎo lóng xiā bàn miàn) which is Sichuan 'Numbing and Hot' (mala) Crayfish Noodles. Haven't tried them yet, but will report back.

I have no wish to seem ungrateful. Thank you everyone for your suggestions but in the meantime I went back to my instincts and greed so just ate the lot straight out of the pack. I will get some more and experiment further based on all these tips and suggestions.

American matsutake are a different, but related species, Tricholoma ponderosum, Tricholoma murrillianum or Tricholoma Magnivelare. The scent is similar, but less potent (according to reports). The taste is also less intense.

The highly favoured (松茸 Chinese: sōng róng; Japanese: 松茸 or まつたけ) matsutake mushrooms, literally 'pine mushrooms' in both Japanese and Chinese, Tricholoma matsutake, beloved by the Japanese, do grow in parts of China, particularly in the southern provinces of Yunnan and neighbouring Tibet. The name comes from them mainly being found in pine forests. The Oxford Companion to Food quotes this amusing little anecdote. The prize specimens are shipped off to Japan where they fetch silly money, but we are left with some of the second grade. They are still fine and are still not exactly cheap. They tend not to appear in the markets or even supermarkets, but are available on line. Obviously the fresh mushrooms are best, but they are also sold dried. Not recommended. Dried Matsutake We also get these so-called 'tiger matsutake', also from Yunnan, but I've never been able to find any further information on them. The only image on Google that I can see is mine!

I realise that but elevating a dish into something totally different wasn't the point, either.

I just watched episode 3 of the series set in London. The contestants were taken to three London pubs, all of which I know, especially the first, The Lamb and Flag, my local pub. They are all good pubs, but almost the last anyone other than tourists would go to eat. God knows who did the research! I can think of 100 better pubs for food before engaging my brain. Then the most clichéd dishes imaginable. Fish and chips in the Lamb and Flag was a joke. Served with what they called mushy peas but certainly wasn't mushy peas and with tartar sauce, which, although were told they would be served traditional food, is totally untraditional. Then we went through burnt Yorkshire puddings and an almost totally ignorant explanation of the origin of the term Bangers and Mash which actually originated in New Zealand. Then many of the elevated versions bore little connection to the originals. Grrr!

I still have my mother's spurtle!

Lao Gan Ma （老干妈), It actually means 'Godmother'; not 'Grandma'.

Bread of any sort is hard to source here. I used to make my own but recently I haven't been able to for health reasons. Anyway I don't think an Ibérico sandwich is what I was looking for.

Brieland's finest is easy for me to source. Good French bread is a distant dream.

Jam?

You have a lot more self-discipine than me. When I open the the packet it's pretty much all over!

I have again bought some expensive Jamón Ibérico imported to China from Ibericaland. Normally I just eat it as is. Any other suggestions?

Most fried rice in East and South-East Asian cooking has no egg. Except for egg fried rice, obviously. The most famous Chinese version, 扬州炒饭 (yáng zhōu chǎo fàn), Yangzhou Fried Rice does not traditionally contain egg.

There are plenty of bad Chinese cooks, but they tend not to entertain, prefering to leave the cooking to someone else.

I hope not! It's a perfectly good topic. You want to learn something. Asking is good! I know a bit about Chinese and some other Asian food because that's where I live and eat, but there is a world of other cuisines I know nothing about. If I get into those for whatever reason, I'll be asking a load of questions. And I would love to see your picture of the Shaoxing you found and perhaps transcribe the brand for you!

That was my intention. Premium help!

The joys of marketing.

I'm not sure what 'Jiaoxing wine' is although I have been to Jiaoxing. Did you mean Shaoxing? These wines are only salted in the USA and Canada because of the local alcohol licencing laws. Salting it renders them undrinkable and allows them to be sold in stores without liquor licences. They are not salted in China! Lee Kum Kee is not what I would consider a 'premium' brand. It is the Chinese equivalent of Heinz. All MSG is the same.

No. Never. I have been invited to "Western" restaurants, though.

I've moaned and complained about Chinese bread before. There is very little. 99% is like this. Labelled in Chinese and English (no French) as "Soft French Bread", only one of which descriptors is accurate . It's soft. It is neither French nor bread. It's bad, over sweet sponge cake. Ingredients listed (in Chinese only) are wheat flour, margarine, sugar, egg, high fructose corn syrup, refined vegetable oil, whole milk powder, shortening, yeast, gluten, salt, food additives (sodium bicarbonate, sodium dehydroacetate, calcium stearyl lactate, sucrose fatty acid ester, sorbic acid ascorbic palmitate, novolac, citric acid), maltose syrup, edible alcohol, edible spices. Shelf life 6 months. Sacré blue!

nor peanut oil. I can always taste it. Never used grapeseed, so can't comment.