liuzhou

I see what you mean, but the historical record shows otherwise. Both meanings seem to have arisen together. In fact, the "something that affected an organism" is recorded first (1585), a mere 16 years before the "the condition of an organism" meaning.

蚂蚁上树 (mǎ yǐ shǎng shù) / 小蛮椒 (xiǎo mán jiāo), Ants Climbing Trees* / Small Barbarian Peppers. 干椒酸笋红薯苗 (gān jiāo suān sǔn hóng shǔ miáo) Dried Chilli, Pickled Bamboo, Sweet Potato Shoots. *“Ants Climbing Trees” is a classic Sichuan dish comprising mung bean starch noodles (glass noodles) with minced pork. The grains of pork are the ants which appear to be climbing the branches of the tree (the noodles). Some sort of green vegetable is incorporated to be the tree’s leaves; here this rôle is taken by green chillies. In case that isn’t hot enough this one was supplemented by Small Barbarian Peppers. These are fiery red chilli peppers, so called as they, like all chilli peppers, were introduced from the central Americas where be barbarians! Sweet potatoes are on the barbarous side, too.

Been there. Right now my biggest problem is getting the oven door open. Haven't used it for nine months.

I understand completely but I like cooking and even the required shopping. And I miss it a lot. However standing up is too exhausting and very painful. Even slicing a bit of cheese to put on a cracker is a trial. I am recovering they tell me, but it's so slow.

Soy braised chicken legs, boiled spuds and Brussels sprouts. First meal I've cooked for months. Might be a while till I cook again. Exhausted me.

水煮小龙虾 (shuǐ zhǔ xiǎo lóng xiā) - Sichuan boiled crayfish

@Mmmpomps' post is here.

Neither do I. As I said, corn starch is the most commonly available in China. Sichuan does prefer potato. Here in Guangxi both are used. That Bon Appetit article claims that potato starch noodles are used in what they call 'Loh shi fun", by which I think they mean 螺蛳粉 (luó sī fěn), Liuzhou's famous export. If so, it's nonsense. Potato noodles are a thing, but luosifen never uses them. It uses rice noodles.

cooking Anything Cornstarch Can Do, Potato Starch Can Do Better - Bon Appetit https://www.bonappetit.com/story/what-is-potato-starch

I find that bizarre. In my exerience potato starch is an exellent sauce thickener. In fact, that's how it is mostly used here. Chinese cooks don't use starch or anything else as breading often at all. Certainly, not as much as people in the west seem to think. Breaded pork or chicken in day-glo sweet and sour sauce ain't Chinese!

Students here are in the same situation, although more out of fire and hygiene concerns than aged electrical systems but, I know, some students get round it surreptitiously. I have seen some appliances advertised as being 'dormitory' friendly but not, so far, rice cookers. Rice is virtually free from the college canteens; cooking rice is not something students crave.

Starch is starch. No matter the source, they all do the same job. What makes one "more better" is more local availability. China certainly uses c⊘rn starch (it is the most commonly used starch here), but mainly in the south and east of the country. Nothing to do with being a new world crop - China is the second largest producing nation after the USA. It's more a climate issue. I forget where you are located. I suspect however, it may be a linguistic question. For example, 'c⊘rn starch' is 'c⊘rnflour' in the UK.

I'd be very surpised if Mongolia uses c⊘rn starch. Too far north. I certainly don't recall it there. But any culinary starch should do the same. Most Sichuan stir-fried dishes, for example, use potato starch as do dishes elsewhere here in China. Wheat flour is rarely, if ever, used for coating meats.

$64 CDN eqivalent here.

In that case, I won't tell you that lot cost me $7 USD (inc delivery).

Not a lot to add. Just two rice cookers in one. Can be operated separately or in tandem. So you can make rice and soup (or whatever) simultaneously should you require. Many people use rice cookers for non-rice cooking tasks so I can see it working for some people, if a bit gimmicky.

I haven't yet succumbed* but this idea amused me and I'm sure someone else here mght fall for one. Pink bow optional. * I already have three rice cookers.

Corners of Chinese social media are awash with tales of the lychee season, in which we find ourselves. The main topic of corncern is the pointess if friendly argument as to which cultivar of the hundreds out there is the best. And how to recognise them. Earlier, I was talking with a friend whose family grows them and asked her opinion. Before replying, she laughed and confessed that she had been talking part in the social media frenzy, which surprised me slightly - I hadn't marked her down as the social media type. Here for your edification are the types her family grows. With my translation. Top to Bottom Osmanthus Flavour (4) Ling Feng Nuo* (3) White Sugar Poppy (1) Glutinous Rice Cake (2) Black Leaf (5) Imperial Concubine Smile (6) Numbers in parentheses are my friend's personal rankings. *This is amost untranslatable. The nearest I can get is 'mountain range abundant glutinous rice'.

Chinese Skewers Surf and Turf (Skewers is one of the most pictographic Chinese characters - 串 (chuàn). Left: Spicy grilled king prawns (shell and head on) Top: Inner Mongolian lamb skewers (lean and fat cubes alternating) Right: Grilled scallops with garlic and vermicelli Centre left: Chicken leg meat skewers

Gansu style 肉夹馍 (ròu jiā mó). This is from Shaanxi's neighbouring province of Gansu rather than from Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi. It uses a sort of flaky pastry bun rather than the more bready type I prefer. It is also made with fatty pork, tail fat being No. 1 choice. Two were eaten so they couldn't have been bad but I still prefer my go to Xi'an beef with cumin style.

There is no shortage of pizza here in China. There is a huge shortage of pizza here in China. I have no idea how many pizza outlets there are but I do know that very few serve pizzas. Many places serve round pieces of baked goods covered in various toppings. Few of the baked goods are bread. Most are cake. The toppings are innumerable and occasionally recognisable but nothing you’d probably associate with pizza. So I was moderately pleased to see that a new pizza place has opened near my home. Next street in fact. And they deliver. The first ad that I looked at was for a Margherita. Then a ‘black truffle and Parma ham pizza’. Next up was a pepperoni number. Finally, of course, a durian number. Three out of four – not bad. The images that accompanied these offerings were interesting -ish. First up the Margherita. It doesn’t like like a Margherita to me; where is the red white and green of the Italian flag? We’ve got the tomatoes, though what kind is a mystery. Bet they ain’t San Marzano though. I see the green, but it looks suspicious. Sure enough it isn’t the requisite basil, but rocket /arugula (Eruca sativa)! I know both names are ultimately derived from Italian but they don’t describe anything on a Margherita! Then the white from the mozzarella is missing, although the ingredient is listed. Buried under the rest of the et cetera, I suppose. "Margherita Pizza" Then is the Pepperoni pizza. The description translates literally as ‘Italian salami slices, with light taste of Mazcapone (sic) cheese, multi-layer back and forth collision. Main ingredients: Italian sausage* slices, mozzarella cheese. Accessories: rocket.” I’ll pass. I prefer my suppliers to know what they are supplying. "Pepperoni Pizza" Ignoring the durian travesty, preferring to remain in the realms of the semi-sensible, I finally decide on the truffle and Parma. Apparently this contains black truffle sauce, Parma ham, mushrooms, onions, mozzarella, rocket/arugula, etc. I am concerned by the ‘etc’, but it looks to me like a fine pizza. I realise that the truffles will be Chinese and therefore worthless. but on balance it sounds best to me. Then I make a final discovery. "Black Truffle and Arugula Pizza" On the delivery app, someone has left a review picturing what actually arrived. "Black Truffle and Arugula Pizza" - as delivered. I decide to have Mapo Doufu instead. * Which covers the sublime to the ghastly. All images from ads or review from "Commune Restaurant 地王新天地店”, Liuzhou, China's online app service.

Stem Ginger is chunks of ginger candied and stored in syrup. ETA: As I now see has been explained. Cross post. I can't open @Tropicalsenior's link at the moment. Local issue, I think.

I'd forgotten about this Cook-Off but it's reappearance has reminded me that I never did find my aunt's rhubarb and ginger jam recipe. It's probably languishing in some 1950s British cookbook somewhere.