liuzhou

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.

Yes, I've visited both (pre-pandemic) and tasted some of their wines. I particularly remember a Cabernet Sauvignon / Merlot / Syrah blend in Canaan which was very much in a Bordeaux style. French winemakers have been very active in China, cooperating with Chinese vignerons to bring forward the local product. I also remember a very accceptable Riesling. Grace does an excellent Cabernet Merlot. Their Chairman's Reserve was memorable. Both have Engish language websites with more information Canaan (If it's showing only Chinese, click on the EN top right next to the search box.) Grace Aside from these two, I've visited another five on the list, all European.

Yes. 3 to 4 inches long. They are eaten whole - head, fins, tail. These had been gutted but not boned. Smaller ones aren't normally gutted. Tastewise, they remind me of what I call whitebait (although those are salt water fish).

黄豆焖鱼仔 (huáng dòu mèn yú zǎi), rice paddy fish with soy beans. Also includes fresh bamboo shoots, garlic and chilli. A popular local peasant dish, especially among the ethnic minorities (Miao,Dong, Yao, Zhuang etc). Served with rice. Of course.

For the last week I’ve been receiving daily reports from a friend, 李燕萍 (Li Yanping), who also uses the English name Aileen Lee and who is a judge in the "World's Best Vineyard" Competition taking place in Rioja, Spain. The competition was founded in 2019 by William Reed Business Media, a century-old family-owned media company, which is also a member of World's 50 Best Restaurants. 50 Best Restaurants, the World's 50 Best Bars and the International Wine Challenge (IWC). The "World's Best Vineyards" competition is designed to encourage and promote the development of the wine industry and wine tourism by selecting the world's top wine tourism destinations (in this case, wine estates that provide tourism facilities and wine tasting experiences and are open to the public). Each year the competition are divided into multiple divisions, by a nomination system (wineries can not directly register for the competition). Each division will select one or two experts or media persons with high influence in the local wine and tourism industry to serve as the chair(s) of the jury of the division, and the chair of the jury is responsible for the 36 selected Influential wine experts, media, lecturers, bartenders, tourism and gourmet professionals who have visited many of the world's wine-producing areas to serve as judges in the list of "the best vineyards in the world" with the best travel experience. They adhere to the principle of objectivity and fairness, according to the landscape of the winery, restaurants, hotels, services, prices, transportation, humanities and other aspects of the evaluation, comprehensive performance outstanding, can be selected as "the best vineyard in the world" (World's Best Vineyards) Top 100 list. If judges vote for the wine estates in their own division, they can't have more than three to show fairness。 On the evening of July 12, local time, the "World's Best Vineyards" competition (World's Best Vineyards) awards ceremony was held in Rioja, one of Spain's most famous UVE-producing regions. During the award ceremony, the organizers announced the list of the "World's Best Vineyards" this year. Aileen, the founder of the International Voice of Wine, was invited to attend the award ceremony as the vice chairman of the China jury and noted that this year is the first time in the five years since the "World's Best Vineyards" competition that a Chinese winery has made the top 100 list. Two Chinese wineries on the list - Canaan Winery in Huailai, Hebei Province, and Grace Vineyard in Shanxi Province - were ranked 80th and 100th respectively. Here are the winners of the "World's Best Vineyards" competition in 2023. Catena Zapata, Argentina - World's Best Vineyard 2023 L-R Andrew Reed, Managing Director of Media, William Reed Business and Competition Founder; Aileen Lee, founder of The International Voice of Wine, Vice Chair of the China Jury; Robert Geddes MW, Chair of China Jury. Images courtesy of The International Voice of Wine. Parts of this post are from the competition's press release.

I actually had those pictures when you were still in Indonesia but decided to wait till you were home before posting them. I knew you were sick and didn't want to make it worse.

Mention of Tanqueray 10 sent me to see how available it is here. Widely, is the answer - at least in specialist stores in Beijing or Shanghai and so, online. What did catch my eye though were these two. Anyone know much about them or have you sampled them?

百色 (bǎi sè, pronounced roughly like '"bye sir" without the final 'r) literally means "100 Colours" but is a small city in western Guangxi, China near the border with Yunnan province. Mst of the population are of the Zhuang ethnic minority. Baisw is rather well-known in Chinese Communist Party history for the Baise Uprising led on Dec 11, 1929 by Deng Xiaoping, Mao's eventual successor. The city has a number of memorials and a largish museum dedicated to the event and sees a lot of so-called 'Red Tourism', mainly old veterans of the Long March and the Revolution. A dying breed. Otherwise, it sees very few visitors, especially from abroad. For most people here it is better known for fruit, especially its mangoes. China's mango central. There are mango trees everywhere. The first time I visited, some 20 years ago, it was at the height of the season and the mangoes were virtually free. This year they have gone further. There has been a bumber crop and the mangoes are dropping like rain. This tree below was so overloaded with fruit it was dangerous. A mechanical device was brought in to dislodge the fruit, which was then left on the ground for anyone to take away. Few did; they all have their own glut to deal with. Of course, this is not good news for the farmers so the local government has stepped in with subsidies and other help to see them through. In other news, across Guangxi, other fruits are receiving similar treatment. Jackfruit and if you drop your box of mangoes on the way home, don't bother to pick them up. They were amost free anyway. ETA: Minutes after posting the above, a friend from Baise called to ask if I want some lemons! They have too many of them, too!