liuzhou

Apologies. I meant the connecting tubes etc between the various parts of the heart have to be removed. The cleaned ventricles are eaten.

I've had Planter's peanut oil and can taste peanut. In fact, I've never found a peanut oil that I can't taste. I'm no super-taster; it may just be that I dislike the taste in some applications and, so notice it more. Peanut oil is the main oil used round here. There are certainly some super-peanuty oils such as your Taiwanese sample.

I guessed but it is topic about poultry.

Thanks. Yes, I knew they were eaten in parts of the USA, but wasn't sure which. Love the euphemistic name, 'dainties'.

Bull fries from chickens? And why would ranchers have more access to chicken testicles?

I’ll get this one out of the way. 鸡蛋 (jī dàn) means chicken eggs which obviously come from the hens, but 公鸡蛋 (gōng jī dàn) means roosters’ eggs! 公鸡蛋 - Chicken Testicles What we are talking here are chicken testicles which are popular delicacy here in China. In western countries, few people even know roosters have such appendages as they are found inside the bird next to the kidneys, near the backbone. The little pink (usually*) sausage-like, vaguely egg-shaped nuggets are, no surprise, believed by followers of TCM to enhance male virility. They are known by various names, such as prairie oysters**, rocky mountain oysters**, rooster fries, chicken beans, and many more names. “Chicken balls” is a mainly Chinese-American preparation, generally unknown in China. They do not contain reproductive organ meat! The testicles can vary a lot in size depending on the age of the rooster, but are generally larger than one might expect until you realise that the average rooster on the farm has to “service” 20 to 30 hens per day! Testicles showing size variation The prep is simple. They only require washing and any strings removed. The outer skin is usually removed like peeling a sausage. They are then usually simmered in a simple broth with vegetables or, especially, mushrooms. Sometimes, they are briefly marinated in rice wine before being introduced to the broth. Fifteen minutes maximum will see them fully cooked, but true connoisseurs prefer them rarer, with a soft tofu like texture even heading to liquid in the centre. Fried chicken testicles are a popular street food in Taiwan and I’ve seen grilled sets on skewers (ouch) in various parts of China. The taste is mild and reminiscent of chicken livers. If you imagine chicken liver flavoured tofu, you’ll be close. I find them quite pleasant, but don’t go mad looking for them, not that I have to here. They are easily available. They seem to be seldom eaten in the west, so are not so easily obtained most places, although I hear that in Hungary, kakashere pörkölt (rooster testicle stew) is a fairly popular dish at festivals. Turkey testicles can be treated in the same fashion, but turkeys (火鸡 - huǒ jī, literally 'fire chicken') are rare in China. * Silkies, aka black chickens or black-boned chickens (although they are almost always white-feathered), have black testes matching the colour of their flesh and bones. Their testes are seldom available in western countries, but can be found here. ** These terms are also applied to the testicles of other animals.

River Cottage has nice everything it has!

If you think Huy Fong Sriracha is too hot to appreciate, don't go to actual Sriracha in Thailand! The locals there wonder why they forgot to put the chillies in it!

@Anna Nasked me recently on the Snacking while eGulleting topic about dealing with chicken hearts and their preparation, saying I answered that I always prepare them by removing excess fat, veins, ventricles, and membranes, etc and I promised a picture. This isn't quite it; these are duck hearts but the principles are the same. Then I got thinking that I eat a lot of poultry viscera / offal and perhaps a dedicated topic would be useful to some people. We've got the various livers obviously, but also hearts, kidneys, gizzards, duck or goose intestines, chicken testicles, duck tongues and more. Anyway, I'll start with the duck heart preparation, cooking and eating. This was my lunch. First the hearts. First this lot needed washing. Duck hearts as bought Them I trimmed off most of the excess fat using a small paring knife (scissors would work, too) and cut the hearts in half lengthwise. This exposes any veins etc, which should be removed as they are unpalatable and can make the hearts bitter. Trimmed hearts. The excess fat, veins and ventricles are on the left. The cleaned hearts at top centre. The hearts - I did remove that fat on the piece at the top after taking the photo. Chopped about 4 cloves of garlic and one hot red Facing Heaven chilli pepper. Fried those in a cast iron frying pan / skillet along with the hearts in olive oil with salt and pepper for about 5 minutes, testing for just doneness. You want them when they just leave medium rare otherwise they get very tough. Cooking Hearts These I served in wholewheat pita breads. Three servings (all for me) from 250g of hearts purchased. Spicy Duck Hearts in Pita Of course, I used a spicy approach and they do work very well with garlic, but feel free, as always, to experiment with your favourite flavours. I would have added some finely chopped coriander leaf / cilantro at the end but forgot to buy any . They would be good with a salad, too. Then there is breakfast and there is nothing nicer than duck hearts on toast. Duck Hearts on Toast

I don't find peanut oil 'flavorless' at all. I can always detect it. Not always a problem, but sometimes. I loathe eggs fried in peanut oil, for example. Rice bran oil is truly 'flavorless' and has a higher smoke point. It's my go to.

I think that is dependent on location. I've often had it served with rice. Ground/ minced meat seldom. Chopped meat gives more of a bite rather than baby food.

Black bolete duck eggs omelette. Black Bolete Ragged Omelette (Cut end to show contents)

30 years ago, there was a Nepalese restaurant in London that I used to frequent. Kathmandu native owners. Wonderful food. I wonder if it's still there? Can't see it on Google, but then it was always hard to find. Stuck down in a basement with a tiny sign at street level. 8 years ago, I fulfilled a dream and visited Nepal. Not disappointed, but yes, the cuisine was much more diverse than I expected from such a relatively barren area of the world. Lovely people, too.

Beef and coconut curry with tomato, garlic, onion, chilli, coriander/cilantro, lime pickle and tamarind chutney. Rice.

I realised they were made in the USA, but assumed by a Chinese owned organisation. The name is Chinese, after all, but with a non-standard transliteration. 美全 means something like 'delicious everything', but in Mandarin is 'měi quán' and in Cantonese, 'mei cyun'. I spotted they carry goods from all over east Asia and SE Asia. Lucky you!

There are literally hundreds, if not thousands of commercially prepared hot sauces in China. I guess most people know 老干妈 (lǎo gān mā) but there are many more which are worth exploring. Many people and many restaurants also make their own. My own favourite is this. It may not technically qualify as a sauce (I'm not sure what criteria are being applied) but I certainly use it like a sauce - almost every day. Known as 剁辣椒 (duò là jiāo), literally "chopped hot peppers", the ingredients are chilli peppers, water, salt, garlic, MSG and some preservatives - much like a sauce. It is from Changsha, capital of Hunan province, one of China's spiciest provinces and 坛坛香 (tán tán xiāng) is the largest chilli processing company in the province and has several products. The company name refers to 'earthern jar fragrance' as chilli sauce was traditionally made in earthern jars as can be seen in their logo. Now it's made in traditional factories. I don't know for sure that it's exported, but it would surprise me if not .

A delivery service lunch out of laziness rather than necessity Beef with Perilla Green Beans with Pork Shanghai Greens Rice Very nice.

I presume you mean jiaozi dumplings. 饺子 or 餃子 depending on which script the manufacturers use. If so, simple. Bring a pot of water to the boil and add frozen dumplings. The water will immedaitely come off the boil. Take a cup or rice bowl of cold water and add to the pan. Bring back to the boil. Repeat twice. The ddumplings should be floating and ready to eat. Drain and serve with a soy and vinegar dip or dip of your preference. Alternatively, they can be served in soup or fried as potstickers.

I'm not a big Christmas celebrator, but I'm ready. It's amazing what you find in China!

Just noticed this. Celery (of any kind) is unusual in jiaozi. I don't think I've ever seen it before, but why not indeed? I love that the cooking instructions stick to the three cup technique, although here it's three rice bowls of cold water. Points have to be deducted, though for their use of the Japanese term 'gyoza' for their products. What's wrong with 'jiaozi'? Frozen dumplings are all most people have in the freezer here - they only really make from scratch at festivals. There are some very good frozen examples.

That is a well-known translation problem. The third and fourth characters make up pairs with the second and fifth repectively. 水泼 (water splash) and 辣鸡 (spicy chicken) should be translated seperately as, unfortunately the combination 泼辣 does mean "rude and unreasonable". The correct translation should be something like "Sichuan oil-splashed spicy chicken". Now you are free to wonder how water became oil!

I notice that recipes for the hearts are bizarre when it comes to cooking times. One online recipe suggests frying them for up to 25 mintutes! Mine had about three! Those in the recipe would be inedible. They toughen up once they get beyond medium rare, something the recipe acknowledges far too late.

Next time, I'll take a picture of how the hearts arrive. Cased in fat and blood and membranes and often, laced with ventricles and veins. They definitely, in my book, need removing. Apart from the aesthetics and health implications, they can make the hearts bitter. I'm guessing that those who think no prep is necessary are buying hearts that have been at least partially prepped by the vendors. Mine come simply torn from the chest. These below from a while ago are a lot more prepped than mine were this time, but I still trimmed a lot of that fat off.

Fried me some chicken hearts with chilli and ground cumin. I do love chicken hearts, but prep is a pain, so don't make as often as I should.