liuzhou

I'd definitely add the Shaoxing. My omission. I don't add salt as the soy sauce is salty enough. I don't add sugar because I never add sugar. Seldom use MSG either. The dish is strongly flavoured without it.

@Smithy I was editing as you were reading. I've added a few remembered details.

It's a dish I make often at home. I follow Fuchsia Dunlop's recipe in Land of Plenty or the newer Sichuan Cookery, but that recipe is not online. Basically, from memory, chicken meat (in Sichuan that would be on the bone, but boneless breast or, better, leg meat would be OK). The meat is diced to about 1 to 2 cm cubed, marinated briefly in soy sauce and deep fried to sear. Remove chicken and clean wok. For one breast or equivalent of meat, 50 grams of halved and deseeded, dried Sichuan peppers and a tablespoon of Sichuan peppercorns are stir fried with garlic until fragrant and the chicken returned to the pan, Add scallions until wilted and serve. It seems like a lot of chilli, but they aren't to be eaten. They do however, give the chicken a spectacular appearance and wonderful flavour.

晚餐 (wǎn cān) Dinner: 四李豆炒肉 (sì lǐ dòu chǎo ròu ) Green Bean Stir-fried Pork 辣子鸡 (là zi jī) Chicken with Chilli - I'm using this almost like a garnish these days. It's the only thing on the menu with a bit of a kick. 青菜 (qīng cài) Stir-fried Greens

44. 钦州海鸭蛋 (qīn zhōu hǎi yā dàn) When they are not busy waxing apples and skinning cucumbers as mentioned here, the people of 钦州 (qīn zhōu) are more occupied with raising oysters. In fact, the city is known as China’s oyster capital. Raised on ropes in Qinzhou’s natural harbour of the 135 square kilometre / 52 square mile, 茅尾海岛 (máo wěi hǎi dǎo), Maoweihai Island which forms the largest oyster breeding base in south China. A few years ago, they sold around 32,000 pounds of oysters a day, but now that has risen to 100s of thousands and is still rising. Regular oysters are a year old, but they also raise some for up to two and a half years by which time they are a man’s palm size or larger. Qinzhou oysters are noted for their pure white flesh. While you're in the area you may get sight of the rare white dolphins that live in the off-lying waters. Qinzhou Oysters But I’ve already talked about Guangxi and oysters. This time I want to mention something different which I’ve been buying regularly for years. Qinzhou’s mangroves are home to a variety of free-range sea ducks. Their eggs are larger than the average duck egg, ranging up to 80 grams each as opposed to the 60 to 70 which is more common. They are also richly flavoured with deep yellow yolks. Newly gathered sea duck eggs These are often in my breakfast boiled, fried or scrambled. make good omelettes, too Boiled Sea Duck Eggs The eggs are sold fresh as well as being salted by steeping in salt water for between 30 and 50 days. Method here. Salted Sea Duck Eggs Qinzhou Salted Sea Duck Eggs In addition, the eggs are made into a type of century egg and are marinated in a red mud then roasted. Red Mud Roasted Sea Duck Eggs I mainly buy the fresh eggs, but have happily tried all varieties. Incidentally, supermarkets and markets here routinely carry a much wider range of eggs than I was used to in the west. In descending order of size, goose (鹅蛋 - é dàn), duck (鸭蛋 -yā dàn), chicken (鸡蛋 -jī dàn), pigeon (鸽蛋 - gē dàn) and quail (鹌鹑蛋 - ān chún dàn). I very occasionally see ostrich eggs (驼蛋 - tuó dàn). My favourite egg dish (with duck or chicken eggs) is scrambled eggs with Tonkin jasmine. I can hear some of you asking "What's that? Tonkin jasmine (Telosma cordata) goes under many names such as pakalana vine, Tonkinese creeper, Chinese violet, cowslip creeper, telosoma etc. In Chinese it is 夜香花 - yè xiāng huā or 夜来香 - yè lái xiāng. It is a flowering plant native to Guangdong and Guangxi of China and also cultivated in Vietnam (on the Gulf of Tonkin, hence the name.) It has a delicate lemony scent and is used in both southern Chinese and Vietnamese cuisine (where it is known as bông thiên lý.) It is usually stir fried, often with eggs, with which it has a particular affinity, or is boiled in soups, often with fish. It is also added to many noodle dishes in Vietnam.

43. 快餐 (kuài cān) The pervasive arm of American fast food reached China way back in 1990, when McDonald's, known locally as 麦当劳 (mài dāng láo), opened their first store in Shenzhen in 1990. Soon after their Tian'anmen branch in Beijing was the largest McD's in the world. By 2020, the company had 3,300 outlets and was planning to double that by today. Covid prevented that rise although new stores did open. McDonald's first store in Liuzhou - there are now several 肯德基 (kěn dé jī),KFC followed along, opening its first Chinese store in Beijing on Tian’anmen Square in 1993. Today they are everywhere with over 4,000 outlets in almost 800 cities, as it opens a new restaurant almost every day. One of many KFCs in Liuzhou It has not however been a smooth ride for either company. KFC had to apologise for including a carcinogenic dye in one product and McD’s had issues with not-for-human-consumption meats. Yet they both remain successful. They mainly cater to children in China, offering birthday parties to the middle classes and awarding toys with every meal, so much so that KFC has recently been criticised by the state for promoting food waste, as parents were buying meals just to get the toys for their brats then throwing them away – the meals. Not the brats or the toys, unfortunately! YumFoods (terrible name) owners of KFC, also own Pizza Hut (必胜客 - bì shèng kè) which has a presence here serving fake Italian-style food and god-awful pizzas and they even bought out the originally Inner Mongolian hotpot chain, Little Sheep (known in China as 小肥羊 (xiǎo féi yáng) or ‘Little Fat Sheep’. The ‘Fat’ was dropped for the American market. I wonder why.) One of the Pizza Huts in Liuzhou All these chains have adapted their menus to local tastes, especially KFC, selling congee for breakfast for example and McDs was laughed out of town by offering what it called Sichuan sauce with its fries. It was as Sichuanese as maple syrup. But, of course, China has replied with its own versions, often just copying the menus and even decoration of the originals. 开心吧 (kāi xīn bā, Happy Bar), a Liuzhou chain, is the most successful local version, mimicking everything KFC does, but at a slightly lower price. Happy Bar with Dishonest Slogan. I don't like it! One street in the city centre, popular with young people in the evenings, is lined with fast food stalls selling grease on sticks. There are two kinds food on sticks here. The first is made over charcoal, mainly by people from Xinjiang, and is wonderful. The second is made by anyone over a metal hotplate swimming in grease and is horrible. Yet they get busy selling bad chicken, overcooked squid and mechanically recovered meat sausage in batter and grease. Beats me.

早饭 (zǎo fàn) - Breakfast: I happily reverted to my century egg and pork congee after yesterday's side step to green veg congee, but today I added a 油条 (yóu tiáo) deep fried dough stick. Along with two pork buns. 中饭 (zhōng fàn) - Lunch 酸姜炒鸭 (suān jiāng chǎo yā) - Pickled Ginger Stir-fried Duck (again) 节瓜肉 (jiē guā ròu) - Wax Gourd with Pork 米饭 (mǐ fàn) - Rice

Soft, sticky, doughy.

Dinner： 茄子肉末 （qié zi ròu mò) Eggplant /aubergine with miced pork. 素炒苦瓜 (sù chǎo kǔ guā) Stir-fried Bitter melon 米饭 (mǐ fàn) Rice Eggplant with Minced Pork Bitter Melon Dinner

42. 水油堆 (shuǐ yóu duī) 柳江 (liǔ jiāng) is a small market town and county, just to the south of Liuzhou city and part of the prefecture. It is an agricultural area inhabited mainly by the Zhuang, and is relatively poor. It has one ‘speciality’, although I struggle to see what is so special about it. The dish is said to have originated in 洛满镇 (luò mǎn zhèn) – Luoman Town in the county – although it can be found throughout Liujiang and beyond. It is mainly made road side by elderly people scratching out a living. To set up in business you only need a pot, some water, oil and glutinous rice flour, some sesame seeds and a heat source, usually charcoal. A basic dough is made from the flour and water and this is formed into balls which are then fried in the oil. Finally, the balls are rolled in sesame seeds and you are done. More upmarket versions (not much more) may come with a simple sugar syrup. These balls are known as 水油堆 (shuǐ yóu duī), literally ‘water oil piles’ and are often sold outside schools. The local authorities declared them intangible cultural assets of the county although I don’t see how you can eat anything intangible. Apparently, the number of vendors is falling and the trade in terminal decline, as younger generations find better ways to survive.

Lunch: 白切鸡 (bái qiē jī) - White Cut Chicken 莴笋肉 (wō sǔn ròu) Celtuce with Pork 青菜 (qīng cài) Green Vegetables (unspecified) 米饭 (mǐ fàn) Rice

I've pretty much established a routine breakfast here - century egg and pork congee and a couple of pork baozi buns. Today, I decided to have a minor change. 青菜肉粥 (qīng cài ròu zhōu) - Green vegetable (unidentified) with pork congee. It was OK, but I'll be going back to normal tomorrow. I had the two buns as well.

If you are discreet about it, it should be OK. It's the idiots with the DSLRs and long lenses who stand on chairs to get the "best angle" that should be shot. I have three DSLRs and several lenses, but only ever take restaurant shots using my cell phone (without flash). Respect other customers and your guests and I don't see a problem.

41. 北海鱼排 (běi hǎi yú pái) – 北海沙场虫 (běi hǎi shā cháng chóng) @Anna N led me to think of this when she commented on the Yulin Niuba beef jerky v. Biltong. I think you’ll see why. This is 鱼排 (yú pái) and comes from Beihai (北海 - běi hǎi) the seafood capital on Guangxi’s south coast. It literally translates as ‘fish steak’, but although it is fish, it isn’t what I’d call steak. What is sold as Beihai Yupai (北海鱼排 - běi hǎi yú pái) is a snack food for nibbling. It makes a reasonable beer food, too. It consists of slivers or flakes of 马面鱼 (mǎ miàn yú), or ‘leatherjacket fish’. (The Chinese name translates as ‘horse face fish’, Horse-Face, being one of the two guardians of the underworld in Chinese mythology). The fish meat is cured with a sugar and salt mix, then dried. Finally the pieces of fish are coated in white sesame seeds. It tastes quite sweet and is rather chewy. Sharpen your dentures before tackling. There is only a slight fishiness and I would prefer them a bit saltier. If you don’t fancy that, you could always try Beihai’s other speciality, 沙肠虫 (shā cháng chóng), literally ‘sand intestine worms’. These 20 cm / 8 inch long, fat, pink, intestine-resembling worms live in the sand on the beach and are dug up every day, turned inside out to be cleaned and then scalded for your culinary pleasure. I’m told they are delicious, umami-rich, crisp, yet tender inside and are pleasant in a bowl of worm congee or simply stir fried. I’ve never eaten them, but would definitely try. The opportunity has not yet arisen. Outside of Beihai region, they are sold dried, but are expensive and are difficult to source online as the characters involved are also used in the names of veterinary intestinal worm cures. That’s all that’s coming up in my searches so far. I do have a good friend who lives in Beihai. I may have to call in a favour. Also, in Beihai, 招潮蟹(zhāo cháo xiè), tiny fiddler crabs are pounded with salt to make a fermented condiment to eat with white-cut chicken, raising that dish to new heights. That I have sampled with delight.

Yes, I meant I wondered about the availability of the Guilin version. I knew others were avaiable from Amazon. Bit of a tautological description on those jars. Beancurd Tofu? Tofu is beancurd and vice versa. Except it's Doufu in Chinese. Tofu is the Japanese, but has been adopted in English.

Dinner 木耳炒鸡肉 (mù ěr chǎo jī ròu) - Black Woodear Fungus Stir fried Chicken - served with rice. Not bad, but some chilli would have lifted it.

When I started out on this topic, I thought there may be around ten posts, but I keep thinking of more local specialities. Before launching into the 40th post, I think I need to clear up some potential confusion in some previous posts, so please forgive a short but hopefully informative pause before continuing. Several times I have mentioned that a town is part of a city, or even that a county is part of a city. The confusion arises from China’s administration system. Like all five autonomous regions* and 23 provinces, Guangxi is split into prefectures, in our case, at present, fourteen of them. Each prefecture is named for and governed by a city. Guangxi Prefectures - Low resolution Pubic Domain Image So, Liuzhou Is a city, but also a large prefecture encompassing several towns, counties and villages. Sanjiang, for example, the town where the Qingming tea I mentioned comes from is part of Liuzhou prefecture, but is miles away from the city, beside the Hunan border. Other fairly large towns in Liuzhou include Rongshui, Rong’an, Luzhai etc. All three are also counties. I dread people asking me the population of Liuzhou. It depends what they mean by Liuzhou. The same happens in all the other prefectures, so the touristy Yangshuo is part of Guilin prefecture but is a town in its own right. Wuming, home of the lemon duck is a town, but also in Nanning. * Xinjiang, Tibet, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia and Guangxi. There is nothing really autonomous abut them. Hope that helps. And now, on with the show. 40. 桂林 (guì lín fǔ rǔ) Another Guilin speciality, sold at the airport and every hotel and tourist spot is 桂林腐乳 (guì lín fǔ rǔ), spicy fermented tofu. In fact, Guilin airport sells little else. Furu is made all over China (including Taiwan) but the Guilin version is considered to be of top quality. There are basically two types of furu, basically white and red. Many people make the mistake of thinking that he red must have the chilli on it. Wrong! Both are spicy, the red colour of that variety comes from a red fungus, Monascus purpureus, which grows on rice. Both types of furu go through three stages of manufacture. First soft tofu is cubed and left in a controlled temperature for approximately 5 to 7 days to grow a mould, then it is heavily salted to exclude microbial contaminants. This also helps the tofu form a firmer crust, although some versions are softer than others. Finally it is finished using a brine flavoured with chilli, other spices and sugar in addition to the salt. Some manufacturers also add rice wine or baijiu (strong grain liquor). Precise recipes are closely guarded. The whole process can take up to three months. The final product is often compared to a funky blue cheese, at least in texture. It is spicy and umami rich, the latter being more pronounced in the red version. I often drop a cube or two into my morning congee for a wake-up shout. It goes well stir-fried with leafy greens. I particularly like it with spinach, but go for your own preference. It is used, too in some marinades. I’ve known seasoned veterans to eat it in salads like cheese. I always have a jar in the fridge, but it keeps forever unrefrigerated. Soft Guilin Furu Furu is widely available on Amazon etc and in Asian markets, although I’m not sure of the availability of the Guilin version. My internet access is limited in the hospital where I currently find myself. Slow wi-fi hinders my VPN, blocking Google etc. Any feedback on international availability would be welcomed.

39. 龟苓膏 (guī líng gāo) Back in the ninth post, so long ago, I mentioned 梧州 (wú zhōu) as being the Guangxi city where the snakes are found, I failed to mention its other famous export. Guilinggao (龟苓膏 guī líng gāo) is a herbal jelly used both as a medicine and as an ingredient in desserts. It is also known as turtle jelly. Guilinggao The preparation originally included the powdered shell of a type of turtle, the “Golden Coin Turtle” (Cuora trifasciata; 金钱龟 jīn qián guī), hence the name which translates as “turtle fungus paste”. This turtle is now prohibitively expensive and so, today, when turtle is still used, the shells of more common turtles are used instead. However, many modern examples contain no turtle shell. Instead they rely on the other ingredients which include extracts from various herbs, most importantly smilax glabra, a plant related to sarsaparilla. Guilinggao is black or dark brown in color. Naturally, it is slightly bitter, although sweeteners such as honey can be added to make it more palatable. Guilinggao Dessert Relatively inexpensive canned guilinggao with pop tops and little plastic spoons for immediate consumption can be found in all supermarkets and corner shops. If you want to make it yourself, you can buy powdered shell, 龟苓膏粉 (guī líng gāo fěn), sometimes labelled in English as “Tortoise Powder”. Guilinggao Powder I’ve seen guilinggao, but not the powder in London’s Chinatown, so it may be more widely available. Despite the similar sounding name, it has no connection with Guilin.

38. 西山茶 (xī shān chá) / 柳州清明茶 (liǔ zhōu qīng míng chá) ++ 贵港 (guì gǎng) Guigang is a city in the east of Guangxi, known and valued for its beautiful lotus blossoms and for their 莲藕 (lián ǒu) roots (actually rhizomes) which are a favourite vegetable in these parts, turning up stir-fried, in soups and hotpots and even candied. Lotus Root One county town of Guigang, Guiping lies on the Tropic of Cancer and there is a Cancer Theme Park, which sounds ominous. Xishan Scenic Area is located 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) from Guiping and is famous for its strange stones, elegant woods, sweet springs and is important locally for its fragrant green tea - 西山茶 (xī shān chá), literally ‘west mountain tea’. In fact, this is one of only two Guangxi grown teas I regularly come across. I’m not a big tea drinker, but I do cook with the local Xishan tea, especially stir fried shrimp with green tea. Xishan Green Tea Xishan Green Tea The Guigang area is also now known for its 山竹 (shān zhú), mangosteen crop, a relatively recent innovation and for chufa or tiger nuts, Cyperus esculentus, 油莎豆 (yóu suō dòu), used in TCM as well as less often in hotpots and soups. Mangosteens Back in Liuzhou prefecture, tea is grown in large quantities in 三江县 (sān jiāng xiàn), Sanjiang county which lies up against the border with Hunan. 三江绿茶 (sān jiāng lǜ chá) Sanjiang Green Tea The most prized in 清明茶 (qīng míng chá), Qingming Tea. Qingming (literally ‘clear and bright’ is the ancestor worship festival sometimes known as 'Tomb Sweeping Festival', on which people go to clean up graves and generally pay their respects. It is taken quite seriously and marked by a public holiday.) 柳州清明茶 (liǔ zhōu qīng míng chá) is picked in Spring around the time of 清明 (qīng míng), the 1st to 5th of the 5th month of the lunisolar calendar, which usually occurs in April by our calendar, and so the name. The most valuable (as it’s the newest) is picked before the festival, the second is picked during the festival and the third after it’s all over. The cost of the tea can be 100 times more at the beginning than the end of the season. Liuzhou Qingming Tea I’m not pretending Guangxi has the finest teas in the world, or even China, but they do make a reasonably priced brew, I’m told. And it’s nice to sip it while overlooking the terraces where it is grown

This has been clarified. The whole cucumber is salt fermented which makes it collapse in on itself as moisture is extracted, so it finally looks like it is just skin. Hence the name.

37. 八角 (bā jiǎo) Not many people know that. You may have a bit of Guangxi in your pantry! 八角 (bā jiǎo) – star anise is native to the region and 85% of the world’s supply is grown right here in Guangxi. Local farmers got a bonus in 2009 with the arrival of swine flu. The main treatment is the antiviral Tamiflu, of which the active ingredient is shikimic acid which cannot easily be synthesised. Instead, the shikimic acid is extracted from star anise. The price leapt by 30% in May of that year. As well as being a common ingredient in Chinese cooking (it is a main contributor to five-spice powder), star anise has long been used in Traditional Chinese Medicine and many Chinese people are eating it now as a flu preventative. In 2009, the Chinese Health Minister, Chen Zhu suggested that people add star anise when cooking pork because it would “certainly be a good treatment for the flu”. Idiot.

36. 钦州 (qīn zhōu) Last night I was chatting with a friend in 钦州 (qīn zhōu) - Qinzhou, a city on the south coast of Guangxi, near Beihai, which I mentioned earlier. The two cities are sea food central for much of southern mainland China. However Qinzhou is also known for a few other things. Indeed it is generally known for its fruit, especially lychees and it’s known for its wax apples. No, not fake apples made from wax; wax apples are a type of fruit, but they aren’t apples and no wax is involved. Their unpronounceable scientific name, or rather that of the plant on which they grow is Syzygium samarangense. Not surprisingly they are more usually referred to as wax apples although Java apple, Semarang rose-apple and wax jambu are also sometimes used in English. In Chinese, 莲雾 (lián wù). Wax Apples They are native to Malaysia and nearby islands, but are now found across the tropics. They are about the size of smallish apples and roughly the same shape, but more pointed. The taste and scent, though, are nothing like apples. They range in colour from a light greenish-white to almost black, but the majority are red – like red apples. Inside is a thread-like core containing a seed. Before serving, this is normally removed from below, while leaving the fruit otherwise intact. They taste very mild (almost like unripe pears) and slightly sweet and sour. Some people say the texture is like that of watermelon. Not my view. My friend also mentioned a couple of other things, but they were generally Guangxi rather than Qinzhou specific, but she soon hit paydirt with one of the strangest things I have encountered. Apparently, in Qinzhou, the local populace have a thing for 酸黄瓜皮 (suān huáng guā pí) - Preserved Cucumber Skins. This salty delicacy is eaten with congee. What they do with the rest of the cucumber, she didn’t know or wouldn't tell. Preserved Cucumber Skins Most strange!

I can get all five for less than $20! $14 USD* to be precise! * as at today's exchange rate

@SLB's comment could be taken either way. We'll have to wait to see if he or she chooses to clarify. In the meantime, may I say that duck and ginger would raise no eyebrows here. It's a common pairing, as has been pointed out. In fact, there are two such dishes on the app. For the record the duck dishes listed as of today are: Stir-fried duck with pickled ginger Stir-fried duck with green chilli pepper Stir-fried duck with new crop ginger Stir-fried duck with sweet bamboo shoots Stir-fried duck with black wood-ear fungus I expected more comments on the 'peanuts with pig's tail soup', to be honest!

Why not?