liuzhou

Although we get fresh figs in season from street vendors, I've never seen them in a fruit store or supermarket, though. Strange. The supermarkets do, however, all stock unappealing-looking dried figs year round. No idea what anyone does with them, though. Must find out.

I've been using Delia's recipe since 1979. Wouldn't change it, at all. https://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/type-of-dish/vegetarian-recipes/jacket-potatoes

3. 黄鳝 (huáng shàn) This young lady is looking out over a lush rice paddy in Liuzhou, just prior to the harvest. Rice is rightfully held in high esteem and respect in China. Wasting rice is seen as a sign of depravity and of cruel indifference to the peasants who toil relentlessly to bring it to the table. But those rice paddies supply much more than just rice, as we will see. Today features just one example. Rice Paddy and Home to Eels? Monopterus albus, aka Asian swamp eel, rice eel, rice-field eel, or rice paddy eel is known in Chinese as 黄鳝 (huáng shàn) which literally means ‘yellow eel’. Note, this is not what is NOT what is known as yellow eel in the west – a different species. Swamp Eels These eels live in the rice paddies, as well as ditches etc. They are happiest at home in shallow muddy freshwater. Unusually, they have both gills and are able to breath air directly. They are also hermaphrodites, all being born female, but with some changing to male when required! They are native to a swathe of Asia from India across China and down into SE Asia , Malaysia and Indonesia. The are also important food animals in many of these countries, especially in Thailand. They are also farmed extensively in China, Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar/Burma. It seems that Japan is about the only country to have them, but not eat them! They have also been introduced in Florida as recently as the 1990s. Whether that is a problem is yet to be determined. Will we ever learn? The eels are usually sold live and are often served with the rice they cohabit with in the paddies. Swamp Eel and Rice This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic license Although common across rice-eating southern China, swamp eels are particularly prized and reach their culinary apogee in the area known as Jiangnan. Jiangnan means south of the river, the river being what is known in English as the Yangtze, a name unknown to most Chinese. It is the 长江 (cháng jiāng – literally ‘River Chang’). The area of the south-eastern reaches includes some of China’s culinary giants, including Yangzhou (home of Yangzhou* Fried Rice, Shaoxing (of wine fame), Hangzhou, Wuxi, Suzhou, Ningbo (seafood central) and Shanghai. Famous dishes from this part of the world include Dongpo Pork, Lion’s Head Meatballs, Shrimp with Dragon’s Well Tea, Drunken Chicken, Water Shield Soup and many more. In her study of exhaustive study of Jiangnan cuisine, Land of Fish and Rice (eG-friendly Amazon.com link), Fuchsia Dunlop mentions that swamp eel is popular and cites some dishes: ‘hissing-oil eels’ from Suzhou, Ningbo eels cooked with yellow chives and fava beans and Wuxi crisp deep-fried eels. She does not however give any recipes, saying “”paddy eels are hard to find outside China”. Pity. * Yangzhou is actually just north of the river, but gets an honourable inclusion!

All steak restaurants in China use the same scale for measuring temperature / doneness, but sometimes different terminology. Here it is again, this time illustrated: The pictures could be better - the medium rare and medium look the same to me - so, I've also translated what it was intended to be. Chinese Pinyin Literal Translation English 一分熟 yī fēn shú One point cooked Rare 三分熟 sān fēn shú Three point cooked Medium Rare 五分熟 wǔ fēn shú Five Point Cooked Medium 七分熟 qī fēn shú Seven Point Cooked Medium Well 全熟 quán shú Fully Cooked Well Done I hope that is useful and you can at least order what you want. I can't guarantee what will turn up, though. (Don't mess with them and order an even number!)

Interesting (?) recipe for squash risotto with chestnut chilli oil in the Guardian today.

Pretty much what I do but I don't do 400. I'm metric.

2. 凉拌海蜇丝 (liáng bàn hǎi zhé sī) Rhopilema esculentum Image by Bill Abbott - This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license. In the south, Guangxi shares a border with Vietnam and lies on the Gulf of Tonkin, giving the region a sea port area. This includes the important cities of Beihai, Qinzhou and Fangchenggang. The first two are heavily involved in a fishing and aquaculture, especially Beihai. So, the region is not short of seafood as are so many of China’s provinces, most of which are land-locked. However, today’s foodstuff has its origin far away in northern China, in the eastern province of Liaoning. Here, every year, millions of young Rhopilema esculentum larvae are raised to a sustainable size, then released into the oceans around China where they drift with the tides and winds as they grow to around 2.5 kilograms (5.5 lb). They are then harvested wherever they have drifted to and, after processing, end up on our tables. Note: of the 4000+ species of jellyfish, only around a dozen are edible and they must be processed properly to be safe to eat. Don't be trying to eat what you come across at your local beach! 海蜇 (hǎi zhé), Rhopilema esculentum is the most important type of edible jellyfish, a popular food item here and across China, as well as much of East and south-east Asia. Processing involves removing the tentacles (and sting) then the dome-like head and body is salted before being shredded and sold as a snack food or in prepared cold salads known as 凉拌海蜇丝 (liáng bàn hǎi zhé sī) – Cold Dressed Jellyfish Strips in supermarkets and restaurants. It can also be pickled or dehydrated. Jellyfish Salad It is always served raw at room temperature and has a very fine flavour (some say tasteless), but it is refreshingly gelatinous but crisp.

It's just a random brand name. No venison is involved.

广西壮族自治区 Guǎngxī Zhuàngzú Zìzhìqū Gvangjsih Bouxeungh Swcigih Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region It has often been said that where I live in China, the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, has no distinct cuisine of its own. While that is partly true, it is an over-simplification. Yes, the south is largely Cantonese whereas the north leans more to the robust, chill-laden flavours of Hunan and Guizhou provinces. However, that is to ignore the cuisine of the region’s ethnic minorities, including, but not limited to the Zhuang (壮族), China’s largest minority most of whom live here. Also, there is an influence from the Hakka (客家) people who are displaced members of the majority Han Chinese. A significant number of Hakka also live in Guangxi. So, I thought I’d take the opportunity to introduce some of the things I find in my local supermarkets, markets and other stores which you may not find in yours. I’m not planning on going looking for deliberate oddness or exotica, but instead just everyday food here. I’ll start with 酿豆腐 (niàng dòu fu) - Stuffed Tofu Cubes or Balls. Carolyn Phillips in her All Under Heaven (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) covers this as Zhuang-Style Stuffed Bean Curd Balls. However, although the Zhuang have certainly embraced the concept, I believe it is originally a Hakka preparation. Cubes or balls of firm tofu are hollowed out and stuffed with a spiced pork paste. Fish is sometimes added or the pork completely replaced by a fish paste. These turn up at family meals and family celebrations – less often at formal banquets. Stuffed Tofu Cubes (酿豆腐) In recent years, instead of using tofu, all sorts of things get the stuffing treatment. Shiitake, bitter melon, eggplant / aubergine and chilli peppers (see illustration). A selection of stuffed vegetables Stuffed Green Chilli Peppers Pork and Shiitake Stuffed Bitter Melon These are made at home, but also ready prepared and sold in many supermarkets to be steamed or fried at home.

Yes. Same thing. 瓜 can be translated as melon, gourd, squash etc. Everything from cucumber to watermelon is a 瓜 in Chinese. Bitter melon is a 瓜. All 瓜.

er, yes. sometimes.

I bought it here in China. It's a meat tenderiser tool. Available from Walmart etc. See here.

Can I clarify something? When you guys talk about winter squash, you mean any of the squashes which fruit in winter, yes? I'm just a little confused as round these parts we have a specific squash known as 冬瓜 (dōng guā), which literally means "winter squash". It is also known as the wax gourd (Benincasa hispida). Do you get them? 冬瓜- Winter Squash Often served in soup.

Lunch 藕芽炒牛肉 (ǒu yá chǎo niú ròu) - Lotus Sprout Fried Beef. Rice. The lotus was pickled. I prefer fresh, but wrong time of year.

I stab my spuds with this. It is sprung so that the spikes retract safely for storage. One stab - 24 holes.

Yes. I don't know what the percentage is here, but I can see that it is higher. People ain't going to pay me for my trash then throw it away!

Everything here is recyclable. We have three or four different bins for different categories of waste. Everyone, including me, ignores the designations. We all know that within minutes of our depositing our waste there will be a queue of independent recyclers picking through our trash for anything they can sell. You might need 500 plastic water bottles to get any cash worth having but one more gets you there. Some people specialize. I've got my cardboard and paper lady who comes to my door and pays me to take away my trash. Similarly, the glass bottle guy pays me. It's not that long since even human waste was gathered in cities and recycled to agricultural land. In the countryside it still happens. A few years ago,a friend and I sat for an hour near a trash can on a busy shopping street with branches of McDs and local eateries etc and counted how many times it was searched. In one hour it was searched 42 times. Normal. Bottles, paper cups, Styrofoam boxes, plastic bags - all recyclable.

It almost 50 years since my first wife died but I always think of her when I scramble eggs. For years I couldn't make them as I like them, but I always somehow nailed hers. (She wasn't being polite; she didn't do fake polite!) To put it in steak terms, she liked hers medium well - minimum liquid but not 100% dry. I'm more a medium rare guy. With both steaks and scrambled eggs. Not together! Omelettes we agreed on. Medium rare, light and fluffy.

I'm fairly sure I've never burnt carrots in my life and I cook with cast iron 90% of the time. I don't do sweet potatoes - not a lover.

This is as much a warning as aything else. For decades, a type of yogurt has been sold on the streets of, especially Beijing, but also throughout China. It is known as 北京酸奶 (běi jīng suān nǎi) or, less commonly, 北京奶酪 (běi jīng nǎi lào) and in the past was sold in these returnable bottles, although they are disappearing and disposable containers are taking over. The latter term, 奶酪 (nǎi lào) is now mainly used to refer to cheeese rather than yogurt. Beijing Yogurt Returnable Bottles Image: Nikolaj Potanin licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license. The literal meaning of 酸奶 (suān nǎi) is 'sour milk', although it is used to describe all types of yogurt. The author of the relevant Wikipedia article makes the rookie mistake of confusing etymology and meaning by claiming it 'means' sour milk'. It doesn't. However, Beijing Yoghurt is no ordinary yogurt. It is in fact yogurt mixed with rice wine and has added sugar and sometimes nuts and raisins. So it is mildly alcoholic. Recently, I have seen examples labelled as 酸奶酒 (suān nǎi jiǔ) and flavoured with various fruits - mango, blueberry, strawberry etc. 酸奶酒 (suān nǎi jiǔ) means 'yogurt wine' and these brews reach from 6%ABV up to 12% ABV. So if you are with kids and they ask for strawberry yogurt, check it is only strawberry yogurt. Look for the character 酒 (jiǔ) meaning 'alcohol' or 'wine'. China has no particular age-related laws concerning sales of alcohol to minors so the sellers aren't going to help! Kid Friendy Ad for Mango Yogurt Wine 6% ABV

Lunch: 土匪猪肝 (tǔ fěi zhū gān) - Bandit Liver North-western Hunan, known as Xiangxi, was one of the last places to fall under Mao's communist control. For decades it had been bandit country, ruled over by warlords and the lawless. Whether that gives its name to this dish, a specialty of the region, is open to debate. One legend claims that the artist and gourmet, Zhang Daqian, was kidnapped by bandits as a boy and 'employed' as a scribe/teacher due to his ability to write. While he was in captivity, the cook taught him this among many other dishes. He went on to claim "As far as art is concerned, I am good at cooking and I am better at painting." On the other hand, there are many dishes known as bandit something in the area. Bandit chicken, bandit duck, bandit fish etc. He didn't come into possession of all their secrets. More likely, the dish is so named because of the lack of finesse. It is a hearty rustic dish of quick-fried sliced pork liver with dried chilli as well as both fresh red and green peppers*, shallots, ginger and garlic. * Hot chilli peppers; not those bell monstrosities! 肉末香辣土豆丝 (ròu mò xiāng là tǔ dòu sī) - Minced Pork with Potato Slivers I mentioned these recently. Simple slivered potatoes, here with minced pork, stir-fried with a little white rice wine vinegar and served, not as a staple as in western cooking, but just as another accompanying vegetable. Hunanese comfort food

Someone with way too much time on their hands has come up with this horror. What do you want for breakfast? Steamed Chinese baozi buns or leftover pizza? Hey! Let's combine the two! We can call them BAOZZI! Available in the following varieties: Salami and Margherita Salami and Spinach Salami and BBQ Chicken Salami and Roast Duck Margherita and Spinach Margherita and Chicken Margherita and Duck Spinach and Grilled Chicken Spinach and Roast Duck Spinach and Cheese BBQ Chicken and Roast Duck Available in Shanghai for around $7 USD a pack of two. Delivery to me costs another $4. Pass. By a wide berth.

Flounder is a pretty unhelpful term - it just refers to flatfish belonging to a group of distantly related families, namely the Pleuronectoidei (families Achiropsettidae, Bothidae, Pleuronectidae, Paralichthyidae, and Samaridae) Turbot is in the Scophthalmidae family and therefore not a flounder. That said, they share similar qualities and appearance.

Turbot Turbot is very common here in southern China - usually steamed with soy sauce. Here is one example I ate (along with other chopstick wielders) in Hunan. A fine fish!

Dinner: Still working my way through the big plate chicken! I'll be here for days! I was concerned that it might be too potato-ey (they are cheaper than chicken, of course) but I found otherwise. It is full of chicken (on the bone, of course). In fact, I would have liked more spuds! They soak up the flavours. Washed down with my nice 20-year old Shaoxing.