liuzhou

Although the 螺蛳 (luó sī) in the previous post are the most common in Liuzhou, they are not the most common across China. That duty falls upon 石螺 (shí luó), Sinotaia quadrata. The Chinese name means ‘stone snails’’, presumably because they resemble stones (?) I have found no common name in English but that’s not surprising as they are native to East and SE Asia, although they have been introduced in a couple of non-English speaking countries as invasive species. "Stone Snails" They are found all over China and although they are eaten by humans, most go to aquaculture to feed farmed fish and crabs. They are popular in Isan ‘(Thai: อีสาน) areas of north-eastern Thailand. I once had a wonderful curried snail dish in Udon Thani (Thai: อุดรธานี) which used them. Very popular here in Guangxi is this dish of stone snails with roast tilapia, usually served to groups of beer drinkers (including one depraved Scottish man). There is a whole roasted tilapia under the sauce and toppings Then we have 田螺 (tián luó), Pond snails, Lymnaeidae. As the name implies these live in ponds and rivers but the Chinese name means ‘field sails’ as they also like to hang out in rice fields / paddies, where they eat things which prey on the seedlings. They can also appear in the tilapia dish above.

I have this one Bizarrely, I bought it in China. How it ended up here (in English), I have no idea. I have cooked from it, but a long time ago. I forget what. I'll have to go dig it out.

The snails are usually stewed and, here, very spicy. You could use a crabmeat pick, but toothpicks are more commonly used. Most Chinese restaurants have toothpick dispensers on each table, whether they sell snails or not. Conches are technically larger sea snails, although popular nomenclature distinguishes.

Part of my French heritage on my mother's side, means that I grew up regularly eating terrestrial gastropod molluscs, specifically escargot, snails. Love 'em. When I moved to Liuzhou, I didn’t know about the city’s deep affinity to snails. But was delighted to find out. The city’s signature dish, Luosifen is snail flavoured noodles. But I’ve never see terrestrial snails here. The rice noodle dish is made with aquatic snails, Margarya melanioides, a type in the family Viviparidae, the river snails. These are known as 螺蛳 (luó sī), hence 螺蛳粉 (luó sī fěn). They are widely consumed, not only as an ingredient in luosifen but several other dishes. The intact snails and their de-shelled meat are both sold in supermarkets. 螺蛳 螺蛳肉 - luosi meat Another snail we see is Oncomelania hupensis guangxiensis, a species of very small tropical freshwater snail, an aquatic gastropod mollusk in the family, Pomatiopsidae. These are a local subspecies in a family native to east Asia. These are completely overshadowed by 螺蛳 (luó sī) and are rarely seen; in fact when they are, they are always mislabelled – They are correctly 钉螺 (dīng luó), literally ‘nail snails’, due to their pointed nature. They are also prone to the schistosomiasis blood fluke parasite, and the paragonimus lung fluke parasites. The Chinese name for snail fever (bilharzia or schistosomiasis), disease caused by schistosome parasitic flatworm is 罗汉 病 (luó hàn bìng), literally ‘arhat sickness’, attributable to the Buddhist monks who fed on them. I avoid them. Parasite infested monks and snails! Then we have sea snails (海螺 - hǎi luó). Again, there are multiple species. I have no idea which these are. Usually only found in seafood restaurants and seldom in supermarkets or wet markets. It’s actually easier to buy the empty shells than the meaty ones. Those are used in the decorative arts. Sea Snails 🐌

I think there are two types of such ennui, although the two can sometimes coincide. a) Cooking ennui. Sometimes I just can't be arsed with the shopping, cleaning, chopping, stirring etc. When that strikes, I just go out or order meals in. b) Eating ennui. Obviously more dangerous. Sometimes, although hungry, I just can't be bothered with the whole eating exercise. This is especially annoying, after I have spent hours preparing and cooking an eight dish meal for friends and then just feel totally uninterested in eating it myself. It's easy for this to last a few days. I usually ease myself back by making a simple, slightly spicy lentil soup. Or just have cheese with bread or crackers.

Happily, the bottled Doritos hasn't made it to China. Yet.

I'm sure. It isn't that they're unavailable here. Sadly, they are. It's just I don't eat this kind of industrial crap, especially when it is made from the evil pestilence that is cØrn.

I'm in no position to comment on this as I've never tasted Doritos in my life, but I remember reading this a couple of years ago. Interesting back story. Didn't make me want to run out and buy either the edible or potable kind, though.

Toxic truth? The cookware craze redefining ‘ceramic’ and ‘nontoxic’ | Health & wellbeing | The Guardian

Guardian cartoon

Well, I live in Dumplingland, They are as un-exceptional as the sun rising in the morning. But I love most of them.

Some local bright spark has upgraded the cloche concept. He has cut off the tops of three of these 12 litre water bottles for drinking water dispensers and tied them together. Genius.

小笼包 (xiǎo lóng bāo), literally small basket dumplings, with a soy and vinegar dip.

And mine - a cheap one. The cloche; not my head!

I’m beside myself! Scored this this morning. Here is my translation of the description provided. Lean Cured Meat, A Speciality Of Hunan, Smoked Meat, Homemade Smoked Salted Meat From Local Farmers, Pork Tenderloin, And Dried Cured Meat From Hunan, Not From Sichuan Apart from liking a bit of Hunan charcuterie, I’ve never tried smoked meat made from farmers. I never fancied Sichuan farmer’s though. Those boys are obviously inferior meat. Now re-vacuum-packed into more manageable portions.

I mentioned these briefly in passing back in the depths of this topic but for some reason, I hadn't bought one for a long time, until yesterday. It is 香瓜 (xiāng guā), meaning fragrant melon. It is a type of Cucumis melo, although that family contains many types of melon including honeydew and cantaloupe. These are more specifically Cucumis melo Makuwa Group , which still contains several cultivars, but all similar in taste and general size, although varying in shape and colour: green as here but also yellow and white skinned. Sometimes, called Oriental Melons. The are believed to be native to Eastern India and then came to China via the Silk Road. From China, they were introduced to Japan and Korea, where they remain extremely popular. In Japanese, they are 真桑瓜 or まくわうり (makuwa uri); in Korean, 참외 (chamoe). They are rather less sweet than most melons you may be used to: somewhere between melon and cucumber. The skin is also edible. This one weighs 417 g / 14.08 oz.

It's litchi / lychee* sea season! These images are from my friend's grandparents' farm in Guangdong Province, China. * 荔枝 (lì zhī)

Yeah. I've been doing that for about 50 years!

One of my favourites, which I omitted to mention before is 猪皮冻 (zhū pí dòng), pig skin jelly. This is basically pig skin boiled in water to make a gelatinous broth which on cooling turns to jelly. Various flavourings can be added just as you would with most stocks, ginger and garlic being the most common. I've seen suggestions to add soy sauce (usually on American Chinese websites), but never seen that here. Surprisingly delicious. Unsurprisingly served cold.

Today, I took delivery of a refill of my caviar supply. As you do. As usual it came with 'gifts'. Normally they throw in a pack of wonderful hot smoked sturgeon but this time that brought a friend. 150g of Sturgeon Steak. I'm not sure what I'll do with it, yet but thanks! The smoked sturgeon will probably be lunch in a day or two.

It does indeed but the leaves are smaller. I should have linked to this. It is classified as an endangered species in the USA.

No need to be sorry. Some topics should be bumped; some should be dumped.

Here is an odd one. 香柳 (xiāng liǔ), Elaeagnus angustifolia, is a thorny tree native to China. In English it sometimes referred to as silver berry. Alternate names include Russian olive, oleaster or wild olive. These alternates are referring to the trees fruit, which visually resembles olives, although the two plants are unrelated. The fruit is fragrant sweet but seldom eaten due to its dry, mealy texture but surprise, surprise the leaves, fruit and bark are all used in TCM. The only culinary application I’m aware of is that the leaves 香柳叶 (xiāng liǔ yè) are used to remove “fishy smells” from fresh fish. I have told them that if their fish is smelly, it isn’t fresh. They don’t believe me,

I did search this topic for any previous mention of Porthos but there are none. Yes, I meant "Never Porthos Again".

When my favourite sardines disappeared from every store in China a week ago, I went in search for an alternative. My favourite sardines My favourite sardines The only Portuguese sardines I could find were these from Porthos, a Portuguese canning company. I looked them up and it seemed they have a good reputation with some even suggesting they are among the best in Portugal. So, I ordered one can to sample them, intending to reorder if they were satisfactory. They arrived and I tried them this noon. On opening the can, I could barely make out the fish in their pool of suspiciously dark oil. I drained them and found these tiny little fish-shaped things. That side plate they are sitting on is 6 inches / 12.5 cm in diameter. Each fish was under 3 “/ 17 cm long. Half the size or less than my favourites. Still I fork mashed them up to have them on sourdough toast. Well, I tried to mash them but their strange texture made that a difficult task. Finally I put half of the resultant ‘mash’ on the sourdough and attempted to eat them. Utterly disgusting. I couldn’t finish it. Since then, I have brushed my teeth about eight times, but can’t shake off the lingering aftertaste. Never again.