liuzhou

Perhaps bizarrely, I find myself in the local Traditional Chinese Medicine hospital. This Is not so desperate as it may seem. In fact, the hospital offers both TCM and western thought and diagnostics etc. They mix and match, usually leaving the choice up to me. The food situation has fallen apart. The first couple of meals were passable. The third inedible. The problem is that the person charged with bringing me meals is at least one dish short of a banquet. She asks me what I would like, then in response to my suggestions gives me a long list of 'don't have; don't have. I am requesting only the most common dishes. My request that instead of telling what they don't have, it might help if she told me what they DO have just baffled her. On Saturday evening, I suggested 青椒肉片 which is a simple pork and green chili stir fried staple. 'Don't have!' I said that they must have some kind of dish with pork and vegetables served with rice. Yes! She returned with this Well, I suppose it technically meets the description. A dry, bland puck of chopped pork. Some fried greens devoid of the usual garlic, ginger etc. Overcooked low quality rice. No sauce of any kind. Sunday evening after a long day of tests and pain, I didn't eat anything other than a bowl of soup. Monday evening, I gave up and said 'anything'. Big mistake. This arrived. I immediately lost it and asked the woman if she was crazy. 'I DON'T EAT THE SAME DOG FOOD EVERY DAY!' She scuttled off. God know what will happen today.

Nor do I have e-mail on my cell phone. By choice. I have a life.

Great story indeed! Thanks for linking.

While the food isn't going to win any stars, it is better than some university canteens I've eaten in, in the past. I planned to post a couple of photos but took them at a higher resolution and size than eG likes. I can't see any way to resize in my Android cellphone. How strange! So photos will have to wait until I return to the real world.

In America?

I'm just waiting for someone to pop up to tell me about their Authentic Traditional Chinese Willow Pattern Serving Dishes!

Good point.

Here's the only one I have. Except they aren't soup dumplings. Or steamed. They are food themed candles!

Serving soup dumplings is the situation I mostly see them in, but less and less often. Note "serving". They may not be steamed in bamboo baskets but just tranferred for serving. As I stressed in the China Fod Myths topic, I have never seen a bamboo basket in a domestic kichen in China or a kitchen supply store in China.

They are unhygienic and cost inefficient given their short lifespan. They were never seen as iconic in China. That is a western cliche.

I did actually complete it; just didn't get the chance to post my result before being whisked off by ambulance, sirens blaring.

Unfortunately, I'm in hospital again. Different one from last time. And better food, at least judging by the two meals I've had so far - breakfast and lunch. I'll elaborate later.

Ahh! The famous bamboo steamer baskets that everyone in China uses! Except almost no one does. Number 3 in the China Food Myths topic.

As promised, clarification. The Chinese name is slightly more helpful. 冰皮月饼 (bīng pí yuè bǐng）means íce skin mooncakes. Basically they are sweetened durian pulp wrapped in a sort of artificial cream and frozen. From my Chinese-English food dictionary: It is wrong about 'snow'. 冰 definitely means íce'. 'Snow is 雪 (xuě). Ingredients as listed are: Durian pulp, pure milk, ice skin powder [hydroxyendyl distarch phosphates, white sugar powder, non-dairy cream (glucose syrup, hydrogenated coconut oil, casein, diglycerol fatty acid ester, diacetyl tartaric mono and digyceride, dipotassium hydrogen phosphate, sodium tripolyphosphate, sugar, xanthan gum, salt) beta carotene]. Lovely! So 100% durian! They aren't even Malaysian. They are Cantonese. Yet, surprisingly moreish.

Yeah. And cloves of raw garlic in Vietnam. Xi'an restaurants also have raw garlic on the table.

I (and the kitchen) despair when seeing diners in restaurants automatically reach for the salt and pepper then use it without having tasted anything! My father was a major indulger in this madness. I do not possess table salt or pepper dispensers. Never seen them here. Seasoning is done in the kitchen. Seasoning post-cooking can seldom replicate cooking properly seasoned ingredients. Even when it does work, say salting fries, it is still better to do it immediately - in the kitchen.

Yes. It's 14. Sorry. Typo. Neither 13 or 14 hold any significance.

When they say 100% durian, I think they mean the durian used is 100% durian! 😂. I'll cut one in half and take a picture later. I'll also translate the lengthy ingredient list!\ But I still love 'em!

The main purpose of advertising is to persuade people into buying things they don't need. We all need food, so that is very low priority in advertising terms. Ever seen an advertisement for lettuce? Even when food or drink is advertised, it is seldom the actual product that is being advertised, but the brand name.

It has been an odd day. At 4:30 pm, three people from the local government turned up at my home with two boxes of mooncakes for me! Mid-Autumn Festival is this weekend and is the traditional time to eat mooncakes. These are an upmarket version as sold in the local Ramada hotel. I'll add more detail when I actually eat one or eight! Then at 5:45 my phone rang. "Delivery Service. Are you at home?" Somewhat baffled I answered the door to a courier bearing three parcels. All addressed to me. The first was followed by a bunch of bunches of grapes and last but not least 14 kiwi fruit. Sent to me as a gift from an old friend. Again to mark the festival! Happy day! I know which I will enjoy the most. Durian Ice Mooncakes!

My party piece is using two pairs of chopsticks simultaneously, one in each hand, and eating twice as quickly as everyone else.

This is my bone cleaver. 690 grams as opposed to 350 grams of my regular Chinese cooks' knife. The bone cleaver has cut through everything I've given it. It does need a regular touch up with the steel, though.

I did consider that. But it is about 38℃ here and the fridges are full! I'm sleeping in one of them!

I bought me some smoked duck breasts. Decided to try one. Very pleasant. Five more in freezer.