liuzhou

The recent Dried Beans topic got me more thinking about beans in China. Although fresh beans are considerably easier to find, China of course also does them dried. I’ve always shied away from dealing with them here for one main reason – nomenclature. Many beans have multiple names in Chinese. I know three names for ‘broad beans’, Vicia faba, ‘蚕豆' (cán dòu), '胡豆' (hú dòu) or '罗汉豆' (luó hàn dòu), but then I also know three English names ‘broad beans’, ‘fava beans’ or ‘faba beans’. Chickpeas aka garbanzo beans, Cicer arietinum, also has two names in Chinese, '鹰嘴豆' (yīng zuǐ dòu) and 埃及都 (āi jí dū). In any one market, different vendors may use one or the other or even names from their dialect or any of China’s 600 languages! More troublesome, however, is that often one Chinese name refers to what most westerners consider to be several different beans. I’ve pretty much given up asking for ‘kidney beans’ by any of the two Chinese names I know, as I never know what I’ll be given. However, I’ve decided to bite the bullet and have a stab at trying to make some sense of the dried beans other than lentils in China. I’ll start tomorrow probably with what is by miles the most important bean, maybe not only in China but the world.

Interesting indeed. I believe some small producers in Europe have made wine flavoured types, but they are not common.

Yes, the texture is the same, but they aren't wine flavoured.

Same texture but there's no real wine flavour.

Baby's Tears Flavor. I call then 'teardrop plates'.

Those produced by the original British companies had the names of various wines formed on top of them - port, champagne, claret, sherry etc. They were marketed as 'wine substitutes' as part of the Temperance Movement, although that may have been in deference to old man Bassett's extreme beliefs. They may still do; I don't know. Those I have bought here have no words on them, despite words being shown on the packaging illustration. The texture is semi-firm and chewy like a thick jelly or gum.

Yes. I looked up the wrong word! Duh!

Thanks. I meant Twinkie. Twinkle was a 60s pop singer, sadly deceased. I was reading about her earlier and that confused me. Never come across the cake-like thing.

What is a Twinkle? I have searched but not come up with anything useful.

These are ten a penny round here. Used for making tofu or for more general purposes. I'd imagine Asian markets would have if there is one near you (?).

Well, I think this could be fun! A selection of small tools I bought this morning, prompted by my funnel having disappeared into the same place as socks go when they leave their partner mid-way through a wash cycle carrying off my Tupperware lids.

Bought me some eggs. Front L-R: Duck, Chicken, Quail, Goose. Back Centre: Ostrich

Most chicken stocks here include an element of mildly cured ham. I don't know what's available to you in Asian markets but Jinhua ham is considered the most luxurious.

Nor does it make it unreal! No, But only because there are cheaper and more powerful alternatives! And this has nothing to do with TCM (traditional Chinese medicine), of which I have often been highly critical on these forums. The studies referred to were not done in China. Antibacterial activity of green tea leaves extracts against specific bacterial strains - ScienceDirect Could green tea hold the key to reducing antibiotic resistance? | German Center for Infection Research

There are countless studies that acknowledge the antibacterial and antiseptic effects of green tea.

Stir fried ostrich with enoki mushrooms. Served with rice.

When you arrive in most restaurants in China, from hole-in-the-wall joints to expensive banquet places, you are presented with a cup of ambient temp or lukewarm green tea. This not for you to drink. It's used to clean and rinse your rice bowl and chopsticks. Green tea has proven antiseptic and antibacterial properties!

I found the article most amusing. It says there is little chance of tea being contaminated then lists several 'theoretical', 'in theory' possibilities which it already admitted are unlikely. The only real advice it offers is don't make your tea with cold water and don't make it in a dirty pot! Well, thanks. I'd never have thunk that for myself!

Breakfast on a chilly morning. A couple of slices of buttered WW toast (not pictured - you know what toast looks like!) and a cup of Bovril. This iconic beef extract made into a drink was actually invented in Canada in the 1870s, albeit by a Scottish man, John Lawson Johnston. He returned to the UK and sent Bovril out into the wider world. I did, a long time ago, find a Chinese knock-off version called Baoril. It wasn't a bad replica. Today's was the real deal, imported via Hong Kong. Bovril Ad circa 1900 - PD

The people where I live know a thing or two about drinking tea. Drinking ambient temperature tea is totally normal for them. In fact, I'd be willing to bet most tea is drunk this way. Bus, taxi drivers and other workers carry large flasks (not vacuum flasks) with them to sip on throughout the working day; students regularly such flasks of tea to schools and college lecture halls. My fellow faculty members did the same. Bankers will have the flasks on their desks, as do many office workers. Of course, they don't use milk in their tea but I can't see it making much difference if they did.

January the Tooth. 泡椒牛肉炒饭 (pào jiāo niú ròu chǎo fàn) Beef with pickled red and green chilli peppers plus added shrimp. The shrimp is not normal, but I like how their sweetness contrasts and complements the sourness of the hot peppers, Other ingredients include egg, carrot, peas, chives.

After a good rest, I can finally reveal what I did with my lamb. I abandoned my original plan and went with a north-western Chinese treatment. First I took some cumin seeds, toasted them in a dry wok and hand ground them to a powder in one of my too many mortar and pestle sets. Mixed in some salt and rubbed this into the lamb. Ideally, I would then have grilled them over charcoal but living in a city apartment block, that option is not available to me. So into a cast iron frying pan with a little oil they went. As they were frying, they were sprinkled with more cumin and some chilli flakes. and lo and behold. New Year's Dinner These I served with a wild mushroom fried rice.

Wine gums were invented by Charles Gordon Maynard and after some difficulty persuading his strict Methodist father that they do not contain any actual alcohol, were introduced to the market by the family’s London based confectionery company. When I was a kid, these were my favourite confection. Other companies soon copied them – the Maynard family had never trademarked the name! I favoured those by Basset’s another English company. Both companies ended up in the hands of Mondelez International, (originally Kraft Foods) who merged the two into Maynards Bassets. I hadn’t thought of them for many years until recently I saw some on my on-line shopping app when looking for something totally unrelated. Although the merged company still produces the wine gums, they don’t seem to export, at least not to China. What I saw were manufactured in The Netherlands, but by a German company with a distinctly British sounding name - Cavendish & Harvey. They offer two types. These are what I would call regular wine gums and similar to what I remember. Regular Wine Gums Then we have these These are 'sour wine gums' and yes, they ARE sour. VERY. Yet I like these best. Never had them before. Sour Wine Gums The fine sugar dusting does little to alleviate the sourness. Anyway, these are my new addiction. It'll wear off when my teeth fall out!

I'm not sure what's happening to my country of birth lately, but after The Great British Cheese Heist and the The Great British Pie Heist, some light-fingered villains have made off with 400 50-litre kegs of Ireland's greatest export. That is 35,200 pints of the black gold. And in the middle of a pre-existing shortage at that. Story here. I hope they have my address, for delivery!

I'm doing prep for dinner now, in case I run out of energy later - it was a late night. Having complained recently about the shocking difficulty I have sourcing lamb, I made a special effort and managed to track some down in far-away Gansu province and had some shipped. I had to buy a lot, so most is in the freezer, but I left these to thaw overnight. They need a bit longer defrosting but then I'll marinate them. Also, bought some rosemary which will be involved somehow.