liuzhou

Absolutely nothing to do with red food colouring. That would make them look even less Asian. I've never seen that used on ribs anywhere in East or S.E. Asia. What I noticed was the size of the pieces. They would normally be bite-sized here - half the size of those at the forefront of Norm's picture. We use chopsticks! But what clinched it for me was that they appear to be sprinkled with sesame seeds, a peculiar western practice to make dishes look Asian. It rarely happens here.

I think this belongs here. One of my Chinese friends has stumbled across Masterchef US videos and wanted to me to watch a couple as she had some questions. I'm not a fan, mainly because I find Joe Bastardanich an unbearable, ignorant, arrogant bully. Anyway, the first sample was from the first season - part four. In the early part of the episode a contestant had won an advantage by being allowed to choose one of three ingredients for everyone to make a Chinese dish. She was offered a range of Chinese mushrooms (some of which Ramsay listed using their Japanese names), mandarin oranges or duck. The contestant said she didn't know of any Chinese dishes using duck! Peking Duck is probably the most famous Chinese dish! But she chose the mandarin oranges, something I have never, ever seen in any Chinese cooking - domestic or professional. The fourteen contestants then cooked a range of 'Chinese dishes' none of which anyone in China would recognise. They used ingredients unknown in China - allspice, for example. And all the 'wrong' cooking techniques. But every cliché in the book. My friend asked "What are they doing? Using his best American English, Ramsay asks one contestant if her dish is a starter or my least favourite word, an 'entreé'. There are no such concepts in Chinese cuisine. My friend, an Americanophile, was utterly baffled. "Ramsay claims that no one knows more about food than he does. How can he get this so wrong?" Then we moved on to Series 8 Episode 1 for some comedy. One would-be contestant at the audition stage stated: "I spent a lot of time in China. I have studied the culture and the food." Three minutes later she said "I lived in China for two months." As my friend reminded me, I have lived in China for 25 years and am nowhere near an expert in Chinese food or culture. No one is. Two months barely gives you time to work out where the nearest restaurant is! And she didn't speak Chinese. Her audition dish was, according to her, a 'Beijing Duck Taco'. The duck component was nowhere near a Beijing duck. And it didn't even look like a taco. She failed the audition and was sent packing. Now I'm trying to find a Chinese video of people trying to cook western food and getting it totally wrong.

What makes they 'Asian'? They don't look Asian to me. Why is falling off the bone bad? I am sure they were delicious, but...

I don't mind it, But far from my favourite.

Bizarre. Gong Bao Chicken is what you probably call Kung-po Chicken but no one in China does! These are Oishi brand from the Philippines. But made in China.

24. Broccoli Background I recently read somewhere (sorry I forget where) something about someone lamenting that he or she was no longer able to find broccoli and chicken. I'd never heard of the combination. Broccoli and beef, I had heard of but never eaten. Although China now produces over half the world's supply of this vegetable, it is not at all traditional. Its Chinese name is 西兰花 (xī lán huā), which literally means 'Western Orchid'. 'Western' is used to indicate its origin, which is the Mediterranean region. It was only introduced to China as recently as the 1980s, but even 25 years ago when I arrived, it was very rarely available. 罗马花椰菜 (luó mǎ huā yé cà) or 宝塔花菜 (bǎo tǎ huā cài) - literally, 'pagoda cauliflower', broccoli Romanesco only appeared two years ago and baffled everyone! The beef and broccoli dish is said by some to have been introduced by Chinese immigrants in the US, who substituted the broccoli for what they would otherwise use back in China. I don't entirely buy that theory as there seems to be no dish that comes close. 芥兰 (jiè lán), Cantonese 'gai lan', sometimes known as Chinese broccoli is only vaguely related, and is not usually served in that manner. However, the beef and broccoli dish is certainly American. I guess the chicken variation is simply that - someone's idea to vary the choice. When broccoli is served here, it is nearly always simply stir fried with garlic. Occasionally stir fried with ham. Stir Fried Broccoli with Garlic Some years ago, there was one small bar / restaurant in Liuzhou operated by a Dutch plumber and his Chinese girlfriend. The only vegetable they ever served from their small menu was boiled broccoli. The place didn't last long. Neither did the romantic relationship, but I don't know if broccoli was entirely to blame for that! Broccoli Romanesco with Hunan Ham - All my own work. Cooking and photography!

I though you were about to regale us with a tale of a stoned weekend, which would have been fun, too!

Today I was the lucky recipient of precisely what I needed. A red onion. I knew I needed one and was in the local store late in the day buying other stuff known as 啤酒 and spotted one sad lone red onion. So I picked it up. The shopkeeper, who knows me well, refused to even weigh it to price it and threw it (gently) into my basket free, gratis, without charge! Nice guy! Nice onion!

These have become a serious addiction. They are small (2½ inch / 6.5 cm long), spicy pork sausages from Guizhou province in China, made by the Tujia ethic minority. Each package contains two of the sausages. The packages are colour coded. The orange ones are the least spicy - merely incendiary. The red are hotter - nuclear. And the purple are thermonuclear. I always eat three packs in ascending order of spice. Beer is required. I buy these in lots of 100 packages of each at a time.

Internet hosting services tend to be annual deals. So, if my company takes out a deal today and folds tomorrow, the website will continue for a year. It's meaningless. Telephone services, on the other hand...

I do recall over salty feta but this stuff has never been anywhere near salt. Saline free food The next fad!

Stir fried salted broad beans. Beer food of excellence. Not sure my dentist agrees, though!

I decided to taste a little of the cheese to reacquaint myself with the taste. Wow! It's so mild I think they forgot to brine it! I remember feta being decidedly salty. This ain't!

Your hypermarket food selection looks very similar to mine.

Too late! Put your warning before the picture! But it's OK. I know Indian-Chinese cuisine is a whole different planet!

I've found some feta cheese in China. I haven't eaten it in 30 years. Suggestions?

as the article says

Not if you have negotiated the appropriate fee in advance. Or so I'm told! I really think you can't beat smoked fish as a starter. My preference is smoked sturgeon, bu tpretty much any smoked fish.

Yes, I know but, in my experience, in general, people in those countries are more demanding about the quality of their sardines than people in some other places. That's all.

One of my favourite food writers on the nitrate / nitrite problem. Good read. Or maybe not.

Having read the menu, I would avoid it like the plague. That said, the worst Indian food I've ever eaten was in India. That was in 1970 / 71. Hopefully it has improved. I'm sorry to say that I did vist Kerala, but can't really remember the food scene. I am enjoying your story. Please don't take this too negatively. I am willing to be converted!

Probably. I don't know.

While that may be a factor, I remain convinced that Portugal just selects better quality fish in the first place. If I compare the fish in my favourite Portuguese sardines with say a British brand, the former are notably larger, plumper and yes, tastier. Top quality attracts a premium price.

Glad to read it's limited! Hopefully to one for the photo.

I'm more wondering why I have to stand in a cool place for half an hour. I have air conditioning!