liuzhou

Yellow Croaker Here we have a very common fish round these parts: 小黄花鱼 (xiǎo huáng huā yú), Larimichthys polyactis, Yellow Croaker or Corvina. Both wild caught, but more likely farmed, off China’s east coast in the East China and Yellow Seas. These are one of the few fish sold both fresh and frozen, but they are also sold dried or smoked. The fish tend to be around 20-25 cm / 8-10 inches in length. The dried or smoked fish are usually added to hotpots and soups, whereas the unprocessed are shallow fried with spices and herbs. The meat is very delicate and needs handling with care to keep the creature intact. Fans of Korean cuisine may know this one as the salted and dried favourite delicacy, 굴비 - gulbi. Fried Yellow Croaker with Herbs, Spices and Fried Soybeans

I spent time there in Tito's time, too. 1970 or '71. All I really remember, like you, is the seafood and wine.

I often crave bitter melon. I usually do it with beef, but whatever - the melon is the star.

Snubnose Pompano I posted this in the Dinner 2021 topic a couple of days ago. It is 鲳鱼 (chāng yú),Trachinotus blochii, or Snubnose Pompano. Pompano is a 21-member family of marine fish, most of which are eaten. The snubnose variety is found in the Red Sea and East Africa to the Marshall Islands and Samoa, north to southern Japan, south to Australia. Here it is farmed on China’s east coast near Shandong province and others. The local supply is again from Beihai. It is sometimes marketed (both here and elsewhere) as 小昌鱼 (xiǎo chāng yú)*, Silvery Pomfret or Butterfish, but these are not true pomfrets, which are a completely different species. Snubnose Pompano Snubnose sold here are around 26 cm/10 inches nose to tail, although they can grow much larger. Their meat is delicious, but there isn’t a lot of it! I will happily eat a whole one myself and still be looking for more. I have been to family dinners where two or three of them were prepared. They are normally steamed, but can be pan or even deep fried after being coated with starch. I use potato starch rather than the monstrous type so favoured by many. Pan Fried Snubnose Pompano Probably the best I ever had though wasn’t in China, but was cooked by a Chinese woman on a beach on a Thai island which must remain secret! Actually, it needn’t as it is now totally out of bounds to visitors as part of a protected area and you can’t go there anyway! The fish was fried and covered with a delicious chilli-heavy sauce. I have tried to replicate it, but it has never worked. The ambience was part of the recipe. *The middle character 昌 is wrong. It should be 鲳. However, the label and sign writers in the local supermarket regularly get their own language wrong. With 10s of thousands of characters to recall, it isn't surprising. Doesn't help me with identification though, when the name they give is incorrect.

Interesting read here from Trinity College Dublin about their research and experience brewing a 16th century beer in 2021. Very detailed. I look forward to seeing that!

End of the avocado: why chefs are ditching the unsustainable fruit

The Chinese, 熊猫米粉, translates as 'Panda Rice Noodles'. I hope no pandas were involved in the manufacture, though. Nice looking dish you have there.

I’m taking a bit of a temporary break from freshwater species and going to jump into the sea! I will return. I am anadromous, although I prefer the sea to supply dinner. Much of the sea fish I get is landed at Beihai, a city on the southern coast of Guangxi, near the Vietnam border and is both wild caught and farmed in the Gulf of Tonkin. In addition, we get farmed fish from around most of China’s eastern and southern coasts. Most markets only do freshwater fish, so sea fish is the preserve of the supermarkets. It is rarely sold live, but is mostly fresh. Very little is frozen in China, except in Heilongjiang where everything is frozen, even the people. I will start with something probably familiar to most members. Sea bass, although that name covers a lot of different species. What we get here is 海鲈 (hǎi lú), Lateolabrax japonicus or Japanese Sea Bass. This is approximately 30 cm/12 inch long white-fleshed beast with a fine delicate taste and flesh which flakes perfectly. Here, it is normally gutted and steamed whole and served alongside other dishes, especially on festive occasions. A dip, the nature of which differs from cook to cook, is usually served alongside, but most are soy sauce and/or vinegar based. That said, I have filleted then pan fried it and even used it successfully in fish and chips. Steamed Japanese Sea Bass Pan Fried Japanese Sea Bass Fillets with Wakame, Crab Roe and Pickled Ginger

Sounds better than the Heinz version!

They are indeed tasty, but not much meat on them. I would serve one per person! Lunch was only me, so it worked out just fine.

It's not bile. Most catfish have these yellow pigments called xanthophylls, which are tasteless and do no harm whatsoever. Still not my favourite fish, though.

Yep.. The full 7 days.

As posted in the Dinner 2021 topic - Chicken liver fried rice. Garlic and ginger. Diced celtuce. Chicken livers. Scallions. Rice. Shaoxing wine. That'll do.

Chicken liver fried rice. Garlic and ginger. Diced celtuce. Chicken livers. Scallions. Rice. Shaoxing wine. That'll do.

Pan fried snubnose pompano with green chilli and scallion. The fish was marinaded in Shaoxing wine and salt before cooking. Served with bread and butter.

Boiled eggs on buttered rye bread.

The BBC gives a more detailed account of the invention of the dish which excludes Mr Campeol and gives full credit to his wife and chef.

Bad idea? Maybe; maybe not. 500 isn't going to make a difference, though. Just a publicity stunt. Click on the picture.

Another common freshwater fish causes mass confusion and is illustrative of the difficulties I have here in identifying fish. This is not atypical. I have spent years tracking down a reliable identification for this ugly species. The most common name I hear, 黄蜂鱼 (huáng fēng yú), Tachysurus fulvidraco translates as 'wasp fish'. There are other alternative names, both in Chinese and English . In English it is sometimes referred to as yellowhead catfish or Korean bullhead. However, no sooner had I found this than I also found two other different but visually identical species. But I’ll deal with this one first. It is a type of bagrid catfish native to East and SE Asia, particularly China, Vietnam, Laos and Korea. Although it can reach 34.5 cm / 13½ inches in length, it is normally around 8 to 10 cm / 2½ to 4 inches. It is prone to parasites so should always be well cooked before consumption. Like the loach above, it can be rather slimy as it it covered in mucus, enabling it to survive long periods out of water. They are also very lively and will attempt to jump away if they see the chance. One friend was preparing some and one escaped and hid under her kitchen cabinets for a week until she could finally recapture it. It was exhausted but still alive when she finally succeeded. The second possibility is 蟾胡鲶 (chán hú nián), Clarias batrachus or the so-called walking catfish. This name does seem to describe the way that fish of my friend’s scuttled away across the floor and they are described as being particularly slimy. My only hesitation in adopting this name is that the species is said to be native to somewhat south of here, where as the first is decidedly local to here, not that things don’t get introduced, as we have seen. Then recently I found contender number three – 胡子鲇 (hú zi nián), Clarias fuscus, literally ‘Beard Catfish’ non-literally ‘Hong Kong Catfish’. However, this is much bigger, so I’m rejecting that. In the end, I suppose they are all similar enough to be one species as far as dinner is concerned if not to picky ichthyologists. Whatever they are, although they are popular here, mainly in stir-fries or soups, I find they lack flavour but aren’t offensive. That’s the closest I can get to a recommendation.

Unless you are Italian. Orzo is Italian for "barley". The pasta is so named because of the resemblance.

In each example I've given, I've said how the fish in question is prepared.

Here is an oddity. Another freshwater fish which is extensively farmed is 大头鱼 (dà tóu yú), Hypophthalmichthys nobilis or Bighead Carp. I say odd because it differs in many ways from other fish in how it is sold, prepared and eaten. And not just because it is bigger. First of all, it is unlike any other member of the carp family in terms of taste. It has none of the favours associated with carp. The flesh is white and firm unlike other carp. The biggest difference though is that, although it is native to China, it has been introduced either accidentally or deliberately to over 70 other countries around the world. In certain US states and in all of Canada, it is illegal to own or sell live fish – the way Chinese and many other Asian customers prefer it. Although whole fish are sold here, usually live, they are also sold freshly killed but in sections more like meat butchery. A whole fish is huge and too much for most families’ needs so, the head and tail are removed and the body cut into fillets to be sold separately. It may or may not surprise you that the tail and especially the head are the most popular parts. It also surprises foreign visitors to the markets when they see the heads displayed on the vendors’ tables still apparently gasping for breath. In fact, they are dead (of course) and what those visitors are observing are post-mortem muscular spasms. The heads are used for the much loved (and delicious) 鱼头豆腐汤 (yú tóu dòu fu tāng) ‘fish head and tofu soup’ served everywhere. The tails are used to make soups and stocks.

I do that with all breaded items. I'm convinced it helps achieve a better crust.

My simple liver pâté recipe. Butter Olive Oil Shallots Chicken Livers Salt and Pepper er, that 's it. Wash and trim livers and cut into postage stamp sized pices. Melt butter with a little OO and add finely chopped shallots. Fry for a minute then add liver. Fry while stirring and cook until cooked but still pink in the centre. Cut one piece open to check. Try not to overcook. Remove everything to mini food processor, season and blitz to your desired texture. I like mine smooth. Eat. 99% of the time, I do it as above, but on occasion have have added mushrooms, especially shiitake.

Why do so many liver pâté recipes include brandy / cognac? I much prefer it without. It's not that I dislike cognac, oh no! I just don't like it with my pâté. Maybe I'm in a minority.