liuzhou

The final texture is crunchy - like what I think of as whitebait, but that is a very fluid designation - and the mucus somehow disappears. I'd need a scientist to work out why. They didn't teach that in Lingustics 101!

Live Loach One fish that you’ll find in a tank in most supermarkets and markets (or sometimes in buckets by the roadside) are 泥鳅 (ní qiu) - Loach. These are not a single species or even one family; there are an astonishing 1,249 known species in nine families. The most commonly consumed here are Misgurnus anguillicaudatus, usually referred to in English as the “pond loach” or “weatherfish”. These are native to East Asia and are extensively farmed commercially, but in the countryside villages are found in the rice paddies. Over the last decade, they have been found in the southern USA. About 4 - 5 inches / 10 - 13 cm long, pond loach are bottom feeding scavengers, mainly eating algae, but also known to eat small worms and aquatic creatures such as snails. They are covered in a mucus which enables them to survive long periods out of water. They are popular in Korea and Japan where they are used in soups. The Korean soup is chueo-tang (추어탕), whereas the Japanese version is dojō nabe (ジョウ鍋). Here in China, though, I’ve only ever had them stir fried (skin and bone on) with the usual garlic, ginger and chilli triad and vegetables, often water spinach aka morning glory. I’ve cooked them this way several times, but also just by dredging them in potato starch (the uncivilised use cørn starch) and deep frying until crisp. Drain sprinkle with salt and chilli powder and Robert is your father’s brother. Great beer food. Please note, they go into the hot oil still alive but die immediately. My Deep Fried Loach If frying them is too much trouble, worry not. The supermarket sells them pre-cooked, too. Supermarket Fried Loach

How to Buy a Cow - a hilarious Twitter story.

Yup. If they are too dry, wet them.

A very similar preparation is used in China. 鸡肝串 (jī gān chuàn) - Chicken livers strung on skewers and grilled over charcoal with cumin and ground chilli in most nightmarkets. My favourite beer food. Usually cooked alongside 羊肉串 (yáng ròu chuàn), the more famous lamb skewers.

From this I gather they are not cheap now. How much do you pay? I pay the equivalent of $0.63 USD per ½ lb. Very cheap.

I've noticed these little delicious delights being mentioned a lot recently in various discussions, but there doesn't appear to be a central topic to share recipes, stories, recommendations, tips, strategies or suggestions - until now. They are probably the cheapest protein I can buy here and I always have some in the freezer. I do regularly make pâté (perhaps not as you might, though), but also like to serve them with pasta or devilled for breakfast. Then there are the Chinese recipes. What's your favourite way to deal with the offal even offal haters often love?

That's what I call a "restaurant critic"!

Following the carp family (to which I shall return), the next most farmed freshwater fish in China is 立鱼 (lì yú), 罗飞鱼 (luó fēi yú) or Tilapia. Tilapia is not one species, but any of over 100 different species. Tilapia While no one sane would claim it to be the tastiest fish going, it is prized for its relative cheapness both in the raising and to the customer. This is mainly due to its being vegetarian. It does however, divide opinion. Some complain about a muddy flavour; others that it tastes off. I don’t get it. Properly raised tilapia should not taste off and I feel the ”muddy” label is overstated and applies to all freshwater fish, farmed or wild. The treatment I see most often is found in the many popular 烤鱼 (kǎo yú - roast fish) restaurants, both smart places and ... let’s say “here today; gone tomorrow” roadside pop-ups. It is roasted whole tilapia served under a pile of vegetables and soy beans with a spicy sauce. Some of these places only do that one dish. I often eat and enjoy this. A sharing meal.

I should have mentioned that when your server is preparing the fish, especially the freshwater fish, they may ask you if you want the creature's float bladder. They hope you will say "no". That way they can sell it separately and get paid for it twice. The totally tastlesss bag of air is prized by many Chinese for texture in soups. Can't see the point, myself. If you do want it, make sure you get it. Here is the same grass carp as in my previous post, but with its float bladder.

There are always some concerns about fish farming, yes. But they are not by any means confined to China. I'm just attempting to record what is available to me here and what the Chinese people tend to eat.

Would you consider the setting of the Pulp Fiction Ringo and Honey Bunny robbery scene to be a diner?

Sea fish in my local supermarket In the past I've started a few topics focusing on categorised food types I find in China. I’ve done Mushrooms and Fungi in China Chinese Vegetables Illustrated Sugar in China Chinese Herbs and Spices Chinese Pickles and Preserves Chinese Hams. I’ve enjoyed doing them as I learn a lot and I hope that some people find them useful or just interesting. One I’ve always resisted doing is Fish etc in China. Although it’s interesting and I love fish, it just felt too complicated. A lot of the fish and other marine animals I see here, I can’t identify, even if I know the local name. The same species may have different names in different supermarkets or wet markets. And, as everywhere, a lot of fish is simply mislabelled, either out of ignorance or plain fraud. However, I’ve decided to give it a go. I read that 60% of fish consumed in China is freshwater fish. I doubt that figure refers to fresh fish though. In most of China only freshwater fish is available. Seawater fish doesn’t travel very far inland. It is becoming more available as infrastructure improves, but it’s still low. Dried seawater fish is used, but only in small quantities as is frozen food in general. I live near enough the sea to get fresh sea fish, but 20 years ago when I lived in Hunan I never saw it. Having been brought up yards from the sea, I sorely missed it. I’ll start with the freshwater fish. Today, much of this is farmed, but traditionally came from lakes and rivers, as much still does. Most villages in the rural parts have their village fish pond. By far the most popular fish are the various members of the carp family with 草鱼 (cǎo yú) - Ctenopharyngodon idella - Grass Carp being the most raised and consumed. These (and the other freshwater fish) are normally sold live and every supermarket, market (and often restaurants) has ranks of tanks holding them. Supermarket Freshwater Fish Tanks You point at the one you want and the server nets it out. In markets, super or not, you can either take it away still wriggling or, if you are squeamish, the server will kill, descale and gut it for you. In restaurants, the staff often display the live fish to the table before cooking it. These are either steamed with aromatics – garlic, ginger, scallions and coriander leaf / cilantro being common – or braised in a spicy sauce or, less often, a sweet and sour sauce or they are simply fried. It largely depends on the region. Note that, in China, nearly all fish is served head on and on-the-bone. 草鱼 (cǎo yú) - Ctenopharyngodon idella - grass carp More tomorrow.

Portuguese sardines in olive oil (bones, skins, flesh and all) on toasted Russian wholemeal bread. Prepared and eaten in China by a Scottish man.

I've only ever made it using ripe (but not over-ripe) mangoes. I like the end result to have a little bite to it.The version I have now (and is shown in my first image) was made using a local variety of mango that remains green, even when ripe. I've never even thought of using unripe mangoes - it may work.

There is nothing contradictory about saying I know the etymology then sharing what I know about the etymology. I don't understand your comment, at all. Yes I read both the Wikipedia and Smithsonian articles and neither of them give a source for their claims. But I never argued in any way about constitutes a diner. I argued about the 'history' in those articles.

Sorry, but hat does not accord with the linguistic evidence. The word 'diner' on its own is first recorded in writing in 1815 as "One who dines; a dinner-guest' in the English poet, Leigh Hunt's poem 'The Feast of the Poets'. This the meaning still prevalent in the UK and other English speaking countries outside North America. There was a slightly old form 'a diner-out' recorded in 1807 again in England. The next meaning arrives in 1890 in the USA, meaning 'A railway dining car'. Then, again in the USA, as a 'A restaurant, orig. and still occasionally one built to resemble a railway dining-car. In 1865 the New Statesman magazine carried an article stating No mention of horse-drawn food carts. Even the Wikipedia article offers no evidence for that. There is a very good reason Wikipedia is banned as a source in most of academia. The Smithsonian article is similarly short on evidence and unable to decide on whether they were lunch cars or diners. From the descriptions and criteria here, I don't see 'diners'as being 'caffs' or 'cafés'. 'Transport cafés', perhaps, but you don't get them in cities. They are atypical.

Indeed. Also, I'd say there are more garam masalas than there are Indian cooks. Most cooks have more than one. In fact, I doubt many make the same one twice!

It's easier than it looks. Mincing the meat was the most difficult as it was hand done. Normally, I do it with two cleavers using my best Ringo impersonation technique. But I had great fun chasing bits of beef around the kitchen!

I really can't think of an equivalent in the UK. From your descriptions, I'm guessing they don't sell alcohol. Correct?

蚂蚁上树 (mǎ yǐ shǎng shù), usually translated as "Ants Climbing a Tree". This is a beef version, not that that would be "inauthentic"; Sichuan cooks do both pork and beef versions. Ingredients. Glass noodles, minced beef, garlic, Shaoxing wine, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, doubanjiang, chicken stock (beef stock would have been better, but chicken was what I had) scallions. Most of the scallions are lurking in the undergrowth in my image.

Pork and shiitake wontons with garlic, chilli, chicken broth and South African Ice Vegetable.

I know the railroad car meaning came earlier than the current meaning, but long after the original meaning which is the one still used in Britain and elsewhere. The person dining.