liuzhou

Obviously, I meant "hadn't" realised.

Marketing. So far as I can make out they are claiming it's specially formulated to enhance crab. It contains no crab and is just regular rice vinegar.

Another day; another lunch 大闸蟹 (dà zhá xiè), mitten crabs aka hairy crabs. With 蟹醋 (xiè cù), crab vinegar for a dip (in the bottle).

They're at it again! This a screenshot of a dish sold as western food. The video is going viral here in China. Overcooked but unseared steak, some kind of spaghetti, random salad, a fried egg and a lump of cØrn. As served in every western home every day! Thankfully, the restaurant is over 1,000 miles from me.

You may have noticed that a number of the mooncakes I’ve mentioned are described as 冰皮 (bīng pí) something. This means ice skin. They are not baked like normal cakes but are fresh and are sold and stored frozen. They are not ice cream like, but are defrosted and then immediately eaten. These have been around a couple of years but have really exploded this year with lots of ‘new’ flavours turning up. These two are from the grasslands of China’s northern province, Inner Mongolia. First up is 醇厚奶香地道蒙味 (chún hòu nǎi xiāng dì dào méng wèi), full milk flavour authentic taste. Hmmmm. Next is 咖啡混合味月饼 (kā fēi hùn hé wèi yuè bǐng), coffee blend flavour mooncakes. Blended with what?

Yesterday. Crayfish in a Sichuan style mala sauce. Vinegar fried potato slivers and stir fried cabbage. Served with rice.

Good to see you back!

I was sitting yesterday thinking about some of the stranger fillings found in mooncakes when an idea struck me “I bet someone’s tried it” I said to no one in particular, so I had a look and sure enough some clot has. 冰皮半熟芝士月饼 (bīng pí bàn shú zhī shì yuè bǐng), Ice skin half-cooked cheese mooncake! Half cooked? More like half-baked idea! For a country supposedly running with end to end lactose intolerant citizens, they sure like to mess around with what they imaging to be cheese. In fact, it’s usually local renditions of the revolting additive-ridden slurry that is supposedly American “Cheese”. Bah humbug! Sorry, bout the crappy image from their advertising, but I ain’t going to buy one to do a better job. Note: So far they haven’t got round to making mooncakes from the dreaded evil yellow peril, but give ‘em time.

I think I'm turning Japanese. White Crane Dai Ginjo. 大吟醸 (dai ginjo) is sort of the equivalent of premier cru in French wines;; in other words a cut above every day drinking.

@Shelby You live in a very different world than mine and one I'll never see directly but I always love your hunting and other posts.

Me neither.

That scrambled egg looks well overcooked.

Continuing the chocolate theme, we have 巧克力脆皮榴莲冰皮月饼 (qiǎo kè lì cuì pí liú lián bīng pí yuè bǐng), chocolate crispy durian snowy mooncake. It is basically the same durian cake I mentioned before but coated in chocolate with nuts. I’ll pass. Chinese chocolate is not generally good, at all.

As China starts its 8 day public holiday, the locals are engaging in their favourite holiday activity – shopping. So the stores are going all out to promote their mooncakes before next Monday, the Mid-autumn festival. Among the offerings are a follow up to my last post. Inevitable, I suppose. Following the Hong Kong style “custard lava mooncakes”, it was only a matter of time until someone came up with a chocolate lava mooncake. 橙香巧克力冰皮月饼 (chéng xiāng qiǎo kè lì bīng pí yuè bǐng), orange scented chocolate iced mooncake.

It is brewed in Zhangzhou, Fujian Province, China. Only six breweries in the world? More like 18.

香菇馄饨 (xiāng gū hún tun), fresh shiitake mushrooms in a chicken broth.

奶黄流心月饼莲蓉传统港式蛋黄爆浆月 (nǎi huáng liú xīn yuè bǐng lián róng chuán tǒng gǎng shì dàn huáng bào jiāng yuè), Traditional Hong Kong style custard mooncake with lotus seed paste and egg yolk. These are also sometimes known as ‘lava mooncakes’ or similar.), Traditional Hong Kong style custard mooncake with lotus seed paste and egg yolk. These are also sometimes known as ‘lava mooncakes’ or similar. Although HK in origin, the are becoming quite the fashion on the mainland.

Outside of China, maybe. Not here in China. As I said the non-round cakes in the Guardian's image are not mooncakes but have their own long established traditions independent of mooncakes. Square mooncakes are associated with Vietnam, not Cantonese areas of China. Where I live is heavily influenced by Cantonese, both culturally and linguistically. A large proportion of the population speaks Cantonese. In fact, Guangdong and Guangxi were once the considered the same single region. All the mooncakes here are round. I don't at all understand your reference to plastic plungers.

This is just another 5-nut mooncake but, as you can see, a 'family size' type. It isn't however the largest I've ever seen. I've seen them 'more 'neighbourhood size'. About the size of a truck's wheel. The largest according to the Guinness record people is This pales in comparison.

Yes. Common on Chinese airlines.

Here, no matter what the package says, most people eat one pot each. I've never seen them being shared. You don't really 'cook' them, but rather, reconstitute them. The various packs inside containing sauce and powders and dried vegetables etc are poured on top of the noodles, boiling water added and the pot recovered. Back in the day, I would light a cigarette and leisurely smoke it. When the ciggie was done, the noodles were ready to eat. I quit smoking on May 20th, 2003 and have rarely made pot noodles since. Railway stations and even trains still have free boiling water here for the purpose.

Those two are the most traditional types, so I'm unsurprised that's what they are stocking. White lotus paste tastes of nothing much at all, but is sweet.

I saw that, too. Interesting However, I would point out that they're not all mooncakes in the image. Only he round ones are; the circular shape resembles the moon and is an important part of the symbolism. The pig shaped one in the centre is a 猪仔糕 (zhū zǎi gāo), Zhuzaigao, piglet cake. These are also traditionally eaten at the mid-autumn festival, but were originally made for children. They consisted of the same mooncake crust as the traditional Cantonese type of mooncake, but were not stuffed with the heavy contents. Instead they were solid crust., which was thought would be better for kids who wouldn't be able to stomach the heaviness of the regular mooncakes. Today, they are sometimes sold stuffed, but just as often, not. The fish shaped cake to the pig's tail end is not related to the mid-autumn festival, but is a 新年魚年糕 (xīn nián yú nián gāo), New Year Fish Shape Cake. They are one type of 年糕 (nián gāo), Nian gao or New Year Cake and are made from steamed glutinous (sticky) rice. These are traditionally served at Chinese New Year. It may be that someone has taken the Niangao shape and turned into a "mooncake" but the fish still remains symbolic of New Year in Chinese culture. I have no idea what the red rabbit-looking thing is.

No. It is purple sweet potato. a I understand it, ube is yam.