liuzhou

No. No more than adding salt to different dishes does.

Actually, I'm not sure they chose that tea with dragons in mind. It is just one of the most popular teas here.

Yes. 龙井茶 (lóng jǐng chá) means Dragon Well Tea and is from Hangzhou.

I actually requested the tea; it isn't particularly traditional as a New Year gift but they asked me if there was anything I needed and when they called I had just used my last of what I had. The sweets and snacks (which I'll detail tomorrow) are traditional though. People load up on those just as we do at Christmas in the UK and I guess you do at Thanksgiving etc. And yes they aren't something most people buy normally, at least not in bulk.

Of course, no one wants a cheap looking gift, so presentation and perceived value is important. Luxury imported goods are an obvious choice. Something like this box of chocolates from Britain, perhaps. The only Chinese text on the packaging is on a paper ribbon wrapped around the English only box front. The reverse has marketing waffle in English, French, Italian, Spanish and Russian, all adding to the allure. And there is the message: Distributed by Codex Chocolate Limited in UK. The revealing word is, of course, "Distributed". Further investigation of the paper ribbon and its Chinese small print reveals the chocolates are made in, you've guessed, China. Kudos Chocolates (Suzhou) Company Ltd. The website www.icodex.co.uk is inaccessible. The company may be just a paper company. I don't know but registering a company in the UK is simple and cheap. Opening the tin reveals a cheap plastic liner filled with tiny individually wrapped chocolates. They're edible but nothing to write home about. All in all, there is about 20 times more pricy packaging material than chocolate. By weight, of the total package weighing half a kilo, there is only 168 grams of edible confectionery. Hmmm. Coming next something more honest.

Of course, a good British Danish Malaysian biscuit (to use the correct term) requires a nice cup of tea. I have a choice from my gifts. First up we have a 高山绿茶, a Yunnan Alpine Green Tea. Then, perhaps more appropriately for The Year of The Dragon, a couple of packs of 铁观音茶 (tiě guān yīn chá) a type of oolong tea, also from Yunnan province. The dragon connection comes from oolong being a corruption of 乌龙 (wū lóng), as it's actually called in China, and which means 'black dragon'. More later. Why the formatting changes part way through a word is a mystery.

I'll start with the strangest. For some reason which evades me, these are very popular here in China. They also display a fascinating glimpse into European geography. Danish cookies plastered with the UK Union Flag and pictures of what they doubtless call Big Ben, something very few people have ever seen. It's the Elizabeth Tower. The actual cookies (a term that further removes them from being British) are made in that famous Danish suburb, Malaysia and imported via Shanghai. The box contains actually contains a 908 gram tin of the butter cookies and a separate box containing 100 grams of the vanilla rolls. Neither are my favourites. Too sweet but they are considered to be a high value gift here.

Saturday 10th February 2024 is Chinese New Year's Day and the start of the 15-day-long Spring Festival. Food gifts are a big part of the festivities and the supermarkets in China and elsewhere fill up with crap no one normally buys the rest of the year. Today, I was visited by two representatives of Liuzhou Municipal Government bearing gifts. I would have put them in the Unexpected Gifts topic but a) they were expected b) I thought you might want to know the details so, I think they merit a topic of their own. I'm putting this here rather than the China forums as CNY is now observed worldwide. That said, for obvious reasons, my contributions will be China specific; others' may not be. First though an overview. Some of these obviously need explaining. Hold on to your rickshaw. It could get bumpy.

Nothing wrong with the 太太乐 (tototle (sic)) powder, but the 百家鲜, if you can find it, is the acme of chicken powders. Happy hunting.

I vaguely remember seeing chicken granules here but I just searched my online shopping options and the only chicken granules I can find are cat food! The Bahasa to ask the difference between powder and granules is something like "Apa perbedaan antara bubuk ayam dan butiran ayam?" but then you have to figure out the answer for yourself. I suppose the granules are just bigger grains but that wouldn't account for using both, unless they are bits of dried chicken flesh like you get in some chicken flavour instant noodles, but I'm really guessing now.

Squid stir fried with snow peas, garlic, ginger, fermented black soy beans, soy sauce, Shaoxing wine and coriander leaf.

I find most LKK products unusable. 😎 I have started a new topic on Chinese chicken powders in order to not let the subject get lost among all the fine dinners here.

A side discussion on the Dinner 2024 topic promoted this. Chinese cooks, from the most elevated chefs to the home cook and all the way down to this crazy foreigner in their midst, swear by 鸡粉 (jī fěn), chicken powder. It is used to enhance or even make stocks or braising liquids; it is sprinkled on stir fries and other dishes like any other seasoning; it is added to drinks. I've even seen it added to cocktails. Anywhere umami is wanted. Knorr and other western brands can be found in China but are not particularly popular. Lee Kum Kee was mentioned but I've never seen that particular LKK product in China. KKK products, which I have never rated, are more popular abroad. So, I thought it may be useful to mention the most popular brands here, some of which are likely to be available in Asian markets. Before doing so, I will say that most Chinese brands unashamedly contain MSG. I have no intention of resurrecting that horse which is not only dead but has been utterly cremated, mourned, disinterred and reburied several times before. Nothing wrong with MSG. So, some brands. 厨邦 (chú bāng) means 'kitchen nation'. It is medium level brand with less of a pronounced flavour as some of the others below. Certainly not first choice. 大桥 (dà qiáo) means 'great bridge' and while their powder is fine I wouldn't extend that to 'great' among the following. 太太乐 (tài tai lè) Mrs Le. Mrs Happy is a popular brand which I happily put in second place. Umami rich with a good chicken flavor. 百家鲜 (bǎi jiā xiǎn) literally means '100 households' choice', but 百 also just means 'all kinds of'. All kinds of households' choice. It is certainly the biggest seller. It smells and tastes like roast chicken straight from the oven. I'd bet of the 96 apartments in my block, 90% have a pack in the kitchen. I buy it in 1kg tubs and am never without it. Restaurants buy it by the sack load.

Only one species of snails is used,Viviparaidae. These are gathered wild from the local river, the 柳江 or Liujiang, literally, Willow River. It's a major river in southern China and the snails breed prolifically. I've never heard of any concerns about harvesting them. I'm not aware of any snail farming. Some of the prepackaged varieties don't even use snails, instead opting for beef and/or artificial flavours. A pox on them, as Mercutio doesn't say. The prepackaged ones are a pale imitation of the real thing though. Luosifen

Yet another addition to the bok choy confusion. This is a Sichuan cultivar known as 四川儿菜 (sì chuān ér cài), literally Sichuan young vegetable. These are about 10 cm / 4 inches in height and taste mild but indentifiably cruciferous. Usually halved lengthwise and stir fried with garlic and soy. It isn't a Sichuan treatment but I like this one with a dribble of oyster sauce.

In the never-ending attempt by the local authorities to turn the city into a luosifen theme park, more and more luosifen shops continue to open. Some even stay open more than a few weeks. However, standing out from the crowd isn't easy. Increasingly bizarre gimmicks are the order of the day. One of the recent openings is this place near my new home. The name of the place is 乾跃螺蛳粉, the first two characters of which are essentially meaningless. The next three are luosifen. For some inexplicable reason, they have themed their restaurant on shop signs. Random shop signs. The one to the left of the door even says 'shop signs'. Inside, the walls are littered with irrelevant signs. They are promoting the place with videos on China's version of TikTok showing signs and the food. I haven't been but I'm told the luosifen is good. I hope that's a good sign.

The stems are tender but laksa is available here as 叻沙 (lè shā), a phonetic transcription of the Malay. I can't see them using 香柳 when there is a well known established name, so I'm thinking it's something different.

Many herbs which we take for granted in western kitchens are unknown in China. Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme are just strange words in a song to the average cook here. Coriander/cilantro is the only common exception. Despite being near the border with Vietnam, very few SE Asian herbs make it through either. In the last year or so, the highly developed food delivery service, both for cooked meals and for ingredients has allowed some retailers to be more adventurous with their offerings and a few surprises are starting to show up. 迷迭香 (mí dié xiāng) or rosemary arrived for the first time yesterday. I have grown it myself in the past and will be attempting to get some of these stalks to root, but in the meantime will be cooking with one of my favourite herbs! Still looking out for the rest of the quartet.

Although I have four top end DSLRs and multiple lenses and other toys, 95% of my food pictures are done with my cell phone. Quicker, easier and, importantly, unobtrusive in restaurants etc.

香柳 (xiāng liǔ), sweet sallow is something I've never come across before and there is little information on it other than that it is a member of the Salix family of plants which includes the willows after which Liuzhou (柳州) is named. It seems to be added to soups and hotpot or can be briefly stir-fried like any other green. The taste is initially sweet but turns peppery on the palate. Reminds me a bit of watercress. It is also, of course, used in TCM.

Ah! That is very traditional Tujia dish of braised pork ribs with wild mountain vegetables and herbs. Winter warmer food. With chillies, of course.

Yes pigs ear. Red sauce? Do you mean in the pig ear dish? Chilli,chilli and chilli. Soy sauce, scallions, ginger, garlic, and a bit more chilli, I think.

Hunan Tujia ethnic minority dinner with old Hunan friend. She cooked.

I found this herb this morning in a local supermarket. In Chinese, it is 香柳 (xiāng liǔ), which can be translated as 'sweet sallow'. I vaguely remember hearing the name and know it's related to willow*. But that's it. I'm not getting much on the internet despite searching in both Chinese and English. Does anyone know anything about this herb? Or has anyone used it? I have tasted it, of course. An initial sweetness is soon followed by a pleasant pepperiness. The leaves are about 5 - 7 cm / 2 - 2.75 inches long. * The second character in the herb's name (柳) is the same as the first in Liuzhou (柳州), where I live. The city's name means Willow Prefecture.

Finally, I do have some Thai basil. This is the replacement batch they sent me. I know it looks similar to the previous batch, but this new lot has the right smell and taste. The leaves are about half the size of those in the incorrect batch. That's a duck egg for scale.