liuzhou

29. 鱼干 (yú gān) - Dried Fish As promised, I get to dried fish. As I mentioned upthread, fresh saltwater fish is difficult to find in the interior of China, but for centuries fish has been dried and shipped overland. Here is the selection from one supermarket, yesterday. Note: It is sometimes difficult to know what some fish species here are, even when I have the Chinese name. Names differ from place to place and many species simply don’t have English names. But I think I’ve cracked most of this lot. In no particular order: 鲨鱼干 (shā yú gān) - Dried Shark 多味鱼 (duō wèi yú ) - Dried Yellow Croaker 巴浪鱼 (bā làng yú) - Yellowtail Scad 春只鱼 (chūn zhǐ yú) - Honnibe Croaker 海鳗鱼段 (hǎi mán yú duàn) - Dried Conger Pike 红鱼干 (hóng yú gān) - Dried Red Snapper 鳕鱼干 (xuě yú gān) - Dried Cod 金线鱼干 (jīn xiàn yú gān) - Dried Boregata 面条鱼 (miàn tiáo yú , literally 'noodle fish') - Pacific sand lance 浦鱼鳍 (pǔ yú qí) - Dried River Fish Fin and these as were merely labelled as seafish.Very helpful. 湖南小鱼 (hú nán xiǎo yú) - Hunan Little Fish I often buy Hunan Little Fish to snack on. Usually with shichimi togarashi as above, or just flaked chilli.

28. Fermented Beans I’ve already mentioned some examples of fermented tofu (which is of course made from soy beans), but there are some preserved products which ferment the beans themselves along with other ingredients, usually chilli. 豆豉 (dòu chǐ) – Salted Black Beans Salted Black Beans I think these are the most well-known, being the basis of many black bean sauce dishes in Chinese restaurants around the globe. I’ve mentioned before here that the jars of black bean sauce so prevalent in the west are virtually unknown here, but every supermarket and cornershop carries the fermented beans. Salted Black Beans Essential in 麻婆豆腐 (má pó dòu fǔ), but also with ribs, fish, etc. I often use them with squid or clams. There is firm evidence dating the production of salted black beans to at least 173 BC and the production process remains the same. Black soy beans are salted and left to ferment. Simple. Black Soy Beans They are also occasionally flavoured as in the following image which shows 麻辣豆豉 (má là dòu chǐ), or hot and spicy salted black beans, 麻辣 referring to Sichuan peppercorn and chili. 麻辣豆豉 (má là dòu chǐ) There is apparently a version made using white soy beans, but I’ve never seen it. Known as 面豉 (miàn chǐ), these are brown rather than black. 豆瓣酱 (dòu bàn jiàng) - Broad Bean Paste Another Sichuan essential is 豆瓣酱 (dòu bàn jiàng, literally bean piece sauce). I’ve mentioned this at length before in other topics. The most prized is that from 郫县 (pí xiàn), a county outside Chengdu city. The sauce from here has protected geographical status and is produced to precise standards. Broad beans from Sichuan or neighbouring Yunnan are fermented along with a local type of Sichuanese chilli known as 二荆条 (èr jīng tiáo). Even the water must be from Sichuan wells. 郫县豆瓣酱 (pí xiàn dòu bàn jiàng) Look out for doubanjiang labelled as 红油豆瓣酱 (hóng yóu dòu bàn jiàng), even if it from Sichuan. This is a non-fermented product. It isn’t bad but there are no standards which have to be followed. 腊八酱 (là bā jiàng) – Laba Sauce 腊八酱 (là bā jiàng) is another type of fermented bean sauce, this time made from white soy beans, garlic and chilli. It is particularly popular in Hunan. It is typically eaten with congee (rice porridge at the time of the Laba Festival, which takes place on the 8th day of the 12th month of the traditional solar-lunar calendar. This month is known as the ‘la’ month and ‘ba means eight’, hence the name of the sauce and the congee. 腊八酱 (là bā jiàng) I'm full of beans.

Lazy Susans are not that common here in family homes. Restaurants, yes - de rigeur.

Seafood lunch at a friend's house yesterday.

More gin.

It didn't mean to suggest it was bad. It was just different and the other dishes she cooked were much better. Lovely lady, who is now back in Japan. The only person I was ever on nationally broadcast Chinese television with! But that's another story!

19. Did You Ever See A Fat Chinese? This advertisement from the Rice Council of America in 1967 is one of the dumbest thing I've ever seen. The obvious answer to their offensive racial stereotyping is “Yes! Often!” Had these cretins never seen a picture of Chairman Mao? But the myth that all Chinese are super-slim lingers on. It is utter nonsense. I read things like this What? Never seen a sumo wrestler? French and Italian people are generally not overweight? But I’m here to talk about Chinese people. Historically, but within living memory, people were generally slim, yes. Because they were starving! Between 1959 and 1961, it is estimated that between 15 and 55 million people died from starvation, thanks to Mao's insanity. And it took many years after for the survivors and their offspring to avoid lesser hunger. Several of my friends, some only in their 20s, tell me they remember childhood as being hungry. Yet, even then there were the overweight. Today, official figures indicate that over 50% of Chinese people are overweight with 16.4% obese, as reported here. And the number is rising. I see this every day! The fattest person I’ve ever seen was Chinese. He was being wheeled around in a barrow as he was too overweight to walk. Almost ever day, I walk past one of the local hospitals with its large sign pointing to the weight control clinic. I know many people here who are overweight. Not critically, but they certainly wouldn't be described as slim. And I know slim (usually women) friends who fret about their weight obsessively as everywhere else. There is a general perception that this rise in weight is due to the introduction of American fast food as introduced by the likes of KFC and McDonald's, but I'm not so sure it's just that. While I've no doubt they play their part, many of the overweight people I know have never eaten that type of 'food'.

I'm not sure what you mean. Perfect.com just displays a page asking me to log in to my account, which, of course, I neither have or want.

Yes, I know figs are native to the Mediterranean area, but very few foods are confined to their place of origin today. You couldn't snack on these fried figs. They are rock hard. I have discovered, as I expected, they are used in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Sweet and sour pork is not really a common Chinese dish. More American-Chinese and I've never seen it with figs.

Yes. Here is a potato salad made by a Japanese friend in 2009. Basically as you describe, but with cucumber rather than peas. She is an excellent cook, but this was far from the star dish at the meal.

400-year-old painting returned to country house following restoration

27. 壮腌货 (zhuàng yān huò) - Zhuang Pickles Zhuang Ethnic Minority Postage Stamp The Zhuang ethnic group people of Guangxi have their own range of pickles. Here are a few. First up, yesterday I posted this picture in the Unexpected Food Gifts topic. It is 鸡皮果 (jī pí guǒ), Chicken Skin Fruit, also known as 山黄皮 (shān huáng pí)，literally “Mountain Yellow Skin”. This is the fruit of a large shrub / small tree, Clausena anisum-olens (Blanco) Merrill, which only grows around here. The fruit is naturally on the sour side, but the Zhuang pickle it anyway, also adding chilli. It is HOT, but with citrus notes shining through. The Zhuang in the countryside make their own. Even here, it is not widely available in stores. I only know one store which sells this jarred version and that place only has it occasionally. I always stock up when I see it. Then we have this, 壮乡辣菜 (zhuàng xiāng là cài, literally Zhuang countryside spicy vegetable). Also hot, it is yet another type of pickled leaf mustard with spices. King and queen of their pickles though are their preserved lemons, so much so that I dedicated an entire topic to them, some years back. It is here. Zhuang Preserved Lemons

Yes. And about the same size. But totally different in every other respect. They can be quite sour and have a citrus flavour despite being unrelated to that family.

A few but they are microscopically small.

The usual method. By putting them in my mouth, biting, chewing and swallowing.

Eat them.

Just went out to buy some beers at the local mom 'n' pop and the guy threw in this small bunch of 鸡皮果 (jī pí guǒ), chicken skin fruit, aka 山黄皮 (shān huáng pí), mountain yellow skin.

Yes

26 . 酸黄瓜 (suān huáng guā) – Pickled Cucumber All vegetables have to keep moving in China, or they’ll end up in a pickle. The humble cucumber is no exception. Here we have this strange looking object, which looks like something you'd need a poop scoop to deal with. Known as 酱黄瓜 (jiàng huáng guā), literally 'sauce cucumber', 酱 being an abbreviation for 酱油 (jiàng yóu) meaning 'soy sauce', these are cucumbers cured in soy sauce. Much nicer than they look. Also common and found in most supermarkets is this pickled cucumber salad. Lightly pickled and still with a bite to it. As you can no doubt see, it is dressed with chili oil before serving. Then, this commercially produced, you will see, is labelled 乳黄瓜 (rǔ huáng guā). The literal meaning of 乳 ( rǔ) ís ‘breast’ or ‘milk’, but here is an abbreviation for 乳酸 (rǔ suān), literally ‘milk sour’ which is ‘lactic acid’. So, it is lacto-fermented as are so many pickles, including dill pickles, sauerkraut and kimchi. This is another of those things to add to your rice or noodles to give them a lift.

25c 干海鲜 (gān hǎi xiān), Dried Seafood In most markets and some supermarkets, there is a section which you can find by following your nose. The aroma of the dried seafood is not an unpleasant one, at least to my perception, but a distinct one. Here you can find all the mysteries of the deep in dehydrated form. Some you may recognise; some you almost certainly won’t. Seafood, including saltwater fish, has long been prized in China, but in the past was only really available near the coast. Transportation was just too difficult. Even today, the majority of fish consumed in most of China is freshwater fish, from lakes or rivers, both wild and farmed. Landlocked provinces such as Sichuan or Hunan serve very little fresh sea food, and what is available can be expensive. However they all prize certain preserved seafoods such as follows. They are mainly used to add umami to other dishes, rather than being rehydrated and used to replicate their fresh equivalents. The selection is a constantly changing one, but there are some staples. The following are all in my pantry now (unless stated otherwise). Probably the most common is the large range of dried shrimp - 虾干 (xiā gān). These come in all sizes. (The local shrimp are often this naturally red variety.) Large Medium Small The smallest are known as 虾皮 (xiā pí) and measure about the size of an uncooked long grain rice. Dried Scallops (Conpoy) - 干贝 (gān bèi) - In the supermarket Rehydrated Dried Scallops (Conpoy) - 干贝 (gān bèi) Dried Mussels - 干贻贝 (gān yí bèi) Dried Clams Dried Squid - 干鱿鱼 (gān yóu yú) Shredded Dried Squid Another type of dried squid, known as 风琴鱿鱼 (fēng qín yóu yú) - Accordian Squid Dried Cuttlefish 墨鱼 (mò yú) I'll deal with actual fish, separately in another post.

All in the interest of scientific research!