liuzhou

The translation from Chinese to English is correct. 均衡器 does mean 'equalizer'. But we don't have the Japanese original, so hard to say. Your theory is as good as any I've heard. Well, it's the only theory I've heard, but it's a good one.

Not particularly hard to clean. No more so than a pizza wheel. No one in in China is allowed to be left handed*. It messes up communal dining when using chopsticks and 20 people are crammed round a circular table. Also, hand writing in Chinese suffers even more so than in English. Characters are designed to be written right handed. *Only a slight exagggeration, but very, very few people are left-handed. It is forced out of them, as it was in western countries until recently. I used to be able to estimate how many left-handed students would be in an examination hall when I was in academia. I was usually correct within one or two - even if I gave my 'guess' before the students actually arrived. It was always 10%. In China, less than 1%.

I agree.

It could have been camel's liver, I suppose. I eaten camel, but not its liver. All I can get here is pig and beef*. Of the two I much prefer the former. Haven't had calves' liver in decades. It got rarer and more and more expensive in London, as I recall. No sheep round here. * Of the mammals. Chicken liver is plentiful. Duck slightly less so.

I didn't mean I thought it was liver from Egypt. I wondered which species - beef, pig, lamb? So beef. Not my favourite, unless it's calves'.

No. The scissors are made in Japan, so we are seeing a translation from Japanese to Chinese to English. Many pitfalls en route.

This amused me. Taiwan official urges people to stop changing their name to 'salmon'

At the leaf end? Or the root? I do sometimes see them peeled and de-leafed and de-rooted, but more often sold intact. The leaves are also sold seperately as 油麦菜 yóu mài cài.

There are literally thousands. I don't know which ones are exported. Most probably few. No idea.

It looks good. But then I always think liver looks good. I've never eaten Egyptian liver though. Which animal?

Lee Kum Kee is the Heinz of Chinese cuisine. Bog standard sauces. There are much better brands. Guilin (an hour from here) people laugh at LKK's Guilin Chili Sauce. The centre one I don't know so well, but both companies are Hong Kong based (Koon Chun was founded in 1928; LKK in 1888), although I know LKK make their sauces in mainland China where the company started.

I do. Out of idle curiosity. It is a bit odd when you think about it. Yes, but that doesn't explain why St. Pat in particular. It could be any 'saint'.

Another new arrival in these parts. 苦菊 (kǔ jú) - literally 'bitter chrysanthemum'; Cichorium endivia; endive. I have no notion how the locals use it (I'm willing to bet the locals don't know either), but they probably stir fry it with garlic. If I find out otherwise, I'll edit.

Yes. But why St. Patrick's Day? Why not, say, St. Andrew's Day? Equal opportunity to eat, drink and be merry.

Slightly off topic, but... Pizza scissors.

I bought a pair of pizza scissors a few years ago. Only used them once. Standard scissors but with a wedge shaped attachment to carry your slice away. I'm lying in bed otherwise I'd share an image. Perhaps tomorrow if I remember. Goodnight. Or morning. 3:18 am. now.

I have a pair of office scissors hanging above my kitchen worktop which get used for chopping some herbs, opening packets etc. I've also seen scissors used in BBQ restaurants in China to cut the meat to make it more chopstick friendly. This was the first time for me to see them being used in the preparation stages of cooking.

Something I've never understood. Why does America 'celebrate' St. Patrick's Day at all? Don't tell me it's only those with Irish ancestry. And why corned-beef, something Patrick almost certainly never ate? He certainly didn't drink Guinness which wasn't invented until around 1,200 years after his time. He was never canonised as a saint. And he wasn't Irish! Can anyone point me to a rational explanation? i have looked.

The garnish is a classic round these parts - used with many dishes, especially fish. It isn't so raw as one might imagine. The ingredients are very finely diced, so the very hot oil does mostly cook things. Yes, I usually prepare okra in the ways you mention - or at least similarly, but this one intrigued me - and I'm glad it did. The short boiling time doesn't result in any 'stewed' characteristics - not that I mind stewed okra.

I've seen cooked food cut with scissors, yes. The local favourite breakfast 油条 (yóu tiáo) - deep-fried breadsticks (crullers) are often cut with scissors. I've never seen scissors used in food preparation before, though.

Fried noodles with pork, shimeji mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, garlic, ginger, chilli, Shaoxin wine, soy sauce, scallions. With a side of okra cooked as described in this topic. Here is my version:

Finally got round to replicating my friend's okra dish. I followed her method to the letter (except the scissors part). The two minutes boil was perfect - still has some bite to it, but not undercooked. I'll definitely repeat the exercise.

Boiled chicken eggs (unusual for me - I usually use duck eggs) with nicely charred flatbread.

A large part of the problem is that people are, in general, pretty useless at identifying fish, making it easier for the fraudsters. This study is about fish recognition in Europe, but I'm sure applies everywhere.

I did ask my friend why she she used scissors. Her answer was "for convenience". She pointed out that she has, in the past, used a knife but finds scissors easier and faster. No. I don't get it either.