liuzhou

Remember, what they actually serve up when you order one won't look anything like that picture!

If you mean the red and white above and beside the black, then the red would appear to be a different type of seaweed (probably laver - 紫菜 (zǐ cài), Pyropia yezoensis; Japanese 海苔 (nori)) and the white I'm fairly sure is squid.

Armageddon.

I'm working on this.

@Eatmywords OK. Solved the question. What looks like olives could hardly be more different. It is either Chinese black fungus (aka black wood ear fungus) 黑木耳 (hēi mù ěr). Auricularia auricula-judae, or kelp (seaweed), 海带 (hǎi dài). Saccharina japonica ; in Japanese 真昆布 or kombu. Given it is with seafood, I'm going with the latter, but can't be at all sure. Here is a close-up of the poster.

On the other hand... 'Buttergate' debunked: No evidence butter is harder due to palm supplements for cows. Note: The author has close ties to the dairy industry. Top marks for full disclosure.

I believe so.

via Twitter In the Court of the Crimson King

In addition to selling the live eels I mentioned, they also sell them skinned, deboned and cleaned. Also, sometimes they offer these cooked paddy eels. They are fried and dressed with chilli and sesame seeds. Crisp and spicy beer food!

That, they certainly don't do.

I should point out that these are not what Wikipedia describes as Rice-paddy eels. They are much smaller - only a few inches long. I really need to delve deeper.

I don't know much about it. I guess they are semi-farmed in that the paddies are stocked but thereafter left to their own devices. When the paddies are drained any remaining livestock goes wherever the water goes ????? I'll try to get more info next time I'm out and about.

My local supermarket sells live rice paddy eels. I've eaten them in a Sichuan-style preparation and loved it, but never cooked them. I've also had the famous London 'jellied eels'. Those are OK, but I wouldn't weep if I never came across them again.

Haha! Don't be silly!

a horse I often disagree with!

Good, virtually word for word the same article.

I've only twice not been able to finish a dish because it was just TOO spicy. Once in Thailand and once in Hunan. Both times were far from tourist places or places foreigners might turn up, so they didn't think to warn me! The restaurant in Hunan was very near my home and I returned many times, but never had that dish again!

Well thanks! I lived in Hunan for two years in the 1990s and this was a favourite dish. Yes, no sugar! As a person with zero sweet tooth I was delighted. Hunan food is still my favourite and sadly it is mostly unknown outside of China, despite the number of "Hunan" restaurants in the west. It is not only less sweet but probably the spiciest of China's cuisines - more so than Sichuan, I'd say. I'm not quite sure what she means by the last sentence. Sichuan pepper is common in Hunan cuisine, if less so than in Sichuan.

Fried noodles with chicken, carrots, green chilli, daikon radish, scallions, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, oyster sauce.

Buttergate was years in the making Interesting article

I've kept duck fat that long without problems. Pork fat I tend to render then use immediately, so no, or just short-term, storage involved.

I want a "Raging Teenager — a mix of vodka, ginger beer, lime juice, and Sichuan peppercorn". Could have done with one when I had a couple of human raging teenagers!

According to this article (and my own observances) street food is returning after being almost completely banished from China's cities. This article relates to Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, but the same is happening all over. I see it here in my city. Now I'm wondering, is the same true elsewhere?

I just eat the really thin aparagus spears raw in salads - or use as 'soldiers'with soft boiled eggs.