liuzhou

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.

I can see why you'd think so, but I'd be very surprised. They don't do olives round here. I can buy them, but only low quality canned olives from the specialist import store (at outrageous prices). I'll have a closer look next time I pass KFC, if the poster is still there. P.S. They do have Chinese olives, but they are not at all the same thing and a different colour, anyway.

Well, I'm certainly not going to buy one to find out, but I guess it's a Spam like concoction. BTW. It's KFC; not McD's but same applies.

I'm not sure what to make of this, so I'll let you decide! It reads:: 麻辣香锅风味 (má là xiāng guō fēng wèi) 鸡腿双 层堡 (jī tuǐ shuāng céng bǎo) which means Mala* hotpot flavor Chicken leg two layer burger * i.e. Sichuan style hot and numbing

The story has hit the mainstream press. The Guardian

Yes, I'm aware that 鱼露 is used in Fujian province, especially in Chaoshan cuisine (潮汕菜), but not in the vast majority of Chinese cuisine. I live near the border with Vietnam, but we never see nước mắm here. I always bring some back when I visit. One interesting exception is Shanghai, where the English introduced Worcestershire sauce, which is fish-based. It proved popular and remains so, to the extent that they make their own version locally - and very good it is, too. We did have this discussion 14 years ago. https://forums.egullet.org/topic/107740-fish-sauce-in-chinese-cuisine/

The product is actually Japanese and labelled in Japanese and English - no Chinese! That said, many products in China have English (or what they think is English). It's just a marketing ploy - makes the product seem more exotic! A bit like all the idiots in the west who get tattoos in languages they can't understand or even identify. 90% of them are nonsensical.

No particular story. One of a set of six. Japanese. Well used, as you can see. Only two left. But I have an irrational attachment to them.

Pork tenderloin steak over garlicky lentils with sugar snap peas.

Yes. Fish sauce - in Thai it is nam pla. In Vietnamese, nước mắm. Unusual in Chinese cooking, but essential in SE Asia. Fish oil is a medicinal food supplement; not an ingredient.

On March 1st 2021, a Twitter user announced this Tired of reading hundreds of words of life story, fashion hints, doggy pictures, waffle and irrelevance before reaching the recipes, they decided to strip out all but the most relevant to the actual recipe and repost it. The backlash was immediate. Food writers, bloggers, etc all railed against the idea, some citing copyright violation issues, some saying that, even if copyright does not apply to recipes*, it is still morally reprehensible to 'steal' other peoples' work. Such was the clamour, that the site was taken down the same day it went up! Now it just says: * Copyright does not apply to lists of ingredients; it does apply to any descriptive text or instructions. The unfolding story can be read here.

People usually start cracking jokes when the discussion has already become a bit of a joke, anyway!

As you know, I just moved. Things arrived at the new place that were definitely 'just gone' months or years ago at the old place! Just today, I found my Japanese ginger grater which I hadn't seen for around three years!

While it's always best to be safe, most people here today have free standing induction cookers for their very popular hotpots. Trailing cables are common, but I've never heard of anyone pulling one over and causing mayhem. I think that, in the event of a trip, the plug is more likely to pull out than the cooker and pot to fall from the table. I have the same set-up and never had a problem.

'Bánh mì' just means 'bread' in Vietnamese - any bread!

I've had bánh mì in Vietnam where there was no shattering involved! In fact, the sandwiches in my favourite bánh mì place in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) are non-shattering. I'd definitely add the pâté.

Beijing Duck. With the usual. Recrisped skin.

I see these misshapen kiwis in my local supermarket from time to time. They are fine.

If that were true, I'd be a genius!

The limitless joys of Google Mistranslate!

干酪和胡椒, per favore!

Slow cooked beef ribs and stovies. Cabbage (not pictured). A very nice Chilean Malbec/Cabernet Sauvignon.

A bit of a (partially) failed experiment. I intended to pimp up the popular standard Chinese scrambled egg and tomato with scallion dish (which I've made a million times) by adding some green chillies. I fried the tomatoes and chilli in one pan and the eggs in another. When the eggs were almost set I added the scallions, then the tomato and chilli mix. However, I guess the tomato mix was too wet or the eggs weren't as set as I thought, but the whole dish turned almost soupy. Served it anyway (only to myself) over flatbread and was delghted with the taste. I'll revisit for sure.

Last night was the Lantern Festival (元宵节 - yuán xiāo jié), which is the 15th and final day of the Spring Festival, which starts on Chinese New Year's Day. Traditional festive dinner excuse!