liuzhou

Pomelo (with avocado for scale). A PITA to peel, but worth it in the end.

Zhuang breakfast 油茶 yóu chá, oil tea with 油条 yóu tiáo. deep fried breadstick. 菜包 cài bāo, stuffed cabbage, Zhuang style.

Not a bad idea, but a) Wouldn't know where to source one here. b) In a way, I like the seasonality.

Tagliatette with a spicy, slow cooked pork ragu. Alas, the basil is over for this year. Served with a nice Australian Shiraz.

Not in the west. In America!

My flippant comment was more in jest than anything else, but yes, you do deserve a more sensible answer. It seems to me that the Cantonese recipes are authentic, but not so much the others. The Sichuan dishes are all over the place and very American-Chinese slanted The video recipe for laziji is a travesty. Compare it to Fuchsia Dunlop's much more authentic version, for example. Overall, the channel is better than most, but I really can't recommend any YouTube videos as being a good way to learn. Books such as those by Ms. Dunlop are much better and there is at least some quality control by the publishers. YouTube has none whatsoever - every idiot with a camera and an ego can post any old crap and many do! If you are interested in more regional Chinese dishes, then Carolyn Phillips' All Under Heaven (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) is a good introduction.

They were both around 10-12 yuan ($1.50 - $2 USD.) Chinese food labelling normally gives the production date rather than a 'best before' or 'eat this and you'll die' date. Much more sensible.

Overnight-brined chicken breast cooked 1-10-10. Morels and cordycep militaris mushrooms. Orzo.

Chef and Le Gavroche restaurateur Albert Roux dies aged 85

This comes with the usual Billy Connolly warning.

A couple more soy sauces found in the local supermarket this morning.

Home made wontons (shrimp, pork, shiitake) in chicken broth with garlic, ginger, chilli and Shanghai greens.

Very little. I can't think of anything. Japan and China don't exactly get on well.

Yes. Japanese. Not what I'm exploring here. I've already mentioned that there are gluten-free Chinese soy sauces.

@KennethT Nyetimber! Great choice. I had some last year on my visit to England.

Exactly

Maybe not in Canada, but what do I know about Canadian labelling regulations?

It is in some places.

Or a toasting fork and a flame. I very much doubt that any soldiers in the trenches in WW1 had ever even seen a pop-up toaster, largely because they hadn't yet been invented! My mother still has her toasting fork and I have happy memories of making toast over the fire in the 1950s. She doesn't have an open fire now!

Are you sure? It is in most convenience foods, snacks etc - usually listed as flavor enhancer. Also naturally in cheese, tomato, mushrooms and a host of other foods.

You don't need a toaster to make toast!

Finally, managed to get out and buy some crackers to go with the chicken liver pâté I made on New Year's morning. With pickled gherkins. which cut through the richness of the pâté nicely.

Here is the mushroom soy sauce I mentioned in the previous post. Well, it's one version. This one is by Lee Kum Kee, not the best manufacturer by a long shot. Flavoured with 草菇 (cǎo gū - literally 'grass mushrooms') known in English as 'straw mushrooms'. Their version uses straw mushrooms. Basically this is just another dark soy sauce flavoured with the 'shrooms. A tiny amount in this variety - it's the last listed ingredient. Ingredients: in order of amount Water, salt, defatted soy, wheat, wheat flour, caramel, MSG, white sugar, potassium sorbate, straw mushroom. Industrial food. Better versions use greater amounts of mushroom, normally shiitake. My hunt shall continue.

Just noticed this. Yes,the chicken and chicken stock is probably what's throwing the flavour off. Try pork (although beef is more traditional).