liuzhou

Here is a short, but interesting article on the historic importance of 'amateur' cookbooks of the past.

Red curried shrimp.

You could try using cherries.

Possibly/probably history's biggest selling cookbook with over 40 million copies distributed. From the promoters of the newly invented self raising/rising flour. Now in its 41st edition, this one is from the 1950s and my mother still has and uses it.

Beautiful

Capers are highly unlikely - they are native to the Mediterranean region and are virtually unknown in China and S.E. Asia. I can buy them here, but only in one, expensive, specialist import stores.

I mentioned 黄金菇 (huáng jīn gū) - Yellow Oyster Mushrooms before but had only seen them dried. Today found them fresh.

Growing up in Scotland, porridge was breakfast most days in winter. Scott's Porage Oats cooked overnight on a low heat in salted water. Haven't eaten them since I moved to London to start college when I was 18.

Had a relatively large, but uninteresting lunch (not my idea), so a simple dinner. Spicy soupy ramen noodles with roast duck.

As far as I am concerned, anything she does is correct! 😂 She does partially drain it, but what she serves remains fairly liquid. Matter of taste.

What's that?

臘八粥 (là bā zhōu) is an alternative name for 八宝粥 (bā bǎo zhōu) or Eight Treasure Congee. Enjoy.

One of my local restaurants has it cracked.

Pork meatballs in spicy tomato sauce with tagliatelle.

Talking of fish congee... I passed one of my favourite local seafood restaurants today and spotted this. Shrimp and fish congee. The sign might always have been there and it didn't register till now.

This is my new favourite. It is 黑豆原酿酱油 (hēi dòu yuán niàng jiàng yóu), which means "black bean soy sauce". Regular soy sauce is made from yellow soy beans, but this from black soy beans. The sauce has a deeper flavour than regular, but is less salty and with a more mellow aftertaste. Black Soy Beans

I love pasta and eat it several times a week. I love cheese and eat it when I can find it here. When I was a kid, the local grocer called us the Cheese Family as we ate so much. But I loathe macaroni cheese as it is known where I'm from. Maybe just too many stodgy, bad experiences in the past. Or maybe it's just horrible. My brother loved it though and when he moved to Spain insisted on the family sending him regular packs of his favourite brand of British macaroni. What I did like was what my mother called 'Macaroni Mish-Mash', which was basically cooked macaroni fried with bacon, onions and tomatoes plus any leftovers, however inappropriate. Never mushrooms. I hadn't thought about that dish in decades until this topic disinterred it from the ravages of my memory. Might have to make it. I will include mushrooms.

Another find today. 鹿茸菇 (lù róng gū) - Lyophyllum Decastes or Pilose Antler Mushroom, also called Velvet Mushroom, but that name also applies to other species. Note: The species is edible when cooked. When consumed uncooked may cause liver failure, nausea, and diarrhea.

Two more mixes. 十米粥 (shí mǐ zhōu) - 10 Rice Congee 黑宝粥 (hēi bǎo zhōu) - Black Treasure Congee