liuzhou

More an adventure in eating in east Asia, I'd say. All pizzas in China come with corn, including the infamous durian pizzas. Domino's pizzas in Vietnam, too. Mì too. But generally I find more sub-par bánh mì in the north than in the south. After all, they originated in HCMC / Saigon. But back to Japan. Thanks for this whole account of your trip. Fascinating side of a Japan I've never seen.

S: 花古鱼; T: 花鼓鱼 (huā gǔ yú) or S: 花鼓鱼; T: 花鼓魚 (huā gǔ yú), Trachidermus fasciatus, the somewhat off-puttingly named rough skin sculpin, is another freshwater fish once among the most popular in China. However, thanks to ‘development’ along the lower Yangtse river where it thrived, the fish is now endangered in China. It is still found in southern Guangxi, but in very limited numbers. Some are imported from Korea and Japan. At the equivalent of $30 USD in markets, it is the most expensive freshwater fish I’ve encountered. I’ve never eaten it, so can’t comment on flavour. Some local restaurants have it on their menu at more than double the market price. $60+ for a fish that is only typically 11.5 cm / 4½ inches long. The OED describes it as a 'small worthless fish'.

I mentioned tilapia in this post. Here is a variation on that theme. S: 黄立鱼; T: 黃立魚 (huáng lì yú). Yellow tilapia. This is a yellow bellied and yellow finned mutation of the common tilapia, Oreochromis mossambicus. It is otherwise identical in use and taste. Suddenly fashionable for no good reason that I can see.

The jellyfish is gelatinous with the texture of a particularly al dente pasta. It isn't cooked as such but is processed. and cured before being sold. I have written more about that in this topic. Note: of the 4000+ species of jellyfish, only around a dozen are edible and they must be processed properly to be safe to eat. Don't be trying to eat what you come across at your local beach!

I was searching earlier for their scientific name which I'd forgotten and a couple of websites mentioned Dune, without which I wouldn't have understood your reference. I've never seen the movie or read the book.

I am not suggesting that anyone shouldn't make dim sum at home; merely that few do, as can be seen by the entries in this near-20 year old topic with extremely few examples.

Spicy shrimp with garlic, Shaoxing, soy sauce and scallions. 海蜇 (hǎi zhé), Rhopilema esculenta, an edible jellyfish. Rice.

What a bizarre topic. 95% of the historic contributions here have absolutely nothing to do with making dim sum at home (there are more posts about Chinese banking systems). I understand the lack of home cooking of dim sum posts, though. Few people ever do it. In fact S: 点心; T: 點心, (Mandarin - diǎn xin; Cantonese - dim sum), however delicious, is merely an aside at a social event, 飲茶 (Mand: yǐn chá; Cant: yum cha), drinking tea or 早茶 (Mand: zǎo chá; Cant: jou cha), morning tea. These places can be cacophonous early in the morning. Conviviality and conversation is the point. Food, not so much. The food served, the dim sum, often doesn’t lend itself to home cooking and for many items, considerable skill and experience is needed. The best dim sum chefs are highly regarded in the same way as the best sushi or ramen chefs are in Japan. Despite that, there are many recipes on the internet. Some read OK; most don’t; and some are just sadly clueless.

A local rarity. S: 青竹鱼; T: 青竹魚 (qīng zhú yú), Cyprinidae Spinibarbus, green bamboo fish is a freshwater fish mainly found in Guangxi and Yunnan. It occupies fast moving waters, including the river flowing through Liuzhou. It is vegetarian. It is also farmed but is a slow grower, so less desirable to fish farmers wanting a quick return - i.e. most of them.

北海 (běi hǎi, literally ‘north (of the) sea’) is a city on Guangxi’s southern coast on the Gulf of Tonkin near the border between China and Vietnam. It gets a large number of domestic tourists looking for its beaches and seafood ; few foreign. The city and especially 外沙岛 (wài shā dǎo), Waisha Island, connected to the city by a short bridge, gets the bulk of the visitors and is full of seafood restaurants. Most of my fish and seafood (and all seawater species) come from there. One special attraction is S: 北海沙虫; T: 北海沙蟲 (běi hǎi shā chóng), Sipunculus nudus, Beihai sandworms. a local delicacy. They are also referred to in English as ‘peanut worms’. These on average, 15 cm / six inch long, unsegmented worms are picked from Beihai’s beaches early in the morning when they emerge from the sand. Fried until crispy, they have a pleasant umami-laden flavour. They are often added to congee, which is how I have eaten them. Today, they are being cultivated in limited but growing numbers. Away from their natural habitat of Guangxi, they are sold dried. I can buy them fresh. $9.00 USD per 250 grams. Need I mention, they are also used in TCM? In that context they are sometimes called ‘sea cordyceps’ as they are claimed to have similar medicinal benefits to those parasitic fungus infested worms?

Two more starches used in the kitchen. 1) S: 红薯淀粉; T: 紅薯澱粉 (hóng shǔ fěn), sweet potato starch. 2) S: 马蹄粉; T 馬蹄粉; (mǎ tí fěn) Chinese water chestnut (Eleocharis dulcis or E. congesta) starch.

Dim Sum items like these are seldom made at home. However the internets have several recipes of varying appeal. A search for 'lo bak go', the Cantonese name should point you in the right direction. I'd avoid the Woks of Life recipe, though. When a recipe writer says he doesn't know what he is cooking, it hardly inspires confidence!

https://kitchenmisadventures.com/water-chestnut-cake

Here is yet another version of celtuce. Known as S: 贡菜干; T: 貢菜乾 (gòng cài gān), this is shavings of the stem which are then dried. The name literally means 'tribute vegetable' as some emperor or other supposedly tasted it and thereafter was given it as a tribute on a regular basis. Can be eaten raw after rehydrating or can be stir fried. Regular folk have to buy it. 80 grams / 40 cents USD.

Here’s something I haven’t seen before. S: 陈皮;T: 陳皮 (chén pí), dried orange or tangerine peel is a common ingredient in Chinese cuisine. Every supermarket has it, although most people dry their own, including me. It keeps for decades in a sealed container in a cool dark cupboard.. In fact, for most people, the older it is; the better. It is possible to buy peel up to 80 years old. That is expensive, though. More than $5 USD a gram. These three jars in my local supermarket hold (left to right) 15-year-old peel ($77.39 USD / 500g), 10-year-old ($46.99), 3-year-old ($24.88). The Woks of Life site goes to its ludicrous lengths as usual, explaining how to dry it. One sentence would do. “Remove peel and dry it in the sun.” It is used medicinally, but also in both sweet and savoury dishes. It is used in hot pot bases, in soups, stocks, and especially, braised dishes. So, I’m well used to the ingredient. What I found yesterday was powdered peel in sachets. I totally fail to see the point. The stuff comes free with every tangerine you buy! Dried tangerine peel powder

Here, I am looking at (C6H10O5)n, a polysaccharide comprising glucose monomers joined in α 1,4 linkages. Extracted from the roots, tubers or seeds of various plants this tasteless white powder is used in kitchens worldwide to thicken sauces, tenderise meats and coat foods to be fried. Its friends call it S: 淀粉; T: 澱粉 (diàn fěn) or starch. The most common is found as 玉米粉 (yù mǐ fěn) in Chinese 🇨🇳, cØrn starch in American English 🇺🇸 or cØrnflour in British English 🇬🇧 and is widely available both in the west and in China. However, cØrn is far from the only source. I always use S: 马铃薯粉; T 馬鈴薯粉 (mǎ líng shǔ fěn) or 土豆粉 (tǔ dòu fěn), potato starch, as do the Sichuanese. S: 木薯淀粉: T: 木薯澱粉 (mù shǔ diàn fěn), tapioca starch, made from cassava, is used some places as are 葛粉 (gé fěn) Pueraria montana, kudzu or 竹芋 (zhú yù), Maranta arundinacea, arrowroot. Tapioca Starch Kudzu Starch Anonymous starch is also sold as 生粉 (shēng fěn) often also labelled in English "Edible Starch". This is sometimes cØrn but there are no guarantees. The cØrn starch pictured above is labelled as both 生粉 and 玉米 meaning, cØrn. The above starches are also used to make noodles as are rice starch and S: 绿豆粉; T: 綠豆粉 (lǜ dòu fěn), mung bean starch.

A recent conversation with @KennethTled me here. We were talking about the Chinese dim sum 'turnip cakes' which are rarely, if ever, made from turnip, but are in fact daikon radish cakes. Here is a variation, which I picked up this morning. These are 马蹄糕 (mǎ tí gāo), water chestnut cakes made with glutinous rice.

I’ve mentioned before on eG my bafflement by ‘garlic powder’. I only normally hear reference to it on American websites or television shows etc. It isn’t a thing anywhere else, so far as I can determine. I could buy it in China online, if I chose but it’s imported and I don’t choose. That said, it is made here but mainly for export or for processed food manufacturers. Yes; it is exported and re-imported! I don’t know anyone who uses it. The only garlic product that I do see regularly is this 蒜蓉酱 (suàn róng jiàng), minced garlic sauce or paste). It costs between $2 and $3 for a 320g jar, depending on brand. This is sometimes used as a dip with hotpots but more often slathered over oysters in the shell before grilling. I only eat my oysters raw. Fresh garlic is ubiquitous and dirt cheap.

Are your 'turnip cakes'made with turnip? In most of dim sum places here, what is sold as turnip cakes are actually daikon radish cakes. I've never seen a turnip in China.

Stir fried pork with fresh 松茸菌 (sōng róng jūn) aka matsutake. Garlic, ginger, chilli, Chaoshan fish sauce, soy sauce, scallions. Served with rice.

汤 (tāng), not to be confused with 唐 (táng) is ‘soup’ or ‘stock’ or ‘broth’ or just ‘boiling water’. (唐 (táng) is sugar, sweets, candy). Soups are a frequent part of meals, but unlike in western countries aren’t necessarily served at the beginning of a meal in China. As in the west, however, the best soups depend on the quality of the stock used to prepare them and top Chinese chefs go to extreme lengths to achieve perfection. On the other hand, the lazy or incompetent or uninterested or all three take shortcuts and there are companies ready to take advantage. Factory made soup bases 汤底 (tāng dǐ) are sold in most supermarkets. Here is a selection. Hong Kong Style Golden Chicken Flavour Soup Nanyang Seafood Shacha Flavor Soup Cantonese Pepper Pork Belly Chicken Flavour Soup Yunnan Precious Agaricus Blazei Flavour Soup Thai Style Seafood Tom Yum Goong Flavour Soup I have never eaten any of these so can't vouch for any of them, but I can say I avoid anything described as 'flavour' XXXX. It's usually a guarantee that it contains zero XXXX. Unusually, the ingredients are not listed. Instead they list all the things it doesn't contain to make a decent soup and suggest you buy them, too! Here is a computer translation of the instructions on the foil bag containing the 'soup'.

Of course, yeast needs something to raise, so... Wheat (小麦 - xiǎo mài) in China tends to be lower in gluten than most western strains, so I tend only to buy high-gluten flour (高筋粉 - gāo jīn fěn) or ‘bread flour’, (面包粉 - miàn bāo fěn). Twenty years ago, this was mostly imported from the USA, but various trade wars, tariffs and quotas have scaled that back dramatically and China is now growing western cultivars alongside its own varieties. I use very little flour, usually only for bread and for batters. Mostly, I buy this “goldfish*” brand, as it’s widely available. Many types of flour are used here, wheat and rice flours being the most common. For a bilingual list of flours in China, see this website. * Commonly called “goldfish” brand but the Chinese, 金龙鱼 (jīn lóng yú, literally ‘golden dragon fish’) actually means golden arowana, a similar looking species.

My mango today was just a bit smaller. 143 grams / 5 oz. It was the largest of the four I bought, the smallest being 110 grams / 3.9 oz They sure smell good but need a day on the counter, I estimate. -

I haven't really thought about it. I'm not a big fan of pineapple in savoury situations apart from fried rice, so I guess some will go there. Some will be eaten as is. Always open to suggestions, though.

My soy sauce bottles (various types) all give a two-year recommendation, although I'm sure they'd be fine longer. No one refrigerates them here in China.