liuzhou

They are foraged.

I didn't weigh them, but those you see plus maybe 4 or 5 more out of shot cost me 18.50元 this morning. That's $2.73 USD. I'll see if she has them again tomorrow and find out for sure.

Fresh. Yes morels grow in China, but today was the first time I've found them in the market.

Not pretty, but beef in Guinness stew isn't meant to look pretty! But packed with taste. Served with buttery mash and even more buttery, garlicky morels. Winter warmer food.

I know what you mean, but it retains its glamour in Chinese thinking.

A nice display of fruit in the market this morning considering it's a freezing day in the dead of winter.

For the first time ever in China, I found these in my local market this morning. I knew they grew here, but had never been able to find them. Morchella esculenta. Morels. In Mandarin, 羊肚菌 (yáng dù jùn) , literally sheep's stomach mushroom.

This morning's mushroom medley from the market.

Lazy cooking tonight. Stir fried noodles with pork and mushrooms. Garlic, ginger, Shaoxing, chilli, soy sauce, scallions. Lazy but tasty enough.

It might be a while. It needs very slow cooking. Could take months! 😎

Thanks! You have given me a great idea for dinner! Here's my mise en place. And it's Fusion Food. Anchovies from Italy, chocolate from Belarus and oranges from China!

It depends on how I'm going to use it. Very occasionally toaster, sometimes just by leaving on the counter, most often, with baguettes (halved before freezing) in the microwave on the defrost setting for 45 seconds.

I drop them into already boiling water and give them two minutes, then into ice water. Yes, the two at the bottom left came out slightly harder than the rest. No idea why.

I freeze bread all the time. I live alone and don't eat that much bread, but bake 75% of my own. Bread freezes very well. Just don't refrigerate it. That kills it.

Big lunch. Another hot pot. No pictures. The usual. So, smallish dinner. After a slight mishap, made some quail scotch eggs. With a simple salad. Two pictured, but ate five. Three in fridge for breakfast.

... drop 10 quail eggs into a pan of boiling water for a 2 minute boil, then set the timer for the number of eggs rather than number of minutes. Duh! I did notice before the ten minutes was up, but the intended soft boiled eggs were decidedly bullet textured.

The bakery where I bought it. I don't know They are good, but they are always like that. I did ask once, but it is a small, local chain and the bread is baked in a central bakery, so the staff in the retail outlet didn't know.

A breakfast BLT hit the spot this morning.

Yes. It's part of all.

I've answered that suggestion several times. It has nothing to do with sweet or starchy or any other characteristic other than it being corn. I loathe all kinds and all preparations. And I don't think it is at all odd. I know other people who agree with me and share my dislike. I'm sure I enjoy many things you consider almost inedible, too. I'm not a fussy eater - quite the reverse.

Braised chicken legs with chestnuts. black soy sauce, chicken stock sauce, ginger, scallion, sugar. Served with curly endive stir-fried with garlic. Rice. Loosely (very) adapted from a Fuchsia Dunlop recipe in Sichuan Cookery (aka Land of Plenty)

鸳鸯火锅 (yuān yāng huǒ guō), Mandarin Duck Hot Pot. Lunch at a friend's home. That is not to say there is duck involved. 鸳鸯 (yuān yāng) means mandarin duck, but as they are almost always seen in couples, the term is also used figuratively to mean both an affectionate couple and also this type of two sectioned pot. This is a Sichuan style hot pot. The red soup base is chilli hot while the other is plain (for the chilli wimps!)

Host's note: this post and the ensuing topic were moved from the Dinner 2019 topic. I was brought up too on the eat it or starve principle. Put me off many foods for years. I remember particularly one fish dish that I was being forced to eat when I knew the fish was off. My parents' philosophy changed forever when I threw up all over them and was rushed to hospital! I swore that I would never do that to my children. They were allowed to reject anything, provided they tasted it once, or even better twice. The both grew up as adventurous eaters. As for me, I didn't eat fish for about twenty years, but now if I had to go any kind of 'x-arian', it would be pescatarian. And my world travels have led me to eat many things that I would never have considered food as a kid or for too long after. I resent the waste of time my parents forced on me, but understand their motives. They grew up under wartime rationing when food was scarce. Most of my favourites are things I hated or never knew as a kid. I have little patience with people who say they don't like something without ever having tried it. Of course, corn was never edible.

Yup, that would be biang biang noodles, then.

The dish on the menu is listed as "Xi'an Oil Splashing Noodles" which is a near-literal translation of the Chinese shown 西安油泼面 (xī ān yóu pō miàn). although I'd translate it as 'splash'. Although similar, I wouldn't say it is necessarily the same as "biang biang mian". Certainly, I know restaurants in Xi'an which have both on their menus. In biang biang mian, the noodles are extremely long. Were yours? Whatever, I'm sure it was deicious. The famous biang character (below), is a bit of marketing tool rather than a real Chinese character. It is not listed in any dictionary and is only used in Xi'an.