liuzhou

Brined chicken breast coated with a spicy breadcrumb mix and fried. Chips/ fries. Deep fried almond mushrooms.

That looks lovely. You've given me an idea for tonight. Thanks.

Chicken livers with garlic, chilli, ginger, Shaoxing wine, mushrooms and scallions. With orzo.

Yes. Wholemeal flour is what is known in the US as whole wheat flour. And yes you can use white flours as substitutes for all or part of the wholmeal flour. As I recall the Guardian article used by @blue_dolphinsays this, but also suggests the taste will be different.

They are very addictive.

I'd happily eat that. Not the board!

Fried rice with pork, garlic, green chillies, red chillies, garlic, ginger, Chinese chives, Shaoxing wine. Note lack of egg and definitely no soy sauce!

Interesting read about bread and bread books.

I remember fresh lemon. Never orange.

Every day!

Thai red chicken curry with greenery and rice.

葱油饼 (cōng yóu bǐng). Chinese scallion pancakes.

The only Jif I've come across is this - now officially called Cif in the UK although most people still call it Jif. It is still Jif in many territories. Perhaps they should have done some more brand name research. Don't confuse your kitchen cleanser with your peanut butter!

I do that sometimes. Not frozen balls, though.

I very seldom buy them. There are so many fresher noodle options here (in normal times).

A bit late for this year, but save it for next! https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/news/nr/secret-perfect-pancake-discovered-1.358297

Today, I did something I haven't done for years. Strange times. I usually call these "train noodles" as the only time I really ate them was on long train journeys as little else was available. But now with high speed trains all over the place, journey times have been slashed. It used to take me two whole days to get to Beijing. Hong Kong took 14 hours - Now it's 5. Opening the packet, I find this. Dried noodles, four packs of chemicals and a folding plastic fork. From top left and moving clockwise, the four packs are dried veg and shrimp (I guess there was about half a small shrimp in there); taste powder (chicken bouillon and MSG); soup flavouring (?); vinegar. After carefully scutinising the dried veg and discarding anything yellow which may be the dreaded c@rn, these ingredients are combined and boiling water applied, the pack resealed and left for a bit. I used to know exactly how long until they were ready - the amount of time it took me to smoke one cigarette, but I gave up smoking twenty years ago, so that no longer helps. Actually, they weren't so bad, but I'll probably not be back there for a long time. I hope.

Seville oranges. AKA bitter oranges.

(from The Good Huswifes Jewell, an English cookery book from 1585

Don't panic! I haven't gone vegetarian! I did make fried hand pulled noodles with red-cooked tofu - 红烧豆腐 (hóng shāo dòu fǔ), shiitake mushrooms, garlic, ginger, chilli, Shaoxing wine etc, but I added some reconstituted dried shrimp. The fun part is that the slices of mushroom and tofu are very similar looking, so you are never sure what you are going taste. Steamy picture. BTW - Red-cooked means braised in soy sauce.

I've been using this almost daily for about 20 years. No cleaning issues. Although, I also use a dedicated toothbrush when needed.

I have to say that the worst Chinese food I've ever eaten was in Amsterdam. It isn't a great culinary destination, by any means! But the main Asian influence there is Indonesian, as I remember. And some of that was excellent.