liuzhou

Yes, too much hectoring going on.

Round here, when the temperatures drop, everyone fires up their hotpots. I do too, but also make more stews and soups. Heavier breakfasts and lunches, too.

Pork and shiitake jiaozi. Chopped chilli dip.

As iverywun sensubul noes, the word c*rn should only ever be used as a verb and even then, only in the sense below. Today, I picked these up. Salt preserved quail eggs. Despite the Japanese on the packaging, the small print indicates they are processed in Hunan, China. The company selling them is Japanese, though. Spicy hot, but delicious. ETA: Despite being fully aware of the meaning intended, I did check the list of ingredients carefully, to make sure they hadn't sneaked some c*rn in. They often do! It's a communist plot!

Just a variant wonton wrapping style especially designed for the extremely lazy - i.e. me.

Maybe, but they should have hung them at the village gate, not the back of the village. Anyway, I would have read them as a welcome to a No C*rn Zone!

Anyone who remembers my previous post about Miao people may notice these ones look different. The 'Miao' designation is one imposed by the Chinese government and there is great disagreement among the people themselves. They believe they are not just one ethnic group - and indeed, have different languages and cultures. It is estimated there may be as many as 100 different sub-groups. The people here self-identify as 白苗 (bái miáo), meaning 'white Miao'. One thing I did notice to my delight was how they very sensibly treat the dreaded c@rn. They hang it by the neck until it is dead!

Today, I was honoured to be invited to lunch in a relatively nearby Miao village, where they were celebrating their good harvest. Before we could eat we were entertained by the some of the villagers. These women sang to us. Some men played their traditional Lusheng instruments. Then they had a tug-of war between the men and the women. The women won (but there were twice as many women as men!) Most people just hung around looking good in their best leisure wear. Finally, we were seated at a table, but before we could eat, we had to toast each other. These were some of my table companions. Old friends. Each table was furnished with two dips. On the left chilli, coriander/cilantro, Chinese chives in soy and sesame oil. On the right, duck's blood with chilli. Kou Rou - Roasted, then steamed pork belly and taro. Chicken If not this chap I had met earlier, then one of his relations. Chicken and duck giblets stir-fried with vegetables. Duck - Note beak on left so you are sure what you are eating. Deep fried carp Steamed Shrimp Water Spinach People watching people eating! Neighbouring Table All very amusing

Not again!

青椒肉片 (qīng jiāo ròu piàn) Sliced pork with green chillies. Pork tenderloin, large green chillies, garlic, ginger, Shaoxing wine, soy sauce and Chinese chives. A staple in every small restaurant, canteen and home.

Interesting article on the history of okra / gumbo in the southern USA.

三鲜馄饨 (sān xiān hún tún ; Three Flavour Wontons). These would normally be served in a soup, but I just had them with a soy and black vinegar dip.

Gratuitous picture of durians in the market this morning.

Indeed. Spam was used to feed starving refugees and others after WW2 in Japan, Guam and other places around Asia. Eater has a reasonable short history of Spam here .

With this dish, the chillies are not eaten. The idea is to pick out the chicken meat buried within the pile of red chilli and Sichuan peppercorns. It is still spicy, though. The dish is from Chongqing, but found all over Sichuan and in almost every Sichuan restaurant elsewhere.

Sichuan 辣子鸡 (là zi jī) Chicken with Chilies. Served with rice and stir fried greens.

Mushroom Omelette. Not, I concede, the most attractive omelette I've ever made but it tasted just fine.

Thzt changes nothing. Lard is still a form of shortening and has been called that for cennturies. Because Crisco invented a "synthetic substitute" doesn't change that. But we are getting off topic.

Duck soup. Shredded duck breast meat, white onion, garlic, carrot, chilli, white button mushrooms, coriander/cilantro and Chinese chives in a duck stock I made yesterday from the remains of a leg which I stripped the meat from to make duckburgers.

Way back in this post, I mentioned that frozen peas were unavailable here. Scrap that. This morning my supermarket had bags of frozen peas beside the frozen jiaozi. Did I buy some? No. They were only available as part of a two-pack. Not two packs of peas, though. They were paired with a bag of frozen c*rn! Also, I wasn't going to be home for a few hours and didn't want to carry them around all day in the heat. I may go back in a day or two and give the c*rn to someone I don't like.

Duckburgers. Meat and some fat from duck leg. The bulk of the fat has been rendered and stored and the bones are currently turning into duck stock for tomorrow. More than one burger was consumed.

Wow, indeed! Love your semi-legal scales.

I've just done the same and its 69 grams.

Yes. Look great. Softer than mine. I guess there is ducks and there is ducks. Different sizes and breeds. The eggs I use are from sea ducks. Don't know what difference that makes! Post 7777

If you still have the instruction manual (if there was one) it should give a range of operating temps; otherwise the info may be online.