liuzhou

I have just returned home after four days (three nights) in Guilin. This was a business trip, so no exotic tales this time. Just food. Anyway, despite its reputation, Guilin is actually a rather dull city for the most part - anything interesting lies outside the city in the surrounding countryside. I was staying in the far east of the city, away from the rip-off tourist hotels and restaurants and spent my time with local people eating in normal restaurants. I arrived on Wednesday just in time for lunch. LUNCH WEDNESDAY We started with the obligatory oil tea. Oil Tea Omelette with Chinese Chives Stir-fried Mixed Vegetables Sour Beef with Pickled Chillies Cakes* Morning Glory / Water Spinach** * I asked what the cakes were but they got rather coy when it came to details. It seems these are unique to this restaurant. ** The Chinese name is 空心菜 kōng xīn cài, which literally means 'empty heart vegetable', describing the hollow stems.

In addition to being fed, we were all presented with various snack items including this Luosifen Mooncake! So far, so good, but then I took one for the team and cut it in half. What imbecile thought this would be a good idea? Taking a heavy, over-sweet cake and stuffing it with spicy, intensively flavoured, sour noodles! Worst thing I've eaten in 23 years in China and, believe me, there has been competition! It tasted even worse than it looked! Most of my local friends who have eaten or just seen them agree it's insane. And mooncake time is still 6 months away!

In the countryside, many of the Zhuang, Miao, Dong, Yao ethnic minority wear these clothes every day, especially the women. In the city not so ,much apart from festive occasions. They are not handed down. The silver headdresses are made for each unmarried woman to wear. When they marry, they stop wearing them. eventually the silver may be sold and melted down. They are very expensive and so, form part of a "dowry". There is more information on this in this topic. The three girls here are local actresses/models, hired for the event to be "cuties". Many people had photographs taken with them. The one on the right is well-known in the city. I have seen her often. The one on the left scowled like that all the time. They are wearing examples of a fashionable trend imported from Japan for "cosplay". I administer a Facebook group on Luosifen and I know through that that the instant Luosifen is available in the USA, Canada, UK etc. although probably not widely. Huge efforts are being made to export it. The instant noodles aren't very good (although the ones at the event were better than average. Few people in Liuzhou eat them. Why would they when real fresh Luosifen is available everywhere and a much lower cost? People do buy them to send to relatives abroad who are missing the dish. Better than nothing, they say.

The government pays, so taxes mainly. They see it as promoting the city for tourism. Also, I guess the food suppliers contribute for the publicity. Tickets were available for purchase, theoretically, but 99% probably got them free. I certainly did!

There are more photographs and a couple of short videos here.

It is not usually served with the snails. They are just used for the stock, In fact, I only know of one place in town which incudes the actual snails with the noodles.

Tooth picks.

Yes, they were. Except for the noodles. They required 20 minutes soaking in the pot, which included a chemical heat source.

Asparagus has become popular in recent years in China to the point that China is by far the world's largest producer. Many people here think it is some form of bamboo though, mainly because the Chinese name is similar to that of bamboo. When I cooked for Chinese friends the other day, they specifically requested asparagus.

三月三 (sān yuè sān) is the major festival for the Zhuang ethnic minority, most of whom live here in Guangxi. It takes place on the third day of the third month of the traditional Chinese -solar-lunar calendar and is a public holiday here. To mark the occasion, Liuzhou held a "long table" lunch for 2,000 people, featuring the local speciality - snails, particularly 螺蛳粉 (luosifen) snail noodles. The tables were arranged in a huge circle surrounding the Li Ning Sports stadium, an Olympic sized venue. The locals dressed up in their glad rags. Here are a few images from the event, basically in random order. Instant Luosifen (River snail noodles) Chicken and snails Duck and snails Pork and snails Cooks resting Foreigners and Friends Instant Snail Noodles

Here they sell the red wine stone cold! But no service charges or tipping!

I've found Bovril in China (and some knock-offs) but never Marmite. Life is cruel!

Lunch with friends in a local Xi'an restaurant. 干拌臊子面 (gān bàn sāo zi miàn) Spicy Sour Pork Noodles 老虎菜 (lǎo hǔ cài) Tiger Salad 肉夹馍 (ròu jiá mò) 手工凉皮 (shǒu gōng liáng pí) Hand made Liangpi

Cooked for friends. Hunan style cumin beef Mixed mushrooms - straw mushrooms, fresh shiitake and king oyster mushrooms (eryngi) Squid with asparagus Stir fried watercress. with rice.

In my professional life, I went through a number of "titles". I never took them seriously or used them outside that context. But the one "title" that really threw me a loop was a young boy one day calling me "Mister"! I thought I was a boy too! (Half a century plus later, my heart and soul still think I'm that little boy!) As to restaurants, my lifestyle and environment and friends require that I do go to places that are clearly not aimed at my generation. It doesn't bother me too much. But I can't stand noise. Not age related; I never could. Fortunately, it's the oldies here in China who love the noise. No more fun that going to eat and having a shouting competition. So I'm happy to eat with my younger friends.

Love it!

山楂 (shān zhā) Chinese haws - Crataegus pinnatifida

I had a craving for fish and chips, so...

I've never believed that so many Han Chinese are lactose intolerant. I have many Han Chinese friends and most, if not all, consume milk in one form or other. Also, the supermarkets and corner shops wouldn't stock so much of it, if no one was buying it. I suspect that many people SAY they are intolerant, but actually just don't particularly like it. Just like so many people claiming to be gluten intolerant all of a sudden - few of them actually are. Chinese people have some strange notions about food and health, though. Just yesterday, a friend who is coming for dinner next week called me to say that she can't eat bean products, fish or chillies. Having cooked all three for her before without any objections, I asked her "why not?" "Oh! I've had my ears pierced" I thought that this was some kind of non-sequitor but no; she truly believed that such foods are somehow detrimental post ear piercing. This is not the first time I've come across such nonsense.

馄饨 (hún tún) Wontons (pork and shiitake) in a spicy, garlicky chicken broth with wilted spinach.

For years I've argued against the notion that China doesn't have milk products, which so many books and websites claim. In all my local supermarkets, the dairy aisles have more space than anything else. Finally here is a lucid explanation by someone more knowledgeable than me.

Mine sits in direct tropical sunlight for 10 months of the year! Thanks for checking, though!

Have you seen this topic?

It is a Vietnamese lime, so small with seeds. I may be wrong about its fruit bearing ability - I'm no expert.

Tenderloin