liuzhou

“Butter fruit“ is as near as you could get to the literal translation of the most common Chinese name, too. 牛油果 (niú yóu guǒ)

Pitted avo filled with flying fish roe (salmon or even real sturgeon caviare. would be better of course, but not available to me). Dressed with a mildly vinegary, simple vinaigrette of oil and white Chinese rice wine vinegar. Served with cold, Chinese sea grass and black pepper. Also posted in the Avo Cook Off topic.

Like others, I've never cooked avocado or particularly wanted to. The nearest is a BALT where the avocado is slightly warmed by the contact with the bacon. I have been making this a lot recently, though. Either as a starter, a breakfast, brunch or a just a snack. Pitted avo filled with flying fish roe (salmon or even real sturgeon caviare would be better of course, but not available to me). Dressed with a mildly vinegary, simple vinaigrette of oil and white Chinese rice wine vinegar. Served with cold, Chinese sea grass and black pepper.

I'm in the dark, unenlightened!

Lunch today was excellent in every respect except the food. I had arranged to meet a recent acquaintance to discuss some potential professional cooperation. She chose the restaurant. We spent an hour talking, not so much about business, but everything else besides - language, food, Chinese politics, visiting Japan, cameras, internet issues, family ... The place was supposedly Hong Kong food. Very little on the menu was Hong Kong cuisine, and the dishes which were recognisably HK by name were odd in execution. I had been there several years ago and it was good. Disappointing. Also, disappointing for my friend, who had also been before and enjoyed it. I had a bowl of wonton noodles, a Hong Hong classic. They were a disaster. Insipid soup. Three shrimp wontons (if shrimp wontons are meant to have the texture boiled golf balls - they were almost inedible). The noodles were apparently rejects from the cheapest, nastiest instant noodle brand. Her dish was no better, but she liked the milk tea. The meal cost ¥58 (around $8.70 USD) . Not a huge amount, but I'm sure the ingredients couldn't have cost more than about ¥3 ($0.45) . When I asked for the bill, I was curtly told to go to the cash desk at the other side of the fairly large restaurant, while two wait staff stood nearby gossiping about other staff members, unaware that I could understand them. So wonderful service, too. No doubt they think they will be redeemed by offering this nonsense on their menu. The Chinese says "Light Bulb Milk Tea" No, we didn't order it.

In that case they can't be "iterations". Iteration means "repetition". Different "versions", maybe? (Sorry. Pet peeve. Most misused word of the decade.)

啤酒鸭 (pí jiǔ yā) - Beer Duck. Duck with garlic, onion, ginger, star anise, chilli, dried tangerine peel, chives braised in beer. Non traditionally, I used Belgian "Trappistes Rochefort" because that is what I had. Served with rice and wilted spinach.

I've seen that same sauce packet in supermarkets here in China, but never bought it. Not a big fan of Japanese curry.

Guests for breakfast. Flew in at a time I normally only see on my way home after a good night out. Scrambled goose egg and toast. My guests flew in - not the goose.

Spaghetti with Morels and Porcini. In order to avoid the eternal shame of seeming to have turned vegetarian, I fried the mushrooms in bacon fat. Oh yes! Tasted infinitely better than it looks.

Yes, there has recently been a big government backed drive to export these instant luosifen. Not a patch on the real thing, though.

1-10-10 pan fried chicken; buttery, garlicky, fried cèpes and black ice. There was aalso a mushroom sauce which I poured after taking pictures.

Picked this up this morning, not because I wanted it, just to add to my collection of silliness. Love the brewery's honesty in their choice of name. My only question is "Why? I mean "Why?'" (to be uttered in a tone of despair). It tastes like some one had a glass of grapefruit juice with breakfast and then forgot to wash the glass before pouring a beer hours later.

I may have said this before, but I am sure that there no-one in China over the age of eight who can't cook egg and tomato! Some years back, I asked a group of 18 year old students to write me the instructions for any "Chinese" dish they could cook. 95% chose egg and tomato! I'd say for 96% of those, it was possibly the only thing they could cook. It seldom appears on menus, but you can always get it. There isn't 1 in 1.4 billion people can't throw it together. The downside is that for vegetarians. which I thank all the gods I'm not , it's the only dish they ever get! Nothing wrong with it, though. And seldom served alone. The animals parts will be another dish.

Lunch with a friend in a local food court. This eight table place only does roast fish, albeit in seven different ways. We went for the set meal for two. Roast tilapia in a tomato based sauce with mushrooms (enoki and shimeji), soy beans, soy milk skin and chilli. With rice and a selection of veg. The equivalent of $7 USD / £5.30 GBP.

My kitchen sink has this. I think it may have come with the sink - I've never seen one exactly like that in the kitchen supply shops. It is good for catching all but the smallest food fragments and small utensils. As for fish bone removal, I have been using these fish boning tweezers for about fifteen years. They were sold specifically for the purpose, work very well and cost less than peanuts.

Lemon coriander pork with mushrooms over rice.

Avo avec flying fish roe and industrial ham.

Thai style red curry fish (grass carp) and prawns.

you is correct, KT. Thanks Kim. I do like a nice crust on my burgers.

Today, I had a busy time taking photographs of something I have absolutely no interest in to accompany an article I wrote about something I have even less interest in, but some idiot is willing to pay me for, so in the relentless quest to maintain my supply of beer and noodles coupons, ,decorated with pictures of Chairman Mao, I agreed. I have no morals. When I got home, after no thought whatsoever, I decided I needed my annual burger. When you see the appalling picture, you will realise why anyone dumb enough to pay me to take pictures is even more disturbed than me. To compound the infamy, I made and ate two.

Pork tenderloin and wild mushrooms with fresh ramen, lettuce, coriander leaf, chilli, garlic, ginger in a pork broth.

My mother is weird. She loathes any form of salmon that doesn't involve a can, preferably supplied by John West, whoever he is. Thank heaven, that is not a gene I inherited. I'm totally the opposite. Although, salmon is not my favourite fish by any means.

Xie Laoban’s Dan Dan Noodles recipe is also in Sichuan cookery / Land of Plenty. Same recipe but ingredient quantities differ in some instances. Maybe she tweaked it. Also, her story of how she got the recipe keeps changing, too.

The characters on the description above and those on the packet are different but say the same thing. The first, 甜麵醬 (tián miàn jiàng) use the Traditional Chinese characters, today mainly only used in Hong, Taiwan and among the Chinese diaspora. The second on the package, 甜面酱 (tián miàn jiàng) uses the Simplified characters used on the Chinese mainland. The "sweet bean sauce" translation is just wrong. 甜面酱is literally "sweet wheat sauce", made from fermented wheat, although it may also contain beans. Hoisin sauce is also wrong. Although visually similar, Hoisin sauce (Traditional Chinese: 海鮮醬; Simplified Chinese: 海鲜酱(hǎi xiān jiàng) is different in taste and is used in different applications. Interestingly, her recipe for Dan Dan Noodles in her Sichuan Cookery / Land of Plenty does not contain any of either. I can't see one teaspoon making much difference. One thing I dislike about Dunlop's books is the way she mixes Traditional and Simplified characters, sometimes even in one name. Traditional characters are rarely used in Sichuan