liuzhou

Yes, I'm with you on that. I've eaten many places with no idea what I was ordering. A few times I was glad I didn't know, but usually it works out well.

This was breakfast No. 2 today. I had a draining day yesterday which included a two hour spell in the tax office doing something that could easily have taken two minutes. So, by 9 pm, I was exhausted and went to bed. Most unlike me. At 3 am, I woke up full of energy and there was no going back to sleep, so I got up and had a boiled egg sandwich for breakfast No. 1, then did the most boring work I could find for a couple of hours, which sent me back to bed and into a deep sleep until 9 am. Again most unlike me; I'm usually up and about at 7 am. 9 am, I made breakfast No. 2. Chicken and shiitake jiaozi. When I say made, I mean I boiled ones I had made earlier and then frozen. There were 10, but I ate two before thinking to take a photo. The dip is simple Sriracha sauce (bought in Sriracha).

Great stuff, as (almost*) ever. I'm wondering. You showed one English language menu. Is it common or not for places to have English menus? It's been 25 years since I was in Japan and there were none then, that I remember. *You know what I am referring to! One lapse in judgement I can take! 😁 😁

I seldom buy what you are calling "brick mozzarella", but I call "American mozzarella". Instead I make my own Italian style ball mozzarella. So easy and so much better. The interwebs are full of instructions and videos.

Lunch today was one of the strangest I've ever had. Back story: In the centre of the city, near my home, is a government owned 5-star hotel. It's not difficult to get 5 stars when the owners are the star issuing authority! The hotel has hosted almost every Chinese government leader except Mao and the current President, Xi Jingping (so far). I dislike the place and especially its "western restaurant" staffed by charming wait staff and chefs who've never eaten western food, but once saw a picture. They specialize in steaks, which they serve with a tiny scattering of parsley, shredded carrot and a flower, but no carbs. Order fries separately and they usually arrive ten minutes before your steak or ten minutes after. They also specialize in rip-off prices. A few days ago, I had a call from a friend who explained that the hotel wanted to make an advertisement to be aired on in-flight videos to and from the city. For some reason, they decided that it would be good to have a foreigner in their movie.. As one of the very few western foreigners in town and the one who has been here by far the longest, I was volunteered. Again! So I spent the morning pretending to be playing tennis, a game I haven't played since high school in the middle of last century and sucked at then. After that, at around 11 am headed to the "western restaurant" for lunch. While waiting for the various camera men, lighting people and the director to do what people like them do, I was beginning to get hungry. A bowl of soup turned up. Borscht. I will never understand why every Chinese "western restaurant" serves this. There is no beetroot here. Why choose to serve a dish you don't have the main, signature ingredient for? I know the answer. They only saw a picture and saw it was red! Tomato soup is Borscht! I was instructed that I could eat this while they got ready. They weren't going to film me eating fake borscht. To accompany my soup they brought me a bowl of fruit salad slathered with Kewpie sweet mayonnaise. Of course. I ate a little of the soup and ignored the salad as all sensible people would. Then my steak arrived. Or did it? The waitress with my meal hovered in sight while, for a long time, the film crew fiddled with their dials before the director yelled the Chinese equivalent of "Action" . The young waitress placed the steak, which was served on a cutting board, in front of me. I smiled and said "Thank you!" The director yelled "Cut!" and said "One more time". Waitress took away my untouched meal, they fiddled dials a bit more and we went for take two. And three. And four. And five. And six. All the while my steak was getting cold. Finally, director was satisfied and I was allowed to actually eat the damn thing that had been tantalizing me for so long. I'd quite lost my appetite. The picture shows half my 'meal'. I wasn't about to waste more time taking a picture until I'd eaten some. To be fair, they had obviously picked the best steak they could find (I didn't get to choose) and it had been cooked exactly as I had requested (I was allowed to do that) - medium rare. Unfortunately, unlike the poor waitress, it had been rested so long before I got my fork to my mouth that it was no longer as pink as when it left the kitchen. Residual heat. However it was tender and reasonably tasty. Then I went home and had a huge cheese sandwich with lettuce and tomato. A CLT. Look out for me at the next Oscars ceremony!

I saw the "Lego" gummies here in China a week ago. Lego has been a big craze here for the last couple of years I have to say that I immediately thought what a *^^#&* stupid idea! Kids are always swallowing Lego bricks and choking. Showing them that some "Lego" is edible is really going to help there! I'm not usually one to call for the health and safety police, but...

Sad, but it's been on the cards for some time. Few people in the UK are surprised. A combination of a poor economy, over-stretching and the B word, all contribute.

Part of dinner. The main part. 窝窝头 Wowotou buns stuffed with beef and Hunan pickled vegetables.

Well-done "Viennese" sausage (made in China) with poached egg (laid in China) on toast. The egg was just past prime poaching freshness, hence the visual peculiarity, but it tasted fine.

A few months ago I was asked by email by a new arrival in China from the USA if I knew where she could buy buckwheat noodles as she was gluten intolerant. I was about to reply that she had probably walked past them in supermarkets every day, but her lack of Chinese had mislead her as to their availability. If they are labelled at all, they are only done so in Chinese. Before I could do that, I went shopping, but remembered her request. I thought I'd take a couple of photographs of the more common brands to send to her. As I was eyeing them up on my cell phone camera, I thought to check the ingredients. They all contained wheat alongside the buckwheat except one brand - the more expensive one. So, I was able to steer her in that direction. I've never seen wheat as an ingredient in rice noodles here, but of course, I have no idea what is available in your area.

I planned doing this with couscous rather than rice, but when I got there, the cupboard was bare. Worked with rice, too though. Pan fried duck breast over lemon, garlic, black olive rice. Served with Shanghai bok choy.

@liamsaunt I'm not a big fan of cooked salmon, but that is a very appealing plate and great photograph.

Fresh ramen noodles, red-cooked tofu (tofu braised in soy sauce), chicken broth, quail eggs, Shanghai bok choy, garlic, red chilli.

Only maybe uppity non-plebeians. It was as neutral as 'commoner' is today in English. But we are getting way off-topic.

criteria which I'm sure @CatIsHungryfails to meet, given she joined eG, home to sophisticates across the world!

Whether you are a Plebeian or not depends on which definition you accept: the original classical definition as a citizen who is not a member of the ruling elite; a commoner*, or the more recent derogatory sense. As to black tomatoes, yes they are a thing. * which I assume you are, unless there's something you're not telling us about your true identity! 😀😀😀

They're certainly pretty, but not cheap! I hope some of the knowledgeable people here can shed light for you.

IF you've found it online, then you can post a link to the appropriate page. The only relevant rule that I can think of is that you shouldn't post images you don't own the copyright to (without the owner's permission), but again a link to an image on a website is permissible. I have no experience with copper pans, I'm afraid, so I won't be much use to you!

Welcome. Which country?

It's potting compost bought from the local supermarket. Mainly bought by people to raise flowering house plants, I think. The basil seeds were an unexpected find. Despite our proximity to Vietnam where they love the stuff, the Chinese don't eat it or even know it can be eaten. In the past, I've always had to smuggle seeds in. But recently, they turned up in one store, being sold as mosquito repellent houseplant seeds (驱蚊草 qū wén cǎo). Apparently, mossies don't like it.

Penne Rigata with a Fresh Tomato Pork Ragu. Could have done with some basil, but I don't think my plants are quite ready to harvest yet.

I'm still loving this, but you can keep that pizza! 😎

yes, I know about the restaurant. I have a very good friend from China who knows luosifen well and who is currently living in Seattle. She has been and was underwhelmed. I saw a picture and said that it looked good. Her reply was that it looked good but any of the Luosifen places I took her to in Liuzhou were 100% better in taste. Another comment on the Facebook luosifen fan page read "On my one visit (so far) I found the soup delightfully full flavored, though wondered about the lack of the funky snail flavor touted by writers familiar with authentic Luosifen." Still, please give it a try and get back with your impressions.

Oooops! That's $5760 USD Story here.

What do you do now?