liuzhou

Me too.

The stupid thing is that I have been to Georgia (the east European one) but still didn't make the connection. The food is indeed wonderful as is their wine.

That confused me. I thought you were referring to the early 1800s in England and was wondering what they ate then. Then I scrolled down.

You my also see it labelled as Doubanjiang which is the Mandarin. 豆瓣酱 or 豆瓣醬 dòu bàn jiàng

Pig's kidney and mushrooms in a red wine and mustard sauce. Served with the rest of the bottle, of course.

This may be relevant.

I've eaten in that market, too. Great food! Thanks for the reminder. The pictures work for me.

I've had it only once, 18 years ago, but see it regularly. Foul stuff. As the quote you give implies, it isn't 'wine' at all but a distilled spirit (usually made from rice or sorghum) and very strong. You don't normally see it in liquor stores, but in pharmacies and drug stores. It is considered to be medicine rather than a recreational drink. You wouldn't wash down you stir fried snake with it, that's for sure. In 2000, I was sick here and a friend insisted that a glass or two was the only possible way to cure me. It didn't and I eventually I had to return to the UK for delicate surgery which did cure me. It isn't only Cantonese. There are versions all over China. In fact, it isn't even only Chinese. Italy bottles snakes in grappa, for example

Like this? Or perhaps some snake soup? Actually, although I've eaten it often, I've never cooked snake myself. Those are restaurant dishes. Snakes are however available in one of my local markets so maybe one day.

Poached duck egg on pan cooked flatbread.

But they are wrong. It tastes like snake.

Part of dinner, but the best part, if I say so myself. The rest was stuff I've bored you with before. Linguine with clams with black fermented beans, Shaoxing wine, garlic, shallots, ginger. Sino-Italian, I guess.

No, it's not your post that is in the wrong place. It's you. This is a community which celebrates food in all its diversity. Celebrates sourcing it, buying it, growing it, cooking it, sharing it and eating it. A community that understands and celebrates the importance of food in our various cultures and histories and lives. A community in which, like in families, the members don't always agree but usually respect and learn from each other. Food in a pill. Never.

Tonight, liver and bacon à la Chinoise. Sliced pig liver marinated in soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, a tickle of cumin, salt and potato starch. Stir-fried sliced onions and green chillies, added liver and fried for about 90 seconds and finished with sesame oil, Chinese chives and coriander leaf. Served with rice and stir fried Shanghai boy choy.

Some people here, I know, have heard of the mess KFC got themselves into in the UK after switching to a non-specialist delivery company which then failed to deliver their chickens and had to face the ignominy of closing hundreds of outlets over the last couple of weeks.. There have been a few funny mentions on the Food Funnies forum, starting here. Although the company has generally been praised for its open response and humorous response to the crisis, more serious problems have also arisen. The company attempted to offload its undelivered chickens which were stuck in "delivery" depots to various food charities and anti-food waste organisations, nearly all of which were unable to accept them for legal and safety reasons. More on that here. There is a good summary here.

If I found that kitchen in a holiday rental, I might never go home.

Made a soupy lunch. Knife cut noodles, pork, Shanghai bok choy, in a chicken broth with chilli, ginger and white pepper.

Thai-style red curry with chicken and aubergine/eggplant (the long thin Asian type). With rice and a side of bok choy.

I would like to point out, in my pathetic defence, that I have never bought a fridge magnet in my life. They were all gifts. Honest your honour!

Only mildly amusing, but a suitable riposte to the KFC chicken shortage. https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/feb/22/is-southern-fried-squirrel-the-answer-to-kfcs-extraordinary-chicken-shortage

I'm so glad you put "Chinese" in quote marks. Sounds revolting. Plus point is that their website is as dysfunctional as their kitchen. Their menu page is empty.

I had to Google it. Never heard the term before.

蝴蝶面 (hú dié miàn), literally 'butterfly' pasta are the Chinese equivalent of the Italian farfalle. I'm not going to get into who came up with them first, but I'd wager heavily that Marco Polo had nothing to do with it! Anyway, here they are with slivered chicken stir fried with garlic, ginger, chilli, scallions and soy sauce. Simple and quick again.

I guess I'm in the kindergarten class.

Where? Many humans don't eat sweet things at the end of meals. Some, like me never eat dessert at all. Here in China, sweet things can turn up at any point in the meal. I'm sorry, but I don't understand the rest of your post.