liuzhou

I'll check the Shaoxing ABV tomorrow morning (technically this morning; it's about 10 minutes after midnight into Tuesday here). While I do have Shaoxing it has been decanted into a different container and I don't have the original bottle to check the label.

So do I. It was dirt cheap, picked up from a convenience store. I have an orange one too, but purple is the ruler!

I've never noticed any caffeine kick. If it is present, it is probably mitigated more by the amount of alcohol consumed at banquets where the dishes are served. But even when I've cooked with it at home, alcohol free, I haven't noticed any signs. It may be the cooking's effect, but I don't know the science involved. Sorry. Pretty unhelpful answer.

To my ravished taste buds, Shaoxing and sake are very different, but I am no sake expert.

I must admit I'm staggered by the idea of finding a years-old bottle of Shaoxing in the fridge. I get through a bottle every 4 to 6 weeks and never refrigerate it. It sits on my kitchen counter summer or winter.

Personally, I'd still go for the Shaoxing and add less salt approach. But then, I can't get sherry here! Dry sherry is certainly suggested as a sub by many writers.

No. Only in America. I understand it is something to do with alcohol licensing regulations to make it undrinkable so allowing it to be sold be stores without an alcohol license. It is never salted in China. Disgusting idea. In its natural state, the better "drinking quality" examples taste something like a good sherry, but even the cooking grade is reasonably pleasant to drink, with a complex flavour and a smoky background. Coincidentally, I have spent the last week translating speeches made at an international conference in Shaoxing this weekend about this very subject.

This is so rare I forget the common Chinese name and all searching has failed me. So you'll have to make do with the scientific names. I've never knowingly seen it fresh, but do occasionally see it dried. In Latin, Desmodium intortum. In Chinese, 绿叶山蚂蝗 (Mand: lǜ yè shān mǎ huáng). I have never seen it fresh. In fact, I have only eaten it once at a buffet lunch in a local 5-star hotel restaurant. The Chinese government both owns the hotel and runs the star rating system, so take that rating with a pinch of salt. In English, tick-trefoil among other names. The dish I ate was Bullfrog with Tick-trefoil. Someone had scarfed half of it before I could take the picture. But I scarfed the rest. It was good with a capital GOO.

Now for a couple of rarities. The first I have only seen fresh once, far from here, so no picture. But I can get it easily preserved and bottled. It is well-known in China. Brasenia schreberi Water-shield. In Chinese 莼菜/蓴菜 (Mand: chún cài). I have failed to find the Cantonese. What do they know? (Please note: this is a different species than Carolina water-shield.) This aquatic plant grows world wide, but so far as I know only the Chinese and Japanese eat it. I'm probably wrong. It is somewhat mucilaginous which may put some people off. Ask anyone in China about it and they will all reply "西湖莼菜汤 (Mand: xī hú chún cài tāng)". This is West Lake Water-shield Soup", one of China's most famous dishes, originating from Hangzhou in eastern China where one finds the West Lake in which the plant grows. That is where I saw it fresh. The soup is usually made from beef and water-shield. I have never seen any other recipe which uses it. The next is even rarer.

Spicy lemon chicken and mushrooms. Buttery baked potato.

Leaving chillies behind for now, I forgot about this one while discussing alliums. Allium cepa var. aggregatum - Shallots We only get this one variety. In Chinese they are usually 小葱 (Mand: xiǎo cōng; Cant: siu2 cung1) meaning 'small onion'. I've occasionally seen them called 火葱 (Mand: huǒ cōng; Cant: fo2 cung1) meaning 'fire onions'. I always have some on hand, but use mainly in western dishes. The locals use them whole in hot pots etc but more often pickle them.

It is my sad duty to inform you that China also has these monstrous crimes against vegetation which are an insult to food. The bell peppers - 灯笼椒/燈籠椒 (Mand: dēng lóng jiāo; Cant: dang1 lung4 ziu1), literally 'lantern peppers'. Individually, they are commonly known as 红椒/紅肉椒 (Mand: hóng jiāo; Cant: hung4 ziu1) - red peppers, 青肉椒 (Mand: qīng jiāo; Cant: cing1 ziu1) - green peppers and 黄肉椒 (Mand: huáng ròu jiāo; Cant: wong4 juk6 ziu1) - yellow peppers. As these names are also used for other much better varieties of chillies, when it is necessary to be precise, They become 红肉椒/紅肉椒 (Mand: hóng ròu jiāo; Cant: hung4 juk6 ziu1), 青肉椒 (Mand: qīng ròu jiāo; Cant: cing1 juk6 ziu1), and 黄肉椒 (Mand: huáng ròu jiāo; Cant: wong4 juk6 ziu1) with 肉 (Mand: ròu ; Cant: juk6) meaning 'flesh'. In ascending order of vileness: No. 3 No. 2 No. 1 It pains me to inflict this upon you. Very sensibly, I never saw these when I lived in Hunan. They are, however, used more in Cantonese cuisine and there is a Cantonese influence on the cooking to the south and east of here. How they are used, I have no idea or desire to know.

These things on the right are a type of chilli pepper. (The thing on the left is a book.) The peppers are small – about the size of a gooseberry or a large grape and very hot. They also have a citrus flavour Their colour ranges from pale yellow through green to to orange and red or even purple. They are known as 米椒 (Mand: mǐ jiāo; Cant: mai5 ziu1), which literally translates as 'rice pepper', although the rice character 米 is sometimes used to indicate smallness. Other names commonly used are 五彩椒 (Mand: wǔ cǎi jiāo; Cant: ng5 coi2 ziu1) meaning '5 colour peppers' or 七彩椒 (Mand: qī cǎi jiāo; Cant: cat1 coi2 ziu1), meaning 7-colour peppers. They are most often used in braises and stews where they contribute their heat and flavour, but are ultimately discarded. I’ve also seen them pickled and labelled as 泡米椒 (Mand: pào mǐ jiāo; Cant: paau1mai5 ziu1) where the first character means 'pickled'.

Has it been opened? If so, it will be somewhat oxidised. It won't kill you, but the flavour won't be at its best. If it's unopened it should be OK.

All red peppers were green once.

Another widely available chilli is this one known as 美人椒 (Mand: měi rén jiāo; Cant: mei5 jan4 ziu), which means 'beautiful person/people chilli). Chinese seldom does plurals. As with the English, 美 when applied to people almost always means females, so 'beautiful woman/women chilli'. No one has ever been able enlighten me to the origin of the name. But, in Hunan young girls are often referred to as 湖南辣妹 (hú nán là mèi), meaning Hunan hot sister. Whether this is due to their love of chillies or their attractiveness is not for me to say! It is a different 'mei', but the connection is not lost on the Chinese. About 8 inches/20cmlong. Mid-hot. Sometimes, I get the red ones fresh, but not always. The dried red ones are available all year round. Along with the facing heaven variety above, these are always in my kitchen, both fresh green and dried red. They are used in stir fries, hot pots, stews and braises etc. The red are also sold ground and flaked. Flaked Beautiful Women!

Yes, "No". Anyway, he was from Venice, not Vienna!

A quick lunch. Spicy stir-fried pork with asparagus. Rice.

I bought these "Vienna Flavor" sausages more out of curiosity than hope. I have no idea what they have to with Vienna. Or Marco Polo. They also had a "Milan Flavour" version. The ingredients lists for both were identical. Anyway, for an industrial sausage, they aren't bad, at all. This morning fried with fried egg and buttered home made bread toast.

Here's a beauty for you. These are 海南黄灯笼椒 (Mand: hǎi nán huáng dēng lóng jiāo; Cant: hoi2 naam4 wong4 dang1 lung4 ziu1), meaning Hainan Yellow Lantern Chillies or 黄帝椒 (Mand: huáng dì jiāo; Cant: wong4 dai3 zui1)meaning Yellow Emperor Chillies. These mainly grow on China's island province of Hainan in the south, hence the name. However, they also grow around here, but in small quantities. Sadly, I rarely see them. They are about 2-4 inches 5.7cm lengthwise. Most of the production goes into making bottled yellow chilli sauce, used as a condiment or dip. It is HOT!

Another popular chilli pepper is this green one. I'm told it looks like hatch or Anaheim peppers, but never having eaten those, I can't be sure how they compare in taste or heat. They aren't particularly hot (although occasionally one can surprise you) and taste vegetal. The peppers are around 7-8 inches/18-20cm long. In Chinese, they are usually just labelled 青椒 (Mand: qīng jiāo; Cant: ceng1 ziu1), which just means green peppers. This name is also used for other varieties, especially the dreaded green bell pepper. So, when necessary to be more precise, they are 青尖椒 (Mand: qīng jiān jiāo; Cant: ceng1 zim1 ziu1) , meaning green pointed peppers. These often feature in two particular ways. First they are sliced and stir fried to make 青椒肉片 (Mand: qīng jiāo ròu piàn; Cant: ceng1 ziu1 juk6 pin3*2) . The second is to stuff them with seasoned ground pork. Many supermarkets sell them pre-stuffed to save you time. They are usually fried, but can also be steamed. I sometimes place them on top of the uncooked rice in the rice cooker and proceed as normal. By the time the rice is ready, the peppers are done. They are often served with this red chilli sauce, but I've also had them with a black vinegar dressing.

Yes, applies to all of south-east and southern Asia. But then again, think of Italian food without tomatoes or Irish without potatoes. Same thing. World food was so different after the so-called "discovery" of the Americas.

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked? I'm going to be picking away at the peppers we get here in southern China. The general term of peppers is 椒 (Mand: jiāo; Cant: ziu1), but just like the English word pepper, it is used for many different species of plant. Your ordinary black pepper, Sichuan peppercorns and the capsicums among others. I'm going to be looking at the capsicums here, because they are the ones used as vegetables. The hot chillies are referred to as 辣椒 (Mand: là jiāo; Cant: laat6 ziu1), 辣 meaning 'hot' in the sense of 'spicy'. I'll only be giving the Chinese name for a few of them, as some are local cultivars and some I just plain don't know what they are. I'm starting by looking to heaven for aid and inspiration. When you think how much of China’s cuisine uses the various chilli peppers, it is impossible not to wonder what they did before these were introduced by the Portuguese relatively recently. Sichuan food is particularly well known for its liberal use of chillies, but Hunan probably uses more. Here in northern Guangxi and neighbouring Guizhou province they are freely used too. Of course, as elsewhere, chilli peppers come in a variety of sizes, shapes, colours and degrees of ‘heat’. One of my favourites are the (originally) Sichuanese 朝天椒 (Mand: cháo tiān jiāo; Cant: ziu1ceng1 ziu1), often translated as ‘Facing Heaven Peppers’. These are more commonly known in Liuzhou as 指天椒 (Mand: zhǐ tiān jiāo; Cant: zi2 tin1 ziu1), which I will translate as ‘Point to the Sky Peppers’. The names all come from the fact that, on the bush, the chillies literally point skyward, rather than hang down as do most other pepper varieties. I grow these on my balcony, but they are easily available everywhere - markets, supermarkets and convenience stores. Here the fresh ones are used in all sorts of dishes. Stir fries, braises, soups, hot pots. They are also used with garlic and ginger in and on whole fish for steaming. In Sichuan, the chillies are nearly always used in the dried form. They are available in small bags of around 50 grams. They are not particularly hot, but Sichuan cuisine uses them in huge quantities. One of my favourite dishes, 辣子鸡 (Mand: là zi jī; Cant: laat6 zi2 gai1) uses the full 50g or more in one dish consisting of only two chicken breasts. There is less than 20g of the things in the picture below. The chillies are not actually eaten but impart a wonderful flavour to the dish. I’ve also had ribs cooked in this style and once or twice subbed rabbit for the chicken. They are also used in the 'authentic' version of that restaurant favourite 宫保鸡丁 (Mand: gōng bǎo jī dīng; Cant: gung1 bou2 gai1 ding1) known in the west as Gongbao chicken or Kung Po Chicken. The younger green chillies, are also sometimes available, but don't seem to get dried. At least, I've only ever seen them fresh or pickled. These are known as 米指天椒 (Mand: mǐ zhǐ tiān jiāo; Cant: mai5 zi2 tin1 ziu1) or just 米椒 (Mand: mǐ jiāo; Cant: mai5 ziu1), although other unrelated peppers can also be called 米椒. 米 literally means ‘rice’ but is also used to to mean ‘small’ or ‘baby (as in immature)’. Finally for now, there is a white variety, which I always buy when I can. Unfortunately, it isn't always around. More to come

@Anna N Well, just typical. I went to four different places and not one had the red variety today. They all did two days ago. I'll grab some next time I see them. Probably soon. In the meantime, however, I did see a white variety. I have seen it before, but it's less common. I'm adding to the original relevant post now.

No problem. I want to know, too. Anyway, they are very cheap and I need to eat my greens. Or reds.