liuzhou

Yes, absolutely.

In cities, 99% of people use these: fuelled by either bottled gas or, more recently, piped gas. My apartment has piped gas which does throw out at a higher pressure, giving me more heat. Also popular in recent years are free-standing portable induction cookers necessitating flat bottom woks. These are mainly used for hot pots, which do not require such high heat, but can be conveniently placed on the dining table. I do, however, see people using them every day for stir frying at their workplace - usually outside small shops where the staff rustle up lunch. In the countryside , naked fire burning in an old oil drum is very common. Fuelled by gathered wood or by coal briquettes. The briquettes were common in the cities 20 years ago, but have largely been outlawed for environmental reasons. Beijing smog 20 years ago was almost entirely domestically produced.

We get those here too. They are known as 蛇皮果 shé pí guǒ; literally: snake skin fruit in Chinese. I have a series on unusual (to me) food finds on my blog and Snake Skin Fruit was the first entry back in November 2011.

I'd better tidy up and put the kettle on, then. Turn north at Hong Kong.

My local convenience store this afternoon L to R: Stewed Pig Ears; Stewed Pig Head Skin; Five Spice Pig Skin

I'm 99% sure it's a calligraphy brush holder. That it is from Taiwan and features the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove is a big give-away. That image is very typical of Chinese brush holders. Here is an example , although this one is carved bamboo rather than ceramic: Brushpot with depiction of the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove, China, Qing dynasty, 17th-18th century AD, bamboo - Ethnological Museum, Berlin Public Domain Image via Wikicommons Many more here. Tiki mugs didn't emerge until the 1960s - and far from China.

@Lisa Shock One of my more eagle-eyed friends has spotted that your find is from Taiwan made by the Taiwan Pottery Company.

So much for my guess. It is a poetic couplet, but describing the scene. In modern Chinese we think it is 文章华国 诗礼传家 which in my rough translation reads Magnificent national writing Spreading poetry's gifts The couplet is generally used as a kind of metaphor to exhort people to pass Chinese culture on from generation to generation. and/or to exhort the young to learn from their elders.

@Lisa Shock I can confirm it is Chinese. The larger script is an old, now obsolete Chinese script, most of which I can't read. (This is no guarantee of age, though.) The smaller writing is more modern Chinese, but not very clear. The only bit I can make out is 竹林七贤 in the second picture. This refers to The Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove (240--249AD ), as does the image. I'm guessing the old writing is part of one of their poems. I would agree it is probably some sort of vase or perhaps a calligraphy brush holder. I will ask friends who know more about these things (and have better eyesight than me) and let you know if they come up with anything. Can you give me its dimensions, please?

Tonight did not go as planned. Does it ever? I decided to go Thai. First up a bowl of Tom Yum Soup ( ต้มยำกุ้ง ). This was my downfall. I intended to follow it with a Chicken Massaman Curry ( มัสมั่น ) which I was cooking concurrently. But back to the soup. The recipe claimed to serve three to four people. Obviously a mistranslation, because I ate the first bowl and decided that another one was in order. That left just enough for a third bowl which obviously I ate, too. They must have meant three to four bowls! Anyway, by the time I finished that, I was feeling rather full, so the partially cooked curry is now resting in the fridge to allow the flavours to mingle and will doubtless turn up tomorrow night for your viewing pleasure - and my eating pleasure. Until then, here is soup bowl number one. Shrimp, squid and oyster mushrooms in the usual broth with galangal, lemongrass, fish sauce and lime juice. I know the shrimp were fresh because I carried them home live from the market and they wriggled and squiggled right up until they were dropped into the broth.

Thanks. And I was looking at it with antique eyes. I remember the first time I was in Bavaria, about 40 years ago. I arrived from Vienna rather late at night, went straight to my hotel and to bed. In the morning around 7 am, I found my way to the breakfast room where I had a similar breakfast, but what sticks in my memory most was the chef/waiter/manager/owner asking me: "and what would you like to drink? Tea, coffee or beer?" Then I knew I would like it there!

What are the dark sausages? Some kind of blood sausage?

Yes. The wok referred to in the PF Chang video linked to in @jemartin 's first post is a Beijing wok as shown in the video. It reads: Beijing Wok 36cm 10 pieces. The company is Summit Kogyo, 123-1 Matsuhashi Tsubame-shi, Niigata, Japan Website: http://www.tetsunaberyu.jp They do not appear to have a retail outlet and some of their woks have minimum purchase amounts of 10 and upwards. They do so sell a few individual woks through Chinese website Alibaba here, but not the model in the video. Amazon would be a lot easier and safer. _______________________________ I can point out something that has changed in the last few years and it isn't woks. That rather hysterical Washington Times article linked to (twice) in the original post is seven years old. Things have much improved, and anyway there has never been a case reported of a Chinese wok being contaminated with lead or anything else. On an aside, I have never seen anyone use a wok burner domestically in over 20 years in China. I wouldn't know where to buy one.

So? I have two woks, which are used every day. One is 18 years old and the other about a year younger. I would still recommend them. Wok design hasn't changed for millennia.

There are already several threads discussing this, such as this one. If you search for 'wok' using the search feature at the top of the page, you will find many more.

And you are welcome to it!

I bought some yellowtail fish , gutted them and turned them into this. Fried fish with potato salad (home made mayo) and a simple watercress salad. Served with one of the rarest wines on the planet. A good Chinese dry white.

Perhaps, but I loathe corn; Chinese potatoes aren't great and there is a surprising shortage of Andouille sausage. 😄

@gfweb You ate Henry?

Crayfish Chaos. Boiled crayfish with chilli. Lots of chilli. Two of us got through this lot designed for an entire extended family! Beer was also consumed. We are sensible!

I have to preface this by saying I hate football (although I hate the word 'soccer' even more. It is only ever used by countries which can only play the game extremely badly!) I haven't watched a single match and have no intention of doing so. I have however noticed that China is going crazy in a way only a country totally unable to play the game could. Every bar supermarket and bus stop is streaming continuous live action or repeated highlights. The flags of the competing countries are flying everywhere (being China they throw theirs in too) The supermarkets are also selling FIFA branded snacks. Saw these today and did laugh. What you probably call 'potato chips', but which sensible people call 'potato 'CRISPS', 'chips' being something altogether different. Various participating teams are depicted by dogs in an echo of the company's name "Single Dog". The dogs and the countries seem to have been matched at random. For some reason Argentina, a likely winner is depicted as a rather porcine canine in dark glasses. Defending champions and early losers are depicted as that famous German detective Sherlock Holmes, Baker Street, London being somewhere in the Black Forest. Meanwhile, England is shown as a canine Andy Warhol. No, I didn't buy any. They were three times the price of the regular CRISPS. I am however pleased that, unusually, they got one thing right. For years they have been flying the flag for the England team - or think they have. Instead they have been flying the UK flag. Contrary to popular belief, the World Cup is not a competition between nations, but between football associations. That is what FIFA means! Federation of International Football Associations. The four constituents parts of the United Kingdom each have their own football associations. This year the English Football Association is in the finals, not the others. So, the correct flag is the England flag. And that is what has been flying this year for the first time... ...and is also used on the CRISP packet wrapper.

I was in my local supermarket this morning, remembered this thread and swung past the cooked pig ear section. They had Stewed Pig Ears Ears braised in soy sauce Although I had no real plan to do so, I ended up buying some sliced stewed ear, which later I will fry to render and crisp up the fattier parts. With some chilli, I guess. They are now having a rest in the freezer, but will turn up in the Snacking while eGulleting topic sometime very soon.

I have, in the past, made huge batches of these for social gatherings. I did half with and half without chilli. I have to say, though, the chilli ones always go first!

Yeah. A dear friend just returned from a business trip to Italy and brought some back for me. One of the few locals who know what a good cheese is.

Fusilli with a pork ragu made using a fresh tomato sauce with onion and chilli. Finished with basil and Parmigiano-Reggiano.