liuzhou

Here are some 小葱 (xiǎo cōng) or shallots I picked up this morning in the market. The skin looks a bit frazzled but they are fine inside.

100g avocados here are around ¥8 each, which is the equivalent of $1.10 USD but then most are imported from Chile which is far away. They are beginning to be grown locally in Yunnan province which neighbours Guangxi where I am, but they are not plentiful, yet. I've only seen them once. I'm sure that will change.

For ส้มตำ (som tam), when you can cut or peel it without breaking your knife or peeler in half. The one I bought is literally rock hard, but should be OK after a day or two on the counter. It can be difficult to be sure, but if there is even the slightest give when you press it's good to go. I use a peeler to peel it (of course) but also to cut it into strips which I then pound to tenderize. This recipe is basically what I do.

When I first arrived in China in 1996, asparagus was totally unavailable, to my distress. The eight and a half week long English asparagus season, traditionally between St George’s day on the 23rd of April through to the Summer Solstice on the 21st of June was the peak of my year before I moved. Still the best asparagus in the world. In London it is often known as ‘sprue*’, ‘grass’ or 'sprue grass' as well as its regular name, although when he was a child, my son insisted it was ‘sparrow grass’, a name which lingers in the family. We ate it almost every day when we could. When asparagus arrived in China a few years ago, no one knew what it was, but they decided it looks a bit like bamboo shoots (they are very imaginative), so called it 芦笋 (lú sǔn) which literally means ‘reed bamboo shoot’. Many still think it is a type of bamboo. At first, it was only available as fat, over-woody spears, but they learned to pick it earlier, although they still prefer the fatter ones. Pencil asparagus is rare in supermarkets but one vendor in my local wet market usually has it when in season. Still nowhere as good as English, though. Only about a year ago, did I find white asparagus - spargel and that was online. It is still only available that way. Not that it bothers me; I’ve never seen the attraction, although one German woman who was living here called me, almost in hysterics, demanding to know where I found it after I posted a picture containing it on Chinese social media. I don’t get it it, but was happy to tell her. The locals tend to stir fry it with garlic as they do with most green vegetables. I pan roast, steam or fry. Pencil asparagus I often eat raw. Breakfast * ‘Sprue was originally only used to describe low quality asparagus although by a process of linguistic amelioration is now used for all asparagus, at least in London.

I picked myself up a nice 青木瓜 (qīng mù guā) today. 995g / 2lb 3oz of 'green tree melon' to give the literal translation. What you know as a green papaya, Carica papaya. Originally, native to Mexico and Central America, they are now widely cultivated across SE Asia and southern China. I feel a Thai (มะละกอ), Laotian ((มะละกอ), Cambodian (ប៉ាផាយ៉ា), Vietnamese (đu đủ) papaya salad in my near future. It's rock solid at the moment.

I was asked earlier today (not here) what the difference is between jiaozi wrappers and wonton wrappers and thought I'd also put the answer here for anyone who doesn't know. Easy really. 饺子皮 (jiǎo zi pí), jiaozi wrappers are round and slightly thicker than those for wontons. Around ¥3 / $0.41 USD per 250g 馄饨皮 (hún tun pí) or 云吞皮 (yún tūn pí), wonton wrappers are square and slightly thinner than those for jiaozi. Around ¥4 / $0.55 USD per 250g Both are often sold for less than ¥1 / $0.14 as a loss leader by stores that offer delivery. Most people use these rather than makng their own. 皮 (pí) means 'skin'; not wrapper.

One from the UK re sandwiches This is where some people find out that the sandwiches sold in different çompeting' major chains all come from the same factory. Full story and sandwiches concerned here.

I'm putting this here because a) it's a stupid idea and; b) it's not worthy of a dedicated topic. I just found that Subway, a company which specialises in exotic sandwiches from the deep depths of despair, has started a delivery service and is offering to send me their wares. From Beijing. Beijing is 1,885 kilometers / 1,171 miles away! They give me a choice of Colorful vegetable sandwich, Tuna sandwich, Roast Beef sandwich, Original cut chicken leg steak sandwich, Italian classic sandwich, Teriyaki Chicken sandwich, Turkey breast sandwich, Salami sandwich, Western ham sandwich, Five Black black pepper chicken sandwich, Black pepper thick cut steak sandwich, Dynamic fish Fish Shrimp sandwich, or Avocado shrimp bacon sandwich. Somehow these have all been carefully costed and are a mere ¥65.77 / $9.06 USD per sandwich, no matter what my choice. There is an additional charge of ¥23 / $3.17 for delivery irrespective of how many of these delights I require. No information is given on likely delivery time, but the usual motor cycle delivery would take days and the flight from Beijing is around 3 hours but getting to the airport probably longer. Are they insane? PS. I can buy a full three course meal for delivery in 20 minutes for around ¥25. PPS. I've spared you the pictures. Wouldn't want to put you off food for the week.

For all the Apple freaks who must have the latest (for breakfast). Image from Taobao.com

陳皮梅 literally translates as 'orange / tangerine peel plum'. 'Chan Pei Mui' is the Americanized Cantonese; in the much more common Mandarin it is 'chén pí méi'. 陳皮梅 is traditional Chinese as used in Hong Kong, Taiwan and much of the Chinese diaspora but in Simplified Chinese used in Mainland China (i.e. by 95% of the population) they are 陈皮梅. Searches under Simplified Chinese characters or the Mandarin pronunciation or other names may give more results. I don't have access to Google at the moment so can't check. A search on Baidu, China's main search engine produced plenty of information in Chinese (mostly advertisements) but no recipes that I could see in the first ten pages of results. That said, I've never heard of anyone making them at home here. Every corner shop has them. Good luck!

Pork tenderloin cubed and marinated in olive oil, lemon juice, crushed coriander seeds, garlic, chilli and salt. Stir fried with button mushrooms . I served it (to myself) with some wholewheat pita bread that I bought. They were terrible. Dry and tasteless and didn't form pockets. They weren't pita at all, just stale flat bread. Lesson learnt. Didn't stop dinner being enjoyable, though.

You were lucky. The only donkey I ever got close and personal with was also an old one on my uncle's "farm". It was farmland, but he only bred horses for the riding of; not for eating. I spent a lot of time there from when I was a child until I was 18 and went to university in London. My mother says I could ride a horse before I could walk, but I take that with a pinch of fleur de sel, although I can't remember not being able to ride. There were about 40 horses and this old donkey. One of my secret talents is that I am a certified. licenced (under British law) horse riding instructor. Haven't used it for over 50 years, though. Anyway, that donkey was the meanest creature I've ever met (apart from some humans). It played passive then would very carefully stomp on your foot with its hooves. It also bit anything that moved, including children who tried to play with it. Much as I love to eat donkeys now, I'm sure that one's meat would have been tainted by its rancorous nature. Donkey isn't that popular where I live in the south, but is big in central China, particularly Hebei province. 保定 (bǎo dìng), a city in Hebei is famous for 驴肉火烧 (lǘ ròu huǒ shāo), donkey burgers! Here, horse is very popular in Guilin, an hour north of me. So tender it defines 'melt in the mouth' but donkey is even more tender. There is a great horse restaurant near my home which has wonderful horse noodles and horse hotpot in the winter months. That said, I first ate horse in France as a child. My maternal grandmother cooked it regularly. I don't remember any viande d’âne, though. I've only eaten that in China.

Reminds me of when I moved to China. I was renting my London apartment out and, for various reasons, had to move in with my daughter for a couple of weeks before my departure. I was putting all my belongings into storage a week before moving to her place and she was helping me pack stuff. I asked her to clear out the kitchen drawer containing my eating utensils saying "leave one of each'. After she left I bought a Chinese take out meal from the local restaurant, went to eat it and found one chopstick. Totally her sense of humour! Don't know who she gets it from?!

Several times, I have expressed my predilection for the cooking and consumption of Equus asinus, the donkey. It is, in fact, my favourite red meat, just edging out its cousin the horse. Unfortunately, the restaurant which sold me the meat (and in which I also often dined) closed about a year ago when the owner retired. Recently I found a new vendor, again a restaurant which also sells the meat for home cooking. It comes in various forms. Most common, of course, is simply sold as 驴肉 (lǘ ròu), 'donkey meat'). Which part of the animal is not mentioned, though I suspect both tenderloin and rump are what I get, depending on the vendors stock at any one time. Leg however, is specified. 驴肉 (lǘ ròu) Donkey Meat Then it gets more interesting. In random order: 驴腿 (lǘ tuǐ) Donkey Leg 驴排骨 (lǘ pái gǔ) Donkey Ribs 驴尾 (lǘ wěi) Donkey Tail 驴肝 (lǘ gān) Donkey Liver 驴心 (lǘ xīn) Donkey Heart 驴杂 (lǘ zá) Donkey Mixed Offal 驴肚 (lǘ dǔ) Donkey Tripe 驴皮 (lǘ pí) Donkey Skin 驴肠 (lǘ cháng) Donkey Intestines 驴脑花 (lǘ nǎo huā) Donkey Brain 驴血 (lǘ xuè) Donkey Blood 驴鞭 & 蛋 (lǘ biān & dàn) Mr. Donkey's Reproductive Equipment All of these delights are prepared and served just like the same parts of other animals. All images except the first are from Meituan food delivery service app. The first is mine.

Interesting. Not a problem I've ever come across, though. If it's common in some places, then the ban would make sense.

I understand the durian and, to a lesser extent the mangosteen but the jackfruit has me beat. Durian is banned in many hotels and even on buses across SE Asia because it stinks. I don't mind the smell and love the fruit, but many people find it revolting. I have a friend here who won't even walk past a shop selling it. She'll cross the street to avoid it. I'm guessing mangosteens because they stain a purple color when peeled. They certainly don't smell. I look forward to @BonVivant's thoughts.

回香 (huí xiāng) Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) 回香子 or 回香籽 (both - huí xiāng zǐ), Fennel seeds have been available here for longer than I’ve known them. They are one of the more common seeds in five spice and other powder mixes, so they are easily obtainable. In fact, most people don’t even bother saying or writing the final character meaning ‘seed’; it’s taken for granted. However until very recently (by which I mean about two weeks ago) fennel bulbs (回香头 - huí xiāng tóu) or fennel leaf/fronds (回香菜 - huí xiāng cài) were totally unknown. Suddenly they popped up all over my food delivery app. I still haven’t seen them in any store or market. Seeds are around $2 USD for 100 g; leaves are 70 cents for the same amount; whereas the bulbs $1.40 for 300 g. The bulbs are still the most difficult to find.

I always have this 'sea caviar' in the pantry. Known here as 海葡萄 (hǎi pú tao), 'sea grapes'. My usual brand is sourced from Vietnam (just down the road) but last but one time I reordered it the supplier was out of stock so I bought it from another. The new supplier's 'grapes' were tiny; less than half the Vietnamese ones. Yes, they came from Malaysia. My usual Vietnamese grape supplier has now restocked.

Yes. Many (most?) spices are seeds and seeds are on many countries banned lists as they can carry invasive nasties.

Have you eaten the long-necked avocados? 13+ inches.

When I made curries of any type in the past, I always made from scratch, too. "Curry powder" and "curry paste" were profane expressions. However, like you, I've had to make an exception here. Many of the spices I would use simply aren't available. Even coriander seeds, I have to import. Although coriander leaf is their favourite herb, the Chinese just don't eat the seeds. Some of my friends (even professional cooks) have been astonished to discover they are not only edible but highly regarded across the world. I can buy hundredweight sacks from farmers'supply markets but even those are coated with chemical germination enhancers. At least the import people let me buy them culinary grade and in 500 gram bags. Still a lot, but manageable. Also, many of the herbs and spices I would want to make Thai or Burmese (my favourite 'curry') are simply unavailable.

Yes, but this one did have as much flesh as usual. It was just elongated. Also, from what I've read long-necked avos do have a lower flesh to seed ratio, although I've never seen one in person. I'm a long way from Florida and rarely buy avacados anyway.

A recent topic discussing Japanese curry powders inspired me to look into what’s available here. A quick look at Wikipedia informed me that Chinese curry powder No. It. Isn’t. Hong Kong* curry powder is. In the rest of China (99.99% of it), it is similar to Japanese. Here is an example. Chinese 'Japanese' Curry Sauce Star anise and cinnamon free. Anyway, there is little cinnamon in China (or America). Most is actually cassia. We also get those Japanese style curry blocks, but made in China. Thai curry pastes are easy to find (and to my taste) much better than the Japanese. Several varieties are available. Red, green, and more. I can source Indian curry paste and curry paste (imported via Hong Kong) as well as garam masala and other ‘Indian’ spices from Pakistan. India and China do not have good relations and very little is imported. *Hong Kong has many Indian restaurants. Some excellent. HK's famous Chungking Mansions of movie and travelogue fame has dozens. Mainland China has very few and those only in the major cities.

I picked this up a couple of days ago but have been waiting for it to soften before sharing it. In Chinese, it was called a 糯米牛油果 (), literally, glutinous rice butter fruit, actually glutinous rice avocado. What is 'glutinous rice' about it, I have no idea. At first I thought it was a long-necked avocado, but at 6 inches it was less than half their usual length. A short long neck avocado? Opening it this afternoon, I found it tasted just like a regular avocado with a similar flesh to stone ratio as the regular shaped type. OK. but nothing special. There was no indication as to where it came from. Most of our avocados are from Chile,, due to a tarrif-free agreement with China. I bought this an hour or so before reading this.

Summertime melon at a millworker's house in Person County, North Carolina. July 1939