liuzhou

Tonight, I had the honour to be invited to a family reunion. A local family kind of "adopted" me many years ago. Their young daughter was just starting high school, when I met them. Later she went to university here in China and then to the UK to continue her education at master's level. On her return, she found work in Shanghai. This meant I haven't seen her in four years. Until tonight. This past week has been a national holiday and she came home for the duration with her new fiancé. Well, her only ever fiancé. The dinner was for her to introduce her intended to the family and I felt very moved to be included in that group. And delighted to meet him. They were so obviously in love. The only sad note was that her grandmother, now 95, couldn't remember me at all although she and I were great friends just a few years ago. Alzheimer's is so cruel. As her granddaughter told me, her body is strong but her mind has gone. Anyway 11 of us ate: Squid with celery and chillies Pork with Mushrooms Pork Ribs with, surprisingly CHIPS. Greenery This did not photograph well, but was delicious. Pork bone soup with cordycep militaris fungus. Fish in a spicy broth Mostly oddly, a second squid dish turned up. Different but equally good. With green and red chillies. Sweet corn buns. I don't mean buns made from sweetcorn. I mean buns made from from corn which are sweet. Of course, I can't be sure because, sensibly, I didn't eat any. Steamed pork with taro. Pork with mushrooms This is a Liuzhou speciality. Ducks feet and snails in a fiery sauce. Apologies for the photograph. Duck stew. Stir fried cabbage Shrimp or prawns.

While there is bland plain congee (白粥 ～ white congee) there are many varieties with other flavours. Here is the breakfast menu from a local small restaurant. Translation: Congee / Porridge: Frog congee Pig Offal Congee Fish congee Beef congee Chicken congee Preserved egg and lean pork congee Lean pork and leaf mustard congee Rice field eel congee (Pickles and chilli are served on the side for the savoury congees.)  Sweet congees Mung bean congee Eight treasure congee Peanut, silver ear fungus, jujube and mung bean congee

It can do, and probably most often does, but I have seen it with substitutes, too.

Lunch today was reheated doggy-bag from lunch yesterday. Goose liver fried rice, grilled pork and grilled shiitake.

Murshidabadi Chicken Moghlai is a speciality of Kolkata (Calcutta). Chicken cooked in cashew nut, saffron and rose water.

Looks great. What kind of mushrooms did you use? Here it would be shiitake. Vegetarian "mapo tofu" is a thing in Sichuan but is usually called mala tofu (麻辣豆腐 má là dòu fǔ) to differentiate. "Mapo" is usually reserved for the non-vegetarian version, which traditionally contains beef rather than pork.

I remember the same in Scotland, although we thought that Vesta curries were the height of sophistication.

Probably not what comes to your mind when you think of McDonald's. The two large characters, 粥王 zhōu wáng mean "Congee King". They offer three varieties. The large picture is Century egg and chicken congee with a potato fritter. At the bottom they show: Left - Pickled vegetable, crisp bamboo shoot and chicken, Centre - The large picture repeated Right - Salted egg yolk and chicken. All three come with a potato fritter.

Found hemp seed in a local store yesterday morning. ¥30/Kg ($4.37 USD; £3.33 GBP)

It was swimming in sweet mayonnaise. As usual here.

Just drop in next time you are passing. Turn north at Hong Kong.

Sadly, they think that's how fruit salad is decreed to be served. It always comes slathered in that white muck.

Today, I had lunch with a friend in a restaurant on the 73rd floor of a building near my home. It is the tallest building in the city and the restaurant allows for 360º views of the city. We ate: Pumpkin Soup - Good but could have been seasoned better. Seafood Fried Noodles Grilled Pork Grilled Shiitake Fried Rice with Goose Liver - Excellent Fruit Salad with Sweet Mayonnaise - I ignored this and prayed it would go away. The view from my table I am not one for heights, but the fruit salad scared me more than the view.

Simple breakfast this morning. Two boiled chicken eggs in a Chinese flatbread sandwich.

The name 'dried plums' was a marketing ploy introduced to get round the common association of prunes with their laxative properties.

They can be eaten as is, after the brittle skin is removed. The seed is inedible. The fruit flesh turns from white to brown or black and the taste intensifies. They are chewy. However, there isn't much flesh once it's dried so you need to eat quite a few. They are also made into a "tea", desserts and used in soups. One can buy them shelled and pitted, but that is an expensive option. And they wouldn't be as fresh as these ones.

I had friends to dinner last night, and as is the Chinese habit they brought a gift of fruit, but this time a very special gift. These are dried longan, which they picked from the trees planted in their home village by their grandfather.

Somewhat unusually, I cooked dinner tonight for three young guests - sisters. Hunan style cumin beef (湖南式孜然牛肉) Sweet and Sour Ribs (糖醋排骨) Clams steamed in Shaoxing wine with garlic and black salt fermented beans (豆豉) Thai red chicken curry Fresh straw mushrooms steamed with garlic, olive oil and water. While the three sisters declared themselves happy with all the dishes, their runaway favourite was the mushrooms which tasted better than my unappealing photograph shows. Four people, five dishes plus rice. The formula for Chinese eating. One more dish than participants.

I grow some herbs, but haven't found either rosemary or thyme seeds and importing them is illegal.

Agree, but I can't get calves liver here. Or rosemary. Or thyme.

The cruellest ordeal I was put though during my primary and secondary education was the regular serving up of liver and onions at what we called "school dinner" which was lunch in the canteen. This dish consisted of liver of unknown origin, unseasoned and boiled to death then drowned in an onion "sauce" powerfully seasoned with charcoal. And that is me being polite. I didn't eat liver from the day I left school at 18 and headed to university until many, many years later after I arrived in China. One day, dining with friends and being somewhat distracted, I grabbed something nearby with my chopsticks and absent-mindedly put it into my mouth. It was delicious, so I had some more. Naturally, I enquired as to what this might be. Chinese liver and onions! Rather than boil it overnight as my school canteen apparently did, the onions were just nicely caramelised and the thinly sliced liver was melting in the mouth from a rapid, brief toss in the wok with green onions and red chillies. After that, I often ordered it in restaurants around town. Always delicious. Then, one day, I thought "What would happen if I tried to recreate my school child nightmare dish, but using Chinese techniques." Damn! I liked the results and have cooked and eaten it many times since, Including this evening. Pig liver thinly sliced. Red onion thinly sliced. Onions fried slowly in the wok until just beginning to caramelise. Liver added along with any blood. Fried at high heat for one minute and served with thinly sliced cabbage fried in bacon fat with chillies and buttery rough mash. Not the prettiest dish you'll have seen, but very tasty if I say so myself, which I do.

Squid, cucumber, radish and cashew nuts with citrus-chilli dressing About once a year, when I have guests, I make this squid salad. The infrequency is due to the fact that I live alone and it's a dish that is really for sharing, I think, and that I cannot get the required jarred stem ginger here so have to make my own to get the syrup, which I don't mind doing, but it does take time. Also, we rarely get radishes. Sadly, I appear never to have photographed my attempts at it , but there is a fine photo in the article.

I tend to agree. I usually do 1½ to 3 inch squares.

I guess you mean this one. Yeah, I hadn't noticed until you mentioned it. It reminds me a bit of Munch's The Scream, but a couple of seconds earlier.