liuzhou

Fish n Chips (with a difference). Not the usual choice of fish. These are sold locally as 黄尾鱼 (huáng wěi yú) or "yellowtail fish", but I have no idea what they really are. According to the ever-reliable Wikipedia, many fish varieties are given this name - possibly on account of having yellow tails. Whatever they are called, they are an oily fish, a bit larger than a large sardine and I like 'em. Here they are in a 28cm diameter plate. They are meaty and relatively bone free, in that the meat slides away from the backbone easily. I sometimes deep fry them, but today they were shallow fried.

I'll be honest. I'm not a cake sort of person. Not a sweet sort of person. But I remember your posts from when you were still operating at home and remember thinking "How the hell does she manage!" It is amazing how much love for what you are doing makes you somehow manage. And I'm sure everyone here who "knows you" is confident you'll manage. It may be rocky, but you'll get there. I know good wishes don't pay the bills, but they sure make struggling easier. Good luck. And keep in touch when you can.

Another day, another dinner. Chicken drumsticks braised with whole peeled shallots, whole peeled single-head garlic, shiitake mushrooms, thyme, red wine and Dijon mustard. The juices are wonderful! HANd smacked cucumber in chilli sauce. Bean sprout salad in chilli sauce With rice and the rest of the bottle of wine. (The two salads were bought ready prepared from my local supermarket. They have about 15 different salads on offer. But the chicken was all my doing.)

Indeed, but then a man (or woman) is entitled to change their mind. I'm fairly neutral. I agree with some of what he says. Food kits just don't appeal to me at all. I love the planning and shopping and preparing and the whole performance - and as he says, it's cheaper to shop for yourself. And I want to go to the market to see what's new/fresh/good quality. But I appreciate that there may be many people for whom this is an ideal set-up. Different lifestyles.

Penne with Pig Kidney. The kidney was fried in butter and olive oil with chilli, garlic and shallot, then the pan deglazed with white wine. Mixed with the penne and given a healthy dusting of black pepper.

Mark Bitmann's not impressed.

Stuff on Sticks. Pork, shiitake mushrooms. cherry tomatoes, hot green peppers, red bell pepper (because they didn't have yellow). All marinated in olive oil and lemon juice. "Grilled" in the toaster oven. After taking the picture, I applied shichimi togarishi and some of the marinade. Rice. Went back for three more sticks.

Difficult to say. The only ingredients are the oil and the seed pulp. I think the savoury flavour comes from the heavy roast on the seeds. Black sesame is used in Chinese desserts, particularly tangyuan. However, this fresh paste is very strong and I feel would overpower any other flavours in a sweet dessert. Pastes for desserts are usually pre-sweetened. Today, I asked the woman grinding the seeds what she would use the black paste with. She specified meat dishes and laughed when I suggested desserts. "Too strong!" I haven't had the dish you mention., but I know Wing Yip well!

I was in HK last week! Just for the day. I go several times a year, but I've never been to Lamma Island. Been to Cheung Chau, a smaller island, which is nearby and which I like a lot.

You can imagine anything you like. Your assertion that differences can't be huge is imagination, too. I have no more to say on this.

It is difficult to find celtuce here with the tops still intact, too. Luckily, I have a friendly market stall holder who obliges if I pre-book. Usually people, including me, just eat the stems. This unusual approach is what first attracted me to Carolyn's recipe.

You need girders.

Tahini v Chinese sesame paste.Yes, as @blue_dolphin suspects, the difference is in the roast. Sesame seeds for tahini are very lightly roasted. More what I call 'toasted'. The seeds for the Chinese paste are much more heavily roasted, resulting in a very different taste. Also, tahini is usually 'diluted' with other oils; olive oil if you are lucky. Chinese sesame paste is also sometimes 'diluted' or other oils substituted. Check the ingredients list. The best sesame oils/pastes are 100% sesame.

It does have a lot of oil. I still say this paste wouldn't work with desserts. I've tasted it! You are making judgements about a product without ever having seen or tasted it.

Yes, slowly but steadily on the mend. Still a bit weak, but it gets better each day. Thank you so much.

It is said that the soaking in milk reduces the "offaly" taste. It certainly isn't necessary. I eat chicken liver regularly and never soak it.

Liver 'n Leeks Pig's liver with braised leeks. Served with Malabar spinach and rice.

Yes, that's what gave me the idea (although Chinese sesame paste isn't usually a substitute for tahini. I make my own tahini - it's unknown here. I hope you can find celtuce. It is a wonderful vegetable. I can't see it working in desserts. It is very robustly flavoured and savoury tasting.

Egg noodles with pork, shiitake, Shanghai Bok Choy, shallots, garlic, white pepper and a hint of rice vinegar.. In a chicken stock.

I had to buy a couple of leeks to use with dinner later today. This is them as they came from the market. I haven't washed or otherwise touched them. I am confident that there is no sand, gravel or anything else lurking in the folds. There never is.

I picked up a jar of the black sesame paste this morning. Here is a preliminary impression. I smelled and tasted both "straight from the jar" ; i.e. No cooking. The white seed paste (left) smelled pleasantly, but not strongly of sesame. I wonder how much scent will remain after it is exposed to heat. Similarly, this paste tasted for sure of sesame, but again mildly so. That isn't necessarily a complaint. It also tasted pleasantly sweet, but not over so. There was little taste of 'toast'. On to the black. It was obvious as soon as I opened the jar that this had a considerably stronger sesame aroma and the 'toast' was more noticeable. Tasting it confirmed the smell impression. Stronger taste and noticeably toasted. There was a bit of a bitter after taste, too. It is a bit unfair to judge these pastes this way. They are not intended to be eaten this way. The black one may mellow with cooking, for example. I will attempt to do a side by side comparison in a dish, but it may be a few days. (In the meantime, I'm thinking the white paste may work well uncooked in a salad dressing. Hmmm?)

and another The presenters in the Tips video seem unaware of these standard techniques and are in danger of doing themselves serious injury!

I'm amazed anyone's got any fingers left. The knife skills are sorely lacking.

I know I've posted a version of this before, but tonight I just wanted some mince 'n tatties. And why not? There was a near disaster when I discovered I was right out of Lee and Perrins' Worcestershire Sauce. Fortunately, I do have a bottle of Shanghai Worcestershire Sauce which is almost identical.

I haven't bought the black yet, but when I do will let you know what I think.