liuzhou

When I first came to China in 1996, olive oil was impossible to find. I first found a bottle on August, 23rd 2005. I only know the date because I took my first ever selfie holding the bottle to send to family and friends, some of whom had lamented my serious deprivation. Since then it has become commonplace but not of great quality but great expense. This one is the best I've found but is even more expensive, being imported from Italy. It's also from a cooperative rather than a massive multi-national distributer of oils which could be from anywhere. Much of the olive oil sold here is used for skin care by my lady friends, I think. No one I know cooks with it. I never use it in Chinese dishes. Totally unsuitable, but I use it in western food, of course. I've never seen it here in bread before except when I've baked the bread myself. My olive bread and its oil

I ordered this olive, bacon and cheese ciabatta loaf online (actually I ordered two) and they arrived at 8:30 this morning when I was setting up my coffee machine for my morning fix of caffeine. Perfect time for breakfast to turn up. Lovely bread infused with olive oil flavour. I just ate it as it came. Got through half a loaf. Here's one slice.

I hope you mean 'gourmet'. 😂

Tonight, I made an experimental dish of fried rice with prawns and shailan ham from Hunan. I described that more in this post back In September. It also contained garlic, chilli. Shaoxing wine and Chaoshan fish sauce. Finished with coriander leaf/cilantro and Chinese chives. I slightly over-salted it because I forgot the ham and fish sauce are a bit salty, but didn't ruin it. I'll certainly repeat. The shrimp and ham nicely complemented each other.

The person who posted about the aprons is no longer a member and hasn't been for around for 16 years so is very unlikely to answer. Perhaps someone else may know.

My machine doesn't work if I don't. But it sounds like you are speaking from experience?

黄豆酸笋焖鱼仔 (huáng dòu suān sǔn mèn yú zǎi) - Soy bean, pickled bamboo and rice paddy fish. Also, pickled chillies and garlic. Served with rice.

... get up in the morning and wash the jug for the filter coffee machine, get the coffee from its cupboard, fill the water reservoir and switch it on while I wander off to do some routine tasks, return five minutes later with my favourite cup and attempt to fill it, only to find out that, because I had forgotten to actually put the coffee in the filter cone, all I had was a jug of hot water.. But I have an excuse! I hadn't had my morning coffee yet!

This one goes into more detail.

No.

Yes. That's why Chinese cuisine uses white pepper much more than black but much less than chilli. In fact, it almost always only uses black with western food (or their re-imaginations of western food).

Have you considered aloo bhorta? That's what I call it and I'm definitely not your mother!

Chilli in all its forms (and spellings) 🌶 .

And another Beuckelaer The Butcher

Mala fried rice with beef and squid and fried dried daikon radish. Sichuan flavours.

The dates in the above post should be 1533-1570/74. Here's another, this time confirmed as a Beuckelaer. Fish Market

Somehow, I for got to mention 鸵鸟 (tuó niǎo), ostrich in my last post above. Although I've never seen it in any store or market here, it is widely farmed, even in Liuzhou, mainly for their feathers. However the meat is available although most seems to go to pet food. I can, however, buy it online for delivery. The problem is what is used for human consumption goes to the restaurants and I have to buy most cuts, including their offal, in bulk from 1kg to 10 g in some cases. Way too much for little me. I have eaten it in restaurants several times. The only practical size for me is leg meat which I can buy in 500g (1.1 lb) packs for around $8 USD. Other available cuts include neck, belly, ribs and wings. Offal includes liver, gizzard, heart, palms tendons and intestines. Eggs are easier to find. The meat is very similar to beef in appearance and texture, but gamier. Used in stir fries and hotpots. Ostrich Leg I can have live baby ostriches delivered should I take the notion to start an ostrich farm in my spare bedroom. $90 to $270 depending on age. Peacocks are also available but not for eating so far as I know. Although I bet some people have. Peacocks are around $300 with the rare white variety much more.

The Vegetable Seller - possibly Joachim Beuckelaer 1533-150/4 - Audley End House, England. Public Domain

@ElsieD I just noticed the expiry date of October 2016! It is now 8 years over that, so it may well be vinegar after all. I'd bin it. It was never intended to be vinegar.

Yes. It's Cantonese rice wine of cooking quality, rather than for drinking. The Chinese on the front label reads 廣東米酒 (guǎng dōng mǐ jiǔ) in Traditional Chinese characters as still used in Hong Kong, Taiwan and much of the Chinese diaspora. The reverse label repeats this, but in the simplified characters used in the Chinese mainland. This refers to Guangdong, the Cantonese speaking mainland province opposite Hong Kong. Kwangtung is the Cantonese pronunciation for Guangdong (the Mandarin name). Mijiu is literally rice wine. It is not vinegar (unless it's been there a very long time). The wine is mainly used in marinades and sauces with some Cantonese dishes.

One thing I intended to mention but forgot is that Zhenjiang vinegar is aged for at least three years (not the three months Wikipedia ridiculously suggests) but can be much longer. If no age is given on the bottle, it is 3 years. The oldest I've had was 10 years. The older the better. The number may be in Arabic numerals or Chinese characters, the most common being: 3 year old - 三年陈 6 year old - 六年陈 8 year old - 八年陈 10 year old - 十年陈

The main thing to look for is "Is it real?" "Chinkiang vinegar" is actually known as "Zhenjiang Vinegar" in China as it comes from "镇江 or 鎮江* (zhèn jiāng)" a city in Jiangsu Province near Shanghai. "Chinkiang" is a prehistoric transliteration only used in America and unknown in China. The vinegar is a strictly controlled product, having a geographically protected status, meaning it can only be legally sold under that name if it is made in Zhenjiang. Yours appears to be. Brand choice is not really a worry. They are all made to the same standard, as they have been for around 1,400 years. Ingredients should only be water, rice, with small amounts of wheat and barley. There are other Chinese black vinegars which are cheaper but acceptable when used in small amounts like a splash in some soups. There is more information on Chinese vinegars in this topic here. * The first is Simplified Chinese as used in Mainland China; the second Traditional Chinese as used in Hong, Kong, Taiwan and among much of the Chinese diaspora.

Somewhat inspired by the turkey-free Thanksgiving topic, I thought I’d look at what birds are available to me here apart from chicken and duck which I have looked at before. Turkey 🦃 is available but takes a bit of searching out. It is not a popular meat in China or in my mouth! It is known as 火鸡 (huǒ jī), literally ‘fire chicken 🔥🐔’. I’m told nearly all turkey goes to pet food manufacturers. The rest goes to ex-pat Americans in Shanghai around this time of year. I’ve never see it sold in markets or supermarkets here in Guangxi, although a few restaurants do have it on their menus, but always in a Chinese style preparation. Few have ovens! That said, there is a turkey farm on the outskirts of the city which is where I got the pet food information. Turkeys currently on sale today range through $35 for a 5-6 kg bird; $60 for a 6-7kg; $70 for a 7-8 kg. The latter two are imported from Russia, whereas the first is domestically produced. Goose Goose, known as 鹅 (é) is more popular, especially in the south and in Hong Kong. Cantonese restaurants throughout China have it on their menus, roasted. They do have ovens. Again I’d say few people cook it at home. Even fewer people have ovens at home. Whole birds are anywhere between $25 and $50. Roast Goose 鸽子 (gē zi), pigeon or 雏鸽 (chú gē), squab are considered medicinal in TCM and are often used to make restorative pigeon soups. Wildly available for home cooking in supermarkets and on-line delivery, live or dressed. Prices for uncooked pigeons range from $4.50 to $13 depending on size. They are also roasted in Cantonese restaurants as well as appearing in other Chinese style dishes such as hot pots and stir fries. Pigeons in my Market Pigeon Roast Pigeon Another common alternative bird is 鹌鹑 (ān chún), quail. These are much easier to find. For home cooking, they can be found in larger supermarkets but I can also buy them from the delivery food companies. They come live or dressed, as you prefer. Quail tend to cost around $4.50 to $5.50 per bird. There is no cost for dressing them. Grilled quail on a stick is a common roadside or food street snack. Quail Roast Quail I very occasionally see people selling pheasant on the streets like this man. They are wild caught; the pheasants not the men. I’ve never bought any here in China. I’m not sure exactly what type of pheasant they are; China has several native species. Also, there are literally dozens of different names for the birds in Chinese. The most common is 雉鸡 (zhì jī). Despite the plethora of names, the actual birds are rare. Be careful! 野鸡 (yě jī) means pheasant, but is also slang for prostitute. I’ve never bought any of them either.

Too tired to cook. Got me a couple of donkey burgers And for dessert.