liuzhou

There are two large groups of Muslims in China. The Uighur people of Xinjiang in the far west bordering the ‘stans’* and the 回族 (huí zú), Hui ethnicity, who mainly congregate in Ningxia in north·west China but can be found all over the country. There is a particularly large community in Xi’an. But almost every province has some presence. And, the Hui’s influence on Chinese and other cuisines has been immense yet they get little recognition. Wherever they go, like many emigrants, they take their culinary traditions with them and many open restaurants specialising in their food. Their staple diet is wheat rather than rice and noodles predominate. In keeping with their dietary laws, they do not eat the meat of pigs, dogs, horses, donkeys, mules, or beasts of prey. Pigeons are considered special and may only be eaten in certain religious situations. They do not eat blood, either. In fact, you should never even mention blood at the dinner table or in the kitchen. Also, joking about food is strictly forbidden. Their most famous dish, at least in China, is probably 兰州拉面 (lán zhōu lā miàn), Lanzhou hand-pulled noodles, most popularly ordered with with beef. Lanzhou is the capital of Gansu Province which neighbours Ningxia and also has a sizeable Hui population. The dish consists of wheaten hand-pulled noodles (拉面 – lā miàn) in a broth with beef and vegetables. It is a simple dish, yet difficult to get right; like Japanese ramen, the broth quality is crucial. The Japanese word ramen is borrowed from the Chinese ‘lamian’. Done properly, it is a delicious favourite everywhere. Most cities and large towns in China have Hui run Lanzhou Lamian restaurants. In this relatively small city where I live, there are around a dozen with the dish's name also being parat of the restaurant’s name. Many more sell it. The sign on the the rest aurant (centre) reads Muslim Lanzhou Lamian The dish wasn’t necessarily invented by a Hui person, but one Hui man, Ma Baozi, is credited with perfecting and standardising it in 1915. He famously said that a good bowl of Lamian should contain five colours: clearness in the broth, white in the radish, green in the coriander leaf / cilantro, red in the chili oil, and yellow in the noodles. Instant or quick-cook packets of Lanzhou Lamian available in the west are a no-go area for the Chinese! There are recipes online but I’ve never met anyone here who makes it themselves. It is certainly cheaper and probably better in one of the restaurants where it’s made by by people who have been making the noodles by hand, then preparing (and eating) the dish all their lives. It is also more fun as they usually pull the noodles in front of you which is entertaining to watch. The kitchen is open so you can see the noodles being pulled . Lanzhou Lamian The other food the Hui are most known for is their 肉串 (ròu chuàn), grilled mutton skewers (肉串儿 – ròu chuàn ér in Beijing dialect). These can be found in every city’s night food market and in restaurants. They are from Xinjiang and the Uighurs, but it was mainly the Hui who carried them across China. Cubes of mutton are interspersed with the sheep’s fat, preferably the tail fat, then grilled over charcoal while being sprinkled with a mix of powdered cumin seed and chilli. Follow your nose to find them! Rou chuan Although these two are the most popular, please don’t fall into the trap of thinking that’s it. Below is one half of the restaurant pictured above's menu. Here are just the noodle dishes in the Lanzhou Lamian restaurant near my home.. There are plenty more. Beef Hand Pulled Noodles - 牛肉拉面 niú ròu lā miàn Beef Hand Cut Noodles - 牛肉刀削面 niú ròu dāo xuē miàn - Egg Hand Cut Noodles - 鸡蛋刀削面 jī dàn dāo xuē miàn Green Vegetable Hand Pulled Noodles - 青菜拉面 qīng cài lā miàn Egg Hand Pulled Noodles - 鸡蛋拉面 jī dàn lā miàn Scallion Oil Soup Noodles - 葱油拌面 cōng yóu bàn miàn Extra Beef Hand Pulled Noodles - 加肉拉面 jiā ròu lā miàn Red Cooked Beef Noodles - 红烧牛肉面 hóng shāo niú ròu miàn Tomato and Egg Hand Pulled Noodles - 番茄鸡蛋拉面 fān qié jī dàn lā miàn Tomato and Egg Knife Cut Noodles - 番茄鸡蛋刀削面 fān qié jī dàn dāo xuē miàn Beef Fried Hand Pulled Noodles - 牛肉炒拉面 niú ròu chǎo lā miàn Egg Fried Hand Pulled Noodles - 鸡蛋炒拉面 jī dàn chǎo lā miàn Beef Fried Hand Cut Noodles - 牛肉炒刀削面 niú ròu chǎo dāo xuē miàn Egg Fried Hand Cut Noodles - 鸡蛋炒刀削面 jī dàn chǎo dāo xuē miàn Beef Fried Noodle Pieces - 牛肉炒面片 niú ròu chǎo miàn piàn Dried Beef Soup Noodles - 肉干拌面 niú ròu gān bàn miàn Beef Slices in Broth and Hand Torn Bread - 牛肉泡馍 niú ròu pào mò Mutton Slices in Broth and Hand Torn Bread - 羊肉泡馍 yáng ròu pào mò Xinjiang Mixed Soup Noodles - 新疆拌面 xīn jiāng bàn miàn Steamed Beef Dumplings - 牛肉水饺 niú ròu shuǐ jiǎo * Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

You said ""anywhere in the world". It isn't true for all the USA either, as others have pointed out.

Pan fried pork schnitzel with chips. There was some okra planned but I realised there was going to be no room on the plate, so shelved them. ... then dessert.

This is totally incorrect. In 2019, in the UK (somewhere in the world), the UK Supreme Court upheld non-compete clauses. Similar rulings have been made in many places.

I boil the noodles for one minute, drain then fry. The other stuff is fried first until almost done and then I add the boiled noodles. They have never stuck in th hundreds of times I've done something similar.

Chicken liver and matsutake fried noodles*. Also contained garlic, ginger, chilli, Chaoshan fish sauce, soy sauce, coriander leaf and Chinese chives. *Fresh hand-pulled noodles. I know they were fresh and hand pulled because I saw them being made when I was in the local noodle shack this morning . They aren't on their menu but I pleaded insanity again and scored some to take home to make this dish. They know me well.

Yes, we get those here, too. But the 'small red onions' above are not segmented at all; they are exactly like red onions but small. 5cm / 2 inches in diameter.

Shallots to me are more like this image from The Spruce Eats. More pointed than round. Image: The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga The Chinese name for those I posted above is 小红葱 (xiǎo hóng cōng), literally 'small red onion'. But sometimes the shallots I usually buy resemble these Spruce Eats examples and are described as 小葱 (xiǎo cōng), only missing the 'red'. I find the labelling of alliums is often confused and with multiple regional variations.

Supermarket frozen wontons (Mandarin: 馄饨 (hún tún) pretending to be ravioli, drizzled with EVOO and black pepper. Quick 2 minute lunch on a busy day.

I found small onions,

A few days ago, I was muttering on @Shel_B's How big is an onion? topic about only being able to find bowling ball sized onions. Someone in my local supermarket must have read that. Today, they were stocking these. Mini red onions (the default type here). I have had them before, but not regularly. I use them like shallots. ¥11.98 / $1.65 USD per kg.

I don't know, but the images are from a wholesaler's catalogue. There is a minimum order of 50 for some of them, so I suppose if someone wanted to buy / sell them internationally, it would be possible.

No They are not the same. Coconut vinegar is made from the flowers of the coconut palm. Coconut aminos is made from the sap of the tree mixed with salt.

Like here?

I didn't buy this one. Can't think why? Any of these would be OK

Here are my house keys.

Bags and other items like these have beeen around for years in China and Japan. Nothing new. Two images I happened to save. Can't remember why but I know it was about two years ago and they weren't new then.

What? I didn't make anything up. I haven't seen a direct reference to Xanthoxylon Clava-Herculis being what the OP is seeking. I merely suspect it could be, as I said. If not directly used, it may bean ingredient in whatever is or was used.

No. The chillies are not eaten at all. It does seem wasteful but, as you say, they are dried and therefore not very palatable. However, they give up a lot of flavour to the chicken and there is a certain pleasure in digging through the chillies to find the meat. It's a fun dish to serve to people, although I ate that one myself.

I rather suspect "Hercules" is Xanthoxylon Clava-Herculis, a relative of Sichuan peppercorn but native to North America, sometimes called hercules-club or the toothache tree, in reference to its mouth numbing effect. I've had Sichuan peppercorns in cocktails in Shanghai's legendary Peace Hotel cocktail bar, so not so unlikely. Don't quote me in court, though.

Too big is my problem. For some reason over the last two years or more, onions sold here have been getting bigger and bigger. They are now the size of bowling balls. I stopped buying them; living alone I never cooked anything that required that much onion and if I cut them up, I usually ended up throwing most away. Now I only use shallots, which I prefer anyway. Next time I decide to make a dopiaza for the entire neighbourhood, I may buy an onion.

Now that this topic has been revived can I just say that I wasn't talking about Chinese cheese. There is very little of that and the little there is doesn't use rennet. i'm told it remains by my sister who makes cheese in England.

For years my breakfast was an industrial strength black coffee and a cigarette. I stopped smoking last century and while I still have a coffee Its less strong than before. After I retired in 2018,I started occasionally eating breakfast more but still don't always. I guess a lot of us still in the workforce are less likely to have time or the appetitie for an early meal other than maybe a slice of toast. Or, if they do have breakfast, it's often a sandwich or something and a coffee picked up from a shop or kiosk near work. I know it's what many, if not most people do in London. Until I was sick last year, I often stayed in hotels and homestays in the countryside where I would eat more - but it would be Chinese breakfasts and not anything I would (or often could) make at home. I'll never turn down a cup of oil tea in a ethnic minority villager's home.

Lunch was soup. Clams in a shrimp shell stock with mustard greens. should have bought spinach and squid then I could have made shrimp shell stock squid spinach soup with clams. Only ever make that at home; you'll never be able to say it to a waiter.

辣子鸡 (là zi jī) Chicken cubes marinated in Shaoxing and soy sauce with some salt. Deep fried then drained. then refried with 50g dried facing heaven chillis (halved and de-seeded, a tablespoon of red Sichuan peppers (whole) and chopped scallions. Sichuan / Chongqing perfection. Served with steamed asparagus and rice.