liuzhou

I'm baffled. This 'ingredients for dinner' selection consists of a chicken breast and a choice of "carb". "Carbs" on offer are 紫薯 (zǐ shǔ), purple potato; 南瓜 (nán guā), pumpkin; S: 黄瓜; T: 黃瓜 (huáng guā), cucumber; or 玉米 (yù mǐ), porn spelled with an initial 'c' instead of the 'p'. Remarkably, the choice you make has no effect on the price, except in the case of the last one I listed. The other chicken and "carb" combos are 19.90元 / $2.77 each but the last is a mere 9.90元 / $1.38. In all probability, they have come to their senses and want rid of the damnable stuff as quickly as possible.

Beef and broccoli seems to be a standard 'Chinese' dish everywhere but China. In almost 30 years of eating in China, I have never seen it on a menu anywhere. Or in family kitchens. S: 西兰花; T: 西蘭花 (xī lán huā, literally western orchid), western broccoli is a relatively recent introduction, although now China is the top producer. The people selling 'ingredients for dishes' have two sets involving broccoli. Neither are 🐮 牛肉 (niú ròu), beef. 1) 🐔 S: 鸡肉炒西兰花; T: 雞肉西蘭花 (jī ròu chǎo xī lán huā), stir fried chicken and broccoli. For 10.90元 / $1.52, a 200 gram chicken breast and 250g broccoli will be delivered to the door. 2) S: 虾子炒西兰花; T: 蝦子炒西蘭花 (xiā zǐ chǎo xī lán huā), stir fried shrimp and broccoli. 13.90元 / $1.93 and you'll get 150g of shrimp and 200g broccoli. I've never eaten these combinations. There are many green vegetables I'd rather eat than broccoli.

Certain websites claim that S: 叉烧酱; T: 叉燒醬 (chā shāo jiàng), char siu sauce and S: 烧烤酱; T: 燒烤醬 (shāo kǎo jiàng), Chinese barbecue sauce are the same. One well-known site claims S: 海鲜酱; T: 海鮮醬 (hǎi xiān jiàng), hoisin sauce and char siu sauce are the same. No, they aren't. Although char siu sauce is a barbecue sauce, barbecue sauce isn't char siu sauce. Dog ≠ animal. But it's more complicated than that. There is no standard recipe for any of the three. Different manufacturers differ. Many sauce manufacturers make all three to different recipes. Are American BBQ sauces made to one standard recipe? Why would Chinese? My advice (in all aspects of life) is look at the ingredients; find one you like the look of; try it; repeat until satisfied. For the record, I only ever buy this one and that rarely. It's barbecue sauce. Incidentally, the Chinese name for hoisin sauce literally means 'seafood sauce'; it neither contains any seafood nor is it normally used with seafood. I never make cha siu. Seldom eat it. Cha siu sauce

'Hot' is often used in Chinese to mean 'popular', 'desirable', 'sexy', etc just as it is in English. Hunan women are often described as 'hot', simultaneously referencing their attractiveness and their love of spicy food. Word play. Here, I guess, they are not trying to be literal or meaning 'spicy hot'.

One of the highlights of Chinese New Year for many people is sitting with the entire family around a table making 饺子 (jiǎo zi), jiaozi or S: 馄饨; T: 餛飩 (hún tún), wontons* - a rebonding experience for families coming back together for the festivities. Of course, this also happens at other times. Jiaozi skins But a lot of families (most?) cheat. Although, they will make the filling and assemble the 'dumplings', many won't necessarily make the wrappers - 饺子皮 (jiǎo zi pí) or 馄饨皮 (hún tún pí). 皮 (pí) means 'skin'. Every market sells the 'skins' very cheaply. 7元 / $1 / 500g. That's a lot of skins. Wonton skins I didn't need to buy this set of dumpling instruments, after all! * Alternative names for wontons include S: 云吞; T: 雲吞 (yún tūn) and 抄手 chāo shǒu).

Thanks for the clarification. The issue was on my mind as I have my beautiful Hunan Tujia ethnic minority friend staying for a few days. She lives in the US now but came back for CNY. She happened to mention the salt issue while perusing my extensive collection of Shaoxing wines.

I'm not usually bothered by unusual food names. China, my adopted home, has many bizarrely named dishes - "ants climbing trees", "dogs won't eat them buns", "Buddha jumps the wall" etc. When I heard "stinky tofu" my reaction was "Great. Take me there and fill me up" "Maternal grandmother's fragrant fluttering bones" had me mildly concerned but I soon got over that despite my maternal grandmother having died in the 1960s and her bones now far from fragrant or flutteration. But mention the c-word in any food discussion and I'm out of there! Yellow grains of retch-inducing wretched negativity. Shouldn't ought to be allowed. In China, I had to give up relationships with other people. In Mandarin, the seeds of despair are known as 玉米 (yù mǐ), pronounced "you (and) me"!

When I first heard of Sloppy Joes (as a child), for some reason I formed the impression they were some sort of casual footwear popular in foreign parts of the American type. 70 years on, I'm still not convinced that I was wrong.

I finally got hold of some 潮汕鱼露 (cháo shàn yú lù), Chaoshan fish sauce (see above). Made in Shantou, the 'shan' part of Chaoshan, this is a three year fermentation sauce. It will no doubt turn up in my dinners soon!

Looking on my grocery delivery app for something else, I spotted this which I've never seen before. The sparse description answered none of my questions, so I bought it. 11元 / $1.53. Worth a gamble. 白灼汁 (bái zhuó zhī) translates as 'white burning hot juice' whatever that means. Fortunately, food labelling laws force them to tell me it contains in order: cooking wine, msg, chicken bouillon powder, water, soy sauce, maltose, granulated sugar, salt and potassium sorbate. So, a premixed cooking sauce. Odd. I'll have a taste later and decide whether to use it or donate it to the drainage system. It certainly sounds even worse than the salt adulterated Shaoxing the Americans among you have to suffer, but we have unadulterated Shaoxing to compensate.

Japan also makes its own very popular version of Worcestershire sauce. Apparently they started in the 1920s with a company replicating L and P's sauce and selling it as ウスターソース under the Bulldog brand. The original is also widely available.

Is that Lizano you are referring to when you mention Costa Rican clones?

Not in the least.

Scrambled duck eggs with mushrooms. 黑皮鸡枞菌 (hēi pí jī cōng jūn), 'black skin chicken fir mushrooms', Oudemansiella Raphanipes. 松茸菌 (sōng róng jùn), (Japanese: マツタケ), matsutake, Tricholoma matsutake.

Does an English breakfast make men more attractive? https://www.itv.com/news/2024-03-07/does-an-english-breakfast-make-men-more-attractive I have rarely read such semi-literate garbage in my life. The UK's ITV (Independent Television) site almost guarantees typos and tortuous sentence structures in every story but even ignoring that, this is patent nonsense. Must have been a slow news day.

The locals call this S: 排骨冬瓜汤; T: 排骨冬瓜湯 (pái gǔ dōng guā tāng). I call this 'hospital soup'. During my four hospital stays last year, it was the only soup served. No doubt for its seasoning-free restorative attributes. I am talking about pork rib (排骨) and winter melon (冬瓜) soup (汤). In summer months the used pumpkin (南瓜 - nán guā). Now, if I take leave of my senses and start missing hospital food, I can replicate the experience in the comfort of my own home for a mere 21.90元 / $3.50. 300 grams of ribs, 500 g melon and the usual 100g of scallion, ginger garlic wings its way. Ain't gonna happen.

Every Chinese kid over the age of two knows how to make scrambled eggs with tomato, or so it appears. The combo ingredients people are on to this but with a twist. They are selling the ingredients for 番茄鸡蛋面 (fān qié jī dàn miàn), egg and tomato noodles. One tomato, two eggs, two scallions and 150g of dried noodles - 6.90元 / $0.96. Just add water!

The second ingredients for specific dish combo is one I find to be strangely popular. I'm told it originated in Hong Kong before travelling to the mainland. Coca-Cola Chicken Wings. For 22.90元 / $3.19 including delivery, you get 300 grams of wings and a standard 330 ml can of Coke plus 100 grams of mixed chopped scallions, garlic and ginger. This is one of the most expensive of these dish ingredient selections. I've never eaten it, so won't judge. Comes with a recipe leaflet. There are recipes all over the internet in English so I wont bother translating this. Like most Chinese recipes, it is of the 'add the appropriate amount and cook until cooked' type.

I think I've mentioned before that the local markets will sell you one egg or a tomato if that's all you want or need. The local delivery people are now offering the ingredients for one serving of various dishes. For example, you may fancy an avocado baked egg for lunch. For 13.9元 / $1.79 USD (including 1元 / 14 cents delivery charge), they'll deliver you one avo and two eggs to the door. Recipe is included. ; The only problem is there's a 20元 / $2.78 minimum charge so you have to order two or add something else. Maybe another dish for tomorrow breakfast. Most of them have bottles of drinking water I'm sure they only stock to make up charges. I'll mention some of the more interesting dishes and ingredients over the next few days. There is the assumption that you'll have some staple pantry items - oil, soy sauce etc.

Colatura di Alici may sound cool and glamorous but when you learn the literal meaning of the Italian some of that disappears. It's literally 'leakage from anchovies', often rendered in English as 'anchovy dripping'. In the town of Cetera on Italy's Amalfi Coast , gutted and filleted alici (anchovies) are mixed with sale (salt) and left to ferment in small wooden barrels called terzigni for up to three years. When it is deemed to be ready, holes are drilled in the barrels and the liquid drained through the fermented fish residue, further flavouring the sauce. It is then filtered, bottled and sold for a high price in specialist Italian stores. The locals make a big deal of it being the reincarnation of garum, but there is little to actually back that up. Marketing. That said, it is undoubtedly a very fine fish sauce. The lower salt content (as low as 10% to 90% fish) means a more powerful umami flavour. It should be used sparingly which helps offset the high cost. It isn't usually used for cooking, but more as a condiment added to vegetables, fish or pasta.

This I buy but am out of it at the moment. I must remedy that. S: 上海葱油; T: 上海蔥油 (shàng hǎI cōng yóu), scallion oil is very traditional in that city but also popular across China. Used in a simple noodle dish available everywhere - a Chinese answer to the Italian pasta 'aglio e olio'? Also used in pancakes and as a dip. Me likes. Images from their advertising on Meituan food delivery app.

Just noticed this on the packaging. In the red lips the last character is 脆 (cuì) which means 'crispy'. The whole white lettering reads 'spicy small crispy'. They were spicy; not crispy.

... forget to tick the 'don't cut' box when I order baguettes for delivery. The '不切' box is for 'don't cut' but the app defaults to '帮切' meaning 'help cut'. Who the heck cuts baguettes like this? How can I make bánh mì with these? Sad.

So, they have lobster on non-lobster nights, too?

The one little piece I tried wasn't particularly crunchy but I got the impression it was meant to be but was stale. I was expecting them to be more chewy/flexible, yes.