liuzhou

Me too and what you said is the main reason.

When, in London I do enjoy a good oat stout, but no chance here. I can get imported canned Guinness on-line and that causes me no pain. If I want draft Guinness and I do, I have to go to Hong Kong which I also do. I drank that pint in a hotel in Scotland in 2018 and when I was finished I innocently remarked to the bartender, the daughter of the hotel owners, that it was a really nice pint glass. She told me to keep it. I carried it back over 6000 miles, cradling it in my hands. Still use it.

Just to add that there is a China Royal Cuisine Museum (中国皇家菜博物馆 - zhōng guó huáng jiā cài bó wù guǎn) in Beijing at 117 Xisihuanbei Road, Haidian District, Beijing. The museum covers an area of 3,250 m² and has over 1,000 items on display such as food vessels and historical records. There are interactive rooms and opportunities to taste the food. According to the museum's own publicity in Chinese: "The Royal Cuisine Museum is divided into a historical and cultural display of royal cuisine area, a tasting and experience of royal cuisine area, and a lively sightseeing area. The living sightseeing area is an innovative, modern central kitchen that is open and transparent, low-carbon and energy-saving and green and environmentally friendly. The entire kitchen is made of glass curtain walls, and each stove is equipped with a camera, so that the whole process of food processing and production in the kitchen can be seen, and sightseers and diners can watch the dishes in real time through video. In addition, the museum also has an information centre At the Royal Cuisine Museum you can learn about the food related anecdotes of the emperors of the past dynasties, allusions to famous dishes and celebrity chef stories." My translation. Address in Chinese: 北京市海淀区西四环北路117号 Opening Hours: 10:00-14:00 and 17:00-21:00 Tel: 010-88494069, 010-88495181, 010-88495185 No website.

北菜 (běi cài) – Beijing (北京 – běi jīng) Beijing Cuisine Having covered the whole eastern coast, I’m moving back north again, this time to the capital, Beijing, a city I have visited many times, but dislike more every time ago. I wasn’t looking forward to doing this, as I’m about to explain. As you’d expect, the capital has food from everywhere. Every cuisine in China (is that eight or eighty?) is represented – even China’s ethnic minorities’ cuisine can be found here, as well as food from pretty much all around the world. As with Shanghai cuisine, it is however difficult to identify anything which actually originated in Beijing. I read one internet site claiming to list the top twenty Beijing dishes – only one was maybe from Beijing. The others certainly weren’t. Available in Beijing yes, but so are tacos and pizza! Over the centuries, every area of China sent food – both ingredients and whole dishes, to the capital as tributes for the emperor of the day. However, the capital has changed many times on the whims of the emperors or political necessities of the times. Xi’an was the capital for longer than Beijing has been. Luoyang in Henan province, too. Hangzhou was capital in the Song dynasty. Nanjing had a turn, too from 1368 to 1421 CE. There have been others. Beijing settled as capital in the Ming dynasty (1368 to 1644), lost its place at times during the civil war in 1945 then was restored on October 1st 1949, when Mao declared the People’s Republic from the walls of the Forbidden City. Mao declaring the People's Republic of China, October 1949 Even Beijing’s most famous dish 北京烤鸭 (běi jīng kǎo yā) Beijing duck (Peking as some cloth-eared British diplomat heard it) doesn’t come from Beijing. It well documented by the emperor’s court as being from Nanjing in Jiangsu. As I’ve mentioned above, it was carried from there to Beijing when the emperor decided to move home. Beijing Duck I’m not suggesting that Beijing is not the best place to eat Beijing duck, merely that it didn’t originate there. It probably has the best, today. There are hundreds of places to avail yourself of your Beijing duck hit when in Beijing, but three favourites are: 全聚德 (quán jù dé), established in 1864 is the restaurant visited by the most world leaders and officals, with over 200 having eaten there. They have a branch in New York and another in Vancouver. The signage on their Beijing restaurants is written right to left as it was in the distant past 德聚全. Qianjude, Beijing 便宜坊烤鸭店 (biàn yí fāng kǎo yā diàn), Bianyifang Roast Duck Restaurant), still going after opening in 1416, in the Ming Dynasty, must be doing something right. Their recipe is more traditional than the others. Bianyifang Roast Duck Restaurant A newer arrival is the highly-rated 大董烤鸭店 (dà dǒng kǎo yā diàn), Dadong Roast Duck, established 1985. It sees more foreign visitors and expats than others, but the food is wonderful. All three have multiple branches in Beijing. They get very busy, so booking is wise; essential during Chinese public holidays.. Much of so-called Beijing cuisine comes from Shandong province. Definitely 煎饼 (jiān bǐng) originated in Shandong around 1,800 years ago. Beijing’s famous breakfast pancakes or crêpes with scallions sold on almost every street corner, These are made to order, in front of your eyes, with wheat flour, chilli paste, sweet bean sauce, fried wonton wrappers and scallions. Jianbing Something most visitors to Beijing notice and are intrigued by is the number of places selling 北京酸奶 (běi jīng suān nǎi), small jars of yoghurt sweetened with honey, sold in convenience stores or on street stalls. You buy these and are handed the jar and a drinking straw. Pierce through the wax paper lid to the jar and slurp away. The jars are not to be taken away; they must be returned for reuse. It seems to have originated in Inner Mongolia, where yoghurt is common. Beijing Yoghurt People can think all sorts of things, but again this undoubtedly comes from Shandong province. This is a dish of long, thick wheat noodles traditionally served cold, served with pork, and a selection of raw vegetables of the cook’s choice but usually including cucumber, carrot, daikon radish, bean sprouts etc. The dish is dressed with 黄豆酱 (huáng dòu jiàng), fermented yellow bean paste, a pungent, thick paste of yellow soy beans, wheat and salt. The vegetables are usually served unseasoned to balance the salty paste. Zha Jiang Mian Yellow Bean Paste - the one on the right is the most used.The other has added chilli, not such a popular taste in Northern China. On the streets you will see wandering vendors selling 糖葫芦 (táng hú lu), candied hawthorns on a stick. Despite Beijingers being sure it’s their idea, I can see no evidence that they originated there. Candied fruits are found worldwide. Candied Hawthorns on Sticks One of Beijing’s most iconic cuisines stands apart: 宫廷菜 (gōng tíng cài), Imperial cuisine. Also known as 御膳 (yù shàn), this is the food of the Qing emperors. Ingredients were sourced from across China, but especially Jiangsu and Shandong, the rarer and more expensive the better. Cooks were also imported from all over the country to work in the imperial kitchens. Hundreds of them. The Qing dynasty imperial kitchen employed a director, deputy and assistant directors, manager, executive manager, and clerks to handle the emperor’s daily meals. In total, more than 200 officials, cooks and eunuchs were employed. The kitchen would prepare meals for the emperor, his wives, his concubines (whoo were classified as second wives), and the rest of the imperial family. The emperor usually ate alone, but occasionally he might invite his wife or a concubine to keep him company, but no one but him was allowed to sit, except a dowager empress. A detailed record was kept of every meal he ate, including the recipes, the location of the meal (he would have it at which palace in the city took his whim) and the chef and cooks who were on duty. The latter was so they knew who to punish if anything went wrong. It was also to guard against assassination by poisoning. Eunuchs were required to taste every dish before the emperor could touch it. One breakfast is recorded as consisting of duck soup with Chinese yam; a wild herb salad with cold bean jelly; duck stewed with wine and cauliflower; stir-fried spinach with dried shrimp; steamed lotus root with glutinous rice; tofu with mushrooms; sliced chicken and duck cooked with soy sauce; bamboo knotted rolls; steamed buns stuffed with minced pumpkin and mutton; braised chicken with cowpea; pickles; round-grain rice and a bowl of plain boiled cowpeas. A typical dinner was chicken hot pot with bird’s nest and pine nuts; a second hot pot with chicken, smoked meats and Chinese cabbage; a third hot pot of shredded lamb stomach and shredded mutton; steamed chicken with fresh mushrooms; salt pork fried with fresh mushrooms; cold steamed chicken and mutton; cold steamed duck and deer’s tail; pork in thick gravy; steamed dumplings with minced chicken, salted pork and pickles; four small cold dishes, chicken soup with cooked rice, thick wild duck soup with Chinese yam and bird’s nest soup with spinal cord. Some of these dishes were also eaten by the great unwashed outside the palace, but inside they were elevated with more expensive ingredients and sophisticated techniques. Other dish were invented here by the senior chefs. A fuller history of Imperial cuisine is here and details of meals are here. The Forbidden City (紫禁城 - zǐ jìn chéng) is now open to visitors and has even been used for concerts. There was even a Starbucks inside for a short time but that was a stretch too far for most people and it was kicked out in 2007 soon after opening. Forbidden Starbucks - image thetowerinfo.com Now you can eat versions of imperial meals, not in the palace but in restaurants around Beijing and elsewhere. There is one here in Liuzhou, 2,980 km / 1,852 miles from Beijing. Most of these serve smaller versions though, with only around 10 courses. They still cost a pretty penny. I’ve never been.

Generally speaking, any fish that is "fishy smelling" is old and turning. Fresh fish should smell of the sea. While I've never cooked swordfish, I have eaten it.

青椒肉丝 (qīng jiāo ròu sī), Pork with green chilli peppers. It also has red peppers, garlic, Shaoxing and soy sauce.The green chillies are here served as a vegetable rather than a spice. Over rice. From Fujian province.

闽菜(mǐn cài) – Fujian (福建) Cuisine Staying in the east of China but moving to the south-easternmost corner we find Fujian Province. It borders the provinces of Zhejiang to the north, Guangdong to the south-east and Jiangxi to the west and faces Taiwan to the east across the Taiwan Straight to the east. The capital is 福州 (fú zhōu), Fuzhou on the coast along with 泉州 (quán zhōu), Quanzhou city to the south. Finally, we have the beautiful city of 厦门 (xià mén), Xiamen, formerly known as Amoy completing the trio of coastal cities. Moving inland we find a mountainous, wooded interior. This combination of mountain and sea helps define the province’s cuisine. The sea obviously providing seafood and the mountains bringing wild game, mushrooms and other wild plants to the table. The coastal area also means that Fujian has been an important maritime trading centre for centuries. This has exposed it to ‘exotic’ spices and other ingredients from India, Arabia etc. The abbreviated name for the province comes from it being known as the Kingdom of Minyue (閩越 - mǐn yuè) in c334-110 BCE. The Min language is spoken by around 80 million people, mainly in Fujian and in Taiwan but also around other provinces, as well as SE Asia. I’m told there is a Min-speaking community in New York City. The cuisine is noted for clear soups, light flavours, unusual ingredients and crisp fried food. The most celebrated but unusual Fujian dish is undoubtedly 佛跳墙 (fó tiào qiáng), Buddha Jumps the Wall, referring to the myth that it is so delicious even Buddhists would break their vows for a bite. At its most elevated this dish takes three days to make and has a minimum of thirty ingredients. These include abalone, king scallops, sea cucumber, fish maw, crabmeat, shark’s fin, shiitake, chicken, duck, tripe, pork tendons, poultry gizzards, pigeon eggs, bamboo shoots, Jinhua ham, ginseng, innumerable herbs etc. They are all cooked individually to perfection then assembled in a serving pot and finished with a rich chicken broth. Not something to rustle up on a school night. Obviously this is a dish meant to impress and attracts sky-high prices. Radically simplified versions are available but the cheapest I can find locally costs 75元 / $10.50 USD per serving. To put into perspective that’s about three times what I normally pay for a dish in a restaurant. The elevated version requires the host to have enough loot to cover my entire year’s dinner budget. President Xi has banned the dish being ordered at government banquets to reduce waste of public money and ostentatious stupidity. I’ve never had it nor ever will. Shark fin collection is cruel and sea cucumbers are disgusting. Buddha Jumps the Wall - Image news.ifeng.com At the other end of the scale is a dish I make often. 青椒肉丝 (qīng jiāo ròu sī) is a simple dish of pork slivers with fresh green chilli peppers. The meat is fried with garlic and ginger, the peppers added along with a splash of Shaoxing wine and a dash of soy sauce and that’s it. In a restaurant I would pay maybe 14元 / $2 USD and that would include rice. Pork with Green Chilli 酸辣烂鱿鱼 (suān là làn yóu yú), hot and sour squid is another personal favourite. 黄焖田鸡 (huáng mèn tián jī) are frogs boiled in wine and a popular Min dish, as is 鸡汤汆海蚌 (jī tāng cuān hǎi bàng ), sea clams cooked in chicken broth. Hot and Sour Squid Another unusual dish on the Fujian menu is 红糟鸡 (hóng zāo jī), chicken cooked in red rice wine. The wine is made with rice deliberately infected with a parasitic red yeast, monascus purpureus. This rice is also used to make red vinegar, which originated in Fujian, although now the neighbouring province of Zhejiang is the largest producer. Red Wine Chicken There are innumerable Fujian seafood dishes. With a local catch of hundreds of fish species, they aren’t short of choice. Fish are usually cooked simply to preserve their natural flavours. Steaming is the most common cooking method. Xiamen food is a delight (it’s the only part of Fujian I’ve visited). Favourites are 沙茶面 (shā chá miàn), roughly satay noodles. These mildly spicy wheat noodles in broth can be served with a selection of add-ons including shrimps, squid, pork belly meat, pork offal, mushrooms and bean sprouts. 虾面 (xiā miàn), shrimp noodles are also common. Satay Noodles If you are in Xiamen and of the Buddhist persuasion, don’t jump over the wall but head to 南普陀寺 (nán pǔ tuó sì), South Putou Temple, a large 1,000 year old Buddhist temple in the south west of Xiamen Island for some 素馅饼 (sù xiàn bǐng), vegetarian crêpes. The Temple is at 515 Siming South Road, Siming District, Xiamen 361005 and open from 3 am to 6 pm. Entry free. Meat crêpes are available all over the city for those who don’t suffer from vegetarianism. I could spend the next few months describing Fujian’s many dishes, but for now, I’ll just finish by mentioning that the province is the home of 铁观音茶 (tiě guān yīn), Tieguanyin tea, a prized type of 乌龙茶 (wū lóng chá), oolong tea. In fact Fujian has a number of renowned teas such as silver needle white tea, black lapsang souchong and more. Tieguanyin tea

Which is why I do it with no oil. It steams in its own juices (and perhaps a little residual water from washing it) preserving more of the flavour.

I would say the difference is 'time and oil/fat'. Wilted is heated (without oil) for the briefest of time, just until it becomes limp but still essentially uncooked. Sautéed spinach is cooked in oil beyond that. I much prefer the former as it tastes fresher to me.

东北 Cuisine – North-Eastern Cuisine Part Three – 辽菜 (liáo cài) - Liaoning (liáo níng) Cuisine Liaoning, literally meaning ‘far away and peaceful’, is to the south east of Jilin, also bordering Inner Mongolia to the north-west, Hebei to the south-west, North Korea to the south-east and Yellow Sea to the south. The capital is 沈阳 (shěn yáng), Shenyang, formerly known as Mukden. This is where the Japanese invasion of China started in 1931. In the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), it served as the Imperial pantry, with many of its rarer and more luxurious ingredients shipped to Beijing for the court’s meals, but was far enough away from Beijing for the times (the high speed rail hadn’t quite started yet) to be peaceful, away from the court intrigues, hence the name. Maybe. The province shares many of the features of the rest of the north-east, but also that of Beijing cuisine, the influences being two way, so 御膳 (yù shàn) or 宫廷菜 (gōng tíng cài), Imperial cuisine impacted the local use of the ingredients it was sending the emperor. I’ll say more about Imperial cuisine when we get to Beijing. Also Liaoning’s fertile, mixed terrain of mountains, seas, forests, lakes, grass and sand allow for a wider than normal range of products to be grown or foraged. The North-East region is famous for 饺子 (jiǎo zi), the dumplings known today all over China and the rest of the world. Whether the jiaozi are boiled to make (水饺 - shuǐ jiǎo), steamed to make (蒸饺 - zhēng jiǎo) or fried to nake (锅贴 - guō tiē or 煎饺 - jiān jiǎo), these are a huge part of Chinese culture with whole groups of friends or whole families gathering together before major holidays to prepare them. Chinese New Year is unthinkable without them. Boiled Jiaozi Many people consider 老边区 (lǎo biān qū), Laobian disrtrict in 营口市 (yíng kǒu shì) Yingkou city on Liaoning southern coast to be the best. Types include 三鲜饺子 (sān xiān jiǎo zi), or three delicacy jiaozi (filling being leek, fresh pork and dried small shrimps); 茴香鲜肉饺子 (huí xiāng xiān ròu jiǎo zi), pork and fennel jiaozi; and 西葫芦鲜肉饺子 (xī hú lu xiān ròu jiǎo zi) , pork and zucchini jiaozi. There are of course many other fillings available across China. I’ve even eaten ice cream jiaozi in Beijing! I must here mention 海肠水饺 (hǎi cháng shuǐ jiǎo). Chinese penis fish jiaozi! These are Urechis unicinctus and are only found off the southern coast of Liaoning in the Bohai Gulf, as well as Korea and Japan, so relatively rare. The similar-looking American Urechis caupo found in America’s west coast is a different species. Besides being used as a jiaozi filling, they can be stir-fried with vegetables. They can also be dried and ground for use as an MSG substitute as they also enhance umami. Stir fried penis fish - image baike.so.com 蛋饺 (dàn jiǎo), egg jiaozi are popular here, too. The jiaozi are not filled with egg. Instead the wrapper is. Like a mini omelette. Egg Jiaozi A famous patriotic general 张学良 (zhāng xué liáng), Zhang Xueliang, a famous general, son of a warlord, but later served in the army under both the Nationalist leader, 蒋介石 (jiǎng jiè shí) or, as he is known in the west, Chiang Kai-shek and then under Communist leader, Mao, spoke highly of four Liaoning dishes, namely 小炒猪腰 (xiǎo chǎo zhū yāo) stir-fried kidney, 小炒猪肝 (xiǎo chǎo zhū gān), stir-fried liver, 炸肉丸 (zhá ròu wán) fried meatballs and 小炒百合 (xiǎo chǎo bǎi hé) stir-fried day lilies. Day Lily Flowers Some more unusual Liaoning dishes are 白肉血肠 (bái ròu xuè cháng), boiled pork with blood sausage; 熊掌 (xióng zhǎng), bear paw with dried shrimp and rape (today it doesn’t usually include actual bear paw, which would be illegal, although there is a black market); 炖驼鹿鼻子 (dùn tuó lù bí zi) stewed moose nose; and 鸟巢 (niǎo cháo) bird’s nest. 腊八蒜 (là bā suàn), Laba garlic which is an alarmingly green pickled garlic. Sea food is, of course available, especially by the southern coast. Shrimps, oysters, clams, crab, sea cucumber and sadly, shark fin are all available as well as as wide range of fish, including 虹鳟 (hóng zūn), rainbow trout which is not so common around China. Rainbow Trout Where to next?

Yes, I remember that topic. Yakeshi is in Inner Monoglia, which has influenced the North-Eastern cuisines and vice versa. I'll get to covering Inner Mongolian cuisine one day soon.

I am still on my self-imposed century egg and lean pork congee breakfast diet. Later today it's going to be the same, but with champagne to celebrate getting through 2023. It hasn't been the best year I've had.

Happy New Year ! It's already 2024 here in the east, and for various reasons, I've just eaten dinner at midnight. Actually, I bought it in 2023 but my phone kept ringing with calls from my family then I had to nuke it to warm it up again. 宫保鸡丁 (gōng bǎo jī dīng) - Gongbao Chicken Cubes - (Kung-po Chicken in America) 扬州炒饭 (yáng zhōu chǎo fàn) Yangzhou Fried Rice

@Kerry Beal Actually, the original meaning of hogmanay referred to a type of cake which people gave as gifts on the day.

-23. Hogmany is New Year's Eve and it's now 23:10.

New Year's Day lunch will be a similar menu to that for Christmas. In Scotland, New Year is more important than Christmas and I've kind of kept up that tradition. I've been spending this evening taking stuff out of fridges and freezers in preparation. Smoked sturgeon, caviar and cheeses mainly.

东北 Cuisine – North-Eastern Cuisine Part Two – 吉菜(jí cài), Jilin Cuisine Jilin means ‘auspicious forest’ and is immediately south of Heilongjiang, bordering Inner Mongolia to the west, Liaoning Province to the south, a small part of Russia to the east and North Korea to the south-east. Its capital is, surprisingly no longer 吉林市 (jí lín shì), Jilin City as you might expect but was transferred to 长春 (cháng chūn), Changchun in 1954. Although it shares many features of Dongbei cuisine it also has some unique influences of its own and most of the dishes mentioned in my last post are also available here. These other influences come from Inner Mongolia and, particularly from Korea. In fact, Jilin has a reputation of being something of a magpie province, culinarily taking on board many influences. It favours lighter dishes than Heilongjiang, and freshness it important. Game meats, wild vegetables and mushrooms are much appreciated. Deer are raised, so venison is a local choice of protein. The Mongolian influence is shown in mutton / lamb being a favourite. Lamb kebabs (羊肉串) are as popular here as they are all over China. These are street food for the summer months, especially in Jilin city. Mutton on Sticks Jilin is China’s main source of 人参 (rén shēn), ginseng, (Panax ginseng), a herbal root. The plant is extinct in the wild but cultivated in Jilin. It is expensive as it takes five years to be ready to come to market. American ginseng, (Panax quinquefolius) is available all over China, but considered inferior, so cheaper. Apart from its medical usage in TCM for its supposed ‘invigorating’ effect, in Jilin it is mostly used in 参鸡汤 (shēn jī tāng), or Ginseng and Chicken Soup. Actually, this dish originated in Korea where they also grow ginseng, but Jilin has adopted it with enthusiasm. I admit, I don’t see the point. It is tasteless and I am very cynical that it has any real medicinal benefit. The soup is OK though. Hey! It’s chicken soup. Ginseng Ginseng and Chicken Soup China has around two million residents who are of Korean ancestry and have been in China for generations and most are in Jilin. Known as the 朝鲜族 (cháo xiǎn zú), Korean Ethnic Group, they are officially recognised as one of China’s 56 ethnicities. There is also an unknown number of recent arrivals from North Korea who are in China as refugees illegally, often smuggled in by human traffickers. Korean 반찬 (ban zan in the official Korean transliteration but usually banchan in English), 配菜 (pèi cài) in Chinese and ‘side dishes’ in English are often served at the start of Jilin banquets and formal meals, as well as at home. Jilin Style Banchan - Perilla Korea also manifests itself in the popularity of 冷面 (lěng miàn), cold noodles made from sorghum or buckwheat which are served both with sweet and sour or salty sauces. A few years ago I discovered I could buy Korean blood sausage made by the Korean people in Jilin. I am a blood sausage collector so I succumbed. Not the best; not the worst. Korean Blood Sausage More indigenous Jilin dishes include 清蒸白鱼 (qīng zhēng bái yú), steamed white fish, Coregonus peled. These freshwater fish come from 松花湖 (sōng huā hú), Songhua Lake in Jilin city and are simply steamed in a similar manner as Cantonese steamed fish. Jilin Steamed Whitefish Fish lovers must head to the small village of 清零 (qīng líng) near Songhua lake where they have a famous Fish Street with restaurants cooking and selling fish plucked straight from the lake. No tanks here. The lake is the holding tank. Chinese New Year is often celebrated by banquets called 杀猪菜 (shā zhū cài), literally ‘slaughtered pig food’) in which a whole pig is slaughtered and every edible part made into a dish. Next, the last of the Dong Bei cuisine saga, Liaoning.

东北 Cuisine – North-Eastern Cuisine Part One - 龙江菜 (lóng jiāng cài) Heilongjiang Cuisine In this post I’m heading to the frozen north, not in person, but in terms of describing as much of China’s various regional cuisines as I can. 东北 (dōng běi) literally means ‘east-north’, the Chinese way of saying north-east and comprises the three provinces of 黑龙江 (hēi lóng jiāng), Heilongjiang, 吉林 (jí lín), Jilin and 辽宁 (liáo níng), Liaoning. The area is in China’s north-eastern corner bordering Russian Siberia, Mongolia and North Korea. It’s damned cold. Until recently, this cuisine wasn't well known even in China and I guess still isn't abroad. But that is changing and the area is becoming fasionable. That said, there are a couple of dishes whose names you may know if not the original renditions. This area was what some people still call Manchuria (Chinese: 滿洲), a term many Chinese find distasteful as it reminds them of them of the puppet state, 满洲国 (mǎn zhōu guó), in Mandarin; manchou kuni in Japanese) which Japan set up after invading China in 1932 and annexing the area under the puppet-leadership of Puyi (溥仪 – pǔ yí), the last Chinese Emperor who had abdicated as a child back in 1911. He was dragged back basically as a hostage. He was imprisoned by the communist regime after 1949, but released after ten years. His story is the subject of Bertolucci's biopic “The Last Emperor”. He lived out his life as a gardener and died in Beijing in 1967. The Japanese were booted out in 1945 at the end of World War Two. In 1949, Mao’s new government changed the name and divided it into the three new provinces. Puyi - The Last Emperor - Public Domain Image I’ll take the three provinces in turn, heading north to south. Heading south is always best in the northern hemisphere, I find. Heilongjiang is named after its principal river and means ‘black dragon river’. It is bone-chillingly freezing in winters with temperatures falling to -40℃ / -40 ℉. The capital, 哈尔滨 (hā ěr bīn) Harbin holds an ice festival every winter. I’ve never been even in summer. I don’t do cold. Heilongjiang borders Siberia (which, perversely, I have been to). That probably explains why I don’t go back. The 龙江菜 (lóng jiāng cài) as they call their food is, as in all of Dongbei, is hearty and the portions famously ample. Also, like most of northern China they traditionally use wheat rather than rice, in the form of breads and especially dumplings. This is where 饺子 (jiǎo zi) Jiaozi originated. The Japanese stole them and called them 餃子 (gyoza), their attempt at pronouncing the Chinese and using the Traditional characters, no longer used in mainland China. One of my favourite places in town is 哈尔滨饺子王 (hā ěr bīn jiǎo zi wáng), a family run restaurant whose name means ‘Harbin Jiaozi King’. The family is from Harbin and most people agree their jiaozi are the best. They sell thousands of handmade jiaozi every day. Harbin Jiaozi King - Liuzhou Harbin Jiaozi King's Wares Heilongjiang also use potatoes, sorghum and c⊘rn as starches, the latter being another good reason for me never to go there! 地三鲜 (dì sān xiān), is a favourite here. It literally means means ‘earth’s three delicacies’ and is stir fried potatoes, hot green peppers, and eggplant with a moderately sweet soy sauce. It is served with hearty meat dishes. Earth's Three Treasures Harbin is also the origin of sweet and sour pork. Known locally as 锅包肉 (guō bāo ròu), this is, in all likelihood, rather different from the offering in your local Happy Wok, or whatever. Not nearly so sweet and certainly doesn’t glow in the dark. Larger slices of pork are coated in potato starch (not batter) and double fried. First at a lower temperature, then again in hotter oil to crisp it up. Stop there! At least that is what the Harbinites did until some Russian traders requested a sauce with it and the modern version evolved. The sweet comes from a moderate amount of sugar – around 100 grams / 3½ ounces to 500 grams / 1lb meat and is balanced by 150 ml / 10 tablespoons of rice vinegar. The sauce also contains rice wine, preferably Shaoxing, garlic, ginger and soy sauce. Guo Bao Rou 木樨肉 (mù xī ròu), Mu Shu Pork is also local, but also not much like that found in the west. And it is emphatically served with pancakes, but with rice. And it isn’t mu SHOO either, but xī, which is pronounced sort of like ‘she’ as the pronoun for females. The mù refers to the wood-ear fungus which are an essential element of the dish; the xī means osmanthus, referring to the aroma; and ròu is the meat. Mu Xi Rou (Mu-Shu Pork) Heilongjiang is also noted for its goose farms. Most of that is sent south to Guangdong and Hong Kong to be roasted as famous in Cantonese cuisine. What I get are the livers, both natural and as foie gras. Goose Liver and Toast Heilongjiang Foie Gras Also available are these rather good goose liver and pork sausages. and, bizarrely given the history of ther region and Japan, the local livers are available in Japanese restaurants there as liver sushi. The restaurants are all Chinese owned. (Anyway, sushi originated in China). In the far north-west of Heilongjiang, bordering Siberia is 兴安岭 (dà xīng ān lǐng) Daxinganling, a mountain range and wooded area. The area has an average annual temperature of -2.8C /27F and in the long winters gets as low as -40C / -40F). Summer is a mere two months long. The area is known for its mushrooms and other wild foods. Particularly prized are 元蘑 (yuán mó), Armillaria mellea, wild honey mushrooms which are made into 小鸡炖蘑菇 (xiǎo jī dùn mó gu) a delicious chicken and mushroom stew. Stewing is not, as I’m sure you know, a common Chinese technique, but Heilongjiang has many examples – blame the weather. Incidentally these mushrooms also grow in America so you needn’t visit the frozen north to sample it. I buy them dried here and they rehydrate well. Chicken and Honey Mushroom Stew Rehydrated Dried Honey Mushroom. The closeness of Russia and the long-established trade relations in Heilongjiang mean that the cuisine has a noticeable Russian influence. Sold all over are 哈尔滨红腊肠 (hā ěr bīn hóng là cháng), Heilongjiang red sausages. These were introduced to China from Russia at the beginning of the 20th century. It resembles a smoked Polish or Lithuanian sausage much more than the well-known lapcheong Cantonese sausages. They are relatively low in fat and smooth textured. Me likes 'em. These are often served with 大列巴 (dà liè bā), a type of rye bread with raisins which was also introduced by Russia in the 1950s. Harbin Red Sausage Da Lei Ba - Russian Style Raisin Bread made in Harbin. Next up, Jilin which I have visited – in summer!

Maybe the fish ate it.

It is a very unusual expression even in in Chinese. I even asked one friend from Hunan if the expression was unique to Hunan and she asked me what it meant! It refers to dishes served over rice or noodles. Those are not particularly common in Hunan, other than as fast food or in canteens. The menu spiciness scale is something I've seen in British restaurants whether Chinese, Indian or Thai etc. I've never seen it in Asia though, that I recall. The chopped chillies are a Hunan thing. I'm never without a jar of 湖南剁辣椒 (hú nán duò là jiāo), Hunan chopped chilli from Changsha by my side. I'm not sure what cultivar of chilli they use, but I guess local but similar to Thai bird's eye. See here.

Interesting. It doesn't strike me as particularly Hunan orientated. Several of the dishes, including your favourite Bamboo Shoots with Pork can be found anywhere in China. Some are distinctly Sichuan: Pork & Pickled Mustard Greens, Hot & Sour Fish Soup Noodle, Hot & Sour Chicken Gizzard, Stir Fried Chicken W. Chili Paste and as you know, Mapo Tofu. Hunan certainly has rice noodles; it is one of the leading rice growing areas in China. But I've never seen them being offered as an alternative to rice in that way. In fact noodles of all kinds tend to be incorporated into specific noodle dishes. I've never seen plain unadorned noodles on a menu like that, other than in hotpot restaurants, where they may be added to the broth in which everything else has been cooked and eaten by the diners. There is a dish called Hunan Rice Noodles but it is a fully composed dish of the rice noodles in which the noodles are boiled then placed in a bowl with broth and a selection from chopped chili, shredded radish, pickled vegetables, cooked pork shreds, chopped beef, minced garlic, etc according to the restaurateur's whim. Finally, if the pictures of the dishes are accurate, Hunan folks would be asking if there is a sudden shortage of chillies. 🌶🌶🌶. It does seem strange that they attribute stopping the pickled mustard greens to unavailablity, yet still offer Pork & Pickled Mustard Green (another Sichuan dish) on the menu .

湘菜 (xiāng cài) - Hunan (湖南 - hú nán) cuisine After a year in Xi’an, I moved south to a small city in Hunan in south-central China and fell in love. At first, I hated where I was living, but soon acclimatised. What took me no time at all to love was the food. I had no idea such food existed! What is this? Such wonderful food. Almost 30 years later, I remember every detail of the first meal I ate there. I was home! It remains my favourite Chinese cuisine. I revisit often. Hunan food is known for its extravagant use of fresh and, less often, dried chillies, usually red but also green. In summer every flat surface - basketball courts, railway station platforms, roads and sidewalks - are covered in chillies drying in the sun. I remember a chilli-averse British friend coming to visit and telling me she wanted the fried noodles in one hole-in-the-wall restaurant near my home, but without chilli. I explained to the cook, who gave me a strange look as if to say “that will never work”. She knew me well and knew I have no problem with chilli heat. However, she did her best and wokked up some fried noodles without chilli. My friend still complained. It seemed that after decades of use, the cook’s wok was irretrievably imbued with the heat of the spice. As I’ve mentioned on eG before, Hunan women, especially the younger ones, are often called 湖南辣妹 (hú nán là mèi), literally ‘Hunan Hot Sister’ with the ‘hot’ part referring to the capsicum, 辣椒 (là jiāo) but also the sexual innuendo doesn’t go unnoticed. The singing group, the Spice Girls are called 辣妹 (là mèi) in Chinese. Another important feature of Hunan food is the use of smoke. Hams (腊肉 - là ròu) are usually heavily smoked. as are fish and other meats. The cuisine is often sour – pickles being commonly used, not only on vegetables but also pork and fish. Robust, pungent, spicy flavours rule. Hunan smoked ham Hunan smoked ham Hunan smoked fish The cuisine is usefully split into three styles. 湘江菜 (xiāng jiāng cài), Xiang River cuisine, 洞庭湖菜 (dòng tíng hú cài), Dongting Lake cuisine, and 湘西菜 (xiāng xī cài), Western Hunan cuisine. The first, Xiang River cuisine is that centered on 长沙 (cháng shā), Changsha, the capital of Hunan in the east of the province. The river flows through the city centre. The food is more oily than other areas of Hunan but is fresh and aromatic. Included in this sub-cuisine is the small town of 韶山 (sháo shān), Shaoshan, Mao’s birthplace, as mentioned above. Here, Chinese tourists flock to see his former residence and the Mao museum then go on to eat his favourite dish of 红烧肉 (hóng shāo ròu), red braised pork, also mentioned in the last post. Changsha is also a bit over Mao-centric (he studied there to be a teacher and this was where he took up communism). His favourite restaurant is still there, complete with Mao posters all over the walls, but also with photos of him in the restaurant to prove the authenticity of the claim. As I remember, they didn’t look Photoshopped. Changsha is well-known for its 臭豆腐 (chòu dòu fu), Stinky Tofu. This is fermented tofu in spices until it turns black and yes, stinks. However, like some stinking cheeses, when you get it past your nose and into your mouth, it tastes delicious. Changsha Stinky Tofu Dongting Lake is to the north of Hunan (Hunan literally means ‘south of the lake’) and supplies much of the province’s seafood, so that prevails. The area also produces a lot of chicken, also a favourite. But the best thing I ever ate there was lotus seeds in sugar, even though I have a very un-sweet tooth. I lived in the west of Hunan, one of the last parts of China to be taken by the communists under Mao. It was, in the past, a wild place ruled by warlords and full of bandits. It is a beautiful part of the world and very mountainous area (the floating mountains in the movie Avatar were inspired by the real mountains there) and almost every valley has a different dialect or language. It is home to several of China’s ethnic minorities, especially the Miao and Tujia, but also Dong. This is where I took all the photos in the linked topic below. It has the spiciest food in Hunan, probably spiciest in China and is known for its sour flavours. I showed many West Hunan dishes a few years ago in this topic, so I’m not going to have many here, but there are a few I feel I must mention. 芷江 (zhǐ jiāng) Zhijiang town in Zhijiang Dong Autonomous County was where the Japanese formally surrendered in China at the end of World War Two and is the site of what they call “Memorial Hall of the Victory of the Anti-Japanese War and the Acceptance of the Japanese Surrender”. It also is home to The Flying Tigers Memorial Hall. Although these attract many visitors, it attracts me for its signature dish, 芷江鸭 (zhǐ jiāng yā), simply the best duck dish in the world to my tastes. When I go back, as I do as often as I can, this is what I go for first. Zhijiang duck Another, very local speciality is 沅陵晒兰 (yuán líng shài lán), a type of ham only made in 沅陵 (yuán líng), a small town in Huaihua (怀化 - huái huà) prefecture. This mild, unsmoked salt-cured ham is made using a local breed of black skinned pigs. It is to die for. Usually cut into strips and stir-fried with chilli (of course), garlic and green beans. Shai lan ham Shai lan with green beans Once dish you will struggle to find in Hunan is General Tso’s Chicken as sold in every American Hunan restaurant – perhaps every American Chinese restaurant. It is almost unheard of in Hunan and when the inventor tried to introduce it there the locals were deeply unimpressed. Hunan ain’t sweet. But I love the place. Fuchsia Dunlop's Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook - Recipes from Hunan Province (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) comes highly recommended,

Of course. Nothing is free.

沪菜 (hù cài) or 本帮菜 (běn bāng cài) in Shanghai dialect – Shanghai (上海) Cuisine Lying at the mouth of the Yangtze River by the Yellow Sea, Shanghai is by far, China’s most cosmopolitan and international city. In the 1940s it had around 100 foreign restaurants and by the end of the 20th century that had risen to 650 restaurants selling foreign food from over 40 different countries. Of course, it also has food from all over China. As of November 2023, it has two-three star Michelin restaurants, neither of which are Chinese; eight 2-star and forty-one 1-star. https://guide.michelin.com/en/shanghai-municipality/shanghai/restaurant/taian-table https://guide.michelin.com/en/shanghai-municipality/shanghai/restaurant/ultraviolet-by-paul-pairet Of course, there are thousands of other restaurants offering both regional Chinese food as well as foreign. What I’m struggling with is identifying any examples of any food that truly originated in the city! Every time I think I’ve found something, a little research leads me elsewhere. I mentioned in a previous post that Shanghai’s famous xiaolongbao are actually from Jiangsu but I’ve found many dishes I suspected might be Shanghainese that turned out to come from provinces far away. I’m unsure why it’s included in Jiangnan cuisine, either. It doesn’t really fit. For a long time, people from all over China have moved to Shanghai in search of fame and fortune, and taking their dishes with them. I have three good friends in Shanghai – two are from Hunan and the other, Guangxi. Few people move in the other direction. 红烧 (hóng shāo), Red Cooking or braising in soy sauce is a very popular technique in the city, but I can find no evidence that it originated there. Chairman Mao’s favourite food was famously said to be 红烧 肉 (hóng shāo ròu), Red Cooked Pork and he was a Hunan native. I’ve been to what I was told was Mao’s favourite restaurant in Changsha, Hunan’s capital, but I’ve been to his favourite iPhone store, too! Mao died in 1976. However, the dish is as popular and common in Hunan, too. Whether this or the Shanghai version came first is uncertain, but I’d bet on Hunan. Alternatively, it may be just a variation on Dongpo pork as described in the last post (or vice versa). They certainly use similar techniques and look alike. Shanghai away from the Michelin stars is renowned for its street food, but again most if not all is imported from elsewhere China. I’m told the city is also better than most in China for its many vegetarian options but again, that doesn’t mean they are exclusively Shanghai cuisine. Shanghai is a great place to eat at any level or price bracket. As I said, it is very cosmopolitan. Even more so, I think than Hong Kong.