liuzhou

I am not familiar with the brand but from what I read they contain more wheat than oats and are sweetened - a deal breaker for me.

Me too, but they are the only non-sweetened ones I've found in China and they ain't cheap here, either. I shouldn't be so lazy.

It's all really the same product. Many different supermarkets "own brand" products are manufactured in the same factory. They are all the same; just different labels on the cans.

Oh balls! https://news.sky.com/story/asda-sainsburys-and-tesco-baked-beans-products-recalled-because-they-may-contain-rubber-balls-13030874

兰州牛肉面 (lán zhōu niú ròu miàn), Lanzhou Beef Noodles from the local Lanzhou restaurant. Lanzhou is the capital of China’s Gansu province is west-central China. The city has a high concentration of Muslims (the Hui) is famous for its hand-pulled noodles, 兰州拉面 (lán zhōu lā miàn) and for its beef noodles. In fact, the meat here is from 牦牛 (máo niú) which is yak meat and not 牛肉 (niú ròu), beef. Sensibly, the restaurant delivered the beef, noodles etc separately from the broth, leaving me to mix them. Shipping them pre-mixed leads to overcooked noodles. I also bought a couple of 百吉饼 (bǎi jí bǐng), my preferred bread for rou jia mo, maybe tomorrow.

You might expect this to appear in the Pastries and Baking forum, but it’s here for a very good reason. Although baked it is a savoury foodstuff which more sensibly fits here. Ok, they are baked, but so are potatoes! A few days ago, I took delivery of some Nairn’s Oatcakes (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) from Edinburgh, ahead of the Christmas holiday intending to eat them with my cheeses as nature intended. But today, I was thinking “Why?” Imported foods are expensive, but I can buy all the ingredients here! But first let me explain for those who don’t know or are from England! Scottish oatcakes are a sort of unsweetened hard flatbread or cracker, unlike some from England which more resemble pancakes or badly made, cold porridge! So, back to my wondering. “Why did I buy them?” They are so easy to make, something I have done many times in the past but seem to have lost the habit. Basically, I do them as described in this recipe (she also explains more about alien oatcakes). Here are some from the last batch I made. and how to use them. with Wensleydale with Cheddar with Chavroux etc. The best way to eat cheese. As @kaybwill attest!

I decided this afternoon to test the Mongolian “haggis” ahead of New Year rather than leave it to chance and have a bad dinner experience as the first of 2024. I’m glad I did. This is what turned up. For scale, that bowl is 4½ inches / 115 mm in diameter. The contents came already cut in half and not like advertised. It is bears no resemblance whatsoever to haggis, a term they used in their translation. Chewy mutton and hard fat with no spicing or seasoning. I didn't detect any offal. I have been to Inner Mongolia and know they have good food. This wasn’t it! I binned it. A proper haggis is much larger and the contents more finely minced with no large chewy lumps. It is also heavily spiced. Haggis in Scotland - 2019 Fortunately, I had also ordered a couple of spicy roasted quails to snack on so I didn’t go totally hungry. Second disappointment of the day after a less than stellar breakfast.

Like most restaurants here, I usually make rice specifically to fry later (usually the next day). Most restaurants doing fried rice only do fried rice, so have no 'leftover' rice. I seldom have 'leftover rice'.

There was plenty of shrimp, although you can only see one in my picture. They were however, somewhat over-cooked.

I decided I wanted a change from my usual century egg and pork congee, so I ordered this seafood and shiitake congee. The seafood was shrimp and although the taste was OK (once I added some salt) the porrdge was way too thin. I've had thicker cups of tea! Huge disappointment.

Wine I have. And floors. But also beds. Head north-west at Hong Kong.

They are much bigger than makrut lime leaves. They smell of nothing much, but I haven't used them yet.

https://news.sky.com/story/tesco-recalls-christmas-stuffing-because-it-may-contain-moths-13029993 Mothy Christmas!

That lot is just for me. No one else here celebrates Christmas. Actually I don't really either. It's just another day here. But I guess I could squeeze in a couple of guests!

I was rummaging around in the depths of the local food delivery app earlier and came across this wonder. 草原肚包肉 (cǎo yuán dǔ bāo ròu), literally 'grassland belly bag meat'. Yes it's China's answer to my beloved haggis. Comes from the grasslands of China's Inner Mongolia, the autonomous region in the north of China bordering Mongolia and Russia. It is sheep's offal stuffed into the animal's stomach. According to the writing on the image above "it is very fragrant when boiled in water." I don't doubt it. Map by Chinafolio.com That's New Year's dinner sorted out!

About a week or so ago, I posted a meal in the Dinner topic which consisted of two half portions of menu items allowing me to sample different dishes. Today I did the same for lunch from the same restaurant. 美味虾仁鲜虾 半分 (měi wèi xiā rén xiān xiā bàn fēn), delicious shrimp half portion. 美味花甲 半分 (měi wèi huā jiǎ bàn fēn), delicious flower clams half portion. Came with rice. Flower clams are a type of small salt water clam, popular here. 花甲 (huā jiǎ), flower clams

Cheeses ✔ Crackers of Choice ✔ Mince Pies (traditional) ✔ Mince Pies (whisky) ✔ Foie Gras ✔ Fig Jam ✔ Caviar ✔ Smoked Sturgeon ✔ Champagne ✔ Irish Whisky ✔ Cream ✔ Sucking Pig ✖ (will order on the day)

Yes, that's the first thing I noticed.

Unfortunately, the eG software reduces the resolution of any images over 1000 pixels, so this is the best I can do here. As you can see the vein structure is unclear on the glossy side, but more so on the reverse. Here is the bunch I purchased (42 cents for 150 grams).

Yes. That's what I thought, but wondered if anyone had ever tried pomelo. All my local friends are giving me blank looks. I have reached out to an ex-student whose family farm pomelos near here to ask her but am still awaiting her reply. I will pass on any information asap.

Yes. They are available online here (somewhat expensively). Their origin is "interesting". Some vendors describe them as Swedish made in Germany; others as Dutch made in Italy. One describes them as "Spot Dutch import Italian German import WASA Vassa crackers Original multi-fiber sesame recommended" then says the factory is in the USA! I'll call them UN Crackers.

Thanks. I mostly guessed right! Only the crackers eluded me, but then I am not familiar with that brand.

What is everything? I could guess but I'd hate to insult you by getting it wrong!

Just spent a couple of days rewatching this series. I did finally sort out the language problems - I now have English sound and English subtitles for the languages I don't know - i.e most of them! Still a recommended watch.

And another. This is 红菜花 (hóng cài huā) or 红菜苔 (hóng cài tāi), red cabbage moss or red canola (rape), a type of brassica. Only found in winter, it is slightly bitter in taste. Popular in Sichuan. The stems and leaves are sliced and stir fried, usually in freshly rendered lard. Unfortunately, it turns green when cooked. There is more information (in fractured English) here. What she translates as 'fuel consumption' is oyster sauce. Go figure!