liuzhou

Just to add opprobrium to shame, I have decided to post this picture of the durian pizza mentioned in the above post. But it's not just them. Every pizza place in town has these, including Pizza Hut I bet you're all booking your flights here, right now.

Bread oven, 16th century. Falkland Palace, Falkland, Scotland. Home of Mary Queen of Scots' father and her son James VI of Scotland who later (1603) also became James 1st of England upon the death of Elizabeth 1st of England. Now, that's history.

Everything I've read tells me it is the water left over when boiling clams. When the clams are open and removed for whatever dish they are to be used in, what's left is the 'clam juice' base. It can be used as is after being strained through a coffee filter bag, but all sorts of things are or can be added: basic seasoning, wine, garlic, chilli, etc. One recipe suggests a tablespoon of honey per 4 cups of 'juice'. That sounds gross. Canned clams are horrible. I wouldn't put them or their water anywhere near food!

I tried to buy some Clamato to make Caesars. Three different online stores list it. All marked out of stock. Must be a lot of Canadians in China. So I looked at the copycat recipe. Now I have to hunt for a recipe for clam juice. The actual clams are easy

Now I enhanced the image and looked closer, the plate says DC at the right. It's American. Have edited.

They're certainly not British license plates. All British plates have always had letters and numbers from A1 onwards. French the same. I assumed American, but based on no evidence whatsover. I'd love to know when food trucks first appeared and number plates may well be the only way to roughly date images.

Food truck, 1919. Washington DC. Public domain image.

From what I read it is almost exclusively Canadian. I'd certainly try it. I'm partial to a Bloody Mary, and Clamato sounds an interesting twist. Not sure I can get that, though. Hold on! Found it on China's go-to shopping site, but at import prices. Three different kinds. Original, Spicy and Mango Sweet Spicy. I'll skip the last one. Anyway, Happy Thanksgiving.

Oooops! Totally misunderstood. I guess my Canadian is rusty. My apopologies! Thanks! 😕

I've never had a Caesar salad with tomatoes in it, but am more interested in why you are pricking holes in them. Can you enlighten me, please.

Tonight was a couple of 川香无骨鸡柳卷饼 (chuān xiāng wú gǔ jī liǔ juǎn bǐng) Sichuan Flavour Boneless Chicken Fillet Burritos. Tasty. @KennethT I must make Gà Xào Sả Ớt soon, now that I can source lemongrass! A favourite. Image from Meituan delivery app.

I use a wok and infrared gun, too. Always double fry chips (fries). First fry at 120℃; second at 180℃. No room (or desire) for an extra gadget.

I'm not a fan of chocolate bars, but I do like these S. Korean X-5 peanut bars. They also come in fake banana flavour; those are disgusting.

鴛鴦 is the Hong Kong orthography. In Chinese as used in Mainland China and Singapore, it is 鸳鸯 (yuān yāng) which actually means Mandarin duck (Aix galericulata), which always hang around in pairs. This has led to almost anything usually in pairs being given the epithet. More common than tea/coffee mixes are the double pans used for Chongqing / Sichuan hot pots, known as 鸳鸯锅 (yuān yang guō), Mandarin duck pots.. I've seen the tea/coffee abomination here, but never indulged. I have standards. Low standards, but not that low. 🙄

After being traumatised by that dreadful "fish and chips" disaster, I went back to China and ordered some 花椰菜炒肉片 (huā yē cài chǎo ròu piàn), stir-fried pork slices with cauliflower. Or I thought I did. What turned up was 花椰菜炒肉末 (huā yē cài chǎo ròu mò), stir fried minced pork with cauliflower. I can live with that. They offered a choice of four spicy heat levels, no chilli, mildly spicy, hot, or HOT. I went for hot, but suspect they sent HOT. I can live with that, too. With rice, of course and a side of water spinach.

@C. sapidusasked about the difference, if any, between black cod from the Atlantic and that from the Pacific. I replied to that. We are discussing both.

My understanding is that all black cod (sablefish) is Anoplopoma fimbria and from the Pacific. The USFDA says that ony the name sablefish should be used to market the species. If your black cod is from the Atlantic it is probably Patagonian Toothfish (aka Chilean sea bass) instead.

烤全鳄 (kǎo quán è) Roasted Whole Crocodile Ingredients: 1 Whole Crocodile, descaled 250 grams chopped scallion 250 grams chopped ginger 30 grams salt 70 grams Sichuan peppercorns, ground 150 grams soy sauce 70 grams star anise 150 grams sugar 150 grams sesame oil Method: 1. Clean the crocodile 2. Mix all other ingredients and rub all over the crocodile 3. Leave to marinate overnight 4. Roast over smokeless fire for 20 minutes 5. Serve with dipping sauce of choice. Note: This is a reworked non-literal translation of a recipe on one crocodile farm's advertising (below). Any vagueness in the method is from the original. Image from Maoming Home Aquatic Products Co., Ltd, Maoming City, Guangdong Province, China

Slight aside, but food and alligator related. The Chinese alligator is said to be the origin of the dragon myth, a powerful symbol in Chinese culture. Dragons in China are considered a good thing, unlike in the west. However, they are also invoked in the names of several foods and beverages. Dragon in Chinese is 龙 (lóng). Lobsters are 龙虾 (lóng xiā) dragon shrimp. Longan (the fruit) are 龙眼 (lóng yǎn) dragon eyes. Bombay duck are 龙头鱼 (lóng tóu yú) dragon head fish. Oolong tea is 乌龙茶 (wū lóng chá) black dragon tea There is also the famous tea, 龙井茶 (lóng jǐng chá), dragon’s well tea. Innumerable dishes’ names also invoke the dragon. So, you can swill back your tea as you eat your lobster dinner and thank the alligator.

I've seen Australian croc meat in supermarkets in England, but never here in China.

红烧鳄鱼 (hóng shāo è yú) Red-Braised Crocodile Note: This recipe is adapted from two slightly different recipes in Chinese. Ingredients: 500 grams crocodile leg or tail meat (scaled but preferably with skin intact) 1 piece cassia bark 3 star anise 3 garlic cloves and an equal quantity of chopped ginger 2 soup spoons dark soy sauce 50 grams rock sugar Chopped scallions/ green onions to garnish Potato starch* slurry Method: 1. Wash and cube the crocodile meat. 2. Stir fry the garlic and ginger in a little oil until fragrant, then add meat and stir fry to colour. 3. Add the cassia and star anise and cover the meat with water. 4. Add soy sauce and sugar. 5. Boil for ten minutes, then simmer for 30 minutes. 6. Add starch slurry to thicken. 7. Garnish with scallion / green onion and serve with rice and a side of stirfried vegetable, or as part of a larger selection of dishes. * OK, you can use c⊘rn starch if you are in league with the devil.

No. Ive never tasted them. They are not on offer here.

In terms of taste, not a lot. As I've already said, they taste very similar. however, taste is not the only consideration. Price, nutritional value, sustainability status etc also come into the equation. Also, I prefer to know precisely what I'm eating.

I have now, after much research, decided that I've never had alligator in China. It was all probably actual crocodile meat. There are only two alligator species in the world, Alligator mississippiensis, the American alligator, and Alligator sinensis, the Chinese alligator. The Chinese alligator, also known as the Yangze alligator is a critically endengered species which was, in 2003, nearly extinct with only 100 remaining. Thanks to conservation efforts, that number has risen and they are being bred artificially in Anhui Yangtze Alligator National Nature Reserve in Anhui province. Over 1,000 specimens have been released into the wild and they have laid 428 eggs in the wild, with 279 of them hatching naturally, according to monitors. It is strictly illegal to eat or even possess Chinese alligators. Alligator meat is advertised but is in all probability crocodile. I suspect that this is not deliberate fraud but a linguistic error. The most common name in Mandarin for both alligator and crocodile are the same, 鳄鱼 (è yú), just as mice and rats are considered to be the same, as are hares and rabbits. This confusion doesn't arise with the Chinese alligator which has a number of names in Mandarin. 鼍 (tuó) , 鮀 (tuó) 鼍龙 (tuó lóng), 猪婆龙 (zhū pó lóng) or 扬子鳄 (yáng zǐ è). I did, however, eat what I was told was alligator in Jamaica in the 1970s and see no reason to doubt it wasn't the genuine thing.