liuzhou

I kind of forgot about this topic. There are still many more tofu types. Here's another. Dried smoked tofu from Sichuan.

A water damaged menu from the Titanic has been sold in London for ₤84,000 / $103,000 USD. Full story here.

'Chinese knives' doesn't mean they're from China. Maybe China style. I can't find any trace of any such company anywhere in China. In fact, even in America it is only listed on your beloved Amazon with a mere trace on Walmart. The Chinese name on the blade is nonsensical.In Japanese it means monarch or champions, but I can find no trace of that company or brand in Japan, either.. Anyway, I only mentioned the name in passing. My real point is that you have bought a butcher's knife for chopping bones.

I've never seen anyone in China using a dumpling cutter. Every kid is taught to do it by hand as soon as they pass toilet training! Well made Chinese dumpling wrappers are hand rolled with a tapered roller to ensure the edges are thinner than the centre. You can't achieve that with a cutter. Jiaozi (dumpling) tools

We need a picture. Or at least some dimensions. Preferably both.

I don't know, but I can find no evidence that it is a Chinese brand. The name in 'Chinese' does not equate to Enoking and using the 'Chinese' name on an internet image search only returns a bunch of images from garish looking comics. No knives. Not to say that they don't make good knives. To over-simplify, there are basically two types of Chinese cleavers. What we call a 菜刀 (cài dāo) which literally translates as 'vegetable knife' but really means kitchen knife or chef's knife. This is most cooks' go to in China. Mine weighs 434 grams. 菜刀 (cài dāo） The second is 切骨 切 (qiē gǔ dāo), literally meaning 'cut bone knife', sometimes (incorrectly) translated as meat cleavers. These are considerably heavier and meant for butchering. They are designed specifically for cutting through bones. They are much less common in domestic kitchens. Mine is almost three times heavier than the cai dao, being 1.2 kg. 切骨 切 (qiē gǔ dāo) From your description, the heaviness and the image on Amazon, I think you may have bought the second type. To my amusement, while trying to find any reference to Enoking, I came across Serious Eats article on the best Chinese cleavers. Not only was there no reference to Enoking, but all the Chinese cleavers they recommended were Japanese! Seriously?????

I have to share this image of the front page of a British "newspaper" yesterday. The Star is the dregs of journalism and makes the National Enquirer looks almost intellectual! Celebrity trivia, fake news, hysterical nonsense and reportage that seems to think that soap operas are real life documentaries and regularly publish their plot twists as breaking news. You know the sort of thing. But this amused me.

Why do you think that? Where do you get that information?

河内熟牛肉粉 (hé nèi shú niú ròu fěn), Hà Nội Phở Bò, Hanoi Beef Phở Beef tendons, beef brisket, scallion, red chilli, bean sprouts, Thai basil and mint and rice noodles in a rich beef broth. Came with a mean ¼ of a tiny Vietnamese lime. Phở Bò in China From the my local Vietnamese restaurant named 西贡 (xī gòng) which is Sài Gòn in Vietnamese and Saigon in English. The restaurant isn't bad but ludicrously overpriced. This was ¥36 while I can get a not too dissimilar Chinese beef noodle dish for ¥12. I can't see many locals biting. There are a lot of Vietnamese students in the local colleges. They definitely won't be coming. I can't remember how much I paid last time I was in Vietnam (2018), but much, much less for a better bowl and unlimited lime. Phở Bò in Vietnam

One supermarket here trialled four self-checkout checkouts. Didn't save them a penny in staff costs as they had to employ more staff to help customers navigate the idiotic system. They were abandoned after about six months and the supermarket closed for good one month later.

I feel sure Anna woud be happy to know the topic is continuing.Think of it as a tribute to Anna from her many friends here.

Same in UK. Usually.

The term 'Pope's nose' has been around since the 18th century. One of my favourite books is Grose's Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue (3rd third edition published in 1796) which defined it as "Pope's Nose, the rump of a turkey." Also known as the parson's nose. My father used the term - to my mother's annoyance, She agreed with Grose that it was vulgar, despite her being a good god-fearing athiest.

There was a brief fashion for Brazilian BBQ here in China about 15 years ago. Lasted about 6 months. 巴西 means Brazil and 烤肉 (top right of the sign) is roast meat. I can also recommend Tibetan BBQ'd yak meat grilled over a yak dung fire. Not many trees up there!

But not around the globe which was the claim.

The packaging states 12 months.

Of course not, but I only added it as an interesting aside, as I said.

I don't think inventing new, perhaps better, more efficient tools to do the same thing affects the origin of the food which is the point of the topic. Also, I don't know where you get the idea that American Barbecue is sought globally. Barbecued / grilled meat is a miniscule minority in most of Asia. Xinjiang barbecue, Mongolian barbecue, Korean barbecue, Vietnamese barbecue, Indian barbecue etc are all hugely popular among the billions of people in Asia. I have lived in China for nearly 30 years and never seen an American barbecue place, although there may be some in Beijing or Shanghai (catering to the Americans working in those cities, not so much to the locals).

To make black ant 'wine'. Roughly translated by me from the seller's webpage. Take 1 pound of ants and stir into 10 pounds of 50⁰ baijiu* and allow to bubble for around 2 to 3 weeks. You may also added ginseng, wolfberries (goji), gastrodia** and other auxiliary herbs. You will live forever! (I may have added the last sentence.) * For those that don't know, 白酒 (bái jiǔ) is a Chinese spirit made from, usually, sorghum. Smells like vomit and tastes worse. ** Gastrodia elata Blume. Another unproven herbal medicine used in TCM.

Last night was a pizza I've posted often enough before, but I took the notion that I fancied some chips (fries) with that. Fortunately, I spotted this on the pizza place's delivery app page. I was sitting with my finger over the <SEND> button when some instinct stopped me. Sure enough, in the fine print I found that they weren't potato but fried lotus root. Now, I like lotus root, but this wasn't what I wanted, so I abandoned that idea. I could have ordered fries from a different vendor but there is a minimum order value of ¥20 on the app and fries alone cost half that and two portions is too much for me. So just pizza it was. Maybe tonight, I'll get my chips.

Broil is an ancient word of uncertain origin but certainly not American; most probably French. It was used with the same meaning by Chaucer in the prologue to The Canterbury Tales around 1386, long before America was colonised although he wasn't first. Shakespeare also used it in 1613. I seriously doubt a truly exhaustive study of the regional uses of any of these words is feasible. Different people in some city apartment blocks could use all three to decribe the same process.

I figured out years ago how to deal with turkey and always follow my established method. This involves never buying it or eating it. There are much better meats. In fact most, if not all, meats are better.

It's not that simple. Both terms are used in different regions around the world including within the USA and Europe. Interestingly, the word 'barbecue' is American, having been borrowed from Haitian barbacòa; whereas 'grill' is borrowed from French, suggesting completely the opposite.

Talking of stollen, LIDL UK is set to equip staff with body cameras to help fight shoplifting and violence to staff. The rise of these ofences is thought to be linked to the cost of living crisis. More here.

First up, they are dead. They are packed in a jar containing water into which some of the formic acid has leached giving a vinegary, but not unpleasant taste. The suppliers suggest between 15 to 30 ants per dish, but don't say how large a dish. I'm guessing a family style dish, so this 15 to 30 could be eaten by maybe four people. Typical vague Chinese instructions. They do suggest 5 grams is adequate for one cup of ant and honey tea. I think they are sold more for making into home made tonic wine, where they are used in higher quantities. I won't be going that route. So, I reckon they'll last me the rest of my life. I haven't used them yet but will experiment and post my own recommendations soon.