liuzhou

I decided my chopsticks needed an upgrade. Bought ten pairs of Japanese sticks; much prefer them to Chinese.

无骨老干妈香辣手撕鸡 (wú gǔ lǎo gān mā shǒu sī xiāng là jī) – Boneless Laoganma Spicy Hand Torn Chicken. 农鸡汤白灼油麦菜 (nóng jī tāng bái zhuó yóu mài cài) – Indian Lettuce with Thick Stewed Chicken Soup 营浓老鸡汤 (yíng nóng lǎo jī tāng) – Camp Thick Old Chicken Soup* (not pictured) 豆芽 (dòu yá) – Bean Sprouts (hidden under the chicken) 米饭 (mǐ fàn) – Rice * Camp here is not suggesting the soup is affected, theatrical, or effeminate. It was the soup served as rations in army camps and barracks. The chicken was an old layer; the soup is not old.

As do all peppers.

There is little Asian about General Tso's other than the name. But I am impressed by the fusion of fake Chinese and Italian food. No desire to eat it, though.

Oh please!

No one said that. It is well known that the pressurized cabins and low humidity affects our taste and smell. Also, the limited space means you aren't going to be served top grade grub. It's all made on land and reheated.

No way! The whole point is freshness.

This is a simple, but highly popular dish. There is hardly a restaurant that doesn't offer it and none that couldn't make it if they were willing. In healthier times, I often made it myself. 农家小炒肉 (nóng jiā xiǎo chǎo ròu) or 青椒肉片 (qīng jiāo ròu piàn). The first means 'Farmhouse Stir-Fried Pork; the second, more descriptively means 'Green Chilli Pork Slices'. The dish originated in Hunan, our northern neighbouring province where I first tried it. Being Hunanese it is fiery hot. There are red chillies in there, too.

To appease the 'strange food' tourist idiots turning up to sample and film themselves eating 螺蛳粉 (luó sī fěn) in the hope of it being disgusting, some restaurants are taking the ingredients for the dish, ditching the 16 hour preparation time broth which is the soul of the dish and instead serving 炒螺蛳粉 (chǎo luó sī fěn), fried luosifen. This they are selling at around twice the price of the real thing. Whether it contains snails, I don't know, but if not and I suspect not, it sure ain't luosifen. 螺蛳 (luó sī) means snails, specifically spiral shell river snails. (粉 (fěn) means rice noodles.) Yet, it appears the YouTube generation think they are eating the real thing giving Liuzhou's fine citizens a good laugh and enriching the economy. The people selling it are taking their money and enjoying their 16 hours rest. 炒螺蛳粉 - Fried Luosifen (image from Meituan delivery app)

This last year, due to my medical issues, I've been using delivery services extensively. I've never had anything arrive the worse for wear. These XLB are from a small place nearby and were at my door within 7 minutes of me placing the order. I've ordered them several times - always perfect. Don't like their congee so much, though.

小笼包 (xiǎo lóng bāo) with chilli dipping sauce.

Here you go. The inside.

That or something similar.

Will do. It arrived just after I finished dinner, so probably tomorrow. By the weight, though, I guess rather dense. The bread; not me!

This, which I bought today, is 大列巴 (dà liè bā), a bread made in the far north east of China, near the border with Siberia, Russia. It was introduced from Russia to China in the 1950s. It is, as you can maybe see, laced with raisins. 大 (dà) means 'large' and 列巴 (dà liè bā)) is a sad attempt to phonetically render хлеб, the Russian for bread into Chinese. Big bread. In Russia, it is normally a rye bread but this one is wheat. The raisins bring sweetneess, but like it with my sharp cheddar.

老友粉 (lǎo yǒu fěn), Old Friend Noodles. I posted the origin story of the name here. Rice noodle signature dish of Nanning, Guangxi's capital.

What is FP? Food Processor? In my exerience they usualy come with grater attachments.

Purely out of curiosity after reading this, I checked to see what was available here in China in the way of indoor pizza ovens. 400℃ is 752℉. $171 USD. They also have double and triple deck versions. Also, gas powered versions.

What size of pizza can it accommodate, please?

蒜苔黄牛肉饭 (suàn tái huáng niú ròu fàn), Spicy stir fried beef with garlic scapes. It also contained wood ear fungus, tomato, ginger and soy sauce. Came with a tofu side and rice. The tofu was like mapo tofu that someone had forgotten to season. Very bland. The beef was good and spicy, although you get a choice of no spice, mildly spicy or hot. I chose hot. ¥23 / $3.15 USD.

What @Duvelsays. All capsicums start out green and go through colour changes as they mature.

全家福铁板炒饭 + 加价虾仁 (quán jiā fú tiě bǎn chǎo fàn + jiā jià xiā rén), Family Portrait Lucky Seafood Iron Plate Fried Rice plus Extra Value Shrimp. The portrait reference signifies that it contains all the seafood family. Not quite all but there were shrimp, mussels, squid and scallops. I chose to add the extra shrimp to the order. This came from one of my nearest restaurants, 计大厨海鲜炒饭 (jì dà chú hǎi xiān chǎo fàn), Chef Ji's Seafood Fried Rice. I have no idea who Chef Ji is but guess that he might own the restaurant. Or he may be fictional. Whichever, the fried rice is no longer his. It's mine.

My gas cooker is not connected to any electric source, mains or batteries. It uses a piezo electric igniter as do most. Same as modern cigarette lighters,