liuzhou

My breakfast was ordered at 7 am and arrived at my door at 7:20. I was a bit confused at first as they have changed the packaging (and I hadn't had my wake-up coffee yet. Now they come in these cute panda boxes. Believe me oh you doubters. Pandas are not cute! They stink and are aggressive, as I would be if I only ate their preferred diet. The pork baozi (肉包 - ròu bāo) within are neither aggressive nor do they stink. With a little pot of chilli sauce to wake them (me) up. Bought 6; Ate 2. The remainder are in the freezer. ¥5.80 ($0.80 USD) each.

Yes, the article leaves me having to guess a lot. I don't know what's English about No. 7 either, for example. I don't recall any restaurant in England serving food on lazy Susans in this manner outside of Chinese restaurants.

I'm puzzled as to what is American about this. It's pretty much universal in formal and semi-formal restaurants in Europe and beyond.

荷兰豆炒鱿鱼 (hé lán dòu chǎo yóu yú), Snow Pea Stir-fried Squid. This the most common way to serve squid round here and a dish which I often cook for myself in healthier times. I'm always wary when ordering squid, eiter for deivery or in the restaurants,but I know it comes reasonably well from the restaurant I ordered this one. The side of unidentified greenery was a surprise, not advertised on the app. Came with rice, of course. I was given the choice of five spice levels ranging from not at all to damned HOT. I went with the second hottest. I was a bit disappointed to see that they used some kind of hot sauce instead of the usual fresh chillies. But not a deal breaker.

I was searching for something else and came across this ancient thread. Probably pointless now, but for the record here is the poem in Chinese and in Pinyin, the official transliteration system, then my translation. Be born in Suzhou Live in Hangzhou Eat in Guangzhou Die in Liuzhou. I don't necessarily agree with these instructions.

I like your plate.

苦瓜炒肉 (kǔ guā chǎo ròu), stir-fried bitter melon with pork. This is a bit unusual. Bitter melon (aka bitter gourd, balsam pear, balsam apple, leprosy gourd or bitter cucumber) is usually paired with beef, but this version used pork. It worked well. The melon was more than averagely bitter (a good thing in my book). Lately they seem to be selectively breeding the bitterness out of them. Why?

Last time I had this I was too lazy to remove it from the delivery container and rebowl them and also, took a crap photo. I hope I've done a bit better this time. 鲜肉大馄饨 (xiān ròu dà hún tun), large fresh pork wontons in a spicy broth.

Not many parrots here*, but dried seahorses are commonly used in TCM so I guess they went with something they were more famiiar with. These can be quite expensive with prices reaching up to $100 or more USD a pair. They always come in pairs, one male, one female. Image from Taobao online shopping site. * There are a couple of parrots living wild in a local park, but these are recently released or escaped pets.

Yesterday, I was given a new waiter's friend corkscrew. Nothing special or fun in that, you may think, but ... ... for the last 27 years, I've always smiled when I use one because, in Chinese, they are called 海马开瓶机 (hǎi mǎ kāi píng jī) or 海马刀 (hǎi mǎ dāo). The former means 'seahorse bottle opener'; the second means 'seahorse knife'. I can see why.

@Suzie Q By coincidence, my Cantonese friend called me and so, I asked her to record herself saying wontons in her language. Here it is. The link expires in 30 days but if you or anyone else still wants it after that, just ask. If the download is too slow you can PM me with an email address and I can send it.

Liuzhou and the rest of northern Guangxi is heavily influenced by Hunan cuisine. The south much more by Cantonese. As to the connection between Sichuan-Guizhou-Hunan, I'd say you are correct. There is sort of continuum between them, but Hunan is still very different from Sichuan. Many 'Sichuan' ingredients are actually grown in Guizhou, although I'd say Guizhou cuisine is closer to Hunan, at least in the parts of Guizhou I've been to. I think that it is mainly the influence of the ethnic minority populations' cuisines. Hunan and Guizhou (and Guangxi) are much more influenced by that than Sichuan is. The overall flavours of Hunan and Guizhou are generally heavier, more vinegary etc than Sichuan's, although there are exceptions. That's my quick off-the-cuff answer but I'll think more and maybe elaborate later.

Good question, but maybe I should answer in the Guangxi Gastronomy topic rather than weigh this one down.

Tonight's delivery brought me some cheer-up food from Sichuan. I mean the food is from a local Sichuan restaurant, not your actual Sichuan which is hours away. 花椒鸡 (huā jiāo jī), Sichuan pepper chicken with 扬州炒饭 (yáng zhōu chǎo fàn), Yangzhou fried rice. OK. Yangzhou is nowhere near Sichuan and Yangzhou rice is a dish in itself, not usually as an accompaniment, but this wasn't what anyone Yangzhou would consider authentic. And what I felt like ordering. The chicken dish included fresh green Sichuan peppercorns which is what attracted me. Love them. $5.44 USD P.S. The lighting in my prison cell is shit for taking decent pictures. Apologies.

In Cantonese, it is usually transliterated as wan4 tan1, the numbers referring to tones. I'll try to get a Cantonese friend (from Canton (Guangzhou) to record herself saying it, but, in my present state of immobility, it may take a bit of time. There are samples on the internet, but Cantonese has various accents, too, so they vary.

鲜肉大馄饨 (xiān ròu dà hún tun), large pork wontons (in broth). The menu on my app offered a choice of adding chilli oil (or not), the same with scallions and four different wonton fillings: pork, pork and shepherd's purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris), pork and shiitake, or pork and some atrocity consisting of yellow kernels of misery. I chose chilli oil, scallions and shepherd's purse. Apologies for the dreadful image, but I had a bad night, it was early and I was starving. Same excuse for eating them straight from the delivery container rather than putting them in a nicer bowl. P.S. In 95% of China wontons are known as 馄饨 (hún tún) or, less often, 云吞 (yún tūn) with the letter u pronounced 'oo' in both names - hoon toon and yoon toon. Wonton is from the Cantonese, only spoken by about 5% of people in China, mainly in Guangdong province and neighbouring Hong Kong.

I've never even thought of using it in a dessert. Interesting. Thanks.

The way I feel at the moment, my first meal might also be my last! 🤣

A combination of pain and the result of spending most of my time in bed has severely disrupted my sleep patterns, meaning meal times are being judged by my defective inner clock. So tonight's dinner was more like a lunch at dinnertime. I'll probably have dinner for tomorrow's breakfast. 遇难三明治 (yù nàn sān míng zhì), bánh mì and 金瓯碳烤鸡肉串 (jīn ōu tàn kǎo jī ròu chuàn), Golden Vietnamese charcoal grilled chicken skewers from a local Vietnamese restaurant called Saigon. The chicken was spectacular. Should have ordered two more.

Yes, I much prefer to cook but for the last several months I have been in bad health following an accident which left me unable to stand up for more than a couple of minutes. Walking any distance is out of the question, although I can stagger to the door to get my deliveries but not much more, so grocery shopping is impossible, too. Fortunately, the range of choice and the delivery service for everything is very developed here and overall the quality very good in the main. I am recovering, but slowly, and looking forward to cooking again soon. Meantime, I lie in bed planning what the first meal will be. The delivery service also includes fresh groceries and produce, so I should be able to cook again before turning to 100% normality.

海鲜炒饭 (hǎi xiān chǎo fàn), Seafood Fried Rice Shrimp, squid, scallops, mussels. This is my recent fall back when I can't decide what to order. It gets here quick and I like it, so....