insomniac

thank you for your very informative report, always great to have new places to eat at....Madrid is one of my all time favourite cities. Just back from 4 days there with daughter and we hopped thru some of the same tapas places.....superb, high quality food. (love angulas.) Missed la Broche this time in favour of Kabuki and La Trainera, food simply prepared, pure and stunning. Shlepped 20kg of meat back to England. Always buy from the market at Anton Martin. Slightly worried when our bags were stuck on board for 2 hours back in Bristol due aircraft electrical failure, could have been a meat disaster ps. recommend going with a beautiful young woman, have never been shouted so many freebies in my life, all very charmingly offered of course therefore difficult to say no

My friends in Germany told me that not looking each other in the eye when toasting would result in seven years bad sex Don't turn a fish in China as well

genius!!!!!

Rona, I am absolutely green with envy, fantastic photos, sorry you were feeling poorly........on a lighter note, are you sure they were a group of Americans? The chap seated to the right of the dancing hotel owner bears an unnerving resemblance to the blindfold-holding oil press worker...........

a cast of thousands thru the house all day, no clean glasses left, decide to cook mapo tofu, 2 white mugs, one containing peanut oil, one with white wine..........won't have to worry about eating bran for a day or two

no wonder you are chuffed....they are gorgeous...soup inside??

one of my favourites, Chinatown

daughter just tried to read the Thai script and thinks it says Thai ka??.....which isn't much help really is it?

Loving your adventures as usual Peter,... talk of beer reminds me of my first time in Beijing, 1990, late June and hot as hell......was permanently semi rat-arsed on big bottles of icy cold beer stored by the street vendors in huge blocks of ice with holes cut out to store the bottles in, and no need for the loo (thank God) as the heat was so dry my body seemed to use up every drop of liquid with no by-product only danger -high probability of being mown down by nine million bicycles

Ooh! DG, that crust ... what's the word for it? (My Asian Cuisine chef would smack me upside the toque for forgetting.) ← in the Philippines the yummy brown rice layer is called idtip (sp??) ← Just to make a note... I haven't heard of the brown rice crust called as "idtip" (and I know 3 Filipino dialects). Maybe it is another Filipino dialect. But in Tagalog/Filipino, the brown rice crust is called "tutong" (pronounced as tuh-TONG) ← ilocano ← the Indonesian word for it is intip. Wow, getting up at 3:45, you must really love your job! But seriously, was it hard to adjust to these hours? ← I didn't know that Klary (intip)...in fact Indonesian/Ilocano have many food words in common, eg. ikan, kambing, talong, arak to name a few Jennifer, your range is beautiful.

Ooh! DG, that crust ... what's the word for it? (My Asian Cuisine chef would smack me upside the toque for forgetting.) ← in the Philippines the yummy brown rice layer is called idtip (sp??) ← Just to make a note... I haven't heard of the brown rice crust called as "idtip" (and I know 3 Filipino dialects). Maybe it is another Filipino dialect. But in Tagalog/Filipino, the brown rice crust is called "tutong" (pronounced as tuh-TONG) ← ilocano

Ooh! DG, that crust ... what's the word for it? (My Asian Cuisine chef would smack me upside the toque for forgetting.) Aside: I'm getting ready to go through what your family is now, JGarner, and will access this blog to remind myself that others have lived through it, and very well. ← in the Philippines the yummy brown rice layer is called idtip (sp??)

deep fried? ← oven baked??

Peter, that's exactly how my son used to sound a few years ago whose dreams were a) fly first class to get unlimited caviar b) go to a party where Cristalle was the only drink c) have easy access to fois gras source ....can you tell he grew up in HK?? ps. he must have a good fairy on his shoulder as all his wishes were granted

Susan: Thanks! I like Ms. Dunlop's latest book a lot, and I also liked her previous book on Sichuan. The three recipes we have tried from the new book have turned out wonderfully. Yes, we tasted Tuesday’s dinner. I cooked the meat a bit too long, but the flavors of the sauce were amazing. I like the way that Ms. Dunlop gives directions. Rather than giving cooking times, she typically gives endpoints like “stir-fry over medium heat until it smells wonderful”, or “cook over a high flame until the liquid is nearly gone”. The author also writes more freely in this cookbook. Most recipes have an associated story, many offer fascinating cultural background, and several are hilarious. Ms. Dunlop seems to like her veggies, and includes a wealth of varied vegetable dishes. Many of the meat recipes do involve a deep-frying step, though. If you are a big fan of Sichuan peppercorns, you may prefer Ms. Dunlop’s Sichuan cookbook because few of the Hunanese recipes use Sichuan peppercorns. I highly recommend either of Ms. Dunlop’s cookbooks. ← Seconded, love both books....a friend is at the cooking school in Chengdu as we speak. Look forward to his report.

You mean you've actually tasted sweaty armpits before? ← hehehe, but seriously Doddie, haven't you ever been stuck next to someone who smelled so bad that their old stale sweat seemed to pour down your nose and into the back of your throat?? eg. London tube at peak hour (vs HK MTR where it is haam yu odour that is the random killer vs crowded elevator in Seoul where it is garlic .....maybe vegemite in Oz, but as I am an afficionado I wouldn't notice that one )

Thanks SG-, love curry for breakfast.....or lunch or dinner. the HK shots have made me quite homesick; on the upside back there soon

Until last week I used to HATE truffles, like eating a sweaty armpit, *shudder*, but, miracle of miracles, just got back from 4 days in Madrid and eating the truffle laden sashimi etc at Kabuki has made me a convert. I have managed to amaze myself .

Hm. Thanks for the info. These were certainly about the size of lamb chops. ← Maybe what New Zealanders call hogget, i.e. a 1 to 2 y.o. sheep ?? Very popular meat and it is much more tasty than lamb...well, to me, anyway

FYI Pan, I went to the Li Family Restaurant twice last year, once with my daughter and once with my son and daughter. The meal was superb each time and just as you pictured it. Actually went back the second time at the invitation of Dr Li who got on like a house on fire with my Putonghua speaking daughter who was living in Beijing and when he heard son was a chef insisted we return. Have a delightful photo of the three, Dr Li looking tiny betweeen my two giants I can't remember seeing any new looking parts of the house, it all seemed fairly ramshackle but charming nonetheless.

not so insomniac, we mention Kursaal in our linked post below! We loved our meal from Berasategui here and at the cafe in Guggenheim in Bilboa also. ← ah yes Wendy, those are very good eating....I actually meant his main michelin starred restaurant a few kms out of San Sebastian, a beatiful place with a large terrace looking out over the hills and stunning food.

oh, are they rules??????? oooops

Did you know that the Chinese government now recognizes Jews as an official Chinese ethnic group. I found this out in Beijing last year. Interesting. Edited to add that I haven't read the whole thread and this fact may have been already mentioned.

hehehe not quite...it was a Denny's in Torrance at 0230 am

when you ask if they have wine and you are informed they have white ..............and black