nakji

"Fire Dried Walnuts or Pecans", p. 105 in my edition. I haven't made them myself, but I expect they're meant to produce this kind of nut. I think they're featured on the cover of the book, too? Because when I saw them in the shop, I thought, "Hey - those are Barbara Tropp Nuts!" That's why I bought them the first time.

Right - no foodblog is complete without a look into the larder, I suppose. I had to tidy mine up a bit to make anything visible. Dry goods: I have a lot of spice overflow in here, purchased in Beijing. There's an Indian grocery supply in Shanghai somewhere that will deliver, so when I run out of this lot, I'll have to reload there. My meager, meager cookbook collection. I'm ashamed to post it, really, but there it is. I have more left at home with my parents- like Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc. There just aren't the ingredients to cook like that here, so I'll save it for sometime when I can. Fridge: It's quite small by NA standards, and I don't keep much in it, really, aside from condiments. Vegetables keep happily in bags on the floor this time of year, when it's cool. I won't show you the freezer, which is iced over. I'm waiting until just before I travel to thaw it out. There are, in the bottom drawer, however, several bags of Mexican chilis I brought with me back from Toronto that are past due for attention. I'd like to crack Diana Kennedy this week for the first time. Any suggestions out there?

Most of our friends have fled the country for a beach somewhere, or have gone home to their families. We have a friend in town from Shanghai, though, coming over for dinner. I put out the nuts and oranges from yesterday as a snack - unlike Doritos or Cheetos, they don't gunk up your fingers. Since there's not much to do right now, aside from watch CCTV New Year Specials, there will be Xbox. Makes me think of "The Pistachio Prescription". I think Barbara Tropp has a recipe for these nuts somewhere. If you have her book, and you haven't tried these, I urge you strongly, strongly to try them. I am a complete convert. Every time I have foreigners over, I put these out and they disappear in ten seconds flat, while people beg me to tell them where I got them from. They are a bit pricey, though, at 45 yuan/jin. (A jin is about 500g?) These are incredibly sweet, but full of seeds. I eat them like candy, usually at my desk - spraying orange oil over my students' papers.

I'll take some pictures of my roots, and we can have at it. I had some tomatoes kicking around the kitchen, and I wanted to deal with them before they got too soft, so egg and tomato seemed perfect for breakfast. I have to admit, I love this kind of food the best in life - the kind of dish that can be turned out with minimal prep, minimal equipment, can expand or contract, depending on the crowd, and can be called in at the last minute to round out more impressive dishes if unexpected guests turn up for dinner. Learning to turn out a dish like this consistently and expertly is my kind of kitchen feat. There seems to be two school of thought in our Egg & Tomato topic - Eggs first or Tomatoes first. I suppose practically, it doesn't matter, since the whole thing comes together in under five minutes. I started out doing tomatoes first, but today switched to eggs first under Xiaoling's direction. I used three eggs, one tomato, some chicken powder, sugar, and two garlic chives. (I store my eggs in the fridge, mainly because I lack counter space!) I fry in peanut oil, which is not so easy to find. Most of the local shops sell a mix of vegetable/soy bean/sunflower oil. I had to go to Carrefour for this. Nobody seems to bother with quantities of oil under 3L, unless it's an expensive oil like olive. Into the wok: Flip: Rest: Tomatoes: (I sprinkled in a teaspoon of chicken powder and a tablespoon of sugar at this point) Together! And garnish! I served with a sliced of some no-knead bread I made up last night. I've been experimenting with different dumpling flours, but was getting quite a wet product - obviously that's more desirable in dumplings. On Saturday, I gave up and bought some Gold Medal Unbleached. I got a much drier crumb with this, so I guess I'll be paying the premium. Finding what I'd consider proper bread is difficult downtown where I live, for obvious reasons. There's a German bakery out in the SIP, but it's not practical to get out there regularly, so I think I'm going to become a regular bread baker. I'm tempted to start a sourdough, but what with the mold problem in the flat, I worry.

Ok - the ones in the pictures look like bubs, right? But I have some more in the kitchen that I haven't taken shots of yet - I will do soon - that could be bulbs, as they were sold out of a big bag.

I would love to see what these look like! Well, I never actually buy them but I get them in restaurant dishes. Generally a mark of a good Sichuan restaurant. They're on the stem, a bit more plump than the dried ones, and green. Wow, I haven't actually tried these other than in the form of haw flakes, which was a candy that I (and many Chinese) ate as a kid. I like to shout "haw! haw!" when eating them. What, you have a sugar cane juice source near you? I have to trudge 3 subway stops to get it. How much do they charge? For those that haven't had it, fresh sugar cane juice is amazing. It's sweet (of course), rich, vegetal, a little piney (hmm, this sounds just like my description of the fresh Sichuan peppercorns, though trust me they're completely different). I'd love to try it with some rhum agricole—I think that would be especially appropriate as rhum agricole is made with sugar cane juice instead of molasses. Sometimes I wonder about what it'd be like to work at an agricole distillery in Martinique. Fresh sugar cane juice and rhum agricole flowing freely. They must have some wicked parties. I don't attract that much attention, actually - I tend to patronize the same vendors over and over, and I think people are used to me. I can't remember if there was attention in the beginning. If I went to a new place, I'd expect a crowd to come see what I was doing, though. As for the cane juice, I haven't actually had any in Suzhou! I'm not much of a juice person. I used to drink it in Hanoi, and there I had it mixed with fresh ginger juice and rhum agricole from a Rhum bar run by some French guys - and yeah, it's as good as you can imagine. Have you tried that pirate-themed rum bar, "Bounty", in the French Concession, near Fu Xing lu? They do rums mixed with fresh juice, although I can't remember what kind of rums. Research, man!

The ones at the fruitshop do look like they're being grown as plants - maybe that's the case! I did pick up lily bulbs without the shoots/pots from my veg man, though. I'll see what the combined wisdom of my Chinese cookbook library has to say.

I've only seen durian on the tv foodie programs and the taste, for the tasters, seems to be not good lol. Does it really taste like old socks??? I'm dying to try it. I've only ever tried Durian ice cream myself - it wasn't terrible, but I think it works better if you try not to imagine it as a sweet fruit - it's more like a really sweet onion. This morning for breakfast, I'm going to tackle a dish that's been vexing me Egg & Tomato.

The diversity of food available in Suzhou alone has shocked me, especially after living in Japan, where I thought pretty much everything but cilantro was available. When I go to Shanghai...well, let's just say I usually have to bring a grocery bag. I guess because China's such a big country, they have the resources for it.

Thanks, all. You've inspired me to ask for something with Aperol the next time I go to this French/Italian place around the corner.

Aw, nuts! I was hoping you would have some suggestions. Anyone? Anyone? I know - some of weinoo's pictures looked like here to me, though - especially that snowman! I'm not sure about the lucky foods, Shelby - I know a fish for wealth, and noodles for long life, but other than that, I'm clueless. Anyone else want to weigh in? We follow Beijing time in Jiangsu, as does all of China. That means there's a 13-hour time difference between New York and Suzhou. It's quite past my bedtime here, and I'm about to call it a night. I do teach English, at a Cambridge A-level Centre. I currently teach the IGCSE English qualification to high school students - which may mean something to our UK members, but Americans can think of it as "10th Grade English". My students are all Chinese. We broke up for the holiday on Thursday, and we'll return to class on February 21st. The extended break is to give everyone enough time to make it back to their hometowns. My students were upset for me that I wouldn't return to Halifax, but I explained that flying to Canada in February was not a holiday. I will enjoy the comparatively milder temperatures here. I'll be here until the 15th, and then I'm meeting my husband in Singapore for SATAY and a MAKAN TOUR. W00T. He's off to Vietnam in a few days, when all the pictures here will have to be mine.

Thanks, Andie. In fact, I have tried these, most of the places I've lived in Asia sharing the same moisture issues. My main problem is that I don't have the time to be on top of replacing them promptly. Last winter, our living room molded quite badly and the landlord came in, and scraped everything down and treated it with mildew spray. This winter we've been assiduous about keeping the windows open at all times, but it makes for a very uncomfortable apartment in the winter. I think the best solution would be to keep the cupboard doors open or take them off completely, but the very thought of the conversation that would require with my landlord...well, it makes me just cycle around to leaving everything on the counter. And I haven't even told you about the problems with the counter-top yet! In the meantime, we've purchased some Ikea cabinets and put them into the dining room, which has inside walls. These are storing our dry goods comfortably for the time being.

I wonder if that was fresh or powdered ginger?

So after my walkabout, I met my teacher at a local teashop/bar/lending library - The Bookworm. I had a club soda. After two hours of grinding my way through tones, my husband picked me up to take a quick ride out to the SIP to run a cat-sitting errand, and to lay in some alcohol supplies. We went to a small market called "Summit Classic Life Club". I assume the Chinese name is catchier. We like them for their collection of Belgian and German beers, Western cuts of meat, and "cheese". They have the widest selection of cheese in Suzhou - I present this to you to show the sad reality of being a cheese lover. I don't actually miss cheese that much - it's not something I really crave. But my husband misses it a lot. Aussie members will note that most of this product comes from Australia. More canal shots - from outside Summit. Since we're in the SIP, things are much more modern. The tall buildings were finished this year.

No, we walked from the railroad station all the way through the city and then took a rickshaw back to the main shopping district. We were really beat by the time we got back to Shanghai. That is a fair walk! Transit in Suzhou is unreliable to say the least, and I often end up having to walk further than I'd like. Oh, yeah the chive dumplings are pretty special. The chives are suspended in some sort of chicken fat slurry, too that simultaneously oozes and crunches when you bite in. As for the fish...yeah, Fuchsia Dunlop has a great passage in her "Shark's fin and Sichuan Pepper" book where she watches a friend prep a fish - she notes that at no point does her friend actually kill the fish, it just dies somewhere in the preparation process. It was about 3 or 4 outside today, so not freezing by any means. Discreetly hidden in the upper-left corner of the photo is the gutting/scaling area on the sidewalk.

Thanks Paul! Suzhou gets a lot of tourists, both domestic and foreign. Whether we can compare favourably to the real Venice is not something I know - but there are a lot of canals! Did you go for a ride on one when you were here? For Prawncrackers - here are some shots from my local veg stand. It's a bit of a hoof from my flat, but the shop is next to our school gate, and I wanted to pop my head in and wish the laoban a "Happy New Year." He was having a nap when I showed up, but I was able to chat with a local lad and conduct my business. Bamboo shoots are in season: Various greens; plus daikon. It always astounds me they come out of the ground so white. Green onions: And various thicknesses of celery: The fish are a new addition, perhaps brought in special for the New Year? Ready for their close-up: Can anyone comment on these fish? I should point out this veg stand is in a very traditional courtyard house neighborhood. A place like this probably doesn't reflect where most Suzhounese do their shopping. There's a full wet market down the road a bit; plus several very posh new Carrefours have opened, and a Wal-mart. I'll get there later this week, I hope.

After getting some fruit, I swung by the local sweets shop to get some nuts for the party I'm having on Tuesday - New Year's Eve. They have the best candied walnuts here, among other things. Grandma convinced me to buy some excellent bright green pistachios. She knows a sucker for good nuts when she sees one I guess. I like to stop by this shop in particular for the ladies who run it. They have a nine-year old daughter who comes out when I visit, and we trade beginner phrases in each others' language. Her name is Jin; My name is Ailing. She is nine; I am thirty four. She is a student; I am a teacher. It is cold today. Etc. Her mum is standing amidst the sunflower seed array. There are lots of packaged biscuits, too.

Thanks! I just hope I can do this city justice. Of course! I've got some in the can already. The cannonball is a smallish jackfruit. There's an open one wrapped in plastic next to it.

That's why I enjoy getting UK food publications. They seem more likely to feature recipes from Middle Eastern and other cuisines as a matter of course than American publications. I don't see any food TV programming, but I suspect it's similar, no?

Not a bad idea. Actually, I'm considering trying to negotiate a complete kitchen renovation with my landlord while I'm gone over the summer, since we're planning on signing a new lease. We'll see if new cupboards and (hopefully) a built-in oven flies.

I should mention brunch cost 70 CNY, at a rate of 6.8¥/1 USD. After brunch, I walked up the street to my fruit shop where I usually stock up on bananas and oranges. Today I wanted to get some mandarins for the new year - they're lucky, I've heard. And I also got a new fruit for me - Hawthorne berries. They're sour and creamy, and unbelievably delicious. The Fruit Shop has lots of boxes ready for New Year giving. And a variety of citrus on offer. A durian for Darienne: Lily bulbs and the sugar cane juicer: A note on the photos: If it's in focus, with a nice depth of field and good light, my husband took it. If it's out-of-focus, and looks like it has been taken in a dark cave by a one-eyed man, it's mine.

Yes! You can even get really fresh green ones that are still on the stem. I like these the most as they have more of a vegetal, piney, fruity flavor than the dried ones. Hey Kent! Great to see you're here through the New Year, too. This week won't be so typical for me, since I'm not at work. I'll get more of a chance to try restaurants I've been meaning to for a while. When I'm teaching, I basically survive on toast; baozi; beef noodle soup from the shop next to school; and curry for dinner. Very narrow. I would not say I have even etched the barest whisper of scratch into the Suzhou dining options. As I said, when the term is going, I barely even leave my neighborhood. There's a Sichuan place in SND that I've meaning to try for three months, for example. I hope to get there this week. I have used Taobao to get things like lemongrass or Thai basil, but mostly the sizes are too big for me to use practically. I have a friend who uses it to get sweet basil. Coffee is an option from Taobao I guess, but I haven't thought about looking there. I've been eying a Vitamix on Taobao for a while, but I can't quite justify it to myself. I would love to see what these look like!

According to the original article, it comes off at twenty minutes.

The rest of brunch: Chive dumplings - very crisp, very tasty. Kwai teow: They look plain, but the noodles are pure wok-hei. Getting to this place early enough means the chefs aren't in the weeds and have the time to do everything up right. My Proustian char siu bao. These are the finest I've had anywhere: they do something special with the filling here. A lot of cassia is involved, I think. These were a seasonal addition to the menu: bamboo shoots with carrot and shiitake. The skins were nice, but the filling underwhelmed. The barbecue counter: We didn't indulge this visit, but sometimes I pick some up on the way home for dinner.

It means, "very yellow, very violent!" Chinese net-speak for the dangers of the internet. Yellow is slang for pornography in Chinese, as I learnt in my lesson today. Although I think this lotus root was suffering from too much yellow #5 instead.