Dinner 2023

[KennethT]

5 hours ago, liuzhou said:

柠檬禾花鱼 (níng méng hé huā yú), Lemon Grass* Flower Fish

 

禾花鱼 (hé huā yú) are a type of small (10 cm / 4 inch long), soft boned carp (Cyprinus carpio var. Quanzhouensis**) which have been introduced to rice paddies throughout the rice-growing world. This allows subsistence and smallholding farmers to harvest two crops from the same plot of land while the fish help control insects and aid fertilisation while the rice plants simultaneously give shelter to the fish. Symbiosis rules! Everyone’s a winner.

 

See here for a more detailed explanation.

 

This dish is from a Hunan restaurant but is common among the Miao, Dong and Yao ethnic minorities in Guizhou and Guangxi, too.

 

 

 

 

 

* The fish are “grass flower fish” and are cooked with lemon. There is no “lemongrass” involved! Besides the very noticeable lemon, the dish contains both green and red chillies, pickled onions, garlic and soy sauce. The fish are served whole, ungutted and with bones. The dish is very acidic.These ethnic minorities are well-known for their love of 酸 (suān), meaning 'sour' or 'tart' flavours, and so am I.

 

** The scientific name relates to the fish and rice farming technique first becoming famous in Quanzhou, a prefecture in Fujian province, East China, but it is now country-wide and beyond.

 

 

How common are lemons in China?

[lindag]

I don't think I've ever met a vegetable that I didn't like.

[MaryIsobel]

33 minutes ago, lindag said:

I don't think I've ever met a vegetable that I didn't like.

Me neither, with the exception of cooked peas.

[liuzhou]

1 hour ago, KennethT said:

How common are lemons in China?

 

Here in southern China, very common. Elsewhere in China, not so much.  They are widely used in ethnic minority cuisines, but rarely in the majority Han cuisines. Zhuang lemon duck is probably the best known minority usage.

 

The Chinese Lemon Chicken dish served in so many western "Chinese" restaurants is unknown here.

 

[SusieQ]

11 hours ago, liuzhou said:

The fish are served whole, ungutted and with bones.

 

I thought you had to take the guts out or the fish would spoil rapidly. I know hardly anything about fish, though.

[liuzhou]

2 hours ago, SusieQ said:

 

I thought you had to take the guts out or the fish would spoil rapidly. I know hardly anything about fish, though.

 

The fish are  normally sold live and cooked immediately. No time for spoilage.

 

That said

 

Quote

Ungutted freshly caught fish can have a strong fishy smell, and the meat may taste dirty or strong. If you plan to eat your catch, you need to make sure it is immediately placed in a cold environment. Ungutted fish will last up to two days in a good-quality insulated cooler, as a general rule.

 

https://tacklevillage.com/how-long-can-you-keep-fish-on-ice/

 

Several fish are sold and eaten ungutted. Whitebait,  the young fry of small fish, such as sprats, herrings or anchovies, is a common example.

 

 

Edited December 10, 2023 by liuzhou (log)

[KennethT]

 

Last meal of this batch of kapitan chicken curry with homemade roti canai. This is definitely the best roti I've made - even though the dough was made in a batch of 8, after stretching they were all frozen. When frying, I think less is more when it comes to heat for a relatively slow fry which left the inside chewy and moist with a crispy exterior.

[Tempest63]

I have a freezer full of venison which we have been casseroling, currying, meatballing and cooking in a variety of other ways, so yesterday I told the wife “no red meat for a couple of days”. I went into the butcher shop to buy some chicken (chicken noodle soup) and some duck (duck legs roasted on sliced potatoes) when I saw these Jarret de boeuf looking at me and begging me to take them home. They are really just beef shin served on the bone, similar to osso buco but they looked very appealing.

 

 

A quick google informs me that the dish called Jarret de Boeuf is African in origin, with Chad being the place it is most associated with. So do I find an African/Chad recipe or go traditional U.K. and cook them in ale or Guinness. I shall ponder today whilst doing the Christmas shopping in the County Town of Chelmsford.

 

Whatever way I decide, they will be cooked today and left refrigerated in their sauce for an evening meal on Monday or Tuesday.

Edited December 10, 2023 by Tempest63
Typo (log)

[Duvel]

16 hours ago, lindag said:

I don't think I've ever met a vegetable that I didn't like.

 

So you haven’t tried salsify yet …

[Duvel]

Second (and last) night in Dresden …

 

On my way to the Restaurant I passed the Striezelmarkt, yet another Christmas market …

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had dinner at the Sophienkeller in the Taschenbergpalais. Lovely cellar with - ehm - interesting faux-medieval furniture.

 

 

 

Beer of choice was Radeberger, the local favorite …

 

 

I had Saxonian Sauerbraten, with raisin sauce (excellent), red cabbage and a giant Knödel with a prune inside …

 

 

Our plant manager had a funky - yet obviously famous Eastern German - dish: a Schnitzel gratinated with a kind of blanc de veau and cheese, which then was on the table heavily doused with the Dresden variety of Worcestershire sauce (yeap, that exists). 

 

 

For „dessert“ we had a Trichter (an zink funnel) filled with some obscure local herbal Schnaps. Interesting.

 

 

Christmas markets were all closed after we‘d finished dinner, so we had one „on the go“ from a bar and called it a day …

 

[liuzhou]

My stand-by when I can't think what I want. 海鲜炒饭配额外的虾 (hǎi xiān chǎo fàn pèi é wài de xiā), seafood fried rice with extra shrimp. Contains clams, squid, scallops and shrimp besides carrot Chinese chives and rice.

 

 

 

[Kerala]

1 hour ago, liuzhou said:

My stand-by when I can't think what I want. 海鲜炒饭配额外的虾 (hǎi xiān chǎo fàn pèi é wài de xiā), seafood fried rice with extra shrimp. Contains clams, squid, scallops and shrimp besides carrot Chinese chives and rice.

 

 

 

Take away, right? Lovely. My nearest options are fish and chips ( three very good options) and a "Chinese" ( well established and doing well in rural Nottinghamshire, so I'm happy for them. Not as happy for me, but really don't cry for me.)

[liuzhou]

2 minutes ago, Kerala said:

Take away, right?

 

Delivery. Almost every restaurant in the city delivers. 100s of thousands of them. This one is 1.1 km away, but I regularly order from others 3 or 4 times that distant. Due to health issues, I have been relying on them for about the last year.

 

 

[Kerala]

Works do last night, at Nottingham Forest Football Grounds venue. I didn't expect much, but actually pretty good.

Smoked trout.

Goat's cheese with caramelised onions tart.

Lamb with some fancy potato fondant thing.

 

Cheese.

Surprisingly good for a sports arena meal. Someone trying hard, but not in full control. For instance, no Port available even behind the bar for the cheese board. Not to damn with faint praise- these dishes were very good.

 

[liamsaunt]

21 hours ago, lindag said:

I don't think I've ever met a vegetable that I didn't like.

 

I will eat almost any of them if I have to, but prefer to avoid swiss chard (t tastes like mud) and kohlrabi (bland). I actively dislike dandelion greens but would eat them if there was no avoiding it.  All the others are delicious to me!

 

Last night, a variation on zuppa toscana

 

 

[lindag]

4 hours ago, Duvel said:

 

So you haven’t tried salsify yet …

You are quite right.

[Ann_T]

I had some dough in the fridge from three or four days ago so decided to make pizza for dinner.

Seasoned some ground pork to make a quick Italian sausage for the pizza.

This way I could control the sodium.

Pizza topped with sausage, mushrooms, and olives. I know that olives are high in sodium, so I just sliced four very thin.

[KennethT]

4 hours ago, Duvel said:

For „dessert“ we had a Trichter (an zink funnel) filled with some obscure local herbal Schnaps. Interesting.

 

 

 

How does one drink from the funnel?  Is the bottom sealed?

[Duvel]

1 minute ago, KennethT said:

How does one drink from the funnel?  Is the bottom sealed?

Well …

 

First they dress you up with a makeshift bib and explain you lengthy the history of the drinking style and the liquor. Then they make you warm your hands by rubbing them against each other. You have to press your flat palm onto the funnel, so the liquid can’t run out due to the created vacuum. You need to lift the funnel with the other hand quickly, yet carefully towards your back-tilted head - the waiter helps you by pressing your hand firmly onto the funnel while helping you to guide it to your mouth.

 

 

At this point you realize there is no hole at the bottom of the funnel, all tables around you laugh and you knock back the liquor in a normal way. I know why I had my plant manager go first …

[KennethT]

@Duvel Thanks!  That's my belly laugh for the day!

[scubadoo97]

On 12/7/2023 at 7:35 PM, C. sapidus said:

For some reason cooler weather makes me crave Mexican food. Weird.

 

Pipian rojo: Chicken, baby potatoes, and green beans with a sauce of toasted ancho chiles, sesame seeds, onion, garlic, cumin, cinnamon, and tomatoes. Rice with roasted Poblano chiles to go with.

 

Platanos! Burned, just the way Mrs. C likes them

The burnt sugar flavor is not off putting in this application.  I’ll take them over done than undercooked 

[Captain]

Made same day pizza dough for a couple of peperoni pizza's

 

[KennethT]

 

Dai style bison with herbs (7 herbs, 5 from the garden) with sticky rice.

[Honkman]

Lamb Tagine with Okra - lamb leg (diced) braised in vegetable broth and orange juice with tomatoes, dried mission figs, onion, garlic, cumin, honey, cinnamon sticks and finished with roasted almonds and parsley. Served with quickly seared okra and finished with garlic, preserved lemon, cilantro, parsley and zaatar. Served over basmati rice cooked with cracked cardamom pods

[liuzhou]

Shrimp, Avocado and Mango Salad.

 

 

Also included lettuce,  egg, cherry tomatoes, rocket/arugula, red cabbage, chickpeas, endive, quinoa and cranberries(!). Dressed with a honey mustard dressing and sprinkled with "parmesan" sawdust.

 

 

Strange salad.

 

 

Edited December 11, 2023 by liuzhou (log)