The true pepper
My acupuncturist friend Simon came for lunch the other day, and one of the dishes I cooked was that old favourite mapo doufu (Pock-Marked Old Woman’s…
The joy of potatoes?
According to this piece by Lauren Keane in the Washington Post, the Chinese government is hoping that the potato will help to provide greater food security…
Sichuan ya cai – further developments
Another brand of ya cai, bought in London’s Chinatown. Not as good, in my opinion, as the one highlighted in my previous post, but perfectly usable…
Sichuanese preserved vegetable – 芽èœ
I was very happy to discover today that my local Chinese supermarket stocks Sichuanese ya cai 芽èœ, a speciality of the southern Sichuanese city of Yibin,…
Rapeseed oil and grass-fed beef
When cooking Chinese food, I have been in the habit of using groundnut oil, which is neutral in flavour, stable at high temperatures and relatively easily…
Chinese food in Sydney
There’s a piece by me in the Financial Times today, about the way Chinese and Asian food has been localised in Sydney…
The wrong kind of recycling
The China Daily reports that one in ten meals in China may be made with old, recycled and potentially carcinogenic cooking oil. The State Food and…
Should China grow GM rice?
There’s an interesting piece in the China Daily today that brings together three contrasting views on China’s decision to allow the cultivation of genetically-modified rice.
So it’s not just the Chinese…
…who have been eating bits of endangered shark (as I think I mentioned once before). According to this piece in the Daily Telegraph, around 20,000 tonnes…
Of vinegar and other matters
There’s an interesting, and at times hilarious, thread on Chinese cooking tradition on Chowhound – lwong’s dryly witty comment had me laughing out loud: ‘We see…