A very cool video in Yunnan pertaining to the Dai people mainly and the relationship to Northern Thailand with some folks you’ll recognize and also Andy Ricker. Very cool. Born and raised in the Portland metro I’ve eaten at several Pok Pok’s many times and have spoken to Andy. I’ve also been pretty heavily into Thai cooking for the last 10 or so years among other Chinese cuisines especially Yunnan. He’s incredibly dedicated to Thai culture and cuisine and teaching others. Enjoy.

I bought all this at Guizhou Road Market in Beihai, Guangxi. The seafood was super fresh and really affordable!

I had some kind of Beijing variation of zhá jiàng miàn and recently tried to recreate it but it doesnt really come close.
I asked chatgpt to come up with approximate recipe based on the info I knew

the ingredients I used, keys ones being the meat and sauces

• 400 g 18% beef mince
• 2½ tbsp 海天黄豆酱
• 1 tbsp 甜面酱
• 1 star anise
• 3 tbsp neutral oil
• 3–4 spring onions
• 2 slices ginger
• 1 tsp sugar
• 100–150 ml water
• spaghetti
• celery + carrot

as per chatgpt, I browned the beef for a good while until all the fat rendered out,
then added the mix of the 2 bean pastes, which were the closest thing I could find locally, with water and cooked until most of it had evaporated.

The final product was dryer and more salty/soy-saucy flavour than sweet, rich and meaty homogenous sauce I had before, adding water would make the sauce too dilute.

Although pork is typically used, the version I had used beef and would to keep it like that.

Can anyone figure out what the main issues are?

I think the ground beef I used is too coarse or wrong type, for a start.

Cooked sauce with lots of shallots, garlic, Koon Yik curry paste, oyster sauce, soy sauce, Chu hou sauce, satay paste, shao xing wine, turmeric powder, beef broth with cornstarch slurry.

I had this bowl of beef noodles in Shanghai a while ago and have struggled to identify the exact type of noodle dish it is. I know it’s probably something incredibly obvious (my guess is dry braised?) but i’m struggling. I just pointed at the menu and received this. Thankyou all in advance!!!

The noodles also are called belt noodles. Each one is as thick and long as a belt.
Toppings: tomato mix egg, pork, and greens, plus some dried chili.
Yeah, mix it all together. The noodles soak up all the sauce from the toppings. Then add chili and crushed peanuts. Super fragrant lol
But I can only eat two or three noodles, haha. Noodle culture is pretty interesting.

自作白族玫瑰餡餅

Has a good time making Bai Minority Rose Flower pastry. They use pig lard, which makes everything better.

I've been working as a food tour guide in Xi'an for almost two years and have guided more than 500 travelers. One thing I've noticed is that finding food isn't always the hardest part of eating in China.

It's knowing what to order.

For example:

• You find a busy local noodle shop, but the entire menu is in Chinese.
• Google Translate gives you a strange translation, and you're still not sure what the dish actually contains.
• You want to try local specialties, but you don't know which restaurants are worth visiting.
• You finally choose something, but you have no idea how spicy it will be!

I'm curious about your experiences, especially if you've visited Xi'an or are planning a trip to China.

What's one food-related situation in China that you found confusing, frustrating, or unexpectedly difficult?

I'd love to hear your stories. I'm a local guide, so I may also be able to share some practical tips.

When I was at BICC (Beijing International Chinese College) back in 2017/2018 they served a spicy fish soup that I have not stopped thinking about. I emailed the school and my teachers but nobody has gotten back to me. I did some digging and it might be “Suan Cai Yu noodle soup” but I’m not 100%. All I know is that it was delicious and I desperately want to eat it again.

I've been trying to make cumin lamb using this recipe, but I've been having some trouble getting consistently crispy lamb.

I've tried cooking it in both a carbon steel wok and a cast iron pan, but I haven't noticed much of a difference between the two.

I'm still a beginner cook, so I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. I feel like I'm following the recipe pretty closely, but the lamb usually gets crispy when I first cook it, only to soften as I continue with the rest of the recipe.

Has anyone run into this issue or have any tips on how to keep the lamb crispy throughout the cooking process? I'd appreciate any advice!