an improvised noodle meal with Chuichow 潮州 black pepper pig stomach soup
a soup noodle with pig stomach, Japanese scallops, and matsutake mushroom
a Chicago style roast beef sandwich
it is a messy sandwich
it is good but not great - but that is the best of this here in town
soup noodle with ramen char siu, daikon, and watercress
pizza with fresh clams and homemade smoked salmon
salted turnip - one of hundreds of salted vegetable used for cooking in China
red fermented bean curd - mainly for cooking
preserved bamboo shoots - for eating in a meal or for cooking
more salted vegetable
I haven't have Toblerone for very long time and Costco have this for great prize. I then found out it is now owned by Mondelez that is American. I promptly return them as I simply cannot enjoy American chocolate. They are too sweet for my taste.
even peanut butter is spiced with too much sugar! I found this disgustingly sweet
a stir fried baby bokchoy with clam meat and shiitake mushroom; and a small side of homemade Cantonese char siu
a pound of Sichuan peppercorn - Sichuan pepper is not really a peppercorn
Chinese savory peanuts in shell processed with fermented bean curd
white peppercorns - they are just common black peppercorns with the black skin removed
this is another kind of Chinese salted turnips - typically used for preparing a meat dish
these tiny dried fish is very rare in North America, especially of good quality; reminds me of some childhood dishes prepared with fermented black beans and garlic
this salted vegetable is a Tianjin specialty - used mainly for cooking
I stock up more of this red fermented bean curd knowing this brand is good
I recently bought an Ikea stockpot which I like so I went back and get more; seeing this alarmed me that Ikea had killed off the one that I bought and replaced with this
fortunately Ikea still have them and I came home with two sizes; this is about 5 quarts - I am making a small batch of pork bone stock
here I used the smaller 3-quart one to prepare a rich Chiuchow braised beef; normally I find Ikea cookwares very lacking but this series is exceptional in design and construction
braised beef lo mein with daikon and watercress
more of braised beef lo mein with daikon; this batch of braised beef is made in a rich 濃味 sauce that utilize red fermented bean curds
I have been honing my skills in making Cantonese/Chiuchow style braised beef. Each time I learn something new. These are dishes that I recreated by taste and memory. While there are many variations, they are two main divisions - one with a clear broth 清湯 and the other with a rich and deep colored broth. The former is prized for the clarity and unadulterated beefy taste while the later for the umamic richness 濃味.
here are more photos of the crane fishing in the creek taken with the Nikon P900 super-zoom camera
strangely most people thought it is a heron
While I was capturing the still shots and the video, I could not see clearly what the crane was catching due to the distance. At the time I thought they are earthworms that has been washed down the creek from the rain water runoff. To say the least I am pleasantly surprised to see these appears to be juvenile fresh water eels. I tried Google freshwater eels of the Pacific Northwest. I do get hits on Pacific lamprey eels. These appears not to be lampreys. Lampreys typically are pests that tends to displace native fishes. These look more like edible fresh water eels.
Here are three videos taken with the Nikon P900:
looking closely it has been fishing for these small eel-like little fish
Update - Nov 20 am:
I have been intrigued with what these little eels the crane was fishing. It caught about one eel every 15 minutes or so. As I examined the third video above on a larger screen the eel is unmistakably a lamprey eel. In the video between 0:00 and 0:10 one can see the sucker mouth at the head struggling facing the camera. A mystery solved. Good to see the crane here help to keep the population of these pest fish under checked.
a adult Pacific lamprey eel
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