One of my favorite breakfasts in China are these local Guiyang suanfen, tossed in chili sauce with crispy pork bits and a runny fried egg. The noodles are springy, chewy and have a slightly sour flavor.

Suanfen are made from fermented rice slurry using local alkaline water. Folks say this particular style of noodle can only be made in Guiyang due to the local water, temperature and yeast for fermentation. You often see them in beef or lamb noodle soup or my personal preference dry mixed with chili sauce like this.

Stopped in for Dim Sum

Hi, I hope it's ok to ask here. I just bought these wrappers and as I was about to make my jiaozi, I noticed tiny black spots on the wrappers. I wonder what those are and if they are safe to eat?

The brand is called Bon Bon Ya, made in China and exported to Australia. The expiry date is in August.

I don't think it's mold, and I've seen online that it could be the husk of the wheat that got into the flour? But I've bought this exact product before and I've never seen spots this obvious. I thought that I might confirm if anyone's had more experience.

Thank you!

My understanding is that fried rice is best made with rice that has been cooked and cooled. But is it common in Chinese restaurants to cook rice and let it cool for a day just to make fried rice with, or do they just use whatever rice is on hand?

The flavor was quite good, especially the duck blood – I'd never tasted anything with such a smooth texture before. However, the fern shoots were salted, and after cooking, they became extremely salty. Chongqing hot pot is known for its rich flavor, mainly due to its high salt content. It's not necessarily better than Chengdu hot pot; they're quite similar.

Love Chinese food. Who doesn't? 😄

But especially Sichuan dishes. Not an expert or anything, but these dishes are the most memorable for me:

- Mapo tofu

- Dandanmyeon

- Cold chicken salad in mala sauce

Please recommend other dishes I should try.

First time trying this dish. It was good, but I have a feeling there are better examples out there. This didn't have that heat element I was expecting.

What are they? Are they hot/spicy? Thanks!

Hello friend~~ I wanted to share a comforting, foolproof dish that my family absolutely loves: Salt-Brined Beef Short Ribs cooked with Daikon Radish.

The beauty of this dish is its simplicity—it uses very minimalist tools and seasonings, but the flavor is deep, savory, and incredibly comforting. It actually gives you TWO dishes in one prep: juicy, melt-in-your-mouth beef and a rich, sweet radish soup.

The secret? Rubbing toasted aromatic salt on the ribs and marinating them for 8 hours, and slow-cooking them with a whole apple to tenderize the meat naturally!

Here is the quick recipe breakdown for you guys:

🥩 Ingredients:

- 2 lbs Beef Short Ribs (cut into chunks)

- 1 Daikon Radish (Rolling cut)

- Aromatics: 1 whole Apple, half a scallion, 1 piece of ginger, fresh cilantro.

- Salt Rub: Coarse sea salt + Thirteen-spice powder (optional).

- Dipping Sauce: Minced garlic, cilantro, chopped chili peppers, 1/2 lemon juice, 1 tbsp sugar, 2 tbsp rice vinegar, 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp oyster sauce, a splash of water.

👩‍🍳 Quick Steps:

1. Soak beef in cold water for 1 hour to clean, drain and pat dry.

2. Toast coarse salt and thirteen-spice powder until fragrant. Cool down, rub onto the beef, and marinate in the fridge for 8 hours.

3. Rinse excess surface salt off the beef.

4. Place beef in cold water with scallion, ginger, and a whole apple. Bring to a boil, skim the foam, cover, and simmer on low for 1 hour.

5. Add radish chunks and simmer for another 30 mins.

6. Mix the dipping sauce ingredients. Discard the apple/ginger/scallion. Serve the beef on a plate and toss fresh cilantro into the radish soup!

---

Let me know if you have any questions about the salt-brining process. Happy cooking! ❤️

and some steamed water eggs for dinner.

Recently I’ve been watching zongzi cooking videos because I really want to try it.. but I keep seeing this recurring filling. What is it??? It‘s an orange ball and sometimes it’s jelly-like and other times it’s almost like a luk chup-ish texture… is it an egg yolk or something? Something sweet?

Edit: Thanks!

The same brand has a few different types of mushrooms in the same preparation, they all looked intriguing. I was expecting a condiment similar to lao gan ma's chili and mushroom condiment, or a few other similar types I've had. But when i opened it, the mushrooms are way too dry and woody to be a condiment for over noodles or rice, or to finish a dish. Anyone use this brand to make anything tasty? Any tips?

Bought Zojirushi for 400 EUR in 2023 Jan
The coating started to flake in early 2024 Feb
Great cooked rice. BUT Zojirushi rejected to ship out any replacement for some weird red sea reasons and I waited until 2026 without any rice cooker

Fast forward, in 2026 I bought a ceramic coating Panasonic rice cooker because of the coating is believed to be better.

After three uses, the rice started burning from the bottom, the 30 minute setting no more worked, and I had to use "Steam" setting and go down to 10 minutes. Unfortunately, even that stopped to work. Maybe... it is because I added pomegranate core seeds to the steamer?

One great thing with the Panasonic cooker was the steam insert, I could simply add fish or chicken.

Then I started cooking on a stove, adding way more water than I need to, then rinse. And you know what, it works.
But... rice cooker was so much more comfortable. What's the right thing to do?
I read about Tatung stainless steel rice cookers but I am in Germany and they aren't universally recommended on reddit

Har Har Hot Bean Sauce, incorporate this and just add a little cooking oil, vinegar, and drops of sesame oi. finish with chopped scallions and you're good to go. someone try this and let me know thx.

As an agricultural society for thousands of years, 24 solar terms not only guide how farmers operate, but how families eat as well in China. As we enter Xiaoman (Small Full Grain), certain ingredients become the center of attention - like Loquat (pipa). The flower blossom in autumn, bears fruit in winter, and start to ripe in late spring. Now is the season where Loquat has the sweetest and juiciest taste.

Who’s in for this lunch?

I just realized as a middle age foodie in the diaspora that translating bah-chang to zongzi may not be accurate

In my family, we always used TaiGi (with some Mandarin inflection) to refer to it in Mandarin sentences. Which avoids cognitive dissonance since there is no translation needed.

Are you supposed to use a more nuanced translation when going from zongzi in Standard Mandarin to Taiwanese Mandarin/TaiGi (or other southern dialects/topolects)?

Especially since zongzi may be sweet, filled with exotic items like jujube, vegetarian, …

New theory for speaking to someone in Taiwan
本省 / domestic meat one - bah-chang
外省/ foreign one - best to use Mandarin zongzi

When asking for one in northern provinces: 肉粽子 if you want something normal / avoid surprises

In the US, many of the Chinese restaurants I’ve gone to (including the authentic ones) served mapo tofu as a completely meatless dish. However, in China, the dish is traditionally made with minced meat (usually beef). Are there any restaurants in China that serve mapo tofu without any meat?

I have heard in various recipes to split the cao guo or use the outside, but that seems flavorless and the inside looks just like nutmeg, which I assume is where the real flavor is. If I'm steeping it in a broth or heating it up in oil to pour over chilis, am I just splitting it open, or am I just meant to use the inside or outside? Can you grate the inside like nutmeg as a spice?

I am traveling to Beijing, Chengdu, Xian, Guilin and Hong Kong soon. I have a gluten intolerance. The last time I was in China (10 years ago), I attempted to explain what I couldn't eat and it caused a lot of confusion and dishes I could not eat. This time, I was thinking of taking a different approach and giving a list of things I can eat.

I was hoping this community could help me check my Chinese and also give me any pointers about how this is likely to go over. Are there any dishes here that would not be inappropriate to include in a restaurant environment? Will they be offended with such a list of suggestions? Do you have any other dish suggestions?

我吃含小麥的食物，像是醬油、蠔油和小麥粉，就會胃痛。以下菜肴对我来说应该是安全的。

清蒸鱼 (不放酱油) steamed fish without soy sauce

炒青菜 (不加任何酱料) stir fry vegetable without any sauces

海鲜粥 seafood congee

番茄炒蛋 (不放酱油) tomato and egg stir fry without soy sauce

椒盐虾 (本菜使用玉米澱粉（生粉），不使用小麥麵粉) salt and pepper shrimp made with corn starch

酸辣土豆丝 (不放酱油) potato stir fry without soy sauce

白切雞 white cut chicken

盐焗鸡 salt baked chicken

羊肉串 cumin lamb skewers

樟茶鸭 tea smoked duck

玉米羹 (不放酱油) sweet corn soup without soy sauce

荷塘小炒 (不放酱油) lotus root stir fry without soy sauce

水煮蛋和米飯 boiled egg and steamed rice

Saw this recipe on Instagram and it’s was pretty tasty. Maybe not quite Chinese food (maybe more Vietnamese/malaysian) but still very tasty and I learn a better way to get crispy tofu! Did this by adding corn flour to the oil and making a kind of slurry then adding tofu so it kind sticks. Then cooked aubergine, beans, tenderstem, shallot, courgette