83.Stewed Chinese leaves with tofu (V)

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Stewed Chinese leaves with tofu

Opened the blinds this morning, autumn has spread the whole yard, yellow and red leaves are covering the whole walls and the grass -- how beautiful! Although there was no sun, the red, yellow, orange and green (yes, there is still a little green colour left) colour are composing a beautiful autumn concert. I stayed by the window watching for a very long time, just did not want to move…

The only sadness is that after changing back from summer time, the day light time is getting shorter, quite sudden -- I thought I have prepared for the night arriving early, but still sudden, a little bit panic rose up from deep down of my heart. -- Another autumn, another winter, another Christmas, another year…

Autumn Chinese leaves

It is said that autumn is a harvest season, many fruits and vegetables are on the markets now. My mom told me on the phone that she was planning to buy autumn vegetables for storing them up for the coming winter. Although this is no longer a necessary thing to do in northeast China (there will still be millions types of vegetables available in the markets), my mom said that she still wanted to keep the old traditions; however, she would buy much much less than she used to many years ago- just a ‘symbolic’ buying.

And one type of vegetables she must buy is Bai cai / Chinese leaves.

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80. Chinese mushroom recipe: stir fried mixed mushrooms (V)

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Chinese mixed mushrooms

I have to confess that I never really liked mushrooms, especially those usually called ‘Chinese mushrooms’, which have a ‘thick' and a bit ‘meaty’ texture.

Well, it is probably because in Chinese cuisine, this kind of mushrooms are always cooked with meat; for example, the most famous such dishes is ‘mushroom and chicken’ pot, which is supposed to be very healthy, and help with body recovering, especially for women after giving birth. But, I never liked meat that much, especially chicken, so I always tried to keep mushrooms away.


So really, it is not that I cannot eat mushrooms or don’t like them at all; it is more because of the combination with meat. But, I honestly did not know any Chinese mushroom recipes without meat.

About three years ago, when we went back to China, in a ‘fast food’ chain restaurant, we ordered a mushroom vegetarian dish - it was impressively good, especially for a ‘fast food’ stand. Since then I have been trying several different mushroom recipes without meat. Hey, you know, I actually really like mushrooms now.

Mushrooms in Chinese Cuisine

In Chinese cuisine, there are too many different types of mushrooms, I could not even name them all. And sometimes they don’t really look like ‘mushrooms’， for example, shimeji (Cha Shu Gu), black fungus (mu’er), white fungus (yin er), enokitake (jin zhen mo)，

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75. A sweet corn recipe: Chinese stir fried sweet corn and pine nuts

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Chinese stir fried corn and pine nuts

松仁玉米

It sounds funny, I have never been a big fan of sweet corn, but I like it, like to hold it, like to smell it after being grilled.

Well, I can't really have much corn anyway, because my stomach sometimes aches after having it. But, I love to play with it. :)) I remember when I was little, my auntie would bring baskets and baskets of freshly picked maize back to my grandparents when the harvest season of corns came, and we, the small kids would happily be there to ‘help’ husking. Only later it turned into a ‘fashion’ design game, as we started ‘braiding’ the peels into shoes. We laughed in between the piles of corn’s peels -- the best of carefree childhood.

From mid autumn to winter, ‘grilled’ corn on cob is very popular in northeast China. The sellers would put a small coal grill around the corner of the schools, or in the street food markets, grill and sell the corn. The best corn is the one that is slightly burnt on the very surface. I thought I have totally forgotten the smell over these years, but when I walk in the streets in Spain, there are many small ‘grilled corn’ stall in the streets, just like my hometown.

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