WAPAPS 2016 - 2024: APAPS 21.6, - 繼續 - 鷄粥

As a follow-on from last week´s blog, when I told you that Glenfiddich Whisky Distillery had stopped selling its post-distilling residue barley mash for cattle feed, and was instead using it to make bio-fuel for its distributor lorry fleet, I am pleased to report that there has been a positive reaction to this development from Police Scotland who are delighted to report that as a result there has been a significant decrease in the number of drunk and disorderly cases they have had to deal with involving Highland cattle, notoriously aggressive animals when aroused.

And now to the blog. I´m delighted to welcome Paul back to the blogging scene and, although he describes what he has contributed as “an addendum” to my bit, since he got his piece and the title into the blog first, his addendum goes first, and my bit will be a postscript to said addendum. I hope that that is clear. Now over to Paul.

A bowl of Hazel's Healthy juk (or congee)

I felt should contribute an addendum to this week's blog by John, not only because I had made feeble excuses for not walking weekly, but also I had not been able to help out with the blogging, by virtue of my absence. I had benefitted from several of the breakfasts, however.

I was finally tempted out of semi-retirement by the prospect of a Chinese Breakfast, courtesy of Hazel and John. Congee, rice-porridge or juk is a traditional breakfast in most parts of Asia. Hazel's variety (Teochew Bak Moi) is a speciality of her homeland, although I suspect her version is far richer in pork, liver and other 'extras', than the normal daily fare.

Luckily I was on Tokyo time for watching the Olympics live, so a 5 am call was not too onerous, and we arrived in fairly good order at Casa Esperanca at about 6:40 am for a hearty starter coffee.

I will gloss over the walk itself, as John will tell his version, except to say that in the interest of avoiding the descent into the valley and subsequent climb, I took a longer loop round, thus ending up with a much greater total covered than the others, as I mistook the meeting point and continued on and had to retrace my steps.

This is my route, and my personal stats below. (Full screen and turn sound down!)

APAPS 6/21 from Casa Esperanca

Now back to the breakfast, The title of this blog is translated reasonable accurately, except the third and fourth characters refer to 'chicken congee,' rather than Hazel's pork and liver variety. (Try and memorise how to draw those four characters - 20, 21, 21 and 14 strokes of the pen respectively) The reason it is there, is that if you pronounce both pairs of characters in Romanised English, it would be 'gai juk - gai juk'. The two 'gai juk's' are pronounced differently in Cantonese, but to the uneducated ear sound similar enough to be a pun. The first pair mean 'Continue' or 'Carry On' and the second pair mean 'Chicken Congee'.

And that, Dear Reader, was why, when I went walking with Cantonese companions over the hills of Hong Kong, the ongoing joke was to shout 'Chicken Congee' in English to encourage those ahead to speed up!

Here endeth the language lesson.

But first a word from our sponsors! Back in 1980, Eric Idle of Monty Python came out with this gem, which has a slight connection with Chinese food:-

It really was a special breakfast and well worth the pain of walking at that hour, for which many thanks Hazel. Myriam's contribution was the salted duck eggs, which you can see in the congee photo at the top, and in their prepared state below.

The duck eggs are simple but tedious to prepare. The eggs are washed , dried and left to air dry thoroughly for several hours. Meanwhile you add salt to boiling water until it is saturated and then allow it to cool. Put your dry eggs (in shell) in a jar or sealable container that is salt proof and top up with the cold salt water. Seal and leave to marinate for 3-4 weeks. The results are worth the effort as an additive to omelettes, salads and congees.

As for preparing the congee itself, please consult Hazel for this style and Myriam for Cantonese 'gai juk'!

And now apropos of nothing, except an abstract link with languages - here is a talented lady attempting to go round the UK in 17 accents. On the whole I think she pulls it off, but her West Country accents are a bit sketchy!

Can anyone do better? (Her Highland accent and knowledge of Robert Burns are a bit dodgy.)

JohnH now resumes the blogging duties.

As for the walk, it is some time since we have done a walk from Casa Esperança and we found that there have been quite a few changes to the local landscape in the interval. Not least has been the Attack of the Avocadoes. For example, just recently two massive pieces of heavy machinery moved into the orange plantation in front of Casa E and they reduced the orange groves from this

through this

to this in a matter of days

Several quite venerable carob trees were smashed up in the process.

The Starters this week were few in number, with the Whittles, Rod and Yves being absent, and Hazel not walking at present. If it hadn´t been for Paul turning out for the first time in months, Myriam and Maria would have had only JohnH to guide them across country.

(For security reasons, some identities have had to be protected)

When the small group set off, those three, Myriam, Maria and JohnH, scrambled across valley, down dale and up hill, while Paul took a flatter route along the ridge which added distance to his personal statistics.

Our route led us from one intended new avocado area to another. The trend seems to be that avocado fields, unlike orange groves, will be surrounded by high wire fences which will inevitably reduce the freedom to roam across the countryside.

Most of the walk was taken at a gentle pace, a lot of it through scrub land prickly enough to draw blood,

after which a rest was well merited.

At one stage, we were hailed by an old man who was gathering figs. A German guy, he was very talkative and generously shared some of the fruits of his labours with us.

Shortly afterwards, Yves was pleased , or would have been, to see that one of his old erections was still intact.

Not all the land clearance we saw was destructive and avocado focused. One recently cleared and replanted stretch of scrub land now boasts a healthy looking maize crop .

And in one orange plantation, all the trees were being topped, painted blue as protection against the sun, and grafted with fresh stock. Maria talked to the men doing the work – they of course were friends of friends or acquaintances of friends of hers – and so we learned that the blue paint is a water-based solution containing copper to eliminate fungus.

And so back to base after two and three-quarter hours. Paul has submitted two sets of statistics. Admittedly, his detour at the start will have added some extra distance but 9.33 kms at an average moving speed of 3.4 kph is frankly unbelievable. 8.33kms is possible.

But the official distance is the leader´s 7.27 kms.

And at Casa E, Hazel was ready to serve up the Chinese breakfast, once Myriam had changed into her Imperial Ballgown and had taken her seat beneath the Imperial Grand Parasol.

Paul´s introductory addendum has already described the breakfast dish as being a congee, in Cantonese “gai juk.” Now, for some reason, I am a bit put off by the word “congee”. I don´t know why but it has a slight suggestion of conger eel to me. Nothing to do with the French word “congé”meaning holiday, leave or dismissal, congee can also be spelled “conjee” and is derived from the Tamil word “kañji” meaning water in which rice has been boiled. But there is more to the breakfast than just boiled rice water.

In Hazel´s Teochew dialect it is called “bak moi, meat rice porridge. I prefer bak moi to congee. From what I can gather, the method of preparing bak moi is this. First, make a good rich stock using pork rib bones. Boil brown or unpolished rice (arroz integral) in it until the rice has softened but still has a bit of chew in it. Add minced pork meat balls, season well, and cook the pork. At the last minute, while still cooking add some very thinly sliced pork liver (figado do porco) – very thinly sliced so that it cooks quickly. Then break a hen´s egg into your bowl, and then ladle the hot bak moi over the egg which will cook in the broth. Add garnishings such as crispy fried brown onion flakes, finely chopped garlic in olive oil,sliced spring onion, a touch of sesame oil, salted duck egg quarters if you have them, more salt and pepper if you wish, piri-piri if that´s your thing.