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Post by Nate M on Feb 17, 2005 7:14:10 GMT 7
Does anyone know if cinnamon is easy to find in China? I'm making french toast right now, and was thinking it'd be great if I could get some cinnamon to add to it. I remember looking for it once before, but wasn't able to find it. It didn't help that I didn't know the word for it, either. So, any help would be appreciated.
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Post by Steiner on Feb 17, 2005 10:00:03 GMT 7
We never found powdered cinnamon (at least I didn't. Maybe my wife did, but I think she had it sent from the U.S.) but I think we found cinnamon bark at the spice market. It was some sort of bark.
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Post by ChinaGurl on Feb 17, 2005 10:29:08 GMT 7
Nate, go to any market that looks like it sells spices from giant burlap sacks. Look for giant cinnamon sticks. Smell them. If they smell like cinnamon, they're cinnamon. I'm pretty sure the chinese name for it is 'rou gu' (no idea on intonation) - chinese people use it for seasoning meat.
Then get it ground for you at the market. THIS IS ESSENTIAL. You can just say, "Ni ke bu ke yi ..." and then make the sound and action of a grinding machine (works for me every time!)
It should cost you about 5 yuan per 500g, but you will never use 500g of cinnamon.
Also, be careful when you use it! Freshly ground cinnamon is a lot stronger than the powdered stuff you buy in the supermarket, so don't be too excited about it when you're adding it to whatever dish you want to flavour. I did once, and had the hottest rice pudding ever. Tasted like eating 500 cinnamon hearts at once. You know, the really hot ones.
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Post by Raoul Duke on Feb 17, 2005 13:19:03 GMT 7
It's rou4 gui4. The word for "grind" is mo2 sui4, so just ask "Qing3 bang1 wo3 mo2 sui4"..."Please grind it for me".
If my memory of your being around Beijing is correct, then finding cinnamon should be easy...certainly easier than finding maple syrup to put on that French toast of yours. The spice markets will indeed have the bark- and often have it already ground, but places like Carrefour or Wal-Mart should have the bottled ground stuff just like back home.
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Post by Nate M on Feb 17, 2005 13:39:02 GMT 7
Don't worry about me, I got sent 3 bottles of maple syrup for Christmas. I'm loaded.
Thanks for the tips, everyone. Shouldn't have a problem, now.
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Post by con's fly is open on Feb 17, 2005 15:49:01 GMT 7
Corey, you were born to write instructions for stupid people like me. If you'd penned my iBook's manual, I'd already be flying the Enterprise with it. Any chance you could explain how to tape one show while watching another? 20 years later, I still haven't figured it out.
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Post by ChinaGurl on Feb 17, 2005 19:13:31 GMT 7
What's an 'iBook'?
Do you mean tape one show on your VCR while watching another one on TV? Easy. Get a DVD player and buy the box-sets.
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