Northern style Chinese cuisine by yours truly.

Food porn is quickly becoming one of my favourite shares. But let me just take this time to interject that there are people in the world who cannot get sufficient nourishment day to day. Even post food industrialisation, there are swaths of nations with food shortages, not inherently because of sparse natural resources, or difficult farming environments, but because of poor leadership, management, and corruption.

It wasn't until Xi came into office that people in China started taking bribery and corruption seriously. Prior to that, it was rampant and was often assumed that if you are in a position of power, stealing money and embezzling money from the government would be standard practice. A few very public cases of powerful people being prosecuted for their crimes and held accountable for their corruption.

Taking money from the government isn't as simple as raiding the government money deposit safe. Most of the time it is indirect. For example, hiring friends or relatives to high paying public posts with no accountability of their work performance. Another common way is passing laws which up their incomes. Finally, the most rampant would be, assigning public works to a relative or friend without evaluating the alternatives.

A lot of people have complaints of Xi, and indeed, he too is not perfect, but taking steps to reduce corruption and embezzlement is commendable. As strange of a link as that is, the food industry has really taken off in China and that is in part due to status symbols requiring a good meal to accompany good business.

I would say about 90% of my business deals were conducted over dinner during my time in Shanghai, and you can rest assure that eating at the best possible restaurant and best possible table with best possible food was a requirement. There's a lot you can learn from these experiences as a business(wo)man but if you pay close attention, you can also learn a whole lot about food and how to cook it.

Below are some of my creations which I've picked up over time.

This is my version of the famous three cups chicken. Since I'm a northerner, I prefer a stronger less with less bland taste. The dark soy soup base is complimented with sesame seeds. Of course, ginger and garlic remain a prevalent taste.

A twist on the common egg and tomato dish, here its' more like a stew with potatoes.

Braised beef with taro.

Chive stuffing for the dumplings.

The freshly wrapped dumplings by yours truly.

Here they are freshly steamed.

And here it is, my master class for norther Chinese cuisine. Not bad if I don't say so myself.