"The bei drying-pit is dug two feet deep, two and a half feet wide, and one zhang long. Above it a low wall two feet high is built and plastered with clay."
"Ladle it with a gourd dipper into the bowls. The finest essence — from one sheng of boiling water, it is divided among five bowls."
"In Zhedong Circuit, Yuezhou is best, Mingzhou and Wuzhou next, and Taizhou lower."
"The cheng base, also called tai or zhen, is made of stone; otherwise of locust or mulberry wood, half-buried in the ground so that it will not rock."
"When the water first boils — with bubbles like fish eyes and a faint sound — that is the first boil. When bubbles rise along the rim like a linked string of spring pearls, that is
"In Huainan Circuit, Guangzhou is best, Yiyang and Shuzhou next, Shouzhou lower, and Qizhou and Huangzhou lowest."
"Ladle it with a gourd into the bowls, so that the foam is evenly divided. The foam — the froth — is the flower of the soup."
"In the Search for the Supernatural: Xia Houkai died of illness; his kinsman Gou Nu, who could see spirits, watched him come to fetch his horse and afflict his wife. Wearing a flat
"The pestle and mortar, also called dui, are best when they have long been in constant use."
"When it first boils, with fish-eye bubbles and a faint sound, that is the first boil; when the rim seethes like linked pearls, the second; when it surges like waves, the third. Be