Soda was [Sca-cooks] steam-baking

[Decker, Terry D.]

Sodium carbonate is naturally occurring in alkali sinks and brine lakes.
Sodium carbonate decahydrate can be produced by burning some seaweeds and
recovering the crystals from the ash.  Both were used within period,
although sodium carbonate was probably more common.

According to Buell, soda is in the translation, so the Chinese probably used
sodium carbonate in the recipe.

While I was a little picky about the definition of "washing soda," common
usage tends to define washing soda, sal soda, and soda ash interchangably to
mean both sodium carbonate and sodium carbonate decahydrate.

Bear

>
> My question is:  where did the Chinese get soda in the Qan's
> time?  Is this a
> period ingredient, or some redactor's addition to appeal to
> modern tastes?
>
> Selene, Caid
>