e*ting the world

Spring in Beijing - Itinerary

2012-05-30T19:28:00.002+08:00

One of my best-est friends, let's call her W, has finally moved back to Asia. One of her last stops before Hong Kong was Beijing, and she was there for a conference in Beida (Peking University), so we decided to go and crash at her hotel. That's the story. Here's just a quick itinerary of what we did - it's partially for myself, so I don't forget. I'll be writing up some of the more interesting meals soon. Over six days, we had 2 Peking ducks, two mala meals, a lot of coffee and a fair bit of drinking, with some Yunnanese thrown into the mix. We were trying to avoid Sanlitun but gave in on our last day...

Day 1: Arrive in Beijing at night, stayed at The Lakeview Hotel (next to Peking University)

Day 2: Peking University. Lunch at student canteen, stroll around campus. Coffee at Paradiso. Wudaokou. Afternoon tea at Bridge Cafe. Massage at Lijing Daban Spa. Dinner at Dadong.

Day 3: Tsinghua University. Random roadside jianbing lunch. Check into Jianguo Garden Hotel. Dinner at Chengdu Provincial Government Office. Drinks at Yin at Emperor Hotel.

Day 4: Forbidden City. Lunch at Xianlaoman. Check into Hotel G. Dinner at Made in China. Drinks at Fubar and Glen.

Day 5: Lunch at Haidilao. Wudaoying Hutong. Tea at Historia. Lama Temple. Baochao Hutong. Drinks at Bed. Dinner at Middle 8th.

Day 6: Coffee and crepe at Crepanini. Second brunch at Migas. Ritan Park. Airport.

More detail soon... I hope.

Stars for peanuts - Wing Lei, Wynn Macau

2012-05-30T17:41:00.000+08:00

Wing Lei

We got to Macau at around lunchtime, and our first meal was here, at Wing Lei. (The second meal was dinner at Golden Flower, which I posted just before. Please see that post for an intro to why this trip was made). Wing Lei is the romanised pronunciation of Wynn's Cantonese name, and fittingly, it serves Cantonese food. If you're the star-chasing kind, you might also like to note that Wing Lei has 2 Michelin stars in the 2012 guide.

Wing Lei

Let's get the first thing out of the way - service. The chefs didn't know that I was coming, but the floor staff certainly did. I shouldn't complain. In any case, they were friendly and efficient with everyone else, from what I could see, but I couldn't help but notice the extra attention (there was a lot of it, and really, given that their usual service looked perfectly fine, that would have worked too! I'm no diva!).

Pretty chic teapot!

At lunch, there's a dim sum set. For MOP158 (that's the same in HKD) you can choose six dim sums off a list of about 20, which includes desserts. These were normal-sized dim sums, so six of them was easily enough for two or three people to share. That is crazy value. This is place has two Michelin stars! You can hardly get away with paying that in Hong Kong at your local yum cha, let alone fine Cantonese fare at a hotel.

Char Siu Tarts with Pinenuts

The charsiu tarts were delish. Usually the charsiu pastries are in puff pastry pockets ("charsiu so") but the tart shape meant that you'll get a slightly firmer crust, and more filling-to-crust ratio. The filling contained charsiu with a typical salty-sweet sauce, but also had pinenuts. I've been told that Cantonese people are particularly fond of textural contrast (I don't know if that's true, but I definitely like it), so the pinenuts worked really well here. It also added an unexpected, but welcome, flavour to the delicious but same-old charsiu 'gravy'. If I could only tell you one thing about Wing Lei, it'd be these.

We had three charsiu items in total - the formidable tarts above, a cheung fan and a dish of plain charsiu (a la carte). Charsiu isn't really a litmus test, I just like it and get curious when I see other charsiu-filled items on the dimsum menu.

Char siu cheung fun

The cheung fun (wrapper) had great rice flavour. If there was a cheung fun spectrum with stretchy and translucent on one end, and more "brittle" and opaque on the other, this was closer to the stretchy end. It really depends on what you like.

Char siu

And because I'm an incorrigible char siu addict, I ordered a char siu a la carte. People nowadays tend to prefer fattier char siu (at least the hedonists among us) and this was a classic "half-fat-lean" cut. It was soft, warm and juicy, though a little more char would have been nice (am I a suicidal eater?), and more spice (star anise etc.) in the marinade would have helped get rid of the overly "porky" flavour that is sometimes unpleasant.

Shrimp spring rolls

These spring rolls were stellar too. Light and crispy, filled with minced shrimp. Deep-fried things can be tricky because you could easily end up with a greasy mess, but these were nice and dry.

Chicken dumplings with cordycep flowers

I ordered these because I saw cordycep flowers in the name. I can't say they changed the flavour, but these were well-made nonetheless (don't you just love the tortellini-style folding) and it's always nice to have a break from pork.

Shrimp dumplings (har gau)

One of my "standard" litmus test dishes, and this passed with flying colours. It had a bit of veg (asparagus) which was an innovative replacement for the regular bamboo shoots. The flavours were cleaner and added to the juiciness of the shrimps. Some people judge a dumpling (or a dim sum chef) by the number of pleats they can see in a dumpling wrapper, it's a display of their skills - I don't usually notice, but if you saw the crazy number of grooves in these dumplings, you'd be pretty surprised too. (It also means it hold more chilli sauce, which I consider a semi-essential with har gau!)

Chilled mango and sago cream with pomelo (yeung ji gum lo)

There were a number of desserts on the dim sum menu too, and I went with a childhood fave. This was fine - not too sickly sweet, a good amount of chopped mangoes, not too much sago (some places add more sago to compensate for less fruit, probably because sago is cheaper...). We left (overly) full and very happy.

Wynn's carpets are so crazy! I love them!

If I were to have dim sum in Macau, I would recommend Wing Lei and The Eight at Hotel Lisboa without hesitation. They're definitely on par with the best in Hong Kong, and when you consider the price, Macau wins (especially if you're having a good streak at the tables! Nb. I do not endorse gambling etc.).

Wing Lei
Wynn Macau
Rua Cidade de Sintra
Macau
+853 8986 3663

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United Tastes of China - Golden Flower, Wynn Macau

2012-05-30T17:09:00.000+08:00

Tea with tall "smelling" cup

I was lucky enough to have been invited* to Wynn Macau to try out a few of their restaurants, and agreed after I was assured that the chefs would be kept in the dark about my visits, and that I reserve the right to my opinion. I also had to go for work anyway, for which I needed to interview a chef at Golden Flower (coming later) and that happened after I ate there. I don't know about you, but I think it worked out quite well - work and play, easily combined - that's why I went freelance, folks! (I highly recommend it, haha).

Amuse bouche - cabbage wrapped around mango

It wasn't until a couple of years ago, when I received a press release about Golden Flower, that I'd heard of Tan Cuisine. "Cuisine" implies some kind of a grand tradition, which it sort of has, but in true Confucian tradition, in Chinese it's humbly called "Tan Family Dishes", which is also true.

The story goes that the "cuisine" was created by a man named Tan, who was from Nanhai, Guangdong (represent! My dad's family has roots in Nanhai). He was a Qing Dynasty official and as he made it up the imperial ladder, he had to move to Beijing. Being a bit of a foodie, or maybe even a food nerd, he started to experiment with fusing flavours and techniques from regions all around China.**

Tan hosted private dinners at home using his new recipes and they turned out to be a huge hit, appealing to everyone's tastebuds (as was the intention). I suppose he was pretty high ranking, so many of the dishes for which he came to be famous include traditionally expensive ingredients like fish maw, birds' nest, sea cucumber and abalone.

His cuisine was passed on through his apprentices and spread thereon. Beijing Hotel (in, um, Beijing) is reportedly a good place to try it if you find yourself up north. (I'm writing this now in Beijing, and I did find a few dishes that referred to Tan on menus around town.)

Fish maw with crab claw

I'm not usually a fish maw kind of person - I prefer the everyday family-style dishes - but since it's what Tan Cuisine is known for, I gave it a try. My theory about these Chinese "delicacies" is that they're not eaten for their flavour (if your fish maw tastes fishy, it's bad), but because they're rare, difficult to obtain and unbelievably laborious to cook. Usually there's an interesting texture profile - there has to be something, right?

The fish maw and crab claw we had was, to me, more about the amazing soup/sauce that gives the dish its central flavour. It's made from boiling down duck and chicken broth to this slightly sticky, viscous, golden liquid. We were told that it wasn't thickened by flours or powders of any kind. If you love poultry like I do, or just appreciate a good chicken soup, this sauce is like some sort of heavenly elixir. It has the meaty richness of gravy, but has bright, clear flavours of the juices that run from a delicious, just-roasted chicken.

I should mention that the tea service here is pretty exemplary. While the world is trying its best to pair Western wines with Chinese food (with varying results), I feel like they're getting us back on track here with the extensive tea options. We ended up getting the same oolong as we were given as our "welcome drink". It was light with a long, slightly sweet finish that sort of echoed and filled my mouth long after I had drunk it. I'm no tea expert, but I enjoyed it and it went well with the rest of our dishes, which ranged from stir-fried greens to Kung Pao chicken.

Kung Pao chicken

Now, before anyone freaks out about Kung Pao chicken being a Chinatown dish, I must stress that there is a "proper" Chinese version and people definitely still enjoy it in Sichuan, where the dish was supposed to have originated. At the request of G, my only dining companion and lover of all things chilli, we ordered it, and it was very well made - not too greasy, flavourful, chicken diced to a decent size and generous amount. The only qualm we had was that it wasn't spicy enough. G is a spice guy, I'm not, but even I found the chilli quotient a bit low.

Stir-fried venison with cumin

The seasonal special, venison cooked northern style, with cumin, was an elegant version of the mystery-meat chuan that are so popular on the streets of Mainland China (often consumed like a shwarma after clubbing... hmm, I have mixed feelings about that reference). Bizarre flash of nostalgia aside, this was incredibly tasty and the venison was juicy and tender.

Prawn two ways

When I read "stuffed prawn" in this dish of prawn "two ways", I got a little excited. Something about stuffing such a small thing, perhaps. The "stuffed" side turned out to be very similar to a prawn cake, bouncy, oceany and all, but the deep frying had made it a bit greasy. The prawn head, with tomato sauce (again, meticulously made in-house) was perky flavour-wise. Fine but not as much excitement as I'd expected.

Petit four - mung bean powder cake and plum "tea"

I can be incredibly biased when it comes to Chinese regional cuisine - if you've been reading this blog for a while, you'll know that homecooked Cantonese food has a special place in my heart - but Tan Cuisine, with its balanced fusion of regions, is fast becoming something I want to try more of. Ok, maybe I'm also secretly rooting for the fact that the guy is from Nanhai.

*You might already know that I usually don't blog about places that I was invited to, on the basis that it's not a normal person's experience. I must say, some PR people are really getting quite creative (and I mean that in the best way) with the anonymity thing. That said, please do keep the fact of the invitation in mind.

**China is a vast country (duh) and just like anywhere else, climate affects ingredient availability, flavour preferences and even cooking techniques. It isn't strange, for example, for someone from Shanghai to find Cantonese cuisine bland, because Shanghainese food typically sees the addition of more sugar, soy sauce, vinegar and the like. The Cantonese are known for their love of fresh ingredients, and cooking in ways that bring out or retain the "original" flavour - say, steamed fish with nothing more than soy, ginger and spring onion.

Golden Flower
Wynn Macau (entrances both inside the casino and out - in case you're with minors)
Rua Cidade de Sintra
Macau
+853 8986 3663

Nb. From what I could gather, photos of the restaurant are not allowed (perhaps for the privacy of other guests?). Originally we were told that we could only take pictures of the food if we took it with our food - ie. there has to be a person posing for the picture (?!), but afterwards we were told it's ok to take pictures of the food you ordered. Best to ask when you book, if you're a picture-taker.

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Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution Day - Hong Kong is in on it!

2012-05-14T12:59:00.002+08:00

This Saturday, May 19th!

Have you heard Jamie Oliver's TED Prize speech from back in 2010? This was soon after he finished "Food Revolution", his TV series in the United States, where he went to a town named Huntington in West Virginia, apparently the town with most people classified as "obese" in the US.

If you don't have 20 minutes to watch the whole thing, don't worry, I'm going to highlight a few key things for you, but please see those bits at least.

At the beginning of this video (around 02:22) he shows some stats - everyone reads so much and is so freaked out about homicide, but that's the last thing on the list that's killing people. The first few are largely preventable through diet - heart disease, diabetes, stroke.

In the TV show, he was trying to change the way people ate - these were people who, for at least a few generations, no longer knew what fresh food looked like, let alone how to cook it. So they would be eating and buying processed, ready-made food or even just having fast food all the time. Even at schools, the system was such that kids were having frozen pizza for breakfast, and articially flavoured milk two times a day. As a movement for immediate change, Jamie Oliver failed. School lunches were bound to a bureaucratic system made up by the USDA, local people thought he was a crazy/arrogant Englishman there to "teach" them how to eat - I mean, he was, but the idea that they needed to be "taught" insulted some of them.

Anyway, fast forward to 2012 and you realise it's not just a TV show. The Jamie Oliver team have come up with a worldwide campaign, a day of action - Food Revolution Day - on May 19, 2012.

Why have a "day of action"? In their own words:

Encouraging people to cook from scratch at home is at the heart of this. We all have family and friends who could make better food choices. On Food Revolution Day we can work together to empower people with the skills to improve their diet. Making simple changes to our food choices will improve our quality of life and our children’s.

The goal is to create noise around real food and cooking it, so that our society and thus further generations have the knowledge to eat better, live longer, healthier lives. Food education in schools is a big issue - in the video above, fast forward to 11:15 - the kids think an eggplant is a pear and when shown a potato, have no idea what it is.

If we start cooking more at home, showing kids that milk doesn't come from a supermarket aisle, and neither does beans, they'll learn - that's all we need to do.

The Studio by Culinart

It's a self-start, volunteer-driven sort of thing, so for Hong Kong, I decided I'd do something too. I've organised a cooking class for people, "influencers" if you will, who are looked up to for food information. (The event is now full, sorry!) It's going to take place in a snazz new private kitchen-slash-studio called The Studio by Culinart, which is helmed by chef Stanley Wong, Hong Kong's own celeb chef, who's cooked at Jean-George Vongerichten’s Spice Market in New York, Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong, been on TV, in the food magazines you and I can rattle the titles of - basically, I think we're really lucky to have him! We'll be cooking with organic vegetables from local farmers (the Organic Farmers' Association, who are already helping me a great deal with the new farmers' market project I'm doing - Island East Markets - is again helping with that). Such luck!!

Go.Asia will be putting on some other events, such as placing a photobooth/photographer at Tai Po and Central (Pier 7) farmers markets, so you can share the fresh love! I'll be tweeting about those when they're confirmed.

Most importantly, you can do something too. Put on a dinner party, take the kids out to a farm, go for a picnic - anything! It doesn't need to be a public event, you can list it as a private one on the Food Revolution website - it will have nothing but a title and an approx location - the map needs more dots in Asia! Come on guys, you host BBQs and potlucks at home anyway, why not commit to not using any processed food for one meal and spread the word to your friends?

Think it's too big of a problem for us little nobodies to take on? (Well, duh, have you heard of democracy?) I would encourage you to watch some of the videos from TEDxManhattan, which took place earlier this year. These are people doing little things and making a huge impact. Even if you don't start a project like they did, please at least understand that your every purchase is a vote. It's simple economics.

If you're on Twitter and Facebook, you can follow us at @FoodRevHK (managed by me) and facebook.com/frd.asia (managed by Go.Asia and me).

How to season a new wok - Things mom taught (and things I learned)

2012-05-13T11:46:00.001+08:00

A new ceramic-coated 15" "haak gum gong" wok

From all the literature I've been reading about the science behind seasoning a wok, I'm pretty sure the "traditional" method of seasoning a wok that I was taught, with fatty pork and chives, is scientifically unsound, but I'm going to tell you the rationale behind my purchase and what I've learned anyway, as reference.

New wok in its wrapping, with the name clearly printed on the plastic bag. It was only HK$55!

My not-so-secret confession is that it took me about 10 months of moving into my new apartment to actually buy a wok (which prompted me to post my mom's awesome spare ribs recipe). Previously in terms of pans (as opposed to pots) I had just 2 skillet thingys, one of which was from Ikea (don't judge, they offered to deliver it with my furniture - how could I resist!). I bought this at an old homewares store on Bonham St. East in Sheung Wan (darling place, I also got some classic blue dragon and "cock" patterned bowls and plates there) - you can generally buy these at the mom n' pop homewares stores that have plastic brooms and buckets hanging at the entrance. Most wet markets in Hong Kong have at least one store like this.

Pork fat back

My mom taught me to season the wok in the classic way that "everyone knows" - with pork fat and chives. My quasi-scientific thought was the the chives were just for cleaning and grubby black bits off after you were done with frying the fat, so I decided paper towels would do, and just went to the butcher and said, I want some fatty pork (肥豬肉) for seasoning (or "opening") my wok (開鑊). He gave me what you can see above, which I assume is fat back, and as I was taking my wallet out, he said, "you can have it for free". Awesome.

Lots of drippings

As with everything that "everyone knows", no-one actually knows why it's done that way. A quick search on Mr. Google brings up this, which tells me lard is traditional, but no longer relevant, because pork fat no longer has enough omega-3's for a reaction between the wok and the metal to create a non-stick patina. Also check out Singaporean blog ieatishootipost's post about his research into seasoning his carbon steel wok.

But - one crucial thing about this wok is that it's not plain carbon steel. As you can see, it's black and glossy on the outside. My initial research is inconclusive, but my guess it that it's either enamel or ceramic (please leave a comment if you know!). A lot of people swear by this type of black shiny wok ("haak gum gong" 黑金剛) and say it'll last forever, unlike the Teflon or modern "non-stick" pans that can't seem to withstand high heat. Many "serious" foodies tend to use uncoated carbon steel, stainless steel, or even cast iron woks with no coating, so the link about seasoning mentioned above will probably be useful.

Rubbing the very hot pork fat around the very hot wok

What I did was, I cleaned the wok in soapy water, gave it a little scrub, then dried it with a tea towel and put it on my stove, and turned the heat on high. I left it to dry and heat up for about 3-4 minutes, dropped a tiny drop of water using the end of a chopstick into the wok to see if it was hot enough (it evaporated almost immediately - I didn't even see the whole drop land on the surface) and deemed it hot enough. I then placed the fat in, fat side (not skin) down. I figured I wasn't cooking, I just wanted the oil, and that was under the skin, not on it. A lot of oil came out of these pieces of fat, perhaps a whole cup - probably too much. It happened quite quickly, so I began rubbing the fat into the sides of the wok. I did this for another 3-4 minutes, basically until I was satisfied that the surface of the wok had taken in enough fat.

So pork fat wasn't supposed to be ideal, but then again, with the coating on the wok, are we expecting the same reaction/effect?

In any case, my wok is working great - the general steps to making sure nothing sticks on a day-to-day basis are: heat wok up, add (room temp) oil, (try and leave ingredients out to reach room temp as well) then fry away!

I don't know about the rest, but my mom taught me the last part.

Happy mom's day!

Shugetsu, more ramen in Hong Kong

2012-05-11T07:30:00.000+08:00

Tsukemen

I wrote a review for Time Out Hong Kong on another new-ish ramen place in town, Shugetsu. They make their noodles on site, and are known for their "dry" ramens (as opposed to soup). I tried the abura ramen and tsukemen. I won't repeat my thoughts about them here - simply go to the Time Out piece.

Tsukemen sauce

They're actually a brand from Japan, but not the "usual" big cities - Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, Sapporo etc., but from the Shikoku region - an island opposite (south east) of Hiroshima - from the city of Matsuyama in Ehime prefecture.

Crowds outside Shugetsu at around 2pm

Aside from their ramen, which is extra thick and bouncy, they're known for their soy sauce, as they were first and foremost a soy sauce factory.

Abura ramen

Perhaps it was because of this that I found their bottles of sauces on the side - the vinegar and soy to be the stars. They're pretty heavy-handed on the marinated bamboo shoots - some people love them, and if you do, you'll be in heaven. If it's not really your jam, or you're indifferent about them, the taste stands out way too much.

Shugetsu

I'm not sure what the reason behind the new hours were (no dinner service anymore), but during the day, this place is busy, so be prepared to wait, especially if you're in a group.

Shugetsu
5 Gough St
Central
+852 2850 6009.
Mon-Fri 11am-4pm, Sat-Sun, noon-6pm (nb. this was revised in May after my review for TOHK came out)

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Cooking class with the lan in Bo.lan - Part 2: Chicken relish and Eggnets

2012-05-09T00:01:00.000+08:00

Chicken relish (rear) with fried fish

After the panang curry, we moved on to the other two dishes on the agenda - chicken relish and egg net rolls. I didn't properly transcribe Dylan's recipe or ingredients list, but hopefully the pics will give you a fair idea of what was going on.

Chicken relish (Bon Gai Nung)

Chicken relish is basically pound (cooked) chicken that is seasoned, flavoured with herbs and steamed in little parcels. Dylan tells us that you can't find this dish very often any more, even in Thailand, and that it was probably a typical farmer's lunch, as they were pre-cooked and easy to carry onto the fields.

Ingredients

THE INGREDIENTS (again, I'm just going by memory here)

Large roasted chillies, chopped into long-ish shards, blackened skins removed, otherwise ok to keep on
Roasted/steamed chicken, shredded
Roasted eggplant, blacken the skin and remove, leaving soft flesh, and cut into strips
Roasted shallots
Roasted garlic
Fermented fish sauce (nam pla ra)
Palm sugar (100%, see Part 1 for a picture of that glorious stuff)
Fish sauce
Lime juice
Banana leaves, cleaned and softened over a low charcoal flame

The familiar mortar

THE METHOD

Everything goes into the mortar, in this order:
Chicken
Eggplant
Chillies
Shallots & garlic
Palm sugar
Fish sauce
Lime juice

What it should look like after pounding

Between adding each ingredient, be sure to pound the contents to make sure it is sufficiently tender and mixed in.

With the last few ingredients, taste as you go to get the right balance.

Banana leaves

Make sure the banana leaves are clean and dry. They can be softened by gently heating over charcoal (or I guess in a heavy pan, on a low gentle flame?) so they don't break when you fold them. For each parcel, lay down 2 banana leaves, glossy side out (ie. the matte sides touching).

Plop

Spoon your chicken mixture onto the middle of the banana leaves.

First fold

The first fold is easy, just gather opposite edges of the leaves (let's say 12 o'clock and 6 o'clock).

Second fold, again

The second and third folds are done by gathering the sides. Say we do the left side first - bring the 9 o'clock edge into the middle (where your 12 and 6 o'clock have met) - you'll naturally have two 'extra' bits of banana leaf stick out, just fold them down so that you can hold everything together in one hand, in the middle.

Second and third fold in progress

Then just do the same with the other side.

Second and third folds

So you'll end up with all the loose sides together in the middle.

The finished parcel

The stick a pin or a bamboo skewer through the top to hold it all together, and steam (I'm guessing about 15 mins). Serve with rice, crudites and fried fish if you like!

Egg net rolls (Po Piat Tot)

Egg nets are those nets made out of fried egg (very complicated description, hey?!) that you see wrapped around other ingredients - they act like nori for sushi - I've also seen fried rice wrapped up/covered with an egg net, not sure if that's a Thai thing or bastardised for foreign audiences! The one we made was the sushi variant, with caramelised coconut and chicken as the main fillings.

It's supposed to be messy!

THE PREP

Egg nets:

Whisk eggs with a little salt and sesame oil, and leave them in the fridge overnight, otherwise the egg won't be smooth and stringy enough.

To make egg nets, heat a wok with a substantial amount of oil - the surface of the oil being about how big you want the egg net to be.

Keep the oil on a low simmer, otherwise there'l lbe a lot of spitting and the net will break or jig around too much.

Here's the fun part: dip fingers of one hand into the bowl of egg. Part your fingers lightly, lift your hand out of the bowl and dangle it above the wok. Move your hand forwards and backwards, like you're paddling in water, or signalling "come, come", with your wrist being the "hinge" point - only your hand needs to move. Once you've done that up and down a few times, turn and do it horizontally, so you get the crisscrosses required to form a net.

Hello egg net!

When you're satisfied, use something sharpish to cut the net away from the sides of the wok, and use a couple of spatulas or a tool of your choice to flip the net over.

Don't take too long as the egg will start to go golden brown, which means it will be too brittle.

Take it out and spread it out on a paper towel, letting it cool.

Caramelised coconut:

Buy shredded coconut flesh from a Thai grocer. Fry it slowly with coriander root, ginger, garlic and white pepper, than add fish sauce and palm sugar and let it cook slowly, so the sugar doesn't burn and it will coats the strips of coconut, and they will also soften. It could take up to two hours (if I remember correctly).

THE FILLING

Take caramelised coconut, as above.

Chicken

Add cooked, shredded chicken, but it could be duck, pork, whatever you like.

Lemongrass

Finely sliced lemongrass.

Shallots

Finely sliced shallots

Orange zest?

Ginger

Kaffir lime leaves

Thai lime zest

"Thai lime"

The flesh of the lime is orange, like a mandarin, and it smells and tastes less sharp than a normal lime, again, more like a mandarin.

Portioning the filling

Mix it all up.

Ready to roll

Lay an egg net out on a strong paper towel, or even a sushi mat, then lay some filling down the longest part. Try to pack it down and don't leave air pockets.

Straight sides

Trim off the side of the net.

Go!

Start rolling form the cut edge, using the paper towel or sushi mat to help you get a tight roll. Make sure you don't roll the towel into the roll!

Rolled

Trim off the egg nest towards the end so you get a straight, clean closure to the roll.

All lined up

Cut the roll up, like sushi, trimming off the head and tail of the roll for neatness.

Perfect finger food

Resist the temptation to eat them off the chopping board, place them on your serving dish, and off you go.

Dylan mentioned that you can roll anything you like into the nets, a fancy version might be to put prawn or lobster in.

The class concluded with lots of eating. Aside from the dishes we cooked, we also had this beautiful chicken salad.

I wonder how much of this I'll make again?

Cooking class with the lan in Bo.lan - Part 1: Panang curry

2012-05-09T00:00:00.000+08:00

Thai Panang Curry

I joined the Amateur Gourmet group on Meetup less than a year ago - they're a great bunch of foodies in Hong Kong who meet to go out and try new restaurants, do potlucks, food-oriented holidays and basically anything food-related and fun. The organiser, V, is super on-the-ball with what's on in the food scene, and had the great vision of bringing over Dylan Jones from the highly acclaimed Bangkok restaurant Bo.lan to guest chef for us foodies in Hong Kong. (He's the "lan" in Bo.lan" - Bo is his partner (in life and the restaurant) Duangporn Songvisava, aka "Bo").

A not-very-good photo of the ingredients

There were 5 dinners organised in total, plus two cooking classes (lunch included), held at the very cute and well-equipped Corner Kitchen in Sheung Wan. I went to two of the dinners, pictures of which can be found here (not sure at this stage whether I'll have time to write about it) and the final cooking class, where we learned to make panang curry (kaeng phanaeng neua), chicken relish (bon gai nung), and egg net rolls (po piat tot).

Dylan pounding the ingredients for the curry paste

I wasn't a good enough student to have written everything down - I made some notes, then after lunch, asked Dylan to repeat the list of ingredients for the Penang curry. I hope I've got it right...

Penang Curry

THE INGREDIENTS:

Coarse/sea salt

Dry spices:
Nutmeg
Mace
White pepper
Coriander seeds
Cumin seeds

Fresh ingredients:
Coriander root
Kaffir lime zest
2 types of chillies - small green ones & red birds' eye
Dry red chillies - soak them for at least 10 mins in advance
Peanuts - roasted or boiled for easier grinding
Galangal
Lemongrass
Shallots
Garlic
Shrimp paste

To cook:
Stock or water
Coconut cream
Pure palm sugar
Kaffir lime leaves
Large chillies
Pea aubergines (pea eggplants)
Beef shin - braised in coconut milk for 2 hours

Curry paste before cooking etc. - just the pounded ingredients

THE METHOD:

With a mortar and pestle, pound the dry spices together with salt (for abrasion), then add the fresh ingredients, save for the shrimp paste, and pound it all together, really mashing it up. Lastly, add a knob of shrimp paste. Taste as you go to test for balance and intensity etc. You can keep this for use later*.

The "oil" used for cooking the ingredients - coconut cream

Reduce fresh coconut cream (not the canned, emulsified stuff) slowly until it reaches a thick, paste-like consistency. This is the "oil" component for frying your curry paste.

Cooking it all in

Keeping the coconut cream on the stove, on low/medium-low heat, tip the contents of your mortar into the coconut cream, stirring constantly. You'll start to smell the ingredients in the curry paste, starting with the fresh ingredients, and finally the dry spices.

100% pure palm sugar

When you smell the dry spices, you can finish it off with palm sugar**, then add water or stock, and perhaps some of the braising liquid you used for the beef shin.

Adding beef shin and lime leaves

Finally, sdd the beef shin, lime leaves, chopped fresh chillies, pea eggplants.

Letting it all cook

Stir it all in, and let it simmer down.

The finished product - "Penang" curry

*The curry paste will keep for 2-3 weeks if you wrap it up well (keeping air out, as much as possible) and in the fridge, but not the freezer.

**100% palm sugar - which is very hard to buy in Hong Kong - the hard bricks we get here have all sorts of things mixed in.
I didn't make very good notes of the two other recipes, but took lots of pictures so you can probably guess what's going on. I've put them in Part 2.

This is the first time Amateur Gourmet has brought a guest chef to Hong Kong, but who knows, there might be more in the future. If you want to join Amateur Gourmet, do note that there are strict rules for no-shows, deposits and so on, it's not just "something on the Internet" that you can join and be flaky about!

Australians all let us rejoice! Cumulus Inc, Melbourne

2012-05-08T08:00:00.000+08:00

Kitchen charcuterie selection

What makes you fall in love with a food or beverage outlet? Good food, servers who know your name, or a stool for your handbag? I can't pinpoint exactly what combination of things gets me excited, but I can tell you Cumulus Inc. has it.

The bar seating and the kitchen

Cumulus was opened by the folks behind the now-closed Three, One, Two in Carlton, and when Three, One, Two (hereafter 312 because I'm lazy) was around, I was still living in Melbourne (and hanging around Carlton a whole lot - my uni is there). Back then, 312 seemed very experimental, even compared to Vue de Monde, which was diagonally across the road. To be fair, Vue de Monde was serving a very straightforward duck confit then, geez, I feel like a dinosaur recounting these bits of what seems like ancient history. I remember I only made it into 312 once, with my parents, and they thought it was all too nouveau for them. I never went again, and after that, the crew shut 312, and maybe a year after I left Melbourne, opened Cumulus Inc. in the City and Cutler & Co. in Fitzroy. Funnily enough, I'd sent my mother to Cumulus Inc. a couple of years ago (she loved it), but I had never been till my trip back this year.

Lucy Margaux Sangiovese 2010*

I almost didn't make it again, if it were not for our gracious host for the night, who was wise enough to ask everyone to get there by 6pm. A chef by trade, he also happened to know some of the staff, so we had lovely recommendations on the wine and a few of the dishes.

Charcuterie, again

The selection of charcuterie was amazing. There was (I think) Wagyu bresaola, pheasant terrine, capocollo, boudin noir, and proscuitto. I could eat this every day.

Gobbling up half the sea

I've always found it a bit annoying that visitors to Australia were so keen on seafood - maybe it's because they go gaga over seafood and forget that there is more to Australian cuisine - but alright, I do enjoy the occasional oyster (or the occasional dozen, ahem).

Roasted figs, goasts cheese (?), toasted brioche (I keep thinking it might have been the foie gras parfait...)

I absolutely love figs, if I tried to eat them in Hong Kong I'd be filing for bankruptcy, which is probably why I forgot what everything else was on that plate. Just look at those melting, caramelised hearts!

Grilled ox tongue, pickled chilli, paprika and parsley

Ox tongue is hardly on any non-Japanese menus and it was great to see it here. It's such a fantastic ingredient - flavourful, full of texture inexpensive - and takes in the flavours around it like a delicious sponge.

Tuna tartare with crushed green pea salad

If you watched Shiro Dreams of Sushi, you'll remember that Shiro mentions liking lean tuna, but the market demands more and more fatty tuna (o-toro). I like both; they're entirely different things - like a leaner steak vs. Wagyu - and in this dish, I loved the combination of lean tuna in medium chunks with minted peas. The freshness of the sea and the freshness of the garden in one dish - incredible.

Fried soft shell crab, kimchi, kewpie

Who doesn't love Kewpie! Well, actually, me - I'm not a huge fan of bottled mayo, even Kewpie, but I will have a smear when the dish calls for it, and these soft shell crabs did. The legs were like fries from the sea, and the kimchi and mayo together formed an alliance much better than ketchup - sweet/roundness with a wee kick.

Roast Aylesbury duck breast, toasted grains. lentils, quince

I have a thing for whole grains and earthy, wheaty flavours (have I ever told you about my guilty pleasure, Marks & Spencer's oatcakes, eaten plain?) I don't know if it's because I've been brainwashed into thinking healthy foods are delicious, or you know what, newsflash - maybe they just are. For those who can't just have a plate of grains for dinner, there was some beautifully roasted duck breast too. Pink, gamey (but not too gamey), juicy, tender, mwah!

Cauliflower with goats curd

Pomegranate and cauliflower, what a novel idea! Little bursts of fruit, a tiny little bitter edge, plus spiced-up cauliflower crumbled into a similar size as the pomegranate seeds.

Whole slow roast leg of lamb

The genius is in the simplicity - and I guess, the accuracy of this roast. A superb, crisp crust, fall-apart, still-pink meat inside. My mouth is watering just thinking about these dishes. Reliving our meals - is that why we blog?

Inside Cumulus Inc. Industrial meets minimalist

From the moment I arrived till after our mains, the restaurant remained extremely busy, which was to be expected, since it was a Friday night**. Seating was tight, and noise levels were through the roof - but then again, this was never intended to be a hush-hush kind of restaurant, and I was loving the buzz.

Rum Baba

The rum baba was probably the only dish that I felt indifferent about - there was nothing wrong with it, it simply didn't wow me - but remember - bloody hell - everything else has! I don't think that's ever happened before.

Malt parfait, spelt crumbs, soft chocolate, PX raisins

This is divinity in a dessert. Malt and chocolate is the genius that Milo has shown us, but this was better than Milo. Less sweet, for one, and more malty, plus there were spelt crumbs, which made it even earthier. I have a thing for carbs that taste really earthy and wheaty, like oatcakes and dark rye, and it was that kind of flavour profile in this dessert that was pushing all my buttons. I didn't really even need the Pedro Ximenez-soaked raisins to counter it.

Madeleines filled with lemon curd

The no-bookings policy might put some people off. To be honest, I don't like it much either, but if you decide to go, go at an off hour. With all these walk-in only places popping up left right and centre all of a sudden, that's become my strategy. I'd also try and go early rather than late - so for dinner, for instance, I'd try and go Mon-Wed, before 6pm. They also have a fantastic-looking breakfast menu that I must try... Argh, why is the Aussie dollar so strong...

Cumulus Inc. is labelled Modern Australian, which in the past, could have been anything from Teage Ezard's heavily-Asian-inflected cuisine to a pizza made with tofu. But as with all things, Modern Australian has come into its own, and really grown into that definition in recent years. Sure, there are still people trying to put miso onto zucchinis and putting it into a pasta bake, but we've come a long enough way that there is now a modern cuisine in Australia that one cannot eat it and say, "oh it's European-influenced". It's become a true, mature representation of the mix of cultures in the country, and simultaneously maximises the wonderful produce it has. The food at Cumulus uses ingredients that are not unfamiliar to the average diner, but they've re-imagined completely how they can be used, to brilliant effect. It's the result of time and experience. I'm delighted, proud, even, to call this Modern Australian.

*Thank you The Basket Press aka Mr.Wine Detective for identifying the label!
**In fact, Cumulus is busy every night - get there early!

Cumulus Inc.
45 Flinders Lane
Melbourne
Australia
+613 9650 1445
Mon-Fri 7am-11pm, Sat-Sun 8am-11pm, no bookings unless for groups of over 14 people.

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In case you were wondering where the blog title came from, it's the first line of the Australian national anthem, Advance Australia Fair, the lyrics of which apply pretty well to this post!

Australians all let us rejoice
For we are young and free
We've golden soil and wealth for toil,
Our home is girt by sea:
Our land abounds in nature's gifts
Of beauty rich and rare,
In history's page let every stage
Advance Australia fair,
In joyful strains then let us sing
Advance Australia fair.

Beneath our radiant Southern Cross,
We'll toil with hearts and hands,
To make this Commonwealth of ours
Renowned of all the lands,
For those who've come across the seas
We've boundless plains to share,
With courage let us all combine
To advance Australia fair.
In joyful strains then let us sing,
Advance Australia fair.

Spare ribs, a numbers game, a recipe

2012-05-06T21:10:00.001+08:00

I didn't have a wok...

The closest I've come to writing a recipe on this blog is at Margaret Xu's Detour event back in 2010, where she made tofu. I didn't really think I'd ever write about cooking (I'm not a great cook - not being humble - trust me), but since mid-last year, when I moved out of home (again), I found myself in a situation that I hadn't been in for about 6 years - having my own kitchen. And suddenly I've been cooking a lot more - baking, even (which is kind of how this blog started - can you believe it, I was blogging about baking) despite a tiny oven, so I will be documenting more cooking-related bits from now on. Plus, 10 months after moving in, I finally bought a wok today. I've also been joining some cool cooking classes recently, and have had no real outlet to talk about them - but duh, I have a food blog, why can't I post about cooking here?

So that was my very long explanation as to why I'm moving this recipe from my Tumblr blog (that no-one seems to read) to, well, here. I wrote this back in September 2011, you'll know why/what it was for as you read on. It's my mom's recipe - one of the dishes she almost always makes for guests, and which returning guests always ask for. Throughout the Internet, you'll find lots of similar recipes for this dish, which we call "12345 spare ribs" but is also more commonly known as "sugar vinegar spare ribs" / tong cho pai gwut / 糖醋排骨, but for some reason you'll see most of those with a very watery, light sauce. Ours is thick and sticky, like a super-dark toffee, and goes great with rice.

Here goes, the making of 12345 ribs, which I brought to a Rita’s baby’s birthday party. (Of course the ribs were not for the baby… the party was as much for us as it was for him… oops!). I don’t have a pic of the final product coz I spilled my sauce on the way there and descended into a pile of nerves. If you look carefully you’ll see the final result in Rita’s blog post. I stole a couple more photos from her:

Party food - Photo by Rita

By the way, it’s called 12345 ribs because of the proportion of ingredients. It’s probably one of my favourite dishes from my mom’s (very wide) repertoire, but it’s not hard to make at all, all you need is a little patience!

THE INGREDIENTS:

T = tablespoon, but as long as the proportion is right you'll be fine
C: = in Chinese

1 T Shaoxing wine (aka yellow wine or Huadiao) C: 紹興酒

2 T Chinkiang (aka Zhenjiang or dark Chinese) vinegar C: 鎮江醋

3 T soy sauce - (a combo of dark and light - less dark - maybe 1 T dark, 2 T light)

4 T rock sugar, slightly crushed C: 冰糖

5 T water

1 catty* C: 斤 pork ribs C: 一字排, cut into big cubes (bear in mind they shrink during cooking). Buy ribs that are quite fatty, but with evenly dispersed fat, rather than in thick layers.

*about half a kg - nb. in Mainland China, a catty is a bit lighter

THE METHOD:

In deepish pan (or a wok, of course), lightly brown pork ribs on medium-high heat. (Use your preferred method of greasing/oiling the pan. I tossed my ribs in oil to coat them).

Drizzle (or splash, evenly) wine over ribs and turn briefly to mix everything around for 20 secs.

Combine remaining liquids in a bowl and pour into pan, over the ribs.
Once the liquid starts to bubble, (almost immediately) turn the heat right down to low, put a lid on the pan and let it simmer.

When about half the liquid is gone, add rock sugar. Turn the contents in the pan every so often to make sure it doesn’t stick to the pan.

After about 5 mins, keep an an eagle eye on it, turning and breaking the sugar up as it cooks. Remember to keep the heat on low. (Impatience will destroy your dish - the sauce will split*). Turn every minute or so to keep coating the ribs with sauce.

At this point, you may want to taste the sauce (tongue burn alert). If it’s out of balance in any way, add vinegar, (light) soy or sugar as appropriate. Keep turning (towards the end you’ll almost be turning it non-stop, but be gentle or you’ll break bits of pork off the bones!) until the sauce is reduced to a sticky liquid, most of which would have coated the ribs, like a thick layer of molasses.

*If you find that the sauce is splitting (dark soy/vinegar combo separating from the oil) you can save it quickly by adding a couple tablespoons of water and mixing/whisking the sauce around in the pan rigorously.

Cutlery in an awesomely geeky lens cup, and my ribs in the background. Photo by Rita

Coffee in Hong Kong - Class at Rabbithole Coffee

2012-04-30T00:01:00.000+08:00

Siphoned coffee at Rabbithole

Rabbithole has been one of my favourite coffee shops of late, and I've been dropping by as often as time allows since they opened. One day, I took two of my geekiest (and probably therefore, closest) friends and we tried one bean made three ways, just to see what it'd be like. (You see what I mean by geeky?) As we were watching the staff at Rabbithole make our coffees, we discovered flyers in the shop for coffee classes. Originally I was only interested in the hand drip class (since that's how I make my coffee at home and am desperate to improve my skills) but Mike, the owner, aka "The Java Junkie" per Time Out Hong Kong's description told us that the introductory class would see us playing with all his shiny machines and trying out different methods. We were sold.

Mike showing us his latte art skills

Rushing out from the farms in the New Territories, I arrived around 15 minutes late for the 7.30pm class, arms swollen after being eaten alive by mosquitoes. By the time I got in, everyone else (about 10 others) were already sitting around on stools in the workshop-like space, listening attentively to Mike. He was lively and informative, giving us just enough of the basics about different roasts, grinds and coffee types to get us started. One of the most interesting bits of wisdom I got from Mike was that beans and roasting makes up for 90% of how good a coffee is, and the barista's job is simply to do his/her best to bring that out - ie. 10%.

Having a go at the Expobar

We started with espresso-based drinks - after a demo on the espresso machine, we were each given a shot to taste (especially as some of the students had never had an unadulterated espresso before), then he proceeded to talk about milk, texturing and then we got to try caffe lattes. Latte art is hugely popular in Hong Kong - it's hardly important (if you ask me) but I'll admit that it's quite fun, both to watch and to try!

Getting help with a latte art attempt

Then it was out turn. We split up into smaller groups and go onto one of the five machines. We were on the newer Expobar - I'd never made a coffee on a commercial machine before!

And here is my very weak attempt at latte art. We decided that it's an old bearded man with a droopy beard. Gandalf's fat brother, maybe.

In class - Siphon

We were also shown the siphon method. It's always so fun to watch, especially with that beam heater underneath (we really wanted to buy one but turns out, it's pretty pricey!) All three of them (Mike and his two staff) start making them on the long bench, and we're told that siphon is probably the best way of tasting the beans, but also the hardest to control. One swirl of the paddle when you're mixing the grinds in, and you change the temperature of the water.

Hand drip (aka pour-over, hand pour etc.)

The part most relevant to my everyday life was the pour-over. The best time-volume combo, we're taught, is 200ml of water, poured within 1 min 30 secs, with the water at 85 degrees Celcius. I get a bit of practice at home, but I tried it again here, using just plain water.

My practise pour

Voila! Then I was allowed to pour an actual coffee, to which Mike said, "at least it has some sweetness to it," which was probably a euphemism for "you suck" but anyway, I'll keep practising at home! I need a proper thermometer though; I've just been guessing what 85 degrees is, and I also tend to grind my beans too finely (I blame the mill).

Siphon, from an earlier visit

We also got talking about Aeropress, which apparently isn't superb, but decent enough and great for consistency. One of us already has an Aeropress, so I'll probably be stealing it soon. It was interesting as well that we used the same variety and roast for all the methods - an Ethiopian Yirgacheffe, city roast. I'd say I like it used for espressi more than say, a siphon coffee, but I know we didn't all agree!

Tasting, practicals and a bit of theory & opinion thrown in for good measure - it was lots of fun. The hand drip one has been postponed indefinitely as generally it seems that people are more interested in espresso of intro classes - consider this a call from me to gather and form a hand drip class!!

Rabbithole Coffee & Roaster
2/F, 26 Cochrane St.
Central
Hong Kong.
+852 2581 0861
Coffee shop hours: 11am-7pm daily
Click here for class schedules

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Time Out Hong Kong - Special Food Issue!

2012-04-25T09:24:00.003+08:00

Time Out Hong Kong Issue 103 - The special food issue

The Food Issue of Time Out Hong Kong comes out today. The theme is 20 People Changing the Way We Eat and Drink, featuring local organic farmers, restaurateurs, charities, and movers and shakers in wine, baking, coffee, retail and more.

It was awesome to see Mike Fung of Rabbithole Coffee, one of my favourite places to get a caffeine hit these days (read Charmaine's excellent write-up and Tom's great guide to the new wave of coffee bars in Hong Kong), as well as Jonathan So, who's bringing Hong Kong's first craft beer festival, Beertopia, to Hong Kong this weekend. I won't spill all the beans, go out and get a copy! I'm told it's available at 7-Eleven and English bookshops in Hong Kong (but not all 7-Elevens - those in districts with more English readers, I suppose). As of this moment, it's not online yet, but I'm pretty sure it will be soon.

Little old me is lucky enough to be inside, as The City's Best Food Blogger along with the hugely popular KC Koo, who blogs in Chinese. Needless to say, I feel totally out of my league. My new project, a super-fun farmers' market called Island East Markets gets its first proper mention in the media too! More on that later.

On the cover are Matt Abergel and Lindsay Jang from Yardbird, Bertha Lo-Hofford and Alex Hofford from the Hong Kong Shark Foundation, Eddie McDougall of The Flying Winemaker, Chan Siu-Lun of the Agriculture and Fisheries Department, and yes, that is me in the silver gown (and no, sadly it does not belong to me - thank you D!).

Thank you Time Out, and all of you who read my blog - you guys are the ones that make this sort of thing happen, and you're amazing.

(P.S. check out the reviews inside - Dorothy So reviews RyuGin, Charmaine Mok reviews Lupa, and I review Old Street Kobiteh.)

Peking Duck, Kowloon Tang

2012-04-24T11:42:00.000+08:00

Carving up the duck!

I know, I know, I've said it before, I get a bit annoyed sometimes when people come to Hong Kong asking specifically for Peking duck. It's not because I don't like Peking duck (au contraire) but it's the same kind of feeling I get when people say, "it's my first time in China, and I'm surprised by its efficiency," when their only stop is Hong Kong. Yes, technically, Hong Kong is part of China now, but you have not seen China by coming to Hong Kong. To that end, I feel weird saying that I had the best Peking duck I've ever had in Hong Kong.

Duck thigh - one of the ways...

I've been to the usual Peking duck haunts in Beijing - Duck de Chine, Dadong (a few branches) and so on (and am happy to learn more - spill your secrets Beijingers!) but none were quite as delightful as this. One of my main qualms about Duck de Chine, for example, was that they insist on carving the skin up into such thin strips that by the time they're done doing that, the skin has gone cold. The amazing thing about the duck at Kowloon Tang was that it was scorching hot, as if the oils were still bubbling on the skin.

It was served, from what I remember, two ways. Skin only, then thighs. There might have been another dish that was offered to us - duck soup, or duck mince in lettuce cups, and we may or may not have had them, honestly I can't recall. The skin had a pretty thick layer of fat, but it was so crispy and light that you don't really feel the grease (until about an hour later... ahem). Biting into it is some kind of poultry heaven where the oils are at once fragrant and silky, like a crisped hot micro-sponge under another crisp (but hot and tastes like meat). You've supposed to sprinkle a little sugar over it, but I liked it just the way it was. The less time between the duck, plate and my mouth the better. Hot fat is so good.

The thighs were incredibly juicy, like a good chicken thigh but with the addition (slight) gaminess of duck, and that was gloriously skin-on. The skin on the thighs weren't quite as crispy, as the duck's own juices and condensation etc. had started to soften it up, but it was divine nonetheless. A lot of the time, we get dry stringy thighs, but this was far from it. I know the photos aren't very nice (iPhone4, unedited, sorry I'm lazy like that) but you can see that the colour of the skin is a little lighter than a normal Peking duck. I don't know how or why, but the colour certainly does not indicate under-done-ness (is that a word?).

(nb. These last two photos have nothing to do the Peking duck, they were the other dishes we had that night. which were largely Cantonese (I think the chef is from Dongguan). I don't remember much because I was in a frenzied discussion my family (we, or maybe I, talk like we're on the verge of break down when we really want to get our point across. It's embarrassing to watch) and was too engrossed to really enjoy the food. The Peking duck make me come to a complete stop though, which just goes to show how amazing it was.)

I should also mention that the decor is really cute - bevelled mirrors, silver accents, wooden panels, retro carpets - if you can, get a table by the window on the second floor, it's like you've entered a private club in Shanghai in the 30s. Oh wait, so are we one country now?

Kowloon Tang
Civic Square
Elements (the mall above Airport Express Kowloon Station)
1 Austin Rd
Kowloon
Hong Kong
+852 2811 9398

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Dim summing it at Lung King Heen, Hong Kong

2012-04-22T23:20:00.001+08:00

Siu mai - pork and shrimp dumplings with crab roe

A good friend from Melbourne was in town last week, and if I ever needed an excuse to pig out, this was it. I called about 5 days ahead to book for a weekday lunch but it wasn't good enough for the only three-Michelin-starred Chinese restaurant in the world, so I before I continue, I must disclaim that my booking for this lunch was made through the very kind public relations department, and you may make your own judgement as to how representative this is of an average meal at Lung King Heen (I'd say it pretty much is - oh sorry, what did I say about your own judgement again?!). Needless to say, this is not my usual protocol, and aside from this, we enjoyed and paid for the meal as normal diners would.

Xiaolongbao

Right, so with all that done, I can get started on the important bits, the food. As we were here for lunch, I was keen on trying as many dim sum as possible. They offer an executive lunch, but with a serving of carbs at the end and only 3 dim sum to start, I decided we would go a la carte. Xiaolongbao are Shanghainese, not Cantonese, (otherwise my xiaolongbao marathon in Shanghai would have been pretty pointless), but who doesn't love a soupy dumpling, especially one in its own little carry basket. I think most people have no qualms about ordering them during yum cha anymore.

Har gau - shrimp dumplings with morels

When I was little, we used to pretend to be the dim sum cart ladies (because back then, there were dim sum carts) and push our carts, shouting "Har gauuuuuu! Siu maiiiiiiii!" Somehow these were always the things we called out first, and maybe out of habit, I order these on most occasions.

My mother always wrinkles her nose or scrunches up her face a little when I order siu mai, "It's just a blob of minced meat," she says, but for some reason, I really like pressing my lips against the thin floury yellow wrapper, and the enjoyment that is having fresh, clear shrimp and pork juices gushing together is unbeatable in my books. It's true that too many places go overboard with the corn starch in an attempt to make the shrimp more slippery, and over-steam the poor things, drying them out, but the ones here were as fine as they come. The har gau had a fancy addition - morels - instead the usual bamboo shoots. Both are designed to give it texture and give the shrimps some contrast for a sweeter (in a fresh seafood way, I don't mean sugar!) and more fragrant result. The morels amplify and add to the fragrance, making it a more decadent experience, and give it a bouncy sort of bite, rather than a chunky crispness that bamboo shoots give. I could go on and on about what to look out for in different kinds of dim sum, but one of the things that I feel is of prime importance is the thickness and silkiness (finesse) of the wrapper. Too often it's too thick and even clumpy, and sometimes, to top it off, it's been re-steamed. (Dim sum in general are supposed to be steamed to order, but in some cases it isn't, so to play safe, especially at lower-end establishments, it's worth going earlier.)

Lobster and scallop dumpling

This is probably the first time I've ever had lobster in a dim sum dumpling (us plebeians aren't afforded the opportunity too often, y'know), and it was delicious. The cabbage wrapper, replacing a more traditional starch-based one, kept it light. Needless to say, the ingredients were astoundingly fresh, and steaming them together created mouthfuls marine goodness. Although you usually can't go far wrong with seafood stacked upon more seafood, I felt that the slice of scallop didn't contribute hugely to the flavour, and texture-wise, as it was thinner than the lobster and shrimp, it seemed to have dried out at little more.

Baked barbecue pork buns (baked char siu bao)

Of course it seems like everyone in Hong Kong and their dodgy copycat makes these now, but these were bites of airy goodness. The pastry on top is lighter than most, even lighter than the ones at the famed Tim Ho Wan (the chefs at THW are from LKH - perhaps from now on we'll just use abbreviations, etc. LOL OK.) I found the ones at THW a little greasier but these would have passed a Mongkok girl's oil-absorbing-cosmetic-paper test. (Mind you, THW's are about 1/3 of the price of these!)

Roast goose

If I hear another Yung Kee rave, especially about a recent meal, I would dare them to do a side-by-side tasting with this one, and probably the one at Yat Lok and the old Chan Kee in Sham Tseng. And if I wanted to get real crazy nasty about it, I would also keep shouting like a (loud) broken record to say that I grew up in Sham Tseng, Hong Kong's home of roast geese, and have eaten more geese than they have eaten rice*. Or bread, potatoes, or whatever staple they eat. And then they can get out of my face.

Almond and egg white sweet soup (sorry about the bad focus)

Ahhh. So after that imaginary shout-fest, it seems fitting that we end with a soothing dessert - almond milk with egg whites, supposedly good for your skin and lungs, and otherwise just good for your tastebuds.

Is this the best dim sum in Hong Kong? I have a lot of trouble answering questions like that. What does "best" mean, for example? I've raved about places that others find mediocre because they simply had different expectations. If you ask me, there are a few fine dim sum experiences in Hong Kong and this is one of them.

*There's a Chinese saying that goes, "I've had more salt than you've had rice", which means someone has experienced much more than you, but really I just like that we use food analogies on a daily basis!

Lung King Heen
Four Seasons Hong Kong
8 Finance St
Hong Kong
(Connected to the IFC & Hong Kong Station)
+852 3196 8888

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Uno Duo Trio, an Italian home to go to in Hong Kong?

2012-04-18T08:35:00.000+08:00

Soft-boiled eggs with truffles

I've said most of what I had to say about Uno Duo Trio in my review for Time Out earlier in the year. The time I visited for that review was my second visit; the photos you see here are from my first.

Chicken and vegetable soup - before

My first visit was a little better; I think partially because it was just us (a table of six) and another table (of about 8).

Chicken and vegetable soup - during

My main qualm is with the service and pace. Like I said in Time Out, being a good cook at home and running a good restaurant are two completely different things.

Baby artichoke and cavolo nero

Lana, who's the owner and chef of the place, used to have a one-table-only private kitchen. That's about the closest you can get to a home environment. Her food is honest, and true to her (very expensive) ingredients. Basically the formula to a good homecooked meal.

Scrambled eggs with black truffle

At someone's house, you're also expected to serve yourself when it comes to pouring wine and so on, but at a restaurant, you have servers. Now, that brings me to service.

Burrata

The first time I went to UDT, we were served by Lana and one other server, who was amicable but not intrusive. On the second visit, there were two more staff; one of which got so into the "home" environment, she began to pinch my friend's face (a very "auntie" thing to do - imagine: "Oh look at cheeks, so chubby, you so cutie!"). I don't know about you, but that was pretty traumatic for us.

Fresh pasta that Lana had just rolled out and cut

Firstly, for a server to touch a diner's body is a bit weird, and second, that too-friendly tone - I don't know, it disturbs me, especially when I'm at what is now supposed to be a fine dining restaurant.

Bolognese

You might argue it's "casual service", a pretty hip concept these days - the price tag might be high but the service is friendly and far from stuffy.

Sicilian red prawns and pasta

I get that, but to me casual doesn't mean unprofessional. Casual means, perhaps, no tablecloths, staff in jeans rather than suits, staff who smile, joke a bit, but still serve you swiftly and with the utmost professionalism.

Pork roast

I certainly wasn't getting that vibe at UDT. I was getting green and uncomfortable from a younger man (who also forgot to set my table with a napkin), and neighbourhood auntie from another member of staff.

Cotoletta

It sort of amounts to an identity crisis. There they were, in black suit pants and white shirts - very fine dining, and then forgetting to bring us water and pinching cheeks - very cooked food centre.

Sicilian red prawns baked in salt

I almost said that this isn't the type of service I expect from somewhere where we're paying at least $500 a head, but you know, price wasn't even the problem, it was that I didn't know what they were trying to do or be.

Tiramisu

They're about good, "luxurious" dining on the food front, which is great, but in order to define what kind of eatery they are, they really need to work on the service side of things.

Fried zucchini flower

Never have I felt a divide this strong. I like the "casual" idea a lot, but they really need to find the right balance. And this, I guess, is one of the main differences between homecooking, or even a private kitchen, and a restaurant.

Cute light at Uno Duo Trio's lift lobby

Uno Duo Trio
19/F Bartlock Centre
3 Yiu Wa St
Causeway Bay
+852 3489 3862
Lunch & dinner Tue-Sun

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Eater Hong Kong Heatmap - round two!

2012-04-17T17:26:00.002+08:00

Eater Hong Kong Heatmap

I was very lucky to have been asked to submit my picks again to Eater for their Hong Kong Heatmap. If you missed the first one from January, it's here.

The main criterion was that they had to be new since the last round. In case you're surprised as to why there wasn't even a single ramen mention, despite there having been so many ramen openings, all I can say is that none of them seemed worthy of an international mention. If you want to contest that - well, that's what the comments box is for!

It's conveniently mapped and all, so get over there and have a look for what's on the list, and thanks for the having me Eater!

So funny that one of the first comments on Eater under that post was why Yardbird wasn't on that list - it was on the first heatmap, silly! Also shows how crazily (and internationally?) popular YB is!

Yarra Valley, a Day Trip

2012-04-06T17:43:00.000+08:00

Vines in Yarra Valley

A couple of weeks ago I was back in Melbourne for a few days, playing tour guide and driver to my aunt, who was there partially for work. it was her first time there and I was eager to show her all the things I love about the state I called home for so many years (in many ways, it still is). The weather, being Melbourne, was beautiful one minute and shockingly horrid the next, so when I woke up late one morning (we never adjusted to Melbourne time!) to find that the sky was clear, I called Bella Vedere in Yarra Valley for a table straight away, and off we went.

Oven-roasted duck

We were really lucky - this was the only day, out of the five we were there, that it stayed sunny and clear the entire day. The Yarra Valley, in case you don't already know, is a huge winemaking area in Victoria (the state of which Melbourne is capital) that is just an hour or so away from the city. From my childhood home in the eastern suburbs, it's even closer, probably about 40 minutes. When I was younger (and underage) my parents used to drive out to Yarra Valley quite a bit, and I remember going to Chateau Yering for weekend lunch and Domaine Chandon for bubbles and paté (yes, paté, that was so the canapé of the early 90s). While these places are still nice, I knew much had changed in the area and I was keen to go off that familiar route. (And if I have to go to Healesville Sanctuary again I might scream - I think I've been about 10 times, and that's way too much time spent with scary ibises that are allowed to run around freely and peck at little girls' sandwiches - another story for another day...)

Orange, olive, almond and rocket salad

I'd heard about Bella Vedere through several food-savvy friends, it was a name that I'd never heard of before last year, despite the restaurant having been open since 2008 (or 09? I forget, point is - it's been a while). Well, better late than never; a name that crops up consistently among different groups of friends has to be worth a try regardless!

Bella Rabbit

Indeed, it was everything I wanted in a winery restaurant, in fact, maybe everything I wanted in a restaurant full stop. For starters, I called at noon asking for a table at 1.30pm, which is a pretty late lunch if you ask me, but was greeted with a sunshiney "no worries at all" - a huge relief given all the rejections I'd had from restaurants closer to town. (That said, it was a Tuesday).

The gardens of Bella Vedere

The menu states proudly that it's a tribute to Stephanie Alexander, one of the heroines of Australian cooking, and whose encyclopaedic tome, A Cook's Companion, remains one of the most loved and well-used cookbooks on my bookshelf. All the dishes were simple and 'loyal' to their ingredients, really showing them off and elevating them beyond the sum of their parts through cooking. The food was down-to-earth, but by no means was it unrefined.

The desserts at Bella Vedere

Sometimes I think we go a little crazy over things like bacon, pork fat and Spam because what we're looking for, after all that low-fat, low-carb, molecular and nouveau, is that honesty and 'groundedness'. I don't mean Spam is natural, by honesty, I mean a sort of back-to-basics philosophy. The food at Bella Vedere reminded me that good food, food that satisfies on a psychological level, needn't be about junky nostalgia. It offers genuine, holistic fulfilment - it tastes great, feels good and makes you happy - and there was nothing hippy about it, it's holistic in the true sense of the word.

Bella Vedere

The Bella rabbit in particular was stellar - moist, tender and meaty, braised with apple cider, mustard and lots of herbs. When we exclaimed how delicious we thought it was, we were told simply that "it's sort of a signature here," we should have guessed as much from the name. My duck crisped beautifully in the oven, and the port sauce was a classic accompaniment done extremely well - syrupy and crystal clear, like a tea-hued gem - just looking at it was a joy. I can't say I loved the mushroom custard that came with it as much though, looking like a creme caramel, there were a few too many air bubbles and was relatively less exciting in both taste and texture. Perhaps I'm just spoilt by the chawanmushi, dainty, silky creme caramels and Cantonese steamed egg I get to eat so much in Hong Kong.

Bella Vedere

After lunch, we took a walk through the vines - the restaurant is located in Badger's Brook Winery - and while not the most picturesque (and the wines not much to write home about), being able to walk on grass, see cows and tractor marks, and generally be surrounded by all things green was already good enough for us concrete jungle-ites.

White Rabbit Brewery

Our next stop was Innocent Bystander/Giant Steps in Healesville, the poster child of sorts of all that's new and young in the Valley. I didn't really do my research properly, so while I knew it wasn't on a vineyard, I didn't quite expect it to be smack bang in Healesville town either!

White Rabbit - open for all to see

Sharing the same carpark was White Rabbit Brewery, whose open factory and attractive merchandising lured us in for a cider. Turns out the pear cider we had wasn't that great, and it left me with a weird head buzz despite it only having 4.5% alcohol content, but it was a cute place nonetheless and we got to sit out and enjoy the sun a bit more.

White Rabbit

Cider downed, we walked across to Giant Steps/Innocent Bystander and aside from wines, were greeted with an impressive array of baked goods. I couldn't resist a canele to go along with my coffee, and even bought a croissant to go - both baked items were absolutely divine.

Giant Steps and Innocent Bystander

We plonked down on the sofa (because it had been such a hard day) and enjoyed the only free, fully functional WiFi we were to experience on this entire trip in Melbourne/Victoria (I'm sorry, but Asia is just light years ahead when it comes to telecommunciations, and I know we're spoilt but I just can't help complaining!). I had read that they roasted their own coffee, but after my caffe latte here, I decided it wasn't really my type of coffee and gave my credit card a rest. It was nice that they have such a great bakery, and an atypical, industrial, cafe-like set-up, but I have to admit that I'm not quite as edgy as I wish I was. When I take a trip down into "wine country", I still expect and enjoy looking out into vineyards, and did have a little bit of a rude shock when I saw the strip mall-esque carpark. The highlight of the trip was still undoubtedly Bella Vedere.

We were going to pop into the quaint antique shop across the road, but it was already past 5pm and it had already closed, so off we went back into the city. It was a fantastic trip, and the best part was, we didn't have to wake up early, nor did we have to drive late into the night to get back into town, and yet we got to enjoy the best of the country. If I move back to Victoria one day, I don't think I'd mind living in the Yarra Valley, thankyouverymuch! (Damn, I forgot to stop at the real estate agents to see if I can afford anything out there...)

Bella Vedere
874 Maroondah Highway
Coldstream, VIC 3770
Australia
+61 3 5962 6161

White Rabbit Brewery
316 Maroondah Highway
Healesville, VIC 3777
Australia
+61 3 5962 6516

Giant Steps/Innocent Bystander
336 Maroondah Highway
Healesville, VIC 3777
Australia
+61 3 5962 6111

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Aberdeen Wholesale Fish Market - Fresh off the Boat

2012-04-02T08:30:00.000+08:00

Salt and pepper squid

This is from a while back - it was a pre-Chinese New Year gathering with friends old and new (mostly new*!) at the Aberdeen Wholesale Fish Market. It's has had a lot of buzz recently, as the media has suddenly "uncovered" a "hidden", "secret" eatery that is off-limits to the general public.

Stir-fried garoupa fillets

It's hardly hidden, if you've been to Aberdeen, you will have seen this wholesale market area right by the coast, and beside the pier where you get sampans. Off-limits to the public, yes, sort of, because this "eatery" is actually the market canteen for people who work at the markets. The canteen of course, is capable of doing larger banquets, since the market association needs to hold events and meetings here too, so strings were pulled and so was I, into this "exclusive" dining hall.

Steamed garoupa head/face area

Indeed, you get a lot of fresh seafood for a very good price here. I think this meal was just a few hundred per head. The cooking methods were kept simple, and they could afford to be kept so, because of the freshness.

Pan-fried fresh abalone with chilli and soy sauce

I particularly liked these fresh abalones that were simply pan-fried with a bit of soy and sugar and sprinkled with chilli. The way the soy caramelises on the abalone, especially the jagged edges, is delicious.

Steamed scallops with garlic and vermicelli

The best thing about this place is the bang for your buck, and if you like shellfish and crustacea, especially those not native to the waters around Hong Kong, this seems to be a good place to find them. But don't go begging at their door, or working your connections like you'd max out your credit card on a one-of-a-kind, vintage Noguchi chair just yet.

Mantis shrimp fried in chilli and salt

The Aberdeen Wholesale Fish Market is a fun place to go for "hawker" style, rough and ready seafood, but it's not that marine epiphany you never knew you had to reach. All things considered, Lei Yu Mun is still an excellent place to go, especially for fish and prawns.

"Haam sin"

This "haam sin" is an example of hawker or fisherman's food - smaller fish that can't sell for a lot of money are often kept by fisherman for their own meals, and to preserve them, or keep them edible till the next day, they would cover them in salt for a night. The next day, they'd be washed and steamed like normal fish, but the flavour is noticeably more intense, and not in a bad way. "Haam" means salty, and "sin" means fresh, in a way, this describes the flavour quite well - it's salty but somehow retains, or even concentrates, the freshness of the fish.

It should be noted that vendors at the market generally welcome the public towards closing time, once their main, wholesale, clients - restaurants and fishmongers from other markets - have been served. You can check out what's left and maybe nab a bargain! (If you don't, you can always go across to Ap Lei Chau and nab a fashion bargain at the Lane Crawford and Joyce outlets...)

*A shout-out to Caleb & Josh of Angeleno Wines / the super-cool HK internet TV food sensation Twins Kitchen for getting us in!

Aberdeen Wholesale Fish Market
102 Shek Pai Wan Road
Aberdeen
Hong Kong

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The Daily Grind - my Bodum and Hario coffee grinders

2012-03-31T14:00:00.000+08:00

When I started freelancing in December last year, one of the first issues I had to resolve was coffee. You see, I'm an addict (the doctor actually told me that), and there was a Nespresso machine in my old office, so it was never a problem. Weekend coffees at home were random - I have a Bialetti stovetop maker, filters for drip/pour-over, and even the lazy Japanese single-serve pour-overs from UCC (don't laugh, they aren't half bad, and have saved my sanity many a time, especially on travels to Mainland China).

I had bought myself a Hario Mini Mill Slim hand grinder whilst in Fukuoka last year, and while I reckon it does a great job, it also requires time and strength on my part, both of which I lack first thing in the morning. My friends came over to my place a couple of times before Christmas and watched me grind their coffee painstakingly by hand.

Hario Mini Mill Slim

We all decided I needed an electric grinder. (When I say "all", I sort of mean it - two of my friends got the exact same grinder for me for Christmas, one has since been exchanged for a Cuisinart hand blender, woohoo more toys!)

The UCC single serves I survive on when in China (in Hong Kong you can buy them at CitySuper. I last stocked up in Taipei where it's a lot cheaper!)

They both bought me the same one because I love the colour purple, and Bodum has these super-pretty ones that are the perfect candy-like purple. I'm very, very grateful for the love and thought, and I'm still using the Bodum, but if you're considering buying one, let me tell you a few things about it that sort of affect my daily routine...

- No fineness adjustment. This also means that the grind isn't of consistent fineness. I need to shake the thing or stop, open and push the grinds around before grinding again.
- The grinds stick to the bottom of the dish (see second photo). Maybe it's static, maybe its moisture, either way, the grinds won't come out no matter if I shake or tap the machine. I end up using the back of a chopstick, then a brush.
- Messiness - despite the compact design, a lot of the grinds actually get into the little crevices and gaps of the machine, which means more brushing...
- The transparent top is not so transparent when it's dusted with a layer of grinds!

That said, I still appreciate the efficiency of an electric grinder, and I like the weight and "solid" feel of the Bodum - I saw some at Target in the US (ok, ok, not the most professional place to go for coffee equipment, but I really only went in to buy towels, and I'm not a zillionaire you know!) and they were a little too toy-ish for my liking.

The Hario slim allows me to adjust the fineness, albeit manually, which is the only thing that trumps the Bodum, but I really can't be bothered to stand in the kitchen idly every morning pushing at my grinder. And when I have guests - whoah! I haven't tried any other electric grinders, and probably won't until this one breaks down, because despite its shortcomings, I've "learned" to use it to suit my needs and now it "works"!

Plus it looks pretty. Until I get a purple Kitchenaid mixer, it'll be the only purple thing on my countertop.

Hong Kong Disneyland - Food with lots of character(s)

2012-03-30T18:30:00.001+08:00

Help! Help! There's cream in my ears!

What does a foodie do at Disneyland? Eat, of course, like they would anywhere else. And, um, also go ker-razy at the new Toy Story Land!!!!!

The u-shaped RC Racer is now probably the most exciting ride in the entire Disneyland, and the Toy Soldier Parachute Drop was pretty cool too. I loved the parade of marching soldier toys and the awesome wooden blocks and lights dangling above.

Toy Story Land!

I was being treated to a night at Disney by two very good friends, for a celebration of sorts. I don't know why I suggested Disney since I'd just been to Orlando a few months ago, and I'm really no Disney fan, but anyway, there we were. (I think Toy Story was a big pull - aside from Paris, HK is the only other one in the world, and TS is by far my favourite Disney movie. Aladdin? Talk to my Buzz Lightyear gloved hand (I really wish they'd made that glove into an oven mitt)).

Sunlight streaming into the double-height windows at Grand Salon. Can't complain.

They'd booked everything - afternoon tea at Grand Salon in Disneyland Hotel, a room at the Hollywood Hotel (the main Disneyland Hotel was full) and dinner at Crystal Lotus, also at the Disneyland Hotel.

Spreading Mickey all over my scones. That sounds almost dirty

The afternoon tea was amusing. Can't say I disliked the faux Victorian décor and the double-height windows letting plenty of sun in. We ordered one Western tea set and an Asian one. The coffees that came with them were disastrously watery, but the food wasn't THAT bad. It was edible at least, something that I can't say about the airconditioning-dried finger sandwiches at the Peninsula's Lobby Lounge.

"Western" afternoon tea set

The scones were probably the most problematic, they completely crumbled when I tried to cut them in half, and I ended up with a pile of baked sand. I loved how they presented that jam though, simple yet to the point!

"Asian" afternoon tea set

In the Asian set, there was dim sum at the top - a nice touch since we wouldn't be having character dim sum (it's only available weekends). Again, it wasn't half bad, especially considering that it was served lukewarm.

Somewhere amid Toy Story and Space Mountain, we sat down for a snack and a much-needed coffee - we got that waffle in the opening pic, complete with cream in Mickey's ears (or was it Minnie? I wasn't lying when I said I wasn't a Disney fan). I also came with some syrup - the container of which helped keep Mickey/Minnie's head propped up at an angle to stop the base getting soggy, pretty smart! We also had a quiche, which was not half bad for theme park food. I hear the bakery is run by Maxim's.

Roast suckling pig

Dinner was at Crystal Lotus, the Chinese restaurant in Disneyland Hotel, which was, according to my friend's research, the best restaurant in Hong Kong Disneyland. Being the best restaurant in a theme park hotel might sound a little weak, but the food here was actually very good. It wouldn't be out of place among the top Chinese restaurants in the city.

Long Chinese cabbage with imitation abalone

Take this simple dish of cabbage and imitation abalone for example. I could really taste the stock in the sauce - it wasn't just a gloopy cornstarched mess - and it went beautifully with the cabbage, bringing out its natural sweetness. As for the abalone, imitation or not, is there for textural interest and a standard way of presenting a dish like this. Then again, it could have been tough and shoe-sole-like, but it was quite edible...! Not selling that last part, am I.

Steamed chicken with black fungus and red dates

We also had a steamed fish with preserved olives, a Chinese ingredient that I love, but I dug into it way too quickly before I remembered to take a snap. This was another steamed dish, a classic chicken with black fungus and red dates. It as very well done - the chicken was cut into dainty, bite-sized portions, bone-in as is traditionally served (bones impart flavour and I think Chinese people just like to make their mouths work a bit for the prize), yet it was juicy and flavoursome. We couldn't fit any dessert in - plus we had the HK Chief Executive television debate to catch up on, plus Jagabee, cheap red wine and gossip. For a lot of girls, it's Vegas and manicures, for us, well, we were never normal anyway.

Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel Grand Salon (afternoon tea)
Crystal Lotus (Chinese restaurant)
Lantau Island
New Territories
Hong Kong
+852 3510 6000

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Yardbird - Hong Kong's hottest yakitori joint is smokin'

2012-03-04T16:00:00.002+08:00

Chicken meatballs

I hate hype for the sake of hype. The bad thing about that is, once I smell hype, I think, "uh-oh, this could be horrible". I don't know why my immediate thought isn't, "oh wow, so many people are raving about it, maybe it really is awesome". I think it's a terminal illness they call cynicism.

Sea urchin and nori

Yarbird is probably one of the hottest openings Hong Kong has seen in the past year. For food people (geez, can I just say "foodies" without those crazy-bacon-donut-eating or Michelin-star-chasing connotations?) who are tuned in to the Hong Kong food "channel", so to speak, the name Yardbird is like Spice Girls on late 90s radio - it keeps cropping up.

Hokkaido scallops

Naturally, I was skeptical. An ex-Zuma chef with a yakitori joint just west of Soho? Smells like just another Soho restaurant. (And in case you didn't know, Soho is not known for a high frequency of good restaurants). But I got interested when I heard that when Matt, the chef, recs a food city in Japan, he suggests Fukuoka, as opposed to the usual suspects - Tokyo or Kyoto. In fact, when I went to Fukuoka, I went by his recommendation to Hachibei - to this day it remains one of the most awesome restaurants I've eaten at. All this means there's a good chance that he knows what he's talking about.

Tempura maitake

Since then, I'd been wanting to visit, but every time I arrived, there was a wait and usually we were too hungry. But finally, thanks to super-Yardbird-devotee @dimsumdiva, I finally made it here. Yes, there was a wait - there always is - but if you can nab a perch at the bar, you're set. The beverages are no afterthought, there's a great range of cocktails, wines, beers, sakes etc. I wanted to try everything.

Chicken knee

I wanted to try everything on the food menu too. (Another thing about being a "foodie" - you wish you had 5 stomachs and never got drunk so you can try everything.) It's mostly chicken, but you'd be missing the point if all you're looking for is breast and thigh. We're talking the whole bird here - from joints - neck, knee - to innards - gizzards, heart, liver - and even skin. There was thigh, actually, inner thigh. Talk about knife skills!

Chicken skin

We started with the uni (sea urchin) and nori - a celebration of all that's good about the ocean. As I was eating it, I kept imagining them taking a cubic metre of the sea, including all the marine life, and compressing it into that little bowl. I was also given the task of mashing up the sea urchin - I felt so naughty crushing up something that had always seemed so precious.

I think this was neck

We had pretty much the whole menu of skewers, except chicken breast. For a moment we thought we weren't going to get the coveted chicken oysters as they were sold out, but luckily we managed to get some. (Being a regular at a restaurant has it perks, so lucky that I was with one!)

Chicken hearts

My favourites were probably the chicken hearts and chicken skin. The former was served with spring onion, which really adds a spark (the green parts of spring onions are usually quite tasteless, but their wasn't - they must have good suppliers!), and takes away and fear of eating innards. We went before Valentine's Day and I joked that I would be happy to get a dozen of these instead of flowers, or even chocolate for V-day. I didn't, of course, because my boy doesn't read my blog, Twitter nor Facebook. I guess that's romantic in its own way? Oh well. Moving on.

Chicken oysters

These oysters were deliciously juicy, and with the skin on, they retained those tasty chicken oils. Speaking of skin, I should go back to that - the skewers of skin. It's like pork crackling or fried lardons, but the chicken version, and goodness, how can that be bad? The thing these have in common is that they all have plenty of fat of their own, so all you need to do it give it some heat and once the temperature's right, it'll basically start deep-frying itself inside, outside, in between layers of protein and whatnot, because that's where the fats are.

Chicken gizzards

Yes, it was mostly skewers - it is a yakitori restaurant after all - and with all these skewers, there was quite a bit of drinking, which is what makes the bill a little scary.

Chicken and egg rice

If you're with people who must have some sort of large-looking dish in order to feel full (I wasn't, we were just greedy), get one of the rices. We had the chicken and egg - the fried bits on the top there are chicken skin. The rice was wet and risotto-like, especially once you mix the onsen egg through, so the crisp shards of chicken skin did wonders for the texture. I do wish the rice would crisp up a little more at the bottom of the pan (like socarrat in a paella or the fan jiu in Chinese claypot rice) but this was nonetheless a great way to finish up.

Shiso mojito

Yardbird is a restaurant that knows what it is and is doing it well. It's a fun, quality addition to the Soho(ish) neighbourhood. You can get yakitori in a lot of places, but not packaged/delivered like this, and it actually has substance.

Bloody Kim Jong-Il

Everything is done with great care here, from food (ingredients to cooking), drinks to service. How often in Hong Kong do you find competent and truly friendly service, for example?

Yardbird Junmai

That's why I don't think Yardbird is just about hype. It has real value, at least for a segment of the market that wants and appreciates food, drink and service in one slick, independently-run operation. And if it gets more so-hip-it-hurts types eating chicken heart, then all the better for it.

Yardbird
33-35 Bridges St.
Soho/Sheung Wan
Hong Kong
+852 2547 9273
Dinner from 6pm Mon-Sat, no reservations*

*I hate queuing for food, but I'm okay as long as I can wait with a drink at the bar, or if I can leave my number and they'll call me when a table is ready, both of which are done at Yardbird, so voilà. (Plus, the business model of having people drink while they wait, whether or not it was intentional, is pretty genius. Everyone knows you make larger profits from drinks!)

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Fu Kee Congee - Mong Kok, my old friend

2012-02-28T12:41:00.004+08:00

Roast goose and beef congee

Congee and noodles - pretty regular Hong Kong stuff, eaten any time of day: breakfast, lunch or dinner.

When I was in high school, Mong Kok was only about 15 minutes walk away, and was where I'd catch the MTR to go home, so I knew it intimately, but that was embarrassingly long ago. These days, I don't get out to Mong Kok enough to know what's good, and meeting up with an old friend who needed to be in the area was just the excuse I needed to do a little digging, and voila, I found Fu Kee, next to a cha chaan teng I used to go to all the time (cheap egg tarts = excellent afternoon tea for a kid with a HK$20/week allowance).

Fu Kee has been around for ages; I don't know why I'd never been. If a full house for early Monday lunch is anything to go by, it's still as popular as ever.

They're known for their congee - a light rice porridge - as well as roast goose and fried rice noodles with beef "gon chau ngau hor" , a Cantonese staple. (The name means "dry-fried flat rice noodles with beef" - it's "dry" because it isn't finished with a sauce poured over. Whatever sauce is in the noodles is added while stir-frying, and it's usually not much). When I went, a lot of people were having a simple egg and pork (I think ?) fried rice too, which looked nice and fluffy - the grains of rice in a Cantonese-style fried rice should never stick together nor be greasy.

My friend chose congee with roast goose and sliced beef and I went with the beef noodles. I didn't really try the congee but it looked "meen", a Chinese word that translates to "cotton" - soft and light, with rice that looks like it's melted and inseparable from the liquid. We were sharing a table with other diners and one of the men opposite us actually ordered an extra serving of goose and tipped it right into his congee. I think I would have liked to do that too, so that the skin would stay relatively crisp.

Fried flat rice noodles with beef

My beef noodles were pretty decent. The portion was incredibly generous and could have fed three of me and for $34, is a bargain. They were a little too greasy but the balance of dark and light soy, and the touch of sugar were great, and I really appreciated the fact that the bean sprouts were still crunchy, but by no means undercooked.

While Fu Kee isn't a site for culinary pilgrimage, it's always good to know an old standby in MK, where things change before you can say, "Is that new?".

Fu Kee Congee (incorrectly spelled as "Fuk Kee" on Openrice, by the way)
104-106 Fa Yuen Street
Mong Kok
Hong Kong
+852 2385 1230
7.30am-11.30pm daily

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Comilonas - Catalan got my tongue

2012-01-30T19:08:00.004+08:00

Shrimp and chorizo paella

I've blabbed on about the whole private kitchen phenomenon in Hong Kong before, and it all sounds very pessimistic, with all that menu and party coordination, only to be rewarded with mediocre food. But occasionally, along comes a place like Comilonas, and all is good with the world of private kitchens again.

Pa amb tomaquet

Comilonas is inside a nondescript old residential building in Sai Ying Pun (of which HK has many - that is to say, you should check up on the address before you go, and not get lost like I did). Inside the flat, the establishment's one and only Last Supper-esque long table takes centre stage. They can seat up to 20 people, and the minimum booking is for 10.

Bellota

Our dishes had been worked out beforehand - this wasn't their standard menu. A few friends had already been before, and asked for a "best of". We also got a completely new dish - the shrimp & chorizo paella.

Morcilla

To start, we had a series of cold cuts, cheeses and pa amb tomaquet. The latter is simply toast rubbed with raw garlic and tomato, then drizzled in olive oil. I'm a big fan of simple, ingenius combinations like these - another one was the salchichon and roasted almonds.

Another cured meat, the name of which eludes me...

With the toast, you had to do some rubbing, but for the sausage, nada. Pop a slice of meat and an almond in your mouth at the same time, chew, await mind-blowing melding of oils and pangs of umami.

Salchichon and roasted almonds

That's probably the laziest but most ingenius "dish" ever. I guess you could go all molecular and extract the oils and put them together again, but I think the heat of my oral cavity and the grinding action of my teeth can do that too. Just saying, y'know.

Cheeses

If I'm not mistaken, these were both sheep's milk cheeses. The harder one (right) is Manchego, and the softer one, I've forgotten the name of, which is stupid, because I really liked it. It was stronger tasting that the Manchego, with a meaty, peppery finish.

Xatonada

Xatonada is a Catalan winter salad of cod, veg, olives and anchovies topped with romesco sauce. I preferred it with more sauce to bind all the ingredients together - aside from the olives and anchovies, the rest of the ingredients weren't salty, so my overdoing of the sauce worked well!

Potato & onion tortilla

Along with the Xatonada came this tortilla, cooked perfectly to reveal a gooey, only slightly runny centre. The onions were cooked right through, making them soft and sweet, and the warmth of the omelet went well with the room temp salad.

Piquillo peppers stuffed with cheese

Instead of a pepper each, we went with three to share, as we were getting ridiculously full from just the starters. These were butter-soft, and I wish my stomach could have fitted more (actually, given that I was wearing skinny jeans (retard!) maybe not...)

Roast chicken with stuffing

Comilonas is owned by a husband and wife team, Lluis from Spain and Carrie from Hong Kong. Lluis came out to explain each dish. When he presented us with the roast chicken, he explained that this is a recipe from the 14th century, which has largely remained unchanged, and is traditionally eaten at Christmastime. The Medieval influence was clear from the Moorish spices and apples in the stuffing. Americans have their turkey, we have our chicken, said Lluis, or something to that effect.

Shrimp and chorizo paella, again

Carrie said this was the first time she'd made this paella - either she's lying, or she's got a lot of talent. I think it's the latter. The amount of socarrat (I just learned this word that night, it's the cirspy burnt bits of rice at the bottom & sides of the pan) was perfect, the shrimps (prawns, I'd say, by the size of them) were juicy and full-flavoured, and the chorizo just pulled everything together, giving it a salty, meaty zing, as well as more to chew on. The first bite seemed a little salty, but as soon as I swallowed I couldn't wait to shovel another spoon in. We had some leftovers and I shamelessly took some home. I dare say it was even better the next day.

Porron, the infamous Catalan drinking vessel

Pour-on is right! I managed to spill as much wine as I drank from this! I guess I need to go back and practice. (I don't really need an excuse to go back, but it's always nice to have a backup argument, right?).

Caramelised orange and vanilla ice-cream

We were completely stuffed by the time dessert came, so something light like this was perfect.

Lluis and Carrie, the chef-owners

As I'm finishing this blog post, about five people have already asked about going again on my Facebook page. If delicious, sharable plates and good company isn't the perfect excuse to go again, I don't know what is.

Comilonas is closed for February as Lluis and Carrie are back in Spain, but you can still email them to book for a later date.

Comilonas
1/F, Flat 22 Yip Cheong Building
4-16 Hill Road
Sai Ying Pun
Hong Kong
+852 9863 2270
reservations [a:t] comilonas.biz

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Celebrity Cuisine - Quintessential Cantonese Luxe

2012-01-24T21:06:00.002+08:00

Chicken wings stuffed with birds' nest

We've all heard stories of misguided visitors looking for chop sui in Hong Kong (hey you, the guy looking for Peking duck in Hong Kong, don't you dare chuckle either), but sometimes even locals don't know where to find good, classic Cantonese food. Restaurants like Celebrity Cuisine and Manor are the last bastions of traditional Cantonese fare in Hong Kong. This is one restaurant that the Hong Kong Michelin Guide was finally right about - Celebrity Cuisine is a star-worthy restaurant (although whether it should have 2 stars is arguable). For a restaurant that specialises in the traditional, it's relatively new - didn't open till 2007 - but the chef, Cheng Kam-fu, has been in the biz for more than two decades; he was the private chef of late Hong Kong tycoon, Lim Por-yen.

Pan-fried turnip cake

If I were to summarise what Cantonese food is about, I'd say it's about using the freshest possible ingredients and cooking them in a way so as to preserve or maximise their own flavours. Geographically, the Pearl River runs through Guangdong (Canton), making it great for freshwater fish, and the humidity and mild temperatures are generally easy for agriculture, so we've always been a lucky lot.

Almond and pork lung soup

Guangdong is also known for its vibrant trade, and where there is money, there is the need for gourmandise. The things Cantonese consider prestigious delicacies are either rare, take a lot of luck and effort to find, or take a lot of expertise to prepare, or all of the above. So while we love a simply* steamed fish caught in the wild, we also love things like pork lung, that takes hours of draining, poaching and washing before it can be finally put into a soup and double-boiled (ie. submerged in a bain marie) with almond milk.

Chicken wings stuffed with birds' nest - an inside look

Things stuffed inside one another is another thing that is "proof" of elaborate preparation and is therefore seen as a luxury. While this can spiral wildly out of control (see my pics from Chow Chung's Private Kitchen), it can also work really well, in the case of this chicken wing. Deep-fried to dark caramel, crisp perfection, I would have been pretty happy with a plain ol' wing. I've had chicken wings stuffed with glutinous fried rice before, but the bird's nest trumps rice as it adds a light, bouncy texture (also, by the way, something very important in Canto cuisine, but that foreigners find hard to get used to) - it keeps the chicken juicy and moist inside, and the fact that it doesn't have a flavour of its own works, as this chicken was full of tasty oils.

Lamb brisket claypot

The lamb claypot pot was also a winner, with plenty of chunky, crisp bamboo shoots, tofu sheets, as well as meltingly soft lamb brisket slow-cooked with a great balance of chu hau sauce (a sauce with a Chinese miso base) and fermented tofu. Rich and comforting, but not too salty. Lamb is popular in winter as it's seen to have a warming effect on the body. (Oh yes, another thing - the effect food has on a person is also integral to Chinese cuisine (not just Cantonese). Everything has at least one quality, be it cooling, warming, cleansing, restorative or otherwise, according to the principles of Chinese medicine).

Pan-fried fish

Instead of steamed fish, we went for pan-fried - a method usually used with fish with firmer flesh - with a basic soy, sugar, oil, spring onion sauce/dressing.

Snake soup

Another classic winter dish, as snake is good for the body in winter. If you've never had snake before, you probably wouldn't even realise these julienned strips of meat were snake. The texture is kind of half-way between chicken and fish, or just a firmer fish. It's often cooked with ginger and mushroom, and served with white pepper. The ginger and pepper in particular are for neutralising any funky fishy tastes of the snake, but if it was cut and treated properly and none of the innards burst onto the flesh, there shouldn't be funky tastes at all, just the taste of fresh seafood. And check out the crisps on top - see, texture.

Steamed minced pork

You can't really get more home-style than a dish of steamed minced pork. There are myriad versions - you can preserved vegetables, salted fish, salted egg yolk, dried mandarin peel, water chestnut, even mashed up tofu - each family as their preference, but the main thing is the fat-to-lean meat ratio, which keeps the pork moist (it can "dry out" during steaming). Mincing it by hand also tends to give it more bounce, so it's preferred, although nowadays even the most traditional butchers have a mincer at the stall.

Eight treasure duck

Another example of how stuffed things can be terribly good. This is a whole deboned duck, stuffed with things like pork, ginko nuts, chestnut and lotus seeds then deep-fried.

Eight treasure duck - inside

Like the chicken wings, it's the light, crisp exterior of poultry skin subjected to high heat combined with a soft interior that won my heart. I love the slightly sweet starchiness of the chestnut and the fall-apart lotus seeds (low quality lotus seeds are hard and chewy, no matter how long you cook them).

Fried noodles with soy

This type of noodles are what we call "dry fried" - it doesn't come covered in sauce. One of the most common problems with dishes like these is excessive grease, but these were indeed "dry", with just enough soy sauce to cover each and every noodle (and every inch of every noodle!) and none of the noodles clumped together. It's just fried with julienned scallions, but don't let that fool you into thinking it was bland.

Almond and egg white sweet soup

To finish, aside from some chocs and macarons one of us had brought (we'd also brought a lot of alcohol - it was a birthday), we had an almond and egg white soup, supposedly very good for your skin. How we ate so much is a mystery, maybe if I'd had pig's brains in my soup I'd have a better idea.

High-end Cantonese food can be a little daunting, especially if you were thrown into the deep end, with things like fish maw, goose web and sea cucumber. Bird's nest in chicken wings and eight treasure duck aren't bad introductions, and Celebrity Cuisine is a good place to try them. You'd need to go with a large-ish group though, and book ahead because they only have about 5 tables (each can fit 8-12 people).

*Actually, steamed fish is anything but simple. Freshness and quality of the ingredients are a given, but how fast your water is boiling (fast), the size vs. exact amount of time needed to ensure that it's just cooked (not even 30 seconds over or under), whether you open the lid to check on the doneness (best if you don't) all matter. Simple maths will tell you that just a three variables gives you nine results, and there are definitely more than three variables...

Celebrity Cuisine
Lankwaifong Hotel (not to be confused with Hotel LKF, which is decidely more chic)
3 Kau U Fong
Central / Sheung Wan
Hong Kong
+852 3650 0066

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Happy Chinese New Year!

2012-01-23T00:01:00.003+08:00

Eat like a dragon! Kung Hei Fat Choi!