Steamed Pork with Chinese Yellow Bean Sauce (Min Si)

My favorite of all the bean sauce...this min si sauce.
There's a perfect balance between the sweet and savory that I absolutely adore.
It can be used with most protein...meat, seafood, or tofu, or hell, I can eat bowls after bowls of rice just with the sauce alone ;)
Added a punch of heat using freshly chopped chillies and more savory fragrance from the spring onions.

In case you're not going out this weekend, give this easy and tasty dish a try.

Recipe
- a plate of pork meat (or any other meat, I think chicken would taste super nice too), sliced
- about 2 tbsp of min si (if you're in Hong Kong, this can be purchased easily from the wet market, it's sold in tiny plastic bags)
- tiny bit of pepper, corn starch and oil
- freshly chopped chillies and spring onion for garnish

Marinate meat in min si, pepper, corn starch and oil, ideally for a couple of hours, if you're in a hurry, give it 15 minutes. Steam for 8 minutes or until the pork meat's cooked through, serve with lots of steamed rice.

PS. Did you notice my food photography stupidity? Instead of focusing on the meat, I focused on the spring onion chunks. Opps :p

Ferrero Rocher Ice Cream from Mammia Mia Gelato, Langham Place, Mongkok

Who doesn't love Ferrero Rocher?
I am a huge fan of the little gold yumminess. So, when I saw a Ferrero Rocher ice cream from Mamma Mia gelato. I had to have it despite having tasted mango (nice), durian (nicee), and strawberry cheesecake (niceee).

Was it good?

Hmmm...it does have the wonderful hazelnut chocolate flavor to it, but I am missing all the different textures you get from the little gold wonder. I still adore the idea, and it's still quite yummy.

Mamma Mia Gelato
Shop K501, Level 5, Langham Place, 8 Argyle Street
Mongkok, Hong Kong
旺角亞皆老街8號朗豪坊5樓K501號舖
Tel: +852 2893 6638


PS. Sorry for the iPhone photo again, I didn't bring my camera T_T

Surprisingly Tasty - Garlic & Ginger Steamed Chicken Wings

When SC's mama shared this recipe, I wasn't convinced.
I'm not about subtle flavors. I love things grilled, fried, charred, dressed up in lots of bold flavored sauces.

Steamed? Plain? Subtle? Ngggg....sometimes...ok, but most of the time...thanks, but no thanks.
Especially when it's chicken, with skin.
Ew.
I like my chicken skin...if not crispy, at least golden brown. Pale chicken skin?
Ew. Ew. Ew.

Anyway, I gave this steamed chicken wings a try and I was shocked.
They were shockingly delightful!

Tender, juicy meat bursting with flavors, satiny smooth and flavorful skin...with a bonus of pinches of heat from the chopped chillies. Love! and so gonna do it again.

Recipe
- a plate of chicken wings
- 4 cloves of garlic, minced (haha! garlic breath!)
- 2 cm ginger, minced
- salt, pepper, sugar, Chinese rice wine, vegetable oil
- a couple of small chopped red chillies for garnish (optional)

Marinate chicken wings with minced garlic, ginger, Chinese rice wine, salt (generous amount), pepper, sugar, and a bit of vegetable oil, in the fridge for a couple of hours, or overnight. Before serving, steam chicken wings on high heat until the meat's done, this plate took 7 minutes.

Yes! Another potential candidate for my chicken wings party ^_^

Frozen Yogurt & Topping - Yogurtime, Soho, Central, Hong Kong

This is totally random.
I love Frozen Yogurt (froyo) that's recently super "in" in Hong Kong, but I love the toppings more.
...some combos are good, some sucked.

Just wanted to share our screw-ups...

Topping lesson learnt the hard way.
If you aren't a big fan of hard, cold chocolates, do NOT get chocolate chips as froyo topping.
Crackle...crackle...crackle...


Froyo lesson learnt the hard way.
If you are not a big fan of chocolate ice cream, do NOT think that you might love chocolate froyo.
Yes, my friend, chocolate froyo does NOT taste like yogurt.


Combo lesson learnt the hard way.
Just because individual items seem to taste fantastic on its own, it does NOT mean that they will taste good together.
Blueberry froyo (nice) + chocolate froyo (nicee) + canned lychee (niceee) + cinnamon crunch (niceeee) = DISASTER


Decor lesson learnt the hard way.
You see a row of swings. You do NOT have to get on them.
These are slippery and dangerous, and their height is just wrong for short legged persons such as yours truly to sit on.
A major embarrassment almost happened. Almost. Lucky it didn't.

Hallelujah!

Where was this?
Yogurtime
G/F, 46 Elgin Street, SOHO
Central, Hong Kong
中環蘇豪伊利近街46號
Tel: +852 6165 4608

Black Bean & Garlic Grilled Chicken Fillet

Weekdays. Brrffffftttt.
Mondays. Pffft.
Not in the mood for cooking.
But just in case you're tired of all the delicious fancy schmancy restaurant food you had on weekend, or simply went totally out of budget, overspent everything on food (I was really just talking about me), here's something quick, easy, won't-cost-an-arm-and-a-leg, and tasty.


"Recipe"
- Chicken leg fillet, with skin on (allow minimum 1 fillet per person)
- Black bean and garlic sauce (I used Lee Kum Kee)

Preheat oven to 200C, rub chicken with black bean and garlic sauce, place chicken in oven proof tray, grill skin up until the skin's golden brown and the meat's cooked through.

Consume with your choice of carb & veggie, I recommend the good ol' steamed rice...(err...did I have any veggie with this dish? Ahem!).

Happy almost-the-end-of-Monday, y'all!

Rice Noodle House 星林居雲南米線餐廳 Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

Previously, I've mentioned that Nam Kee Spring Roll Noodles serves the best mai sin (rice noodle soup) ever!

Uh oh, uh oh...after trying this place...whom a friend christened as "the best yunnan noodle shop in the whole wide...Hong Kong", will I still feel the same about Nam Kee?

Something random, don't you think the storage hole-in-the-table and the pencils are cute?

This place lets you customize your order. What would you like with your noodles? How hot? How sour? No corriander? Extra tissue? No problem! They've got all the options in this little piece of paper.


This is not a specialty of this place, but just in case you haven't tried before...we ordered the salty lemon 7-Up.


After pouring the 7-Up, make sure you "kill" the salty lemon.

Like really really give them a good bashing.

The service isn't as speedy as most places in Hong Kong, judging from how I had a bit of time to spend on my kindle...

Did I just post this to show off share my kindle?
Ahem, not too subtle there, was I?

Soon, my order arrived...and gasp!
Look at this bowl overflowing with beauties!

Hello, noodles, you're so photogenic.

Now..let's see...the mai sin (rice noodles), if it's limp or too swollen, I'd hate this place forever and won't consider coming back.

It was wonderfully chewy. Yes!...and it has all the bits that I love...preserved veggie, beancurd sheets, beansprouts, chives...in a super super duper tasty broth. I chose "normal sour" and "little spicy" and it was perfect for me. I have to say that the broth here is a lot tastier than the one in Nam Kee. As always, don't count on me on knowing authenticity of Yunnan noodle broth, I just know that this one is richer, deeper, bolder and meatier than Nam Kee's. The kind that gives you a kick in the stomach.

LOVE IT.

Now...the "accessories"

The sliced pork meat.  Tender, juicy, super tasty. Delicious!


The "soft bone" pork. Absolutely fantastic. Deeply flavored (what?), super rich!

..and one of my favorite...

Pig intestines! Absolutely delicious!

So...would this noodle replace Nam Kee's position as the best mai sin noodles soup ever in my list? Hmmm, almost. SC said, but Nam Kee's got that yummy spring rolls that I love...OK, I am torn.
I'll go to Nam Kee for the spring rolls and I'll go to this place for a good kick.

For SC, it was probably the decor...

Rice Noodle House/ 星林居雲南米線餐廳 

Shop A, G/F, No. 23 Lock Road

Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

尖沙咀樂道23號地下A舖

Tel: +852 2416 2424 

Canned Peach Syrupy Cake

I saw Pioneer Woman's Cherry Cake Pudding and it was instant love. You know my love for anything involving canned goodes? But, remember my inability to follow recipes? Yes, it persists!

Actually (trying desperately to justify myself), it was because I was in the mood for something sweet, but I didn't have canned cherries, pecans or whipping cream. So I just did mine with canned peach. It's easy to make and tasted pretty damn fantastic. I love the crispy top and the fluffy cake, love it more when it absorbed the tangy syrup. A bit of a warning, it's sweet. Sweet sweet, even after I reduced the sugar for the sauce. Too bad I didn't make the whipped cream part, it would've balanced out the sweetness. But we still love it. SC, who claimed that he doesn't like anything sweet, ate the most of the cake ;p


Recipe (adapted from Pioneer Woman's Cherry Cake Pudding)
Cake
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 tbsp softened butter
- 1 egg
- 1 cup flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/3 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 can of peach halves in syrup (cut into smaller chunks, drained, juice reserved)


Syrup sauce
- all the juice from the canned peach
- 2 tbsp sugar 
- 1 tbsp flour
- 1 tbsp butter
- a dash of vanilla

Preheat oven to 150C. Butter a baking pan.

Cream sugar and butter (I used hand mixer), add egg, mix well. Add flour, baking powder and salt into the mix alternatively with milk. Mix well. Add chunks of peaches and mix with spatula. Pour batter into pan, smooth out the surface and bake for 40 minutes or until golden brown and no longer jiggly.

A few minutes before the cake is done, make the sauce. Mix all the ingredients into a sauce pot and bring to boil until thickened.

The recipe advised to drizzle the syrup all over the cake, but I did it on each individual serving.

The cake tasted fantastic even without the syrup, the crisp surface kinda reminded me of Indonesian bolu. I am definitely making this cake again, with a different type of (canned) fruit.

Wow. I am so serious in this post, it doesn't even sound like me!

My Favorite Hong Kong Street Snack

This is totally random.

I am not going to discuss Hong Kong street food, its history, types, background, lalala yada yada yada. You know my blog. It's nothing but subjectivity.

Me, me, me, and me.

So, I am just going to mention my favorite Hong Kong street snack.
In case anyone out there wanna doesn't mind to know ^_*

Siumai? The wonderfully chewy, MSG enhanced, tasty tasty "fish" siumai?

Not just siumai, baby!

Siumai + Indomie Goreng!
Don't you think it's fascinating how Indomie goreng is now one of Hong Kong street snack?
Moments like this, I'm so proud to be Indonesian!

(Crappy) Phone Food Photography

I thought it's the photographer, not the camera that makes good photographs.
Obviously, I thought a little bit too highly of myself ^_^'

So, when I went to this fantastic food-bloggers-slash-good-funny-and-nice-people dinner, hosted by Hong Kong's fabbest (is that a word?) couple, Tom & Jen, sans any of my camera, I thought I'd still be able to do Jen's delicious food some justice with my humble ol' iPhone 3Gs.

I couldn't be more wrong.

I got a little cocky, thinking...oh, I'll do a tutorial post on how to take delish looking food photos just using iPhone.

Yah, yah, that didn't go so well. The pics I took were so crappy, no amount of editing could salvage them.

So here we go, I'll just share.
So, while looking at these pics, please bear in mind that the food was actually 1,387,934.487.5 times more delicious than it looks here.

Japanese beverages brought by lovely e*ting

Jap apple juice!

Japanese kiddy beers...and gastronomous anonymous was taking their pictures using her iPhone4 (better than mine!)





They look so cute! I just had to hipstamatic them! They taste like....sweet soda ;)

Chinese preserved plum brought by @lapetitcreme


Jen's yumminesses...

Yum!


Oh yum!


Roast chicken, yum! Mexican rice and black beans, yum yum! Corn with chipotle sauce and scallion, yum yum yum!

Thanks again for a smashing night, T&J!

PS. These crappy pictures were taken using iPhone3Gs, mostly with hipstamatic app, desperately photoshopped :)

PPS. How could I forget a fellow iPhone 3Gs photo taker, you know the Jason!

Ugliest Food Photo Ever - NSFW - Shrimp Paste Roast Duck - Bebek Panggang "Terasi"

Warning! Offensive food photo!
Don't look if you're anti ugly food photo!

What is it with me and posting bird's ass pictures?
My apologies. I should've posted pictures of the duck after it's been carved, perfectly styled on pretty little plates with steamy rice, gorgeous placemats, cutleries, condiments, etc.

But...
...apparently, I DON'T KNOW HOW TO CARVE A DUCK!
...and I am LAZY!

So, I literally ripped the duck apart before I figured out how to get the duck breast meat off its bones using a knife.

Oppps.

Ugly and all...it was delicious AND super easy to make ;)

Recipe
- 1 whole duck (hmmm, medium size?) or you can use fillet, or your can use chicken (whole or thigh fillet, preferably with skin)
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 2 cm ginger, crushed
- 2 cloves shallot, halved
- salt, pepper, sugar, shrimp paste (I used Lee Kum Kee)

Preheat oven to 180C, clean your bird, place some salt, sugar, shrimp paste and pepper into a small bowl. Rub your bird all over with the shrimp paste, salt, sugar, and pepper combo. Be generous, we want flavors! Remember to rub the inside of the bird. Now stuff the garlic, ginger and shallot up the bird's ass and seal the bird's ass shut with satay skewer. Place the bird in a roasting tray, cover with aluminium foil and roast covered for 1.5-2 hrs. Crank up the heat to 250C, take the bird out, uncover, baste the bird with more shrimp paste and put the bird back in, roast until golden brown, flip once.

Perfect with rice and some chilli paste.

Now...to compensate the ugliness, here's something that I think is rather pretty...

Happy Monday, y'all~!

So Impressed by the Warm Octopus & Shrimp Salad - W52, Central, Hong Kong

I've heard many different feedbacks regarding this place. Thus, when I received an invitation to try out this place, I was intrigued and would love to give it a try. The place is stylish and modern, a really sleek-and-chic looking bar downstairs, a modern yet cozy dining room on the second floor, and a nice chef's table area with a gorgeous view on the third floor.


The meal started with a bread basket served with celery root and carrot dip. The bread's very nice when they're fresh and warm, my favorites are the crispy bread sticks and the focaccia. My dining companion loved the sweet dip so much, he asked if I could make this dip at home :)


The golden crispy stuffed artichoke hearts with Pecorino cheese and herbs lived up to its name, it was golden, crispy, and flavorful down to the puree.

The next dish is my favorite of the night.

The warm octopus and shrimp salad with cannellini beans, onions and green olives was a true delight!

The octopus meat was deliciously tender, the shrimps were succulent, fresh and sweet, and the cannellini beans were swimming in a sea-tinged delicious broth. The sweet paper thin onion slices and the flavor of olives elevated the dish even more.

It was so delicious, I had to post another picture of the dish :)

Our host picked out this wine with our meal.

I am not a wine expert, but I found this one easy to drink, and it went really well with my meal.


We had the oven roasted black cod with balsamic vinegar and onions. The fish was perfectly cooked, I was impressed, W52 does their seafood very well! In terms of flavors, the onions and the balsamic made the dish a tiny bit too sweet for my personal taste, but fortunately, the tomatoes and capers helped balancing the sweetness. A wee bit more savory touch would make this dish a check mate for me.


The stewed herbed baby goat with Tuscan black kale and chestnut is something I've never tried before. The baby goat was absolutely tender down to its bones, and the sweetness of the tender chestnuts went beautifully with the nutty kale and bits of bacon. There were bits of fat in the kale, which I'd prefer to be rendered, but other than that, it was a good dish.

Moving on to the sweets...

I love the table side presentation of the Baba and Limoncello with vanilla cream.

Our server halved the sponge-like cake, slather generous amount of vanilla cream on each side and poured this liquor to be soaked by the cake.

The cake absorbs the liquor literally like a sponge. If you love liquor soaked sweets, this dessert is the one for you.

I was not convinced when I heard the name of the next dessert, lemon panna cotta with coffee. Seriously? Lemon? And coffee? but what did I know? It was such a pleasant surprise.

The lemon panna cotta was silky smooth and not overly tart, served with sweet and refreshing coffee granita and pieces of mini merengue with raspberries. Lemon and coffee! I'd never think of putting them together, but it worked. The sweet and icy coffee granita contrasted the satiny smooth panna cotta nicely and I love the tiny pops of the sweet and crispy mini merengue.

I'd like to thank Ms.C of W52 for inviting us, we had a lovely evening.

I would go back for the warm seafood salad, or maybe try out some of their pasta dishes, ideally for lunch when they serve antipasto buffet ;)

PS. Although it was a weekday night, the place filled up as the night went. Thus, a reservation is recommended. Dinner (not including wine and drinks) costs about HK$5xx per person plus service charge.

W52
G/F-3/F, 52 Wyndham Street
Central, Hong Kong
Tel: +852 6768 5252
www.w52.com.hk

Strictly Bare-handed - Fried Salted Fish & Tomato Chilli Paste

No utensils allowed.
Get your forks, knives, spoons and chopsticks off the table.
Prepare to do a lot of finger licking.

Buy some salted fish from a Chinese/Asian food vendor from the market, it could be pricey here in Hong Kong, so choose something to suit your budget. Fry until golden brown.

For my enjoyment, we consumed it the Indonesian way, which is...with some kind of chilli sauce. We chose a simple tomato chilli paste (sambal tomat) to go with our fish.

Recipe
- 1 large tomatoes, quartered
- 2 large red chillies, remove seeds if you can't handle the heat, add smaller red chillies if you want it hotter
- 1 clove of garlic
- 2 cloves of shallot
- salt, pepper, sugar, vegetable oil

In a food processor, pulse tomatoes, chillies, garlic and shallot. It's up to you how fine you want your paste to be, I prefer mine to be a little chunky but I went overboard and pulsed the mixture for too long. Oppps. Or you can use mortar and pestle and get a bit of exercise to tone your arms. Prepare a bit of hot oil in a frying pan, add the mixture, season with salt, pepper and sugar, taste and adjust seasoning to achieve the perfect balance between savory, sweet and tart.

Serve with a lot of steamed rice.

Be a bit of a barbarian for once. Dig in & enjoy. I wanna hear lip smackin' and finger lickin' :)