Ramen Lunch at Wakayama, IFC, Central

I heard so much about this place, and since I am always in search for a good ramen place in Hong Kong, I dragged sc's ass to give this high-end ramen joint a try.

Mind you, sc and I aren't exactly fond of, nor fit the term high-end very well :P

What happens when we put an iPhone freak + 3G Internet access + not-knowing-what-to-order together?

You get SC browsing openrice.com to see did others order and what did they love.
Handy!

We are suckers for meal sets, so we went for their lunch sets, a bowl of ramen + a side dish.
The side dishes...

Gyoza (Japanese dumplings)...they're ok, nothing out of the ordinary.


My favorite, karaage (deep fried chicken), flavorful and crispy, but you get good karaage very easily in Hong Kong. So, again, nothing special.

Are we paying high prices for a bunch of nothing-specials?

Let's see if their ramen lived up to our high expectation.

The soft bone pork ramen may look ever so humble and ordinary...


...but it is anything but ordinary.
My photograph may not do the noodle justice. It's really wonderfully springy, cooked to perfection. The broth's flavorful, and the pork...

OMG..

The pork...how tender was it?

So tender...

A large chunk of it fell right back into the bowl when sc was "posing" it for photographs.
Yumza!

Now...

Pretending to be Going high-end, I decided to order the most expensive ramen on the menu. The wagyu beef ramen. The same wonderful noodles, the same flavorful broth (I should've chosen a different broth. Opps), perfectly done egg, different sort of vegetables from the ones you get from random ramen shops...and of course...

Tha beef!

Tender, juicy, beautiful, flavorful, delicious slices of beef.
Don't try to eat the beef too rare, let them "cook" in the broth for a bit and they'll get even more tender, juicy and delicious.
For me, this bowl of ramen absolutely lived up to its high-end price tag (around HK$1xx per lunch set).
Totally worth it!

Wakayama Japanese Restaurant
Unit 3020, 3/F, IFC Mall, IFC Mall, Central
Hong Kong
Tel: +852 2295 1221

Fried Shrimps with Indonesian Sweet Soy Sauce - Udang Goreng Tepung Saus Kecap Manis

During those last few no-appetite-everything-taste-horrible months, what have I been eating? Just one or two spoonful of rice with a bit of healthy dishes, thanks to SC's parents home nearby. As a token of my appreciation, once I felt good enough to whip something up, I'd bring homemade cakes, desserts or a dish to family dinners.

This was one of those days.

SC's family dinner will be attended by a bunch of lazy boys who won't eat anything with bones or shells. I gotta make something they can pop into their mouth without having to struggle and wrestle with any inedible parts.

Hm, I had a pack of shrimp meat in my fridge.

Perfect.

Let's do some Fried Shrimps with Indonesian Sweet Soy Sauce

Ingredients
- 1 lb shrimp meat, cleaned, deveined, butterflied
- For frying: corn starch; 1 egg, beaten; bread crumbs seasoned with a bit of salt & pepper; olive oil
For the Sauce:
- half an onion, sliced thinly
- 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
- 1 cm ginger, peeled and crushed
- sweet soy sauce (the dominant flavor), worchestershire sauce, ketchup, light soy sauce, pepper
- a bit of corn starch and water for thickening
- freshly squeezed lemon juice

Ready?
Season shrimps with a bit of salt and pepper, and squirt some lemon juice on them. Prepare the frying ingredients on plates and bowls just like below...


Heat up some oil for frying.


Dip shrimps into corn starch, then egg, then seasoned bread crumbs...


...and dip into hot oil, fry over medium heat...


...until they're gloriously golden.

Do this dish right before serving. If you had to wait, you can recrisp the shrimps in the oven for a few minutes.

Now, the sticky sauce.

Saute garlic, onion and ginger in a bit of oil until fragrant, pour kecap manis (Indonesian sweet soy sauce), light soy, worchestershire sauce, ketchup, mix well. Add a bit of water, bring to boil, taste and adjust flavors until you achieve the perfect balance of sweet and savory with a bit of a tang. Thicken with corn starch and water mix, do not pour over shrimps until right before serving.

To serve...

Place crispy shrimps on a plate, pour sauce over and squeeze more lemon juice if you wish.

The boys loved the shrimps, SC's mom wiped the caramelized onion clean...

...and SC's dad ended up doing the dishes.

Opppps :D

Bakuteh - Dinner plus Sauna 2-in1

Bakuteh.
Satiny smooth, fatty, meat-falling-off-the-bone tender ribs.
Silky, delicate beancurd sheets.
Piping hot, flavorful broth.
Thick, rich, hot and spicy dipping sauce.

Perfect for colder days.

Was yesterday cold? Nope, it was a warm and balmy day.
Thus, we ate this for dinner with sweat dripping down our backs and faces, just the way it's supposed to be consumed in Malaysia :D

Great. Dinner + sauna 2-in-1 indeed.

Anyway, hot days or cold days, this is one of my favorite dishes.
Easy to prepare (thanks to instant spice mix packets) and a sure pleaser.

You don't really need a recipe from me, simply follow what's on the spice packet...but this is how I did mine:

Recipe
- Bakuteh spice mix
- 1 lb pork ribs, rinsed, patted dry
- 2 beancurd sheets (fu juk), cut into 4-5 cm pieces
- 4 cloves of garlic, crushed (or as indicated in the packet)
- 1 cm ginger, peeled, crushed (it was not required, but I wanted some gingery flavor)
- 6 cups water
- 1 tbsp dark soy sauce, 1 tbsp light soy sauce, a dash of fish sauce, 2 tsp sugar, white pepper, olive oil

Saute garlic and ginger in a bit of hot olive oil, add pork ribs, add water, spice bags and seasonings, bring to boil. I pressure cooked it for 25 minutes. If you are not using a pressure cooker, simmer on low heat until the meat is tender (one hour or more), add the delicate beancurd sheets and bring to boil before serving.

Dippity dip
- Dark soy
- Fish sauce
- Sweet soy sauce (kecap manis)
- freshly chopped chillies (I used two)
- freshly chopped corriander
Mix everything together. Done!

Serve with steamed white rice, or chicken rice, crispy shallot rice, or garlic rice.

Alternatives
If you don't eat pork, you can use other meat. I think chicken on bone should work well too. You can also change the "accessories", use tofu puffs or silken tofu instead of beancurd sheets, or add some vegetables such as lettuce or chinese cabbage. Go easy on the extras though, they may reduce the richness of the flavors dramatically.

You can use a variety of garnish for this dish. Freshly chopped corriander, scallion, crispy shallot, slices of Chinese fried dough (yau jar gwai), etc.

Hmm, I think it would be fantastic with kerupuk (Indonesian crackers) too :D

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter, everybody!

-from my macro lens, which has been hiding in my dry box for...ever :D

Creamy Chicken & Sweet Corn Pasta

Some of you wrote if I could post some recipes which are good for those who are "having a bun in the oven".

Ehm ehm~
I think I am not much of an expert on that. I didn't even know that I was not supposed to eat bitter melon, watermelon, papaya, banana, snake, crab, eel, lamb, and the rest of the 10000000001 things I should not eat according to various beliefs and tradition. Oppps.

Did "being delicate" change my eating habit?
Am I one of those super lucky ones who don't feel a thing throughout "the journey"?

I wish :D

These last few months, my old food-loving-eat-all-I-can self has been replaced my this new picky-hate-everything-love-nothing bitch.

To illustrate....
Old self - word association:
Mushrooms - Yum!
Foie Gras - OMG! Yum!
Sushi - Gimme more!
Fried chicken - Where?

New self - word association:
Mushrooms - Yuck!
Foie Gras - OMG! Yuck!
Sushi - Yuck! Yuck!
Fried Chicken - Yuck? Yuck. Yuck!

I literally hated everything. Including but not limited to things I usually adore. I hate everything from my favorite aromatics such as garlic, onion, scallion, etc, so say goodbye to cooking. I also hate my favorite food such as mushrooms; rich flavored, spicy food; chocolate cake; etc.
Hate. Them. All.

So, no cooking, no dining out, no nothing.
Those were the days when I no longer live to eat.
I just eat to live...or puke (Oppps. Sorry).

When I finally got a wee bit better, I tried cooking something simple & easy. Something that doesn't make me gag when I think of it....I decided to make...

Creamy Chicken & Sweet Corn Pasta

Normally, I'd totally use garlic, onion and cheese...but not this time.

Recipe
(serves two)
- your choice of pasta (fusili is my favorite)
- 1 can of sweet corn kernels, drain the water
- 0.5 lb skinless, boneless chicken breast meat
- a bit of cream (depends how rich you want it to be)
- freshly chopped parsley
- olive oil, salt, pepper, a bit of corn starch

While preparing the sauce, cook pasta according to the direction on the packet. If you are not a multitasker, prepare the sauce first to avoid overcooking the pasta.

Cut chicken breast into bite sized chunks, season with salt and pepper, dust lightly with a bit of corn starch, mix well. Heat up a frying pan, add a bit of olive oil, add chicken pieces, let cook on one side until you get a bit of brownage, flip and cook thoroughly. Add corn kernels, heat thoroughly, add a few dashes of cream and season with salt and pepper.

Once pasta is done, pour pasta over sauce in the pan, mix well, add a bit of liquid used to cook the pasta if necessary. Check if you need to adjust the seasoning. Add freshly chopped parsley and serve.

Finally! The word "yum" came back in my vocabulary.