This one isn't edible

In fact, it has nothing to do with food!

(At long last, a skytrain travels to my satellite terminal.)

Yup, my blog has been quiet most of last week. It was because i was trying to complete my satelite terminal, pictured above. It is for my collection of 1:500 die-cast airplanes.

I'm building a complete airport. I am currently working on my main terminal building, then will proceed with the ground mats/ layout.

(Several flights have arrived!)

Buffalo Chicken Wings

(I served it with a blue cheese dip.)

How American can you get? Traditionally, these are chicken wings fried straight from the grocery, then dipped in mixture of pure fat (butter) and an instant seasoning sauce (Tabasco). It is quick, simple and indulgent.

Of course, I decided it needed a twist, so I seasoned the meat prior to frying, added some other stuff to the sauce to make the flavors more interesting.

For one kilogram of chicken, I seasoned it with some salt, pepper, juice of one lemon, two cloves of chopped garlic and a teaspoon of fresh thyme. You don’t need to flavor the chicken. We only want enough flavoring to mask the “off” meat flavor. Set this aside for a day or two in the refrigerator.

(I marinated the chicken the left it in a freezer bag in the ref for a day.)

Heat up some oil, then fry the wings after dredging them in a small amount of cornstarch. The cornstarch (or flour) will form a coating that will absorb our sauce. Drain on a paper towel.

(Drain the chicken well, but make sure they are still warm when you toss them with the sauce so they absorb much of it.)

Mix the sauce: one teaspoon chopped garlic, ½ teaspoon seasoning sauce/ soy sauce, three tablespoons chili catsup/ tomato catsup, ½ cup melted butter, one teaspoon maple syrup and 30 mL chili sauce (Tabasco, Sriracha, sambal, etc).

(Toss the chicken with the sauce to evenly coat all peices.)

Trust me, the combination of maple syrup, tomato catsup and chili gives a smoky- sweet and sour flavor!

I made a dipping sauce of cream cheese (1/2 cup) and blue cheese (two tablespoons).

Veggie Pizza

Pizza, together with spaghetti is the one of the most ubiquitous Italian dishes. They have become so popular that many have indigenized it. So you hear of Hawaiian pizza, New York pizza, etc. The most recent insult has come from Pizza Hut: the cheesy pop pizza! Yuck! They basically stuffed the crust with artificial cheese, then rolled up the crusts so you can pick the so-called cheesy-pops. This garbage came after they stuffed the crust with hotdog, then hotdog and cheese.

I know where they’re coming from – they only want people to eat and enjoy even the pizza crust. But this wouldn’t be a problem if the crust were edible in the first place! To top the pizza with all those artificial cheese (and yes, most of the cheese they put in is not the real parmesan and mozzarella) and meatballs is one thing, to stuff the crust with more garbage is, well more garbage.

So, wanting pizza for my birthday meal, you could guess that I would only use healthy and authentic ingredients. And guess what, the carnivores at home did not notice, or complain about my pizza. They did not notice the absence of any meat! My secret? Fresh mushrooms! Yes, mushrooms when sautéed lightly in some garlic takes on a meaty flavor, not to mention the interesting texture!

Dough
You can use any Focaccia recipe you like, but I keep using this simple one.

On a large bowl, pour in 1 ½ cups warm water. Dissolve one tablespoon yeast and one tablespoon sugar.

When yeast mixture has begun to bubble, add one teaspoon salt, three tablespoons olive oil, and around three cups of flour. You will be using a total of 4 to 4 ½ cups flour for this recipe, but I add in three cups all at one time during the first addition.

Mix. Turn dough over on to a kneading surface and knead for around 15 to 20 minutes, or until smooth and elastic. You will need to add more flour as you knead to prevent it from sticking. I usually add in increments of ¼ to ½ cup.

Roll dough into a ball and place on a greased bowl. Let rise until doubled in volume. For a really soft and fluffy dough, you can let it rise until 2 ½ to 3 times the original volume, not just doubled. This trick works well with this dough. Most other dough turn sour when over-risen due to the accumulation of lactic acid.

After the first rising, punch down dough and deflate. This will even out all the large air pockets. Roll on a floured surface and transfer on a greased tray. (I do not have a pizza stone in my oven, so I just use a tray. I line it with parchment instead of greasing it.) A 12 x 24 inch (approximate measurement) pan works best, but you can roll it as thin or as thick as you like.

Top with desired toppings.

Toppings
I start out by brushing the surface of my dough with a mixture of: ¼ cup tomato pesto (1/2 cup tomato sauce if you can’t find red pesto), one tablespoon each of fresh chopped basil and oregano (one teaspoon if dried), and one tablespoon olive oil. You can use whatever herbs you like: Italian parsley, rosemary, sage, thyme.

For the mushrooms, you would around two handfuls of sliced fresh mushrooms. I emphasize FRESH, because you will never get that meaty flavor if you use canned. And you will never get to chew it if you use dried, even after re-hydrating it. Use the meaty mushrooms: cremini or Portobello. But since they’re difficult to find locally, I usually use fresh button mushrooms or fresh shiitake.

Dump in the mushrooms on a pan with one tablespoon heated olive oil, and three cloves garlic and one sliced onion. Sauté until tender. Cool mixture before pouring over dough.

Other toppings include sliced tomatoes (RIPE! About 4), some sliced black olives and one zucchini.

Top with freshly grated parmesan and mozzarella. If you can’t find these, cheddar or quickmelt may be acceptable. Both the former cheeses were out of stock at the grocery when I made this, so I used two cups of grated quickmelt cheese.

Let dough (with toppings) rise again for around an hour, or until doubled in thickness. Bake for 350° for about 30 minutes, or until cheese has browned and toppings are bubbly.

(let rise after topping the dough.)

(it is best to slice it while hot.)

Cornered

For the last 10 years of my life, I have stayed away from “instant” food and committed my life to so-called slow food as much as I can. I get enough fast-food and instant food when I’m out at school and have no option for a decent meal but McDonald’s, Jollibee, etc.

Hence, when it comes to cheese, I only buy real parmesan, and grate it myself. Nothing comes close to the taste of fresh parmesan – salty yet creamy. It even has a “sweet” smell to it!

For the past few weeks however, fresh parmigiano has been out of stock from most groceries. I was forced to buy the bottled version. It does smell cheesy, and tastes salty. But it has a real gritty texture! Read the label – it has some sort of anti-caking agent!

Spaghetti alla Bolognese

A kiddie birthday party would not be complete without the spaghetti with red meat sauce: strands of soggy white pasta doused with a glaring red ground beef and hotdog sauce that is in no way reminiscent of tomato. In the Philippines, spaghetti sauce is always sweet, slightly spicy and not a single bit sour. Not surprising since many put catsup to the sauce. It tastes more like the Neapolitan sauce the Japanese are accustomed to. Perhaps because of its sweetness, or the tons of cheese heaped on it, children just love spaghetti.

Here in our country, we just call it “spaghetti.” The spaghetti that the Americans introduced has evolved into a Pinoy dish of its own. Today, this Pinoy version is served from the lowliest of street stalls to fast-food chains to well-established restaurants.

Over the years, however, I have developed a taste for the authentic Italian spaghetti alla Bolognese – a red sauce rich in tomato flavor, accented by meat and herbs. The dominant flavor is of course is that of ripe tomatoes – slightly sour, but sweet on its own without the addition of sugar or catsup.

Hence, this recipe foreshadows the Italian version, but you can always modify it to your taste by, yes, adding catsup and sugar. It is a versatile sauce. You can pour it over spaghetti or penne, or use it for lasagna!
This recipe, by the way, can dress up to 1 kilogram (weight of uncooked) pasta. I make this big a batch and store the excess in the freezer in small containers. It is very handy if you need a quick fix – just boil some pasta and heat up the sauce! Then grate some fresh parmesan over it.

Sugo di Carne (tomato and meat sauce)

On a large sauce pan set over medium-high heat, add in 200 grams chopped bacon (but preferably pancetta). Let the bits sweat and release all its oil. When the bits have started to brown, add in enough olive oil to cover the pan, around three tablespoons. Sauté the chopped vegetables: one large onion, four to five cloves garlic, one medium carrot and two stalks celery. Cook until wilted.

Dump in the meats. I usually use a mixture of ground beef and Italian pork sausage. If you cannot find FRESH/ raw Italian pork sausage (or any sausage you like), then use ground pork. (Make sure to take the sausage out of its casing. You want to mash it into the sauce together with the beef.) Break the meats into the pan and sauté until “browned.” At this point, you can add in some fresh mushrooms. I usually use a cup of mushroom stems, rather than throwing them away. But this is really optional and will not affect the flavor much.

Next, add in two cups of red wine. Make sure the wine you add in is good enough for you to drink. Taste it before adding. You may even add white wine if you like a milder flavor. But red wine in this recipe goes well with the beef. Add a little more wine if the two cups was not enough to cover the mixture. Now, increase the heat to high and boil away half of this liquid. Stir occasionally to prevent it from sticking to the bottom.

When the wine has reduced to half, pour in around two cups of canned crushed tomatoes (one large can – I only use the Italian brands), two cups of tomato sauce, one cup of milk and around two cups of water or stock.

At this point, you may now add in your seasonings. I prefer fresh herbs: one tablespoon of fresh chopped oregano leaves, and one bunch of fresh chopped basil leaves, plus a pinch of nutmeg. If you have only dried, add one and two teaspoons, respectively. You may need to add more towards the end if you feel it needs to be more herb-y. Feel free to add some sage or thyme, but oregano and basil is okay for me. Season with some pepper and half a teaspoon of salt. I only worry about the salt towards the end. You can always add more, but adding too much now may only ruin an afternoon of hard work!

The sauce at this point will be very soupy or watery. Cover pan and reduce the heat. Simmer for around one and a half hours, or until meat is tender. The sauce will also reduce and thicken. I usually leave the pan only slightly covered to allow evaporation. By the way, you need to stir this once in a while to prevent it from sticking, maybe around every 30 minutes but other than that, you can pretty much leave it alone.

At the end of the cooking time, stir the sauce and check for the right consistency. If it is still soupy, then increase the heat and boil away the excess liquid. If it lacks some more tomato flavor, then troubleshoot with some tomato paste. Add only a little (a teaspoon or so) at a time. I only add salt at the very last minute. Season accordingly.

You may add some more fresh chopped basil to liven up the taste. Just before serving, dump in the pasta and toss with the sauce. Serve on a plate topped with freshly grated parmesan cheese.
If you are heating this sauce from the freezer, it is best to add a leaf or two of chopped basil to the sauce while heating. This will “wake up” the flavor, so to speak. Enjoy!

(huge amounts of liquid are boiled away towards the end of the cooking process, giving a rich thick tomato meat sauce.)

(more about the other party grub on the coming days - buffalo wings and veggie pizza)

Happy Birthday to...Me

For someone who was born into a family who refuses to cook, I had to cater for my OWN birthday. I will not rant.

Every year, for most of my pre-school days, my family would organize a birthday party for me. Those were the fun days. I would wake up with a stash of gifts waiting for me. Everyone would greet me, and pamper me. Then in the afternoons, we would have the party. I remember my yaya setting up the pabitin and the many palayoks for the parlor games. It would always be a busy day – all our maids helping set up the tables, balloons and wrapping prizes for the games, not to mention the frantic pace in the kitchen.

Then visitors would arrive bringing even more gifts. All my cousins would come – most of whom I only see a few times a year: on my birthday, on their birthday and on Christmas. Then there were those children of my parents’ friends, my aunt’s office mates' nieces and nephews, etc. I guess I didn’t mind as long as they brought with them gifts. Well, what could you expect? I was a kid!

And it wouldn’t be a party without all those food! My mother would always order a birthday cake from Red Ribbon – orange-flavored sponge iced with royal icing, and decorated with as much of that gelatinous radioactive blue paste my brothers and I used to call “toothpaste icing.” Then we always had barbecue ordered from the stall two blocks away (and you have to excuse me for having that, as no one knew during the 80s that burnt ends can be carcinogenic!). Of course, there is the mandatory Filipino spaghetti – a sweet spicy ham and hotdog tomato sauce the Italians would not even recognize. Then there are other “regulars” in the traditional Pinoy party – gelatin, fruit salad, ice cream, fried chicken, etc. I didn’t eat much then; I merely enjoyed the sight of food. I was interested only in tasting some of them, especially those brought by some of our guests. (Feeding me as a kid was a serious chore.)

And like all children, I had to grow up. My cousins had to migrate. My yaya ran away with our driver. Pabitin, palayok and children’s parties as we knew them in the 80s came out of fashion. School and work became more rigorous. So, I’m a licensed doctor now. And if I end up marrying, then I’ll have parties for my own kid!

Looking back, I count all my blessings and thank my family for all they have given me. And of course God, for making those things possible. And now I hope and pray for a bright and prosperous future. So today, I’m cooking – to celebrate life and all its blessings.

(more about my birthday menu on later posts.)

Peach Custard 'Cake'

(it is actually a fruit and custard set on a crumbly shortbread crust.)

I found this recipe on my aunt’s cooking “diary” scribbled over on a browned paper stained with egg whites, flour and butter. So there’s indication the opened this page quite often! The recipe is probably older than I am since the manufacture date of the diary says “1980.”

This recipe is actually a fruit custard set on a shortbread crust. It is not in any way a fluffy cake whatsoever. Blame the 80s for the misleading title.

Funky as the name may be, I have always loved this treat since childhood. I learned to make this since I was eleven.

Mango and Peach Custard Tart

Shortbread Crust
Preheat oven 350°F.

Mix together 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon salt and ½ cup softened or melted butter. Just mix them together with a pastry blender, or with your bare hands just until it comes together. This is not a flaky crust, so you do not have to worry about cutting the butter into pieces into the flour. This is the reason why the butter is melted or softened.

Press crust on the bottom and about an inch up the sides of an eight-inch baking pan. Bake for around 10-15 minutes.

Cool on pan.

Filling
The recipe calls for a pound of canned peaches. You can use fresh if you like. But they might be too sour. I usually use fresh mango slices laid down alternating with sliced canned peaches. Use whatever soft fruit you like. But canned peaches and fresh ripe mangoes work best for me.

Arrange fruit slices on partially cooked crust. Sprinkle fruit with a mixture of ½ cup sugar and ½ teaspoon cinnamon. (Again, adjust sugar to your taste. Skip the cinnamon if you wish.)

Mix together 1 cup cream, ½ cup peach syrup from can (or you can use milk, mango juice, peach juice, etc.), 1 egg and one yolk. Pour over fruit arranged on crust.

Bake on a 325°F oven for 30 minutes. Top surface with look dry and sometimes may “crack.” Center will still be soft if pan is jiggled, but will set as the custard continues to cook with some residual heat during cooling.

Cool completely on rack, then chill.

Serve chilled so that custard will be fully set.


(canned peaches and sliced ripe mangoes work best for me. arrange the slices neatly on the cooked crust.)

(smooth over the custard before baking. I know the recipe says an 8x8 inch pan, but I did not have that today, so I just used an equivalent-sized rectangular pan.)

(when done, surface may look dry and cracked. if there are spots that turn brown, that's okay. but if the custard boils over, turn the heat down. you need gentle heat to cook the custard.)

Chunky Muffins

Cherry Muffins

(i made another batch of muffins, this time using cherries of various forms!)

A variation on my previous muffin recipe, I added some dried cherries to this. Also, I used cherry preserves, plus three tablespoons of cherry liqueur.

No, it did not have that cough-syrup taste! I know a lot of people associate cherry flavor with the kiddie meds we hated while we were growing up. Dried cherries taste much like raisins – just a bit tart and a less sweet. Also, with a much more fruity flavor.

(the cherry preserves i used was really chunky.)

(dried cherries can be mistaken for giant raisins, but the flavor is definitely much more sophisticated!)

(you can use any cherry liqueur you like. i got my cherry brandy from a shop at Rothenburg ob de Tauber in Germany. but there are many local brands out there.)

(dried fruit adds texture to this recipe!)

Muffin Muffin Muffin

(i made this recipe originally with some Pfeuffer's (brand) mango preserves to end up with some yummy mango muffins)


I’ve probably tried a gazillion muffin recipes in search of the perfect soft and moist blueberry muffin. I have never been successful except for that one occasion when I followed the Betty Crocker label of a muffin mix – replete with artificial blueberries. I was only 11 then, so I still wasn’t educated about the virtues of eating fresh or real food.

I used to buy most of my muffins, but often find them too sweet for my taste. Often, I find them lacking in taste of whatever they were named after. The blueberry muffins always lack blueberries!

Blueberry or not, I still like muffins. They may not be as soft and fluffy as cakes, but definitely not as tough as breads. They’re in-between. They can be sweet or savory; served warm and freshly baked in the morning, or cold as a snack.

Whereas cupcakes have icing, muffins often do not. In most cases, they come with their built-in “icing” – the crumb topping. They’re really good, but I skip them in most recipes as its sweetness may overpower the flavor of the muffins.

I got the idea for this recipe from Alton Brown’s “I’m Just Here for More Food.” I modified it quite a bit to suit my preference. I don’t think he would even recongnize this recipe after all my modifications.

His original recipe calls for cranberry sauce, which is usually tart. For this recipe, I use fruit jam. I only use jams which I like for spreading on to my bread. Flavor is important! Because jam is sweet, I reduce the sugar to ½ cup. But it really depends on how sweet you like your food. Taste the jam. Now take note that you will be adding a CUP of sugar to this recipe! Do you think you need to add all that sugar? Ask yourself. You might need another spoon of that jam!

To make the muffins chunky, I add some chopped dried fruit. If you’re making this with mango jam, you have to use dried mangoes. Strawberry jam goes with dried strawberries, etc. If you can’t find the appropriate dried fruit to go with the jam, then just use FRUIT PRESERVES instead of plain old jam. Preserves have enough chunky fruit in it.

Fruit Muffin

Preheat oven to 350°F

Line muffin tins with muffin paper/ cupcake paper. Depending on how large you want these muffins to be, you will be making 12-24 muffins.

Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl: 2 cups all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon, baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, and ½ teaspoon salt. At this point, you can mix in 1 cup of dried fruit, if’ you’ve decided to add some in. Set aside.

With a beater, cream ½ cup unsalted butter with 1 cup sugar. Beat in 2 large eggs, one at a time.

To the butter mixture, mix in the following: zest of one orange, zest of one lemon, ½ cup plain yoghurt, juice of one orange (around ¼ cup), ¾ cup fruit preserves, jam/ marmalade/ cranberry sauce, etc.

Then, dump the wet ingredients/ mixture on to the dry ingredients. Stir with a wooden spoon just until the mixture comes together. Do not worry about the very small lumps.

Scoop or spoon batter into muffin tins. Bake for 30 – 35 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Cool on tins before unmoulding.

(second time i made this, i used strawberry preserves and strawberry yoghurt. the result is this obscene pink hue. of course it was delicious!)

(i used strawberrye preserves and skipped the dired strawberries because i could not find any. but as you could see, the muffin ended up with small strawberry bits! yummy!)

Mak Man Kee Noodle Shop

(a plate of noodles with dumplings)

This shop, I was told had been in operation at the same spot for decades! Fifty plus years, if I remember correctly!

It was my second time at this shop and my parents’ first.

Like most noodle houses, patrons are given a seat at a table, not the whole table. There were five of us and my Auntie Betty, our Hong Kong friend, had to share a table with a stranger.

I ordered the “dry” noodles with dumplings. “Dry” means the soup is served separate from the noodles. Their soup is a clear broth with a slightly peppery taste, with a predominant dry shrimp flavor. The dry shrimp flavor resembled that of the “dried alamang” (small shrimp dried whole with shell) that we find locally, not the “hibe” (dried shrimp meat) flavor.

The small bowl of steaming hot soup was served with a plateful of noodles. For a moment I thought my dumplings would be served on a third plate. Beneath the pile, however were around eight or ten dumplings. Quite a lot for one serving, I thought. I could only dig up two at a time as the plate was so crowded. By “dumplings,” it means wonton wrappers stuffed with a mixture of pork and shrimp with some finely julienned mushrooms. As always, it was superb! There seemed to have been an equal mix of pork and shrimp, yet you could taste the two individually as you chew. The pork was tender and did not have that “off,” porky flavor. The shrimp was crisp, as is the case with freshly cooked prawns.

My father had the shrimp dumplings (pure shrimp with some pork fat), whereas my brother asked for a bowl of beef noodles. I was too busy with my plate, they had finished theirs before I could ask for a taste!

When the words “pork trotters” were mentioned, we begged that we be served a plateful of it! It may not be the healthiest or most glamorous of dishes, but it certainly is heavenly in all its porkiness. My parents have asked for this dish in just about all of the Hong Kong noodle houses we have eaten at.
It is a stew of cut up pork feet, simmered in a delightful sauce - made thick by the pork’s tendons melting away as the meat becomes tender, and reddened by the local favorite, the spicy fermented tofu. We all know this type of “tofu” as “tahure,” although if one reads the label carefully, the mainland Chinese made bottles declare it as being made of flour! I only buy the ones made in Hong Kong, so I know it was made from soy beans.

(pork trotters stew)

Two plates of pork trotters later, we were ready for another round of shopping!

Mak Man Kee Noodle Shop

51 Parkes Street

GF Kowloon

(Jordan MTR Station Exit C2)

Tel +852-2736-5561

PAL Inflight Catering: MNL-HKG-MNL

PR 300: MNL-HKG

(for breakfast, I opted for the ham and scrambled eggs with garlic rice)

I still maintain that PR serves the best inflight breakfast, at least for those of us who can only afford to travel cattle class.

I just love their scrambled eggs - soft and fluffy, yet still juicy and creamy in the center!

Today on PR 300, I chose to have the ham and rice. The ham was marbled with fat which made it tender. There were two thick slices on my tray, along with some scrambled eggs (to my delight), a roasted tomato and some greens. Amazingly, the garlic fried rice was not oily!

The tray also came with some fresh fruits and a Red Ribbon ensaymada.

PR 307: HKG-MNL

(fish over a bed of noodles)

Our return trip home was delayed one hour as the control tower grounded all departing flights due to a lightning warning. The crew served us our meals to keep us busy during the delay. (smart move, on their part!)

I chose the Fish and Noodles option over the Chicken with Rice. Believe me, it looked worse that it tasted. The fish was moist and tender. The noodles were soft, but not soggy. My only objection perhaps is that the sauce is a bit too sweet. But the slight peppery flavor offset the sweetness.

The main course also came with a carrot and crab salad, and a dessert cake whose taste I could not remember.

PAL may not be known for their gourmet meals, but most is edible, and on many occasions surprisingly good for airline food.

Guangzhou Barbecue Restaurant

For the two previous meals, my parents had been too lazy to go hunt with me a lunch or dinner place around our hotel area, and settled for whatever we could find at CitySuper. It had been raining hard in Hong Kong. Come dinner, I demanded we find something other than soggy tempura or salmon sashimi. Not that I did not like those (but not the soggy part), but Hong Kong is known for its authentic Chinese cooking! Even better than Mainland restaurants, I hear.

We ended walking for thirty minutes around the area between Nathan Road and our hotel, The Gateway, arguing what or where to eat. I pointed at a Chiu Chow restaurant, but my father insisted we have something more local. My brother pointed to the adjacent Macanese restaurant, but my father finally declared he wanted roast goose and some suckling pig. So I said, “Yung Kee!” But my mother declared she cannot bear walking any longer than a few meters, and that Yung Kee, which is all the way to the other side was too far a trip. We ended up eating at a place called “Guangzhou Barbecue” near Kowloon Park.

It was the same restaurant where my father and I bought our first roast goose to take home to Manila around 10 years ago. Tourists can’t miss its huge yellow and gold signage. And the staff, though lacking in English skills, are armed with picture menus.
We had our usual fill of roast meats. The barbecue pork was surprisingly lean and tender. Most served here have too much fat. The slices were thick. The seasoning did not overpower the meat. Not that it needed to – the pork was not gamey at all.


(roast pork - nice thick slices of lean meat!)


(roast goose - meat tastes too game-y for me)

(suckling pig - crisp skin and tender meat. the only downside is the layer of fat. then again, how else youl you make the skin crispy)

We also had the mandatory roast goose. Again, compared to Yung Kee’s, this was too gamey (that wild meat flavor). But was tender as usual.

The suckling pig skin was crisp, and the meat was so tender. My only complaint is that the thickness of the layer of fat was the same as that of the meat. Then again, the skin would not be crispy if not for the generous layer of fat.

I was later told by one of our friends that most locals actually prefer their roast meats this way – gamey and cut into thick slices. Home-style, in other words.

Hong Kong's CitySuper

After Singapore’s Cold Storage Grocery, Hong Kong’s CitySuper are my parents’ favorite shopping place. They always pick the Marco Polo Hotels as it is near this grocery where they could buy anything from sliced fruits to meals-in-a-go.

I think it is convenient though a bit expensive. After all, all meals are packaged neatly in elegant (if you could rightly call them) Styrofoam ware. I’m the adventurous type and always prefer visiting the local market and eating at less expensive (street) restaurants.

No doubt that it caters to expatriates as it showcases food, fresh or otherwise from all parts of Asia and the world.
They even have green cauliflower! The picture proves it! My university ecology (would you believe!?!) professor refused to believe me when I told her there was such a thing! No, I did not photo-shop this!

(green cauliflower beside broccoli and the regular white cauliflower)

(These eggplants are cute!)

(One of these days, I’m going to buy some of these mushrooms to take home! All the way to Manila!)

A Trip to Hong Kong

(I made this trip to the Territory last 25 - 28 June with my parents.)



(my plane for today - a PAL 747-469M, registered N754PR. It was the same plane that took me home from San Francisco more than two years ago on my last PAL flight.)

It was going to be my first trip to Hong Kong in almost three years. I used to fly to this territory three to five times a year, typically on weekends so as not to miss my classes. Then the rigors of medical school set in so I was grounded for the most of the three years.

Hong Kong is one of my favorite places after Manila (because it is home) along with San Francisco and Munich. I like Hong Kong because of all the wonderful food: exotic fruits, rare ingredients and authentic Chinese cooking. And of course the shopping!

You can get the best dim sum only in Hong Kong. Their har gou (shrimp dumplings) are simply the best! They always have a slightly elastic but thin, almost translucent skin. And the filling is unmistakably shrimp – fresh and “crisp.” Unlike the blob of flour and pork lard you get elsewhere – producing a dumpling that can go from soggy to just plain tough. But usually soggy and impossible to pick up with chopsticks!

And you get the best roast meats from Hong Kong, too! Yung Kee at Wellington Street, in Central serves the best roast goose! Undoubtedly because it is multi-awarded restaurant! They even cater some meals for Cathay’s first class! Their roast goose is simply the best! I know duck is much more popular (Peking Duck), but trust me, goose is much better. Goose has a delicate meaty, slightly game-y flavor – owing to its herbivorous diet. And the meat is much more tender. The opposite goes for roast duck. Ducks eat just about anything! I know this because we used to have several in our backyard.

Then comes the shopping… the best time to come is late August as it is the end of summer sale. The price of most branded goods go rock bottom!
But I was not willing to wait for August before I make this trip. I have been away for so long already!

Federal Palace

(Federal Palace)

As always, we were met by friends on arrival. It was sort of like barter: we would bring them boxes of gifts – fresh mangoes, ensaymadas and ice cream! Then they would take us for lunch and dinner!

Today, we were brought to Federal Palace, said to be a popular chain in Hong Kong. I could not find their web site as they are probably well-known for their Cantonese name (which I failed to ask).
For starters, we had goose feet, choy sum (kale) and a pan-fried scallop and prawn dumpling. The goose feet was rather difficult to eat as it was a bit “crunchy” but otherwise tasted good! The dumplings were soft and fluffy on the inside, yet you can still bite the bits of prawns and scallops! Yum!

(fish ball made with dried mandarin orange peel and served with preserved clams. it was actually quite yummy!)

(more Yum Cha - dim sum - goose feet, choy sum and a pan-fried prawns and scallop dimsum.

Then came a fried fish ball made with tangerine peel. It was so fragrant. It came with a very curious sauce – one made with fresh clams fermented in wine! I first tasted this dish at a noodle house at Times Square. The fish balls were so-so while the sauce was completely disgusting. But for some reason, today I found the combination marvelous! Perhaps I have been away too long!
There were other dishes served to us that day, but I failed to take pictures as my hands got a bit oily.

Canton Road Market

After half a day of business, my mom and I asked out friend to take us to market. We walked outside the office through the market at Canton Road.

(one of the many roast meat shops scattered along Canton Road.)

Yum! Roast meat stores like this are everywhere! Roast duck, suckling pig, fried pork, pork barbecue, soyed chicken, white chicken, etc. Yum!

Whenever in HKG, my mom and I make it a point to shop for rare ingredients, like dried squid. I know we have them locally, but the type you get in HKG is skinned which gives it a beige/ ivory color. This gives it a sweeter flavor, much like the taste of the sea.

Likewise, the quality of their dried shrimp is far superior. The shrimp are shelled whole and are firm, and smells like the sea. The ones we get here are soggy, discolored and smell fishy!

(almost every type of seafood is dried and available in various forms. here you see dried peeled shrimp, dried shrimp with shells, dried mussels, and others.)

And who could resist the cherries! We always go cherry hunting! They are always sweet and soft and juicy!

(we bought several kilos of cherries but only half of it made it to manila - we ate them at the hotel!)

Seafood Dinner

For dinner, our friend forgot to make reservations at her favorite Peking Restaurant, so we ended up eating at a seafood place. I forgot the name of this restaurant at Prince Edward. We even got lost looking for it!

(most of the creatures you see here alive...we ate)

Our first course was our favorite, roast goose! It was tender and juicy, but slightly too geme-y for me. I still like the ones they sell at Yung Kee, although I suspect Yung Kee’s would be several times more expensive!

Soup was served in a giant egg-shaped golden pot. It was a wintermelon soup. The wintermelon was steamed whole and had stuff floating on a clear broth inside – chicken, scallops, mushroom and others. The broth was mild and smooth, complementing but not overpowering the little ingredients. The melon scooped out at each ladling of the broth was crisp. It was neither sweet nor bitter.

(soup was cooked and served inside a whole wintermelon. it was placed inside a golden egg. you see the floating yummy bits - ham, dried scallops, mushroom, and melon pieces.)

(after a dramatic entrance, soup was served individually)

(this half goose fed six very hungry people!)

Other courses included the usual, Steamed Black Garoupa – Hong Kong Style (in seafood soy sauce), Stir-fried Crabs in Ginger and Onion, and Fried Mantis Shrimp. The latter seafood seemed to have gone extinct from local markets.

The final course was Spiny Lobster on a Bed of Noodles. It was superb! I thought I could die after eating this. The lobster was stir fried in a velvety buttery sauce. The noodles were slightly flat, and were soft and smooth, but definitely not soggy. The lobster tasted fresh and sweet with a buttery accent. It was still crisp yet juicy. Its flavor permeated all aspects of the dish - the sauce and the noodles. I survived the meal not touching a single article of food, but I found myself licking my fingers after I struggled to snatch every bit of meat from its shell.

(lobster pieces resting on a bed of rich noodles in a buttery sauce! how could you go wrong? i was stuffed, yet i managed to gobble up a whole bowl of this last dish!)

Overfed as I was that evening, I did not even remember what we had for dessert. But I know there were several bowls of sweet stuff after the lobster.