More Vietnamese Food from Le Phi

We were craving for some Vietnamese and Singaporean food, so we decided to drop by last Saturday's Salcedo Market Food Fair. To our disappointemnt, the Singaporean chicken stall was not there, so my parents and I ended up buying some chicken inasal and some Vietnamese goodies.

The Vietnamese lady not only had the usual fresh spring rolls and rice cake, but some salads as well. The shrimp salad on the left is really very tasty. The shrimp were stir-fried in garlic and lemon grass, then laid on a bed of chewy rice noodles, crisp lettuce and lots of fragrant Asian basil. It was an explosion of flavors and textures. Of course, the nuoc cham dressing, made of sugar, garlic, fish sauce and chillies rounded the whole thing up!



It seems as if business is really booming for this lady - she used to sit on her chair rolling up spring rolls herself, but this time she had two slaves (pictured here) doing that for her. Also, she is now selling dried rice noodles and salads (previously, these had to be ordered in advance). [I took this picture by the way with the intention of getting the face of the lady whose elbow could be seen on the right. Quite an annoying Chinese lady - she elbowed me and my mom out of the front without even excusing herself! Hmp!]


Of course, we had to buy several boxes of the fresh Vietnamese spring rolls and the green Vietnamese 'rice cake' (a green and yellow kutsinta/ sapin-sapin made out of rice and yellow mung beans).

Hong Kong

I've not really been busy...just plain lazy! Sorry I have tons of stuff to post!

To begin with, I just came from HKG a week ago. You can find some of my pics here. I am yet to post the pics I took last November when i travelled for free using my mileage.

Salcedo Village Saturday Market

I typically hate going to markets. Markets are almost always a disorganized place. Goods are scattered everywhere, hawkers shouting, and some of the produce reek of foul odor. So this was one of the really rare occasions I visited a "market."

This market being on a Saturday, and at the heart of the city's posh business district, one could only surmise that their standards should be a bit higher. True enough, half the stalls were selling cooked food - specialty cuisine you won't get anywhere in Manila. Most of the vegetables were clean and crisp, and the fresh seafood were typically frozen.

We entered from the side of the Saturday market, from Salcedo park, and we were immediately greeted by a waft of fresh seafood air! It wasn't really foul, but you could tell there was fish blood somewhere. They were selling freshwater prawns by the way. (Ulang in the local language).

Other stalls were selling ornamental plants and other inedible goods.

An heirloom restaurant was selling their famed lengua in white wine, fabada asuriana and the really scrumptious slow roasted pork. They also had a whole rack of bottled queso de bola spread, so it is apparently very popular.

There was a Singaporean lady selling some chicken rice. I just had to get myself some! Half of that whole stack of chicken was gone by the time we circled her store a second time.

A French guy had a whole army of maids selling some really yummy French food. The price was reasonable, so we just had to buy a whole roasted chicken and some duck. We totally forgot he had some pate with armagnac on sale.

The French guy was also selling some fine savory tarts.

I just thought a picture of the buko jelly was worth posting.

Another stall specializes in carabao's and goat's milk products. They even have sugra-free pastillas!

We were done shopping for food when we came across this Vietnamese lady selling fresh spring rolls. We had to make room in our basket for one pack. It was simple, healthy yet really heavenly. We are sure to return, if only for this!

One end of the market was actually flooded with barbecue stalls. This is just one of the "hundreds" of other stalls selling barbecue.

My father could not stop ogling at the lechon kawali. But he is on a diet in preparation for Christmas eve dinner, so he eventually let go.

More to come about this market on succeeding visits. Also watch out for features about the food!

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.