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Finally - long notes from Hong Kong

Finally - long notes from Hong Kong
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  • Finally - long notes from Hong Kong

    Post #1 - September 6th, 2005, 7:57 pm
    Post #1 - September 6th, 2005, 7:57 pm Post #1 - September 6th, 2005, 7:57 pm
    Ta da! Finally, I have completed my much procrastinated notes from Hong Kong. I have a hard time translating the Cantonese names into meaningful English descriptions...so be kind! ;-) Sometimes, the English translation of the Chinese name for a restaurant can be quite different - I used the English name for my post.

    Since shopping did not live up to my expectations, I spent most of my money on FOOD, which was so CHEAP and YUMMY! Unfortunately, there was a slight pork scare, so we couldn't fully indulge in pork as much as we would like, but we still enjoyed it when we couldn't resist.

    King's Abode in Tsim Sha Tshui (TST) – red bean paste wrapped in a thin, flakey pastry, topped with sesame seeds and a light glaze. Absolutely divine and delicate.

    Bui Gor (TST) came highly recommended for their wonton, congee and rice rolls. I was not impressed by their rice rolls (chung fun). Their wonton was deliciously filled with shrimp and had a very thin wrapping. I also enjoyed my first tasting of Horlicks here – Yummy! I brought home two canisters of the powder mix to enjoy the malted drink here at home. Has anyone else seen it sold here in the States? For dessert, we ordered mango mochi. The mochi was rolled in coconut flakes and in the middle was the most deliciously fresh diced mango pieces. What a perfect way to end a hot meal on a HOT summer day!

    McDonalds – Yes, I actually had McDonald's in HK – but only their ice cream cone b/c it is dipped in a mango coating! It was very fragrant (there is a word in Cantonese that perfectly describes this characteristic). It reminded me of white chocolate flavored with mango. Absolutely deliciously and so cheap! $3.50 HKD or about $0.45 USD!

    Super Star Seafood on Nathan Road in TST - We came here for our first dim sum of the trip. Our delicious meal here became the benchmark for a couple of dishes for the rest of the trip - which only led to disappointment as some subsequent meals. This restaurant makes their own XO sauce and sells it for $100 HKD (~$13 USD). My mom bought a jar in attempt to replicate the restaurant's Seafood Udon with XO Sauce. Their XO sauce had just the right amount of kick to it - omg it was so good. The great thing about this dish is the consistency of the sauce - not too runny and not too saucy. IIRC, the seafood blend consisted of shrimp, scallops, fish, squid, and crabmeat. For more traditional dim sum, my favorite was the char siu so. The char siu was delicately wrapped in sweet, thin flaky dough. There was a sweet glaze to the pastry. I love that the pastry was too thick as to overpower the char siu.

    My uncle's parents invited us to dinner one night at Star Seafood (multiple locations). Dinner was ordered banquet style/family style/prixe fixe. The most notable dish was the lobster noodles. Lobster meat from the tails was mixed in with egg noodles in sauce. I always prefer crab to lobster, but that night, the lobster was perfect for this dish. The sauce is best described as a very light gravy which was packed with an awesome taste. For dessert, large bamboo steamers were filled with little jelly balls filled with either red bean paste or egg yolk custard. The layer of jelly is thin and warm. I love the latter! Here in Chicago, this custard is seen at Phoenix spread inside the little yellow spongy roll cakes or the steamed white bao during dim sum.

    On another evening, we had dinner at Kamboat Cuisine. There was only 6 of us, so we were able to order half of the meal for 12. The opening courses here were very interesting. I loved it. We had a shrimp and mango salad served in a beautiful shell. For the “antipasto” course, there was duck breast that was so tender and juicy. It was slightly pinker than the traditional Chinese way of preparing duck. For the last “appetizer” I was a bit skeptical and wondered how a rolled up clump of deep fried noodle could be anything but dry and tasteless. Could I have been any more wrong? As a surprise there was a piece of shrimp hidden inside the rolled up noodle, and the noodle wasn’t dry and tasteless at all! Instead, it was so light, moist and so tasty! I’m so glad we had dinner here b/c I was really craving Peking Duck, and this was nearing the end of our stay. Lucky for me, Peking Duck was one of the courses served in the set. The wrapping to hold the duck was so incredibly thin that we had to ask the server to assemble it for us. They were even thinner than a single ply of tissue paper! This really allowed you to enjoy and appreciate the duck. I noticed that they also julienne cucumbers w/the green onions – which I have not seen here in the States. My cousin said that is typical in China as well.

    On the evening before my trip Singapore, we ate dinner at Modern Chinese Restaurant inside Olympic City 2. Their specialty is siu long bao/soup dumplings. There is an observatory window into a room of 3 workers making soup dumplings or potstickers. Not only is it a science but it is a beautiful art. Here in the States, I have never been a fan of soup dumplings ( although I have yet to try the much talked about Ed’s Potsticker House ) b/c I often found the dough extremely thick and starchy and the meat filling to taste processed and fake. At Modern Chinese Restaurant, it was impossible to scoop out the delicate little dumplings from the bamboo steamer w/o breaking the wrapper. I tried my best to salvage the soup in my spoon. These Shanghai restaurants also make amazing homemade noodles – the noodles feel like silk in your mouth. My favorite soup noodle was a spicy peanut soup which was a perfect complement to the beautifully, simple handmade noodles. Dessert was deceivingly light. At first glance, it looks like the puffy, airy egg donuts rolled in granulated sugar, formerly sold at the Captain Bakery or Feida on Wentworth. My aunt described them to me as being whisked egg whites quickly deep fried and filled with red bean. Surprisingly there was also a piece of banana in the middle that added some additional sweetness. The whole puff was dusted with powdered sugar. I really thought I would be too full to eat the whole puff, but it is so light and delicious that you want to eat another and another until your stomach bursts! Of course, there is only one per person.

    Boy this is getting long…so I must condense:

    Simple Bread cake bread – pumpernickel bread baked inside the bottom of a white sponge cake.

    Spaghetti House Red Bean Fleece – coconut and evaporated milk on top of cold red bean drink. The red beans were so tender and so sweet. (I often find that Joy Yee’s red beans are too large and not soft or sweet enough for my tastebuds)

    Mrs. Chan Homemade Food Singapore and Malaysian – Peking Road in TST. The Satay Chicken was made from white meat – tender and juicy – awesome marinade. The peanut sauce was the best I have ever tasted – I wanted to put it on everything! We tried “mouse tail” noodles, which look just like they sound and are similar to udon noodles but short in length and tapered on the ends. Ended the meal with Kaya Mochi – Kaya is a coconut spread commonly used for toast in Singapore. The mochi was rolled in coconut and filled with the Kaya.
  • Post #2 - September 6th, 2005, 8:50 pm
    Post #2 - September 6th, 2005, 8:50 pm Post #2 - September 6th, 2005, 8:50 pm
    thanks! :D
    Think Yiddish, Dress British - Advice of Evil Ronnie to me.
  • Post #3 - September 7th, 2005, 7:51 am
    Post #3 - September 7th, 2005, 7:51 am Post #3 - September 7th, 2005, 7:51 am
    I also enjoyed my first tasting of Horlicks here – Yummy! I brought home two canisters of the powder mix to enjoy the malted drink here at home. Has anyone else seen it sold here in the States?


    Be careful where you get it, Horlicks for some reason tastes different depending on where you get it. Chinatown and Argyle both have it. The funky tasting one was from Devon. Apparently Indians like that stuff too. There used to be Horlicks candy when I was going up. Think Horlicks powder but in a tablet form. Pretty sweet stuff.
  • Post #4 - September 7th, 2005, 10:20 am
    Post #4 - September 7th, 2005, 10:20 am Post #4 - September 7th, 2005, 10:20 am
    Horlicks tablets

    i always thought these looked so weird... now i want to try them.

    Kristen
  • Post #5 - September 7th, 2005, 10:31 am
    Post #5 - September 7th, 2005, 10:31 am Post #5 - September 7th, 2005, 10:31 am
    Horlicks tablet candy still exists! I didn't buy any though.

    I have tried making Horlicks (bought in HK) at home, but it is nowhere near as good as the ones I had at the restaurants. My friend suggested sweetened condensed milk - I just have to remember to buy some at the store! Any other suggestions?
  • Post #6 - September 7th, 2005, 10:57 am
    Post #6 - September 7th, 2005, 10:57 am Post #6 - September 7th, 2005, 10:57 am
    Sweeten condensed milk will just make it cloyingly sweet. I usually up the amount of powder =) Or use milk instead of water.

    Save the sweetened condensed milk for buttered toast... breakfast of champions... =)

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