The Wonton Chronicles

One rainy afternoon I met up with Hiro Sakai of the blog Eating and Cooking. The reason we met up was simple: he had a mission. To try several wonton places in Hong Kong that I previously blogged about here and here.

How we found out we knew each other from long ago is not so simple, and involves convoluted, funny, and scary emails sent back and forth for several weeks. We thought we were each other's "stalkers", and had we not discovered each other's identities we probably would never have met up for an afternoon of eating and talking about food.

A wonton, or wanton, is a type of dumpling filled with savoury minced meat or vegetables. I personally love those with one or a combination of the following: shrimp, prawn, minced pork, minced watercress/spinach/courgette/chives. I've tried one with lamb at a famous hotpot place called Little Sheep. It's a chain restaurant from China, and is so huge it was listed in the stock exchange recently.

Hiro S. told me to prepare my tummy for our feast so I didn't eat lunch. Using a tiny umbrella meant for one we walked around Central and tried the following places:

Tsim Tsai Kee, Wellington Street: We shared a bowl full of steaming soup and generous servings of prawn dumplings and some beef noodles.

Mak's Noodle, Wellington Street: We had a bowl of shrimp dumplings and another with beef brisket and tendon.

Sam Tor, Pottinger Street: Again we had a bowl of soup with shrimp dumplings and shared a huge plate of fried fresh fishball with clam sauce. The clams were tiny, fermented and salty. I've tried fried fishball at so many places but this for me was the best- not fishy, no overpowering Chinese herbs, not greasy.

For dessert we relaxed at this place called Antique Tea Room on Lyndhurst Terrace, and Hiro S. remembered to buy some BBQ pork (cha siu) and roast goose from the famous Yung Kee on Wellington Street.

I'll let Hiro S. blog about this foodtrip (which had the best dumplings, prices , ambiance etc...). He took pictures and he's got a great memory for tastes, prices and food in general. He never wrote anything down so you can imagine how much that memory holds- considering how prolific he is when it comes to restaurant hopping.

Thanks Hiro S., that was a fun afternoon! For those who are based abroad and want to know where to eat in Manila, his is the blog to read.

Greek Salad

Inspired by Marketman's posts on Greece, especially this one about a Greek Salad he tried at home, I decided to whip up my own Greek-style salad for lunch today.




I used these lovely grape tomatoes I found from my neighborhood fruit stand (tomato, is, after all, a fruit), cut them in half, and tossed them in with some leftover lettuce, crispy cucumbers (the small kind, like MM suggests), dried oregano, extra virgin olive oil, white wine vinegar (my red wine vinegar was way, way past its expiry date so I had to bin it), a splash of lemon juice, and I poured in half a pack of cubed feta cheese and kalamata olives marinated in herbs and oil.



Of course I was in a hurry and had to make do. Next time I'd grab some fresh oregano leaves, a huge hunk of feta, some wicked marinated olives from Great, and beautiful tomatoes from the market.

For breakfast today I had some yogurt with Manuka honey (from New Zealand, supposedly with healing properties) and 2 fresh strawberries. How's that for feeling like I'm in Greece?

Kitchenware Sale=Naughty Thoughts

Yesterday hubby and I, along with a male friend, went to the most disappointing kitchenware clearance sale ever!!!!!!

It was held in a tiny hotel function room, and most of the wares were either damaged, detached or downright ugly.

I went to a Le Creuset Clearance Sale and it was heaven compared to this one, despite the 1 1/2 hours I had to endure standing in line.

Maybe it was our fault. We arrived at 3pm, 2 hours to closing time. Maybe bargain hunters scrambled for pots and pans in the morning and left the unwanted items sitting forlornly on the tables, looking old, stale and pathetic.

We saw a silicone spatula, it's head detached from its handle. The head was selling for HKD 2. Hmmm, I wonder if it's truly a bargain to buy it considering you'll have to burn your hands since it didn't have a handle. Or maybe the handle was lying somewhere far away, ashamed to be seen in the company of castaways and mutant utensils.

Out of boredom, and sheer naughtiness, we decided to scrutinize some of the stuff on sale and guess what they were. My friend and I being kitchen buffs, it was easy to rattle off names like nutcracker, potato masher, melon baller etc.. Poor hubby had no idea what they were. We decided to take fun to the next level and describe their uses.

Anyone interested in something that will "mash your potato", "scoop your balls", "hold your eggs", "separate your eggs", or, horror of horrors, "crack your nuts"?

Commercial Break No. 4

My little boy's favorite expressions when he feels pissed, frustrated, resentful, angry, irritated or just plain buggered.

Last year: Aw, pickles! (from Higglytown Heroes on Playhouse Disney Channel)
A few months ago: Aw, Man! (from Swiper on Dora the Explorer)
Now: Tricks in copper bottom! (NOW WHERE DID THAT COME FROM????????)

THE Miele Guide

This is Asia's answer to the Michelin (sort-of, considering ordinary people get to vote, and the the criteria isn't as stringent). And I say, it's about time! Asian cuisine is steadily becoming accepted and even "fashionable" in the West. Europe is not a place everyone can travel to, and even if they could, Michelin-starred restaurants are not exactly cheap, so it excites me that an Asian list is coming out...

For those based in the Philippines, do help put 3 local, outstanding restaurants on the world food map. Just go to www.mieleguide.com to vote! Hubby and I have voted for our favorite restos in the Phillipines, Hong Kong, Thailand, Macau and Indonesia. I'm definitely getting a copy- biased reviews or not, I'm a sucker for any literature that's food-related.

Food Experiments

Spinach artichoke dip



Pochero, complete with ham bones



Seafood cake with Pumpkin Pine Nut Risotto. Lacks a green garnish.

What I'm Loving in HK

Pineapple buns and other "panaderia" goodies



Fluffy omelet and crunchy buttered roll for breakfast from a very local place



Colors of the market: the oranges, pinks, greys of various fish, the depth of green of leafy vegetables, the rainbow colors of fruits in season, the reds, browns and yellows of roasting meat and fowl hanging from hooks



Stinky tofu



Dried seafood



More dried seafood, with dried kumquat (the roundish green thing) that people use in soups for its medicinal properties



Starfish! Wonder what they use this for...



Streetfood: skewered everything



Cuttlefish! Deep-fried and sprinkled with pepper salt. I prefer mine plain and swimming in vinegar.



Deep-fried vegetables, some with fish paste (made of dace)



Fresh fruit shakes/juice. No sugar or ice added! This is one of the nicer-looking fruit stands, by the way. I usually get my fruit fix from a hidden sidewalk vendor who uses maybe 2 blenders and 1 juicer of dubious hygiene for many different types of fruits.



Waffle. Who doesn't love the egg-y smell of this childhood favorite?

More to come...

Phuket Trip

Headache-inducing sunshine greeted us upon arrival in Phuket 1st week of April. Blasted heat and sticky armpits aside, we enjoyed our stay at the Sheraton Laguna, although I must say the very famous Ruen Thai restaurant at the Dusit was only average for me, while the meal we had at Sheraton's Chao Lay Thai Restaurant was superb. And the best eating places? In Patong Beach, where everything was cheap! in-your-face (or should I say in-your-mouth) fresh! delicious!



Who can go wrong with ordering mango with sticky rice for dessert?

Yep, we had Western food. And the burger and seafood pasta were surprisingly good. Little boy ignored his kid's menu bolognese and went for the more expensive, chock-full of seafood pasta dish of the adults. Notice the modern, zen-ish plates? Phuket has lots of handmade stainless steel stores, and I got myself a whole flatware set woohoo!



At a famous seafood restaurant in Patong, we ordered pad thai (a bit too dry but when I added more lime juice it sprang to life), sauteed morning glory which hubby LOVESLOVESLOVES, I suspect the oyster sauce they use is different and the chilies are charred), grilled red snapper fillet (oh my what a revelation, fork-tender, very very tasty without being salty, sensual in its simplicity).



The shrimp in red curry was spicy and went so well with steamed rice. Boy that was a satisfying dinner. And the day before at this hole-in-the-wall in Patong we had the spiciest tom yum ever (it made me cough so often, and I am a chili lover), the spiciest chicken in green curry and again, sauteed morning glory. I was even afraid to venture in at first because they served Western food too and I hate places that try to serve anything and everything, but I had to swallow my trepidation and admit that these eateries around Patong have to serve Western food for the non-adventurous, but their Thai cuisine is still as genuine as ever.



In Patong I saw all sorts of hawkers selling noodles in soup, grilled chicken or fish with the charcoal grill hanging from the vendor's neck, in the street facing a wet market were tables with "add-all-you-can" beansprouts, Thai basil, fresh chili and fish sauce for hungry locals, and of course the fresh fruit stands were everywhere!



Mango shake at one of the many Thai restos we went to.



Phuket has so many Italian and Indian restaurants it was unbelievable! At the Sheraton's Puccini, where we ate twice, I had this gigantic salad the first time, and was so happy with the generosity of the serving. Loved the asparagus, sun-dried tomato, artichokes, wispy flakes of Parmesan, feta cheese, kalamata olives, cherry tomatoes and fresh greens served on a huge, lopsided white bowl. Hubby had the 4-cheese pizza. The crust was crunchy and light at the same time, the interior full of airy goodness. Our next try we had the prosciutto pizza and seafood risotto, both a joy to eat.



At Puccini they try not to starve you so they serve assorted bread in this conical implement along with various dips like pesto, tomato and basil, beetroot, sundried tomato pesto and butter.



I could finish off a whole warm ciabatta loaf, diet be damned!



Little boy was so hungry he took first dibs at the crunchy flatbread!



We ordered this catfish dish at Ruen Thai and immediately regretted it. It was so sweet and caramelized it tasted like dessert! The yellow balls are salted egg yolks. We also ordered beef massaman curry with peanuts and the beef was so tender and the sauce so rich and tasty we decided to forgive the cloying sweetness of the fish. We expected more from this restaurant boasting "Royal Thai Cuisine" though. After this experience we would always ask whether a main dish was sweet or spicy. One should learn from one's mistakes.



This is a famous soup, next to tom yum. It's chicken with coconut milk and galangal. It was very refreshing.




Fried morning glory salad made up our appetizer for the evening. It was average.




At Ruen Thai, the place settings are quite elegant and the accordion-like menu not very extensive.



The omelet for breakfast at the hotel was more scrambled egg whose sides were cooked and shaped into this submarine-like thing. I slathered catsup all over. Not the way I would cook my omelet, which I like fluffy and filled with all manner of vegetables and meat and gooey cheese, but with some toasted rye bread it made for a filling meal.

Other memorable meals with no pictures:
For Little Boy's birthday dinner at Chao Lay we had a lime-based shrimp broth, roasted duck curry with grapes, lychee, eggplants and fresh green peppercorns (the best dish I had in Thailand), sauteed morning glory, fried seafood salad with crabs, prawns and squid.

We also tried this place outside the Laguna gates. We had tom yum, fried rice with prawns, sauteed morning glory (yes, we had it in practically ALL of our meals) crab in red curry sauce, and tons of rice.

I love Thai food and am craving for some as I write this. Kowloon City (Little Thailand here in HK), here I come!

Food books and other thoughts...

Just finished reading:

The Nasty Bits by Anthony Bourdain

Currently reading:

The Art of Eating by M.F.K. Fisher
Sacre Cordon Bleu (What The French Know About Cooking) by Michael Booth

Moving on.

Little boy is a fussy eater. I have to mash his greens, or hide them in soup, cut his carrots and squash into teeny tiny pieces and make a smoothie out of all sorts of fruits. It's not so much the taste as the texture he has an aversion to, I think. He can eat dark green leaves but not the tough or crunchy stalks. For a long time I was sad because he would only eat soup, shrimp, noodles or fried anything, but this year signaled a change. He has started eating, and enjoying, sushi, pesto pasta, pasta with sundried tomatoes, papaya, honeydew melon, zucchini, prosciutto, and pizza. He still won't eat hamburger or mayonnaise or catsup or noodles that aren't in soup, but hey, I think he's starting early in the yummy food department.

Commercial Break Number 3

Little boy: Mama, why is that tower leaning?
Me explaining about the leaning tower of Pisa- we are studying the atlas these days...
Me: Do you think it's going to fall?
LB: Nope, the constructioneers (what he calls enigneers) have made sure it won't.
Me: How did they do that?
LB: By using glue and tape, of course!

How can you argue with such sense?