Snack: Steamed mango cake

Image 1: Steamed mango cake

Location: Purchased from Saint Etoile (Saint Star) a "boulangerie chaud" on ground floor of JUSCO Kornhill, Hong Kong


Food Synopsis: Light sponge with mango flavour in a muffin shape, with 'what-you-see-is-what-you-get" mango pieces scattered on the curved top of the cake. Sponge was slightly too sweet for my liking, but probably attributed to my liking for milder flavours. Cake bounced back easily when squashed with a finger and was very 'light', as in, didn't have that oily feeling as with oven-baked cakes. Reminded me of a mango spinoff of "Malaysian cake" (Mah Lai Goh) served in a Western, muffin-shape style.

This cake really could've done with mango pieces throughout the cake. Although, I probably should've learned after purchasing a raisin loaf with a total of 10 raisins throughout the entire 500g loaf that Hong Kong breads/cakes/muffins with additional fruit/nut pieces are merely to describe their scant presence in the product. Maybe it's being cheap, or maybe its just the way it is.

Snack: Custard tart cup

Image 1: Custard tart cup with plastic spoon

Location: Purchased from Saint Etoile (Saint Star) a "boulangerie chaude" on ground floor of JUSCO Kornhill, Hong Kong


Food synopsis: Tastes like the the typical Hong Kong style custard tart, except the biscuit base was approximately 5 cm in height and filled with more custard. Basically, its an enlarged custard tart with a greater amount of custard to biscuit base. It was as if it was made in a tall muffin tin. This one was sweet, minimal egg-y flavour in the custard, so the bright yellow probably due to colouring or premix custard powder rather than custard made with real eggs.

Interestingly, it was served with a plastic spoon, which didn't quite work in terms of scooping out the custard. In any case, I've always most enjoyed eating custard tart by having a bit of the biscuit base and the custard in a single bite.

This is probably a great snack for those who love custard, which I do. But this one just didn't hit the spot. I love custard, but I like custard tarts more. If I ever want more of custard tarts, I don't think I'll have a custard tart cup, I'll just have 2 custard tarts or more...!

Lunch: Vegetarian meal at Po Lin (Buddhist) monastery

Location: Po Lin Monastery

Image 1: (Clockwise from top left) Plain white rice, pear soup, bok choi with mushrooms and carrot garnish, stirfry vegetables (cucumber, celery, capsicum/chilli) with tofu, deepfried beancurd sheets wrapped around white raddish, carrot and mushrooms

Really filling, probably due to the sheer size of the meal for 1! Cost a total of HKD65 for entry into the Big Buddha exhibition and for the meal. Entry only into the Big Buddha exhibition was HKD25; buying the meal separately was HKD 65. Not sure how they calculated the prices, but was worth every cent.

Dinner: Rice and vegetables

Image 1: Short grain rice and boiled vegetables with olive oil and soy sauce

Due to the lack of ingredients at home and motivation to cook something more. I actually had double the amount of vegetables seen here. Ate the first half whilst waiting for the rice to cook. Only have 1 pot to cook in.

Dinner: Wonton noodle soup with vegetables

Location: Chi Gei in food court in Langham Place, Mong Kok, Hong Kong

Image 1: Dinner set "Meal A" Wonton noodle soup with vegetables

Dinner: Wonton noodle soup with vegetables

Location:

麥奀雲吞麵世家 - 銅鑼灣渣甸街44號地下

Mak’s (stingy) Noodle Ltd - G/F, 44 Jardine's Bazaar, Causeway Bay

Apparently, this is one of the branches of the best wonton noodles in Hong Kong. I've definitely tasted better. Noodles were a bit hard, slightly undercooked. Very fast service though.

Image 1: Dinner as set out on the table in the 'restaurant'

Snack: Egg waffle (雞蛋仔)

Location:

Fish ball noodles stall on Moreton Terrace, near corner Moreton Terrace and Causeway Road.

(~33) Moreton Terrace, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong

30 摩頓台, 銅鑼灣, 香港島, 香港

Image 1: Egg waffle fresh from the pan

Food Synposis: Crispy shelled with soft centre; sweet waffle with lots of egg-y aroma. Slightly sweeter than what I remember the taste to be.

Dinner: Round rice noodle with fish balls and chicken in fish soup with stirfried garlic and oil vegetables

Location: Hong Kong

豐竹Affluent Kitchen

銅鑼灣銅鑼灣道11-17A號麗晶軒地下1-2號舖

Shop 1&2, Ground floor, Regent Heights, 11-17A Tung Lo Wan Road, Causeway Bay

Image 1: Rice noodle soup; stir-fried vegetables ; my bowl ; my wallet.

Egg Waffle shop (雞蛋仔) in Hong Kong

Location: Corner Matheson Street / Russell Street, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
Street corner opposite the clock in Times Square

2 勿地臣街, 銅鑼灣, 香港島, 香港

Image 1: Hong Kong Style Egg Waffle (雞蛋仔) store at the street corner opposite Times Square. The egg waffle is in the centre of the display cabinet.

Unluckily for this guy, I caught him smoking a cigarette whilst preparing the egg waffles with his

Snack: Portuguese custard tarts

Image 1: Portuguese custard tarts in a shop at the base of Macau's St. Paul's church

Food synopsis: Warm puff pastry with sweet and milky custard filling, slightly caramelised on the the top

Location: Macau, at base of St. Paul's cathedral wall

Cost: HKD $10 for 2...

Equivalent to approx AUD $1.30 for 2... i.e. 65cents each!

For some reason, perhaps purely to distinguish themselves as a separate entity from Hong Kong, Macau describes their currency as MOP, probably secondary to Portuguese influence. No idea what it stands for at the moment.

Funnily enough, although I honestly think its the great idea, MOP are equivalent exactly to HKD.

Lunch: Fried gluten selection platter and E noodles with vegetarian shrimp sauce

Location:

東方小祇園 ("Tung Fong Siu Kee Yuen") - 香港灣仔軒尼詩道261號地下

241 Hennessy Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong

Established 1905

Image 1: Selection platter of fried gluten (vegetarian/imitation meats). Centre: Sweet and sour; Clockwise from top left: Roasted duck (dark brown) and ?? shared in 1 section, mild curry, char siu and abalone shared in 1 section, ?? (long strips)

QANTAS plane food - Melbourne to Hong Kong

Image 1: QANTAS Lunch tray - Melbourne to Sydney

Dinner: Bouillabaisse

Image 1: Bouillabaisse, untouched

Food synopsis: A warming seafood stew from the south of France. Soup is flavoured from the mix of salmon, mussels, scallops, lobster and other seafood with a hint of saffron and fennel. Served with 3 updated baguette slices and a buttery-mayonnaise like spread and light cheese. 

Location: Chez Olivier
Greville Street Village
121 Greville Street
Prahran
http://www.chezolivier.com.au/



Impressions:
I rather like to define Chez Olivier not as a French restaurant, but a Melbournian restaurant that offers French food.

Soup was flavoursome, but a bit salty, really needed water after and during the meal to quench thirst. They didn't leave a bottle of water for the table during the meal, so we were at the mercy of the

Portuguese custard tarts

Image 1: Portuguese custard tarts

Food synopsis: Canola puff pastry encasing fresh home made custard baked into a tart

Verdict: Sweetness was just right. Custard too runny. Pastry not fluffy enough and not enough in comparison to amount of custard. Didn't use butter puff pastry, so probably the major problem. May need to blind bake canola puff pastry before adding custard.

Recipe
Source: Donna Hay Magazine, Autumn 2012, page 100
Prep 20 min
Baking 30 min

Roast chicken drumsticks & butternut squash

Image 1: Roast chicken drumsticks with butternut squash

Food synopsis: Dry heat applied to chicken drumsticks massaged and marinaded with Italian herbs, freshly ground black peppercorns with a hint of lemon and olive oil.

The chicken flesh is steaming with juicy goodness, semi-encased by crispy skin which really shouldn't be eaten if you're looking after your health.

The pumpkin has that slightly dehydrated and shriveled look. But one bite through the crispy caramel skin reveal so tender  orange flesh soaked with the lemon and juices from the bottom of the pan.
~
My first roast, prepared without help from those more experienced at cooking than myself.

Mini pizza scroll (tangzhong method)

Image 1: Mini pizza scrolls with tomato, onion and cheese

Food synopsis: A rolled ball of soft bread, intertwined with freshly diced tomato, onion and a sprinkling of cheese on top.


~

It's definitely not the best looking, but the bite-sized flavours that reminded me a bit of  fresh, thick-based pizza, and the cheesy scrolls I used to get at Brumby's at South Yarra for a breakfast on the way to school.

It's quite clear from the photo that this was me experimenting with bread dough, made using the tangzhong method. This was the second time I was making bread using the this method. The first time worked out really well; I couldn't believe how soft and bouncy the bread was even after a day sitting on the counter!. Usually when I've

Sweet Almond Soup aka 杏仁糊 “hun yun wu”

Image 1: Sweet Almond Soup (杏仁糊 “hun yun wu”)

Food Synopsis: 杏仁糊 (“hun yun wu”) is a sweet, thick and hot 'soup'. It is made from almond meal (almond nuts ground into a powder), glutinous rice flour as a thickening agent, sugar to make it taste sweet and boiling water. It’s served in bowl and eaten/drunk with a spoon, so I guess that fits the criteria for being a ‘soup’. Even just a small bowl (~300ml) is very satiating and satisfies my constant craving for steaming hot food in this chilly weather!

I recall it being served to me as a snack or dessert when I was a kid, although I came across one website that suggested that it’d be a “nutritious breakfast”. English translation: ‘Sweet almond soup’.

Honey and Almond Slice

Image 1: Cubes of Honey and almond slice with mandarin

Food Synopsis: Honey and almond slice is a very simple cake made of honey and almond meal. It is dense and sweet, can be eaten straight from the fridge, at room temperature or warmed in the microwave. Whilst most cakes become more stale with time, the flavour of this one improves significantly. The cake becomes more moist the longer it sits in the fridge, probably due to the high concentration of simple sugars in the cake. These simple sugars, being polar molecules, attract moisture from the air, bringing it into the cake and making the cake more moist as time goes by.

In the freshly baked product, there is a crunch to  the edges, but as you bite in, the soft, nutty flavour of the cake is so delicious that the burn from the hot, sweet honey doesn't prevent you from taking the next bite. 

Dinner: salmon, chicken satay, pumpkin

Image 1: (Clockwise from top left) Stir-fried bok choi, satay chicken, steamed butternut pumpkin, white rice and pan-fried salmon

Basic bread using tangzhong (湯種)

Image 1: Breads and scrolls made using tangzhong method

The Tangzhong Method 湯種


Tangzhong (湯種) is a “flour roux”, the secret ingredient to making Asian breads so soft and fluffy. E.g. Bread top bread. Apparently, it can do this because gluten is able to absorb moisture best at 65°C, hence allowing the resulting bread loaf/recipe to keep moist for days when incorporated into bread dough.

Recipe

Adapted from Christine's recipes (great home cook and blogger!) http://en.christinesrecipes.com/2010/03/japanese-style-bacon-and-cheese-bread.html

Ingredients of 湯種
This amount is enough to make two loafs:
50gm/ 1/3 cup bread flour
250ml/ 1cup water (could be replaced by milk, or 50/50 water and milk)