April 5, 2016 In All recipes, Meat, Snacks

Your Next Perfect Porchetta Sandwich is from Chinatown

[ezcol_1half] I guess I am currently in the middle of what one would call, a blogger limbo. We have "officially" moved out of Beijing, so to speak.  But in the next 3 weeks when our apartment is under renovation, we are going to be staying in a hotel where the closest thing to a cooking vessel is the bathroom sink with hot tap water (hotel sous vide?).  How do I create something delicious when the mere act of making fruit smoothies posts challenges?  Then I realised, the answer lies just around every corner in this city. Cantonese-style roast pork.  Something as abundant in Hong Kong as Starbucks are in New York.  This awesome thing, is everywhere.  Even if you didn't live here, chances are you've seen it in your nearest Chinatown, a staple in Cantonese cuisines. Typically served with rice, which I've always had my doubt on.  I mean, it is a great piece of roast pork, with salty yet juicy flesh and gloriously blistered skins.  But on its own, and paired with yellow mustard, in my opinion, it just isn't the most flattering companion for steamed rice.   It is however, the most perfect yet most under-utilized sandwich candidate, practically an half-way porchetta sandwich. [/ezcol_1half]

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March 15, 2016 In All recipes, Condiments, Meat

THE PUNCH-IT BURGER AND HOUSTON, WE’RE READY TO TAKE OFF

[ezcol_1half] I’ve waited six years… wow, six… to say this son-of-a-bitch line. I’ve imagined saying it while beating its saggy ass with a whip rubbed with the most homicidal Mexican chilis as it wriggles in pain.  I’ve imagined saying it while twisting its balls with electrically charged clamps as it howls in my upmost amusement.  I’ve imagined saying it while watching, ever so pleasurably, as its ugliest face twisted angrily into an even uglier version of itself if that’s even grammatically possible. I’ve imagined, for six years… wow, six… to say this line with a fuck-you. And now, when the time has finally come, I can only feel it exhaling through the gaps of the keyboard, in a long heavy breath of bittersweet… We’re leaving Beijing. Can… can I say that again? We are.  Leaving.  Beijing. Yes, leave, move away, to Hong Kong if that’s important to mention, but more importantly the point is, out of Beijing.  I mentioned last week that I have “eeeewge news” to break it to you, but truth is, this is more than news.  It is a long-awaited, mental or physical, release.  Why is it such a big deal?  Well, I know, I know that the context of my predicament hasn’t been thoroughly

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January 21, 2016 In All recipes, Dairy, Meat, Seafood, Snacks, Travel

MADRID, plus how to throw a tapas party

[ezcol_1half] In the past few years, for more times than I'd like to admit, I have allowed myself to dance dangerously around a question that is as simple as it is complicated, as imaginable as it is hopeless, a secret irritation that haunts us all who have ever fell in love with a corner of this beautiful land they call Europe, but had to depart soon after. You know you ask yourself this, we all do. Why. Why can't I live here? EVERY SIMPLE DELIGHTS FROM EVERY ASPECTS OF LIVING, RESTRAINED IN SMALL SERVINGS, BUT CONSTANT, AND IT DOESN'T STOP COMING It's a cliche, of course, for someone who doesn't know or has travelled to Europe that much. But is that what romance requires, muchness? From the first time I landed a foot in Paris back in spring 2012, around the time when I just started this blog up till now, I have only been to a handful of European cities and each affair lasted no more than a week. And yet, the immense imagery of lost stories behind every architectures and cobble streets, the courage I seek to enjoy life with ease that they breath daily as a

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January 8, 2016 In All recipes, Meat, mobile slider, Seafood, Snacks

LISBON, PLUS SURF’N TURF PORK BELLY AND SHRIMP SAUSAGE SANDWICH

[ezcol_1third] After what seemed as long as forever, but now, feels as short as a blink of an eye, five weeks of traveling in and out of 6 different countries, I am now, finally, back home. It is difficult, if not impossible, to sum up a journey as long as this one in one post.  It began in Hong Kong, then Taipei then back to Hong Kong, then it departed towards London, then Madrid, and Lisbon, then finally, passing by Germany, back to Hong Kong, then back to Beijing.  It was a zig-zaging montage of cityscapes, sounds, smells, flavours, stimulations… but also disorientations, sense of aimless drifts, dubbed by a relentless seasonal flu somewhere at end.  How do I tell such a story I have no clue.  I suspect I would be inadequate but I shall try. I shall try, starting with Lisbon. Why Lisbon?  I don’t know.  I guess there are moments in life that didn’t feel particularly monumental at the times, but somehow, years and years later, they stay with you whenever you feel like looking back.  Lisbon, in the best sense, felt as such.  There are cities where we go to feel the future.  New York, London, places that strut at

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December 7, 2015 In All recipes, Dairy, Meat, Noodle/Pasta/Rice

SPICY CURED YOLK RICE BOWL

[ezcol_1third][/ezcol_1third] [ezcol_1third][/ezcol_1third] [ezcol_1third_end] PRECIOUS, SALTY, SPICY LUMPS OF LAVA-LIKE LIQUID-GOLDS [/ezcol_1third_end] [ezcol_1third][/ezcol_1third] [ezcol_1third][/ezcol_1third] [ezcol_1third_end] OK, so if you also read this article from not-so-long ago, and a little naughty idea got wrapped around your head like the most annoying holiday jingle, I'm here to tell you, the resistance is futile.  Cured yolks.  Thickened, jam-like, salty and sticky cured yolks. Does it work?  Yes.  And it's easy. Look, obviously, the idea of dehydrating a yolk for 10 to 12 hours until it becomes the consistency of its soft-cooked self, infused with the deep savouriness of soy sauce and whatnots, is only going to entice the most devoted of yolk-fanatics.  But even if you weren't previously a follower of this particular cult - sunny side up, poached, soft boiled, and none of it did the trick - this particular recipe might just be the one that finally converts you to the other side. For one, it's extremely easy to make.  On top of that, infinitely adaptable. [/ezcol_1third_end] [ezcol_1third][/ezcol_1third] [ezcol_1third][/ezcol_1third] [ezcol_1third_end] The process involves nothing more than whisking a handful of ingredients together as the "curing liquid", then leaving the yolks inside this "love potion" to make their magic.  The curing liquid can be, as suggested by NYTimes, a combination of soy sauce, konbu

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November 29, 2015 In All recipes, Meat, Snacks

MACAO’S PORK CHOP PINEAPPLE BUN

[ezcol_1fifth]  [/ezcol_1fifth] [ezcol_3fifth] IT CAN'T BE RIGHT.  IT SHOUDN'T BE RIGHT. BUT IT MIRACULOUSLY IS. History had it, that whenever two polar opposite cultures are smashed together, often under reluctant or even violent circumstances, despite hardships and losses, something mutated but beautiful eventually comes out at the other end.  That something, is usually food. No doubt that America has its unspeakable history from the time of slavery, but what was left from its ugliness, was the unapologetic creole and cajun.  Taiwan's predominantly Fujian and kejia culture (derived from China's southern coast) adjusted to 50 years of Japanese rule by nurturing an uniquely categorized cuisine all of its own, which, some say, may be the last-standing pride of this politically fading island.  So on

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