February 6, 2017 In All recipes, Seafood, Snacks, updated recipe

DIM SUM MONTH: Crystal shrimp dumpling w/ shrimp oil mayo

[ezcol_1half] EXACTLY WHAT DIM SUM IS SUPPOSED TO, BUT SOMEHOW FORGOTTEN TO BE, LITERALLY, AS TO TOUCH HEART [/ezcol_1half] [ezcol_1half_end] Welcome to DIM SUM MONTH! WHAT:  I'm dedicating this whole month to the delicate art that is dim sum. WHY:  I'm slowly and painfully realizing how scarce a good, thoughtful and delicious dim sum can be.  Even in Hong Kong - the supposedly promised land of dim sum - I found my expectation being shattered with sloppy, tired, and borderline unethical display of dimness.  Frankly, I'm fed up. HOW:  Just as unfamiliar as most of you are in terms of making dim sum, I'm going to show you that it is possible for us to create these little baskets of happiness at home.  We are going to take each conventional dim sum item, and mix them with a bit of thoughtfulness and fun.  Almost every items can be made ahead of time, and hopefully at the end of the month, we'll be able to host our own dim sum party that is more awesome than most. Let's start with the classic of the classics - crystal shrimp dumplings. We are going to correct all of its frequently ignored mistakes: soggy and texture-less wrappers, and frankly, boringness.  This recipe will yield a wrapper that

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September 20, 2016 In All recipes, Noodle/Pasta/Rice, Poultry, updated recipe

SUPPLE SLOW-COOKED SOY SAUCE CHICKEN RICE

[ezcol_1half] Sometimes ideas arise upon the complete rejection of another.  This recipe is a perfect example of such. The other day (I say "the other day" a lot, which really means "last year"), I was watching this video on YouTube, a michelin-starred chef explaining how to make his "perfect roast chicken".  Curious, so I watched, as he demonstrated with a straight face on how he cooks his chicken slowly inside a low-temperature oven for 4 hours, then afterwards, finish browning the skin inside a skillet, and after which, injecting the chicken with melted butter. I mean, is this guy serious? I don't even know where to begin.  First of all, the whole notion that one could crisp up a whole, uncut chicken inside a skillet is basically again the laws of physics.  The extremely curvy and maneuvering silhouette of a chicken is exactly the reason why people resort to a three-dimensional heat source to tackle it in the first place.  Steaks, flat.  Chickens, curvy.  Simple logic.  Is he Doctor Manhattan?  Did his pure geniuses allow him to leap into another dimension of space and time to warp his chicken to the skillet?  Of course not!  That patchy-browned chicken looked like it just suffered from a skin-graft.  But you

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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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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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January 14, 2015 In All recipes, Noodle/Pasta/Rice, Seafood

MACAO’S PORTUGUESE FRIED RICE GRATIN

[ezcol_1half] CAN'T-STOP-WON'T-STOP MESS-ON-A-PLATE, WITH FLAVOURS THAT WELD PERFECTLY INTO YOUR NEXT WEEK-NIGHT REGULARS   [/ezcol_1half] [ezcol_1half_end] There are some women, whose problem is that they never believe they have what it takes to put together an IKEA coffee table.  Then, there are those such as myself.  Who hold unexplained and relentless faith in their own physical strength.  Who ask, how hard can it be?  Who practically built every single bed-bath-and-beyond in her apartment, with chapped unpolished nails and a can of diet coke.  And who, sometimes, get cocky. If you ask me now, I would tell you I have absolutely no idea whatsoever, on why on earth did I think I had the same skills as a professional large-scale furniture builder/wood carpenter, which must be how I felt when I bought 3 colossally humongous, solid wood, antique courtyard doors that I thought I could turn into a dinning table with nothing but a mini screwdriver?  Why

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