this and that - hong kong 2012, part 2

queen's road in central early morning

this and that - hong kong 2012, part 1

Sorry for the rather lame title. For the first time I am just at a lost of an appropriate title for this post. This is a collection of things that caught my eyes. Some bordering on design and commercial art.

lin heung lau 蓮香樓

This is one of the few Cantonese restaurants left in Hong Kong that preserves the traditional appearance, operation, and most importantly the taste of the food especially when it comes to dim sum. If you want to experience the dim sum 點心 experience of what once upon a time ubiquitous Cantonese tea restaurant 茶樓 during the colonial era Lin Heung Lau 蓮香樓 and the nearby Luk Yu Tea Room 陸羽茶室 are about it. The very well appointed Luk Yu Tea Room 陸羽茶室 however has always been a very exclusive establishment catered to the well heeled businessmen in the Central District. Lin Heung Lau 蓮香樓 on the other hand are for the everyday people.

dai pai dong 大牌檔

In a recent trip to Hong Kong I wanted to visit some dai pai dong 大牌檔 that are not in the tourist beaten paths. I seek out a small cluster in Sham Shui Po. While dai pai dongs used to be ubiquitous in Hong Kong decades ago now there are only few remaining. There is a resurgence of dai pai dongs in recent years due to the rekindled interest of the local people and tourists. These new dai pai has improved sanitation and are constructed with revised modern design and material like stainless steel.

korean cold noodles

I am not too crazy about entree that is served cold. May be is just I am aware that our taste receptors don't work as well in cold. Case in point, you have to add much more sugar in a cold drink such as ice coffee to taste the same sweetness than if you drink the same coffee hot. Likewise in Northern China there are appetizers that are served cold. To make them tasty the flavor and seasoning have to be more concentrated than if you serve them hot.

curry chicken and glutinous rice in banana leaf

I have 2 groves of banana plants in my property. When I first bought the house I was so surprised to see a grove of banana plant in the backyard. I had no idea that it is possible for banana plant to survive in mild Pacific Northwest. In the first winter everything above wilted from winter freeze. The blustery weather in late fall also tends to batter the leaves.

I would learn that despite how sad the plants look, new shoots would spout each spring, and the new growths of the year would reach great height by the end of the summer. I took some small shoots together with enough rhizome and planted a grove in the front yard.
leaves battered by the blustery autumn storms

I get a lot of surprised remarks from passerbys and neighbours alike. A few weeks ago I gave away a few shoots to a passerby so he and his wife too can have banana plants in their yard. They were very happy.

new coat for brunnhilde

I have been considering buying a cover for Brunnhilde ever since summer. The thought of manhandling such a large cover on the 11 feet high vehicle have been the cause of my indecision.

From my research the class B RV cover sold on eBay by elitecarcovers that claims to fit Airstream Westfalia looks most promising. Reading between the lines I suspected it is a generic class B RV cover. It was $225.52 with $20 shipping.

Seeing the vendor's name I thought I would see if it has a website outside of eBay. Sure enough it does. Trouble is they only have one type of class B RV cover, and there is no mention it is the same one sold on eBay. There are 4 sizes with identical width, height, but different length. I suspected that the shortest one must be the same one on eBay. It is $20 cheaper and with free shipping - a net $40 saving it is the same cover.

Months passed and now it is rainy seasons here. I decided to give them a call. A Hispanic sounding lady answered the call and I immediately cut to the chase on my question. She acknowledged it is the same cover. I expressed some reservation on it fitting the 11 feet tall camper. She checked her purchase history of the Airstream Westfalia and said she did not see any reported problem. Knowing with only 250 in the US I would be wasting my time expecting they have actually outfitted one on it.

While the cover's 117" height is much shy of 132" actual height of the vehicle I was counting the camper's narrower width than the cover's 84" width would allow the cover to drape down a few more inches to make up on the apparent dimension deficit. The other main concern is the protruded bump of the high top front. However I figure the 20 feet length of the cover for the actual 18.5 feet vehicle length would give extra slop to accommodate the bump. I ordered the cover online.

minced beef fried rice 生炒牛肉飯

This is a very common and popular dish in a restaurant that serves Cantonese cuisine in Hong Kong. In the old days in these restaurant there is only a few dishes of fried rice. This minced beef fried rice 生炒牛肉飯 and Yangzhou fried rice 楊州炒飯 are always on the menu.

kimchi and pork lian gao 炒年糕

Sticky rice cake is eaten in many Asian cultures. It is called lian gao (or lin go in Cantonese) 年糕 in Mandarin. It is made with flour of glutenous rice (sticky rice). Here in Oregon I found the best quality ones are from Korean stores. While they are exactly like the Chinese one, the Korean ones always have a slanted cut instead of straight cut.

paella

I had long wanted to learn to make paella. Watching how it is made in travel shows intimidated me as they always show you some Spanish chefs prepared it in an open fire with only twigs as fuel. Also I discovered that an online purveyor of Spanish food is more than happy to sell you everything you would need to make paella.

Like many cooking it is best to just do it and learn from your mistake. I decided to plunge in with both feet. Paella is remarkably similar to Chinese clay pot rice though the ingredients and technique in preparing them are different.

deep fried taro biscuit 炸芋頭餅

One of my passion on food is to recreate a number of memorable street snacks I loved in my youth, or those I encountered during my overseas travel.

Taro is eaten in most if not all Asian cultures. Taro 芋頭 comes in different sizes from tiny ones smaller than chicken egg to big ones weighting in a few pounds. They are not always good to eat and picking the delicious one may be a challenge. The good eating one should not be too powdery that tastes dry. It should have some glue like consistency but yet a bit powdery.

steamed big head vegetable with beef 大頭菜篜午肉

One of my recent passion in cooking of Chinese cuisine is to visit dishes that have very little exposure outside of Asia. Many of these are popular regional dishes ate by families at home. While you may find them in some restaurants they are more like home cooking.

Recently I was shopping at my Asian seafood store. The shop lady has this salted vegetable that caught my eye each time I shop there. Problem is each package are bigger than I want to keep at home. It is a preserved root vegetable called dai tao choy 大頭菜 - translates as big head vegetable. It is really just a kind of big turnip called kohlrabi preserved in a lot of salt. The thought of using it to make a very savory dish nudged me to buy a 2.25 lb package.

this is a half of salted kohlrabi weight in at 2.25 lb

steamed monkfish

I at times see this fish and for the longest time curious how it taste. I think it is a small monkfish. The Asian grocery stores rarely have them. They are fresh but not live. I decide to give one a try.
i brought it home and clean it myself - it is now ready to go into a steamer

steel coatrack

I have been wanting an upright coatrack a very long time. To my amazement it is impossible to find an acceptable one that looks good and functional here in the US.

I decided to make my own. I want one that can hold many jackets or coats. It must be stable. I set out to design a simple one that has the form follows function attributes.

takoyaki たこ焼き

I have been digging my food photographs. I found these from 2 years ago making takoyaki たこ焼きfor the first time. It all started from my shopping at the local Korean supermarket H-Mart. I came across this very inexpensive cast iron takoyaki mold. I snapped it up, and bought the needed ingredients to give it a try.

stir fry of grouper and celery - 斑片炒西芹

If you are a foodie that like Chinese food you would enjoy the endless variety of casual entrées called 少菜.They are affordable and represents some of the best of Chinese cooking.

This dish is very simple. It is made with grouper and celery. Like most casual entrées 少菜 it is intended to be eaten with a bowl of white rice.
stir fry of grouper and celery - 斑片炒西芹

chinese fluffy noodle 伊麵

Rice and wheat both are the most important staples of Chinese (as well as many Asian cultures) diet. Rice consumption is higher in the south while wheat are consumed more in the north. China has countless variety of noodles made of different grains including wheat, rice, and even beans.

In this post I made dishes with a fluffy wheat noodle. In Chinese it is called 伊麵 (pronounced as yie mein). This noodle is made with wheat flour and baking powder and then deep fried to give it a very airy texture. Because of the additional steps by weight it is more expensive than other noodles.

brunnhilde's fire extinguisher

Ever since I bought Brunnhilde there is this mystery bracket on the base of the driver seat by the door.

I was quite sure it is for mounting a fire extinguisher. I have been wanting to find a good size fire extinguisher with a compatible bracket awhile. Recently shopping at Costco I found this 5lb ABC extinguisher on sale. I have considered buying it in the past and the discount just push me to make the purchase decision.

high cuisine - shark fin 魚翅

Shark fin has been used as ingredient in luxury dishes in Chinese haute cuisine. It was served in the most special occasions such as wedding banquets and meals in the imperial palaces. During my youth growing up in Hong Kong my parents would bring us to wedding banquets of our friends and relatives. It was only in these special occasions where dishes with shark fins were served. Typically the shark fins are prepared as a viscous and tasty soup. This soup is most often served among the 10 or so entrees during a banquet.
shark fin photo from wikipedia

a very large shark fin on display at a shark fin soup restaurant in the Tokyo Station

chinese casual entrées 少菜

In Chines cuisine the verity of dishes that good eateries serve typically are called 少菜, translates as small dish. A more accurate translation would be casual entrées. They are meant to be good and affordable. These are what you would order when you go out to a restaurant with your friends or family. You would order many dishes of 少菜 and shares with your company - often eaten with a bowl of "steamed" rice and drinks.

Most good restaurants would have their list of signature 少菜 dishes they do well. The regular customers know which are. Also the dishes rotates with the season and the availability of the ingredients. Very often there are hand written signs on the walls listing the current in-season dishes.

seasonal dish of  少菜 posted on the wall - this is a very fancy one; most would not have a picture frame

 a couple of dishes of 少菜