Chinese Desserts….will always hold a soft spot in my heart

As the temperature gets warmer....eat something cold!

As an Americanized Chinese girl born in the US, I would have chosen frozen yogurt or an ice cream sundae any day/night of the week. Lately, my experience and time spent in asia has made me question my choices for sweets more carefully. After my almost 9 month stint in hong kong, I have grown to really like Cantonese desserts and even crave them at times. This next feature is no exception.

Shaved Ice- The Taiwanese call it 刨冰 in pin yin bao bing, in Korean it is known as 빙수 or bingsu for its phoenetic pronunciation, ais kacang in malay or “abc “ for short.

However, no matter where you find this sweet, it is always created the same way; a large mound of shaved ice filled with toppings like jellies, red bean, tapioca, black pearls, condensed milk, fruit, coconut….etc etc…

This particular establishment in hong kong I visited uses the same concept as the traditional shaved ice in shape but chooses to embark on the new and modern approach for “bean curd textured shaved ice” as can be read about in a previous entry of this blog while mixing and matching western and eastern toppings like lychee jelly and banana or krispy cereal and kiwi.

Here are 3 particular flavors that I have tried:

a) Horlicks- which is a powder that is made into a malt beverage made popular in hong kong and can resemble the taste of ovaltine. – with wheat, strawberries, sweet dumplings, and crystal jelly.
b) Chocolate- with marshmallows, lychee jelly, and banana
c) Peanut- with sweet dumplings, kiwi, and krispy cereal of some form.

Cheers! and happy eating!

Seafood on Lamma

Dinner of May 21s t at Lamma Island- Buddha Day and also the birthday of two close friends. Generally speaking for the vast majority of Hong Kong Islanders, there is no such thing as "engaging in outdoor recreational activities". This dinner is a result of a 1 hour trek through a paved island-like town (think Lost meets South American Rainforest), a very polluted beach and slightly elevated mountain/hills. The scenery was beautiful but I was more concentrated on how to get rid of the swarming mosquitoes headed for my bare and exposed legs!

This Island according to some outside knowledge from my mom used to be a fishing town and thus, much of the food sources on this island focus on seafood. Which is exactly what dinner was, an abundance of protein sources without any form or.. almost no form of carbs minus beer.

And without further delay.. onto the food! As an apology beforehand, some of the first few dishes were taken after people picked at the plate hence the un- aesthetically pleasing (sp?)

1. Salt/pepper battered Calamari
2. Sweet and Sour Pork w. pineapple, and red and green peppers
3. Steamed Shrimp w. choice of soysauce, chilli oil, or red vinegar
4. Lobster Tail sautéed in a butter sauce with onions
5. Fish Fillets w. sugar snap peas, carrots and celery.
6. Various forms of mushroom and steamed broccoli
7. a hodge podge of fish parts w. green onions and scallions???
8. Roast Chicken w. Crispy Skin
9. Steamed GeoDuck with minced garlic and vermicelli
10. Black Pepper battered crab on a bed of lettuce

Food Commentary:
While Everything was extremely tasty after you are famished from walking for an hour, there are only a few dishes that stood out in this meal; the lobster tail, and steamed geoduck.

3. Steamed Lobster Tail sautéed in butter sauce with onions- Perhaps nostalgia plays a key in this comment but the lobster reminded me of the lobsters that I ate as a kid growing up on the east coast. Sweet, firm and tender meat- The butter sauce was a bit too heavy for my liking but provides a hearty addition to the sweet meat.

9. Steamed Geoduck- this addition to my food vocabulary is relatively new to me particularly because of its odd appearance. As a kid, I once regarded them as the giant clam with the elephant trunk nose… but now looking at them now.. they resemble something else… you can look them up if you are curious for its appearance.

Many can compare the texture similar to that of abalone, the more expensive choice. The best and most descriptive way to describe the texture of geoduck is a chewy almost rubber-like sweet solid….i would compare it to the conch but a bit less crunchy in texture. This restaurant in particular, steamed the geoduck, and cooked with garlic vermicelli. This is by far, my favorite dish of the night but I have a strong appreciation for the taste of geoduck and garlic and vermicelli what’s not to like? The garlic was a bit on the strong side, so perhaps only enjoyed for its full flavor if you are a garlic lover.

Cheers! and happy eating!

Cookies, Jello, puddings...

END POST:

Cheers! and happy eating!

postres, desserts, sweets :)

** A few desserts worthy of mentioning: greentea mousse, lychee panna cotta, and black sesame cake.

greentea mousse- Usually i think mousses are too creamy but this one provided a good median between a watery consistency and being too creamy. The greentea was also extremely fragrant without overpowering with artificial flavors. A good light refreshing treat.. in small quantities of course.

black sesame cake( Picture 2)- After being in Hong Kong for 9 months, i believe my taste buds have sort of adjusted to more ethnic flavors and have come to really love the taste of black sesame. Black sesame is used in many Cantonese desserts especially glutinous rice balls filled with black sesame, black sesame paste, and Starbucks has even vamped their asian coffee shops to carry "Black Sesame Green Tea Soy Latte"... which i have actually had the pleasure of trying and it was delicious... but onto the black sesame cake. This particular cake, shaped like mickey's face was an east meets west creation. The consistency of the cake was more mousse like than cake like but the texture of the black sesame and the cake complimented each other quite well and while a problem many desserts have,this one did not. It was semi sweet without being too sweet and artificial tasting.

Lychee Panna Cotta(Picture 1)- My favorite, dessert of the night would have to be the lychee panna cotta. Perhaps, my taste buds were a bit biased because i love lychee, and i love panna cotta... so what's not to love about the combination of the two? Not too creamy and rich like most panna cottas tend to be but a light almost flan- like consistency although there are no eggs used to make panna cotta and a refreshing light lychee flavor with bits of lychee.yumm!

entrees, steamed goodies, sushi...

Buffet Continued...

Clarification:
the 1st picture is actually hot pot/sukiyaki, where there were two soups offered: one was a pork bone clear based, and one was sukiyaki Japanese style with soy sauce. There are various hot sauces, chill oils, sauce, green onions, chives, onions, and garlic to choose from.

the 3rd picture is the Curry Station.... They had your standard chicken and potato yellow curry, green curry, vendaloo and lastly a personal favorite of mine...butter chicken. Naan was also provided to dip the various forms of curry with.

the last picture depicts all the various forms of items that can be added to the "make your own noodles.... mostly Chinese noodles. Everything from golden mushrooms, to shitake mushrooms, to squid, fishballs, etc.

Hk Disneland Buffet- Hollywood Hotel

Buffets require no introduction. Long tables filled with seafood(sashimi, crab, shrimp), poultry(roasted duck, chicken, bbq pork),meats(carving stations with roast beef, turkey), make your own noodles, steamed delciousness(hk and shanghainese style buns),entrees(mixture of meats with vegetables), and of course.. last but not least desserts.

Desserts can be sorted into cakes, mini pastries(torts, tarts, mousses, etc), jello/puddings,cookies of various kinds, fruits and chocolate fondue fountain. My entire family in Hong Kong on both parents' side decided to have a pre-mother's day dinner at the Hollywood Hotel in Disneyland HK the weekend before mother's day to avoid rush and packed restaurants. Here's the food we had, straight down the line....