老點點心竹筒飯 - A local Chinese dim sum place with extraordinary creativity

I was casually looking for a lunch place in MK and this dim sum resto caught my attention.  老點點心竹筒飯 has a funny name as "老點" in HK layman slang means "misguiding", the owner must be either very confident or very humorous to have named the restaurant this way :P

I did get to try some creative dim sums at 老點, no misguidance if you follow their recommendations haha! The food was okay not bad but you should expect more fun than delicious if you plan to eat in there~

Here are some dim sums I tried -

炸蝦小漢堡- the deep fried shrimp mini burgers are interesting with wasabi mayonnaise, the buns are pretty good too

海蝦肉餅竹筒飯- It tastes just like any other 盅飯...but it has red rice mixed in which adds a 'plus' to a 'B'

黑松露上素水晶球- could barely taste the truffle, not bad but just didn't meet with expectation

脆皮麥心小煎堆(麥提莎煎堆)- to be honest it's quite impressive to have the whole piece of Maltesers enclosed in a nicely done 煎堆, tho the taste of Maltesers doesn't go too well with its crust. It would be lovely if it's with custard stuffing :)

鮮上肉響鈴腸- forgive me I am a fan of 響鈴 so I'd say it's undoubtedly better than 炸兩~

老點點心竹筒飯
Address: Shop A, G/F, Lisa House, 12-14A Yim Po Fong Street, Mongkok
Tel: 2398 9992

Fiat Caffe - By an Italian car brand truly deserves to be liked

The Fiat brand philosophy is to produce cars with attractive styling and exciting engines, cars that are accessible and improve the quality of everyday life...blah blah blah...but Fiat seems to be one of the few car brands that walks the talk, and bothers to extend its brand experience to even non-drivers, ingeniously, by running a restaurant, Fiat Caffe, in its showroom.

What's more intriguing is that, Fiat might have foreseen "showrooming" as a new fashion in consumer behavior since years back, and decided to make the brand name and their cars "sticky" to people who visit them in the showroom. Putting a chic-looking Fiat 500 by GUCCI in the middle of the restaurant is a cool enough idea for diners to take a good look while enjoying a meal or drinking coffee next to it. (reminds me of attending the Geneva Auto Show some years ago...good old times)

There is a sales office in the back of the restaurant. If you appreciate up-selling with a touch of Italian humor, here I recommend you take the "Most Expensive Coffee in the World" - coming with an Abarth 695 Tributo Ferrari (HK$799,888).

I wasn't exactly craving for a car so it's a regular cappuccino I had with illy espresso in it :P

The food was classic Italian and tasty, here are some I recommend:

Ricotta and Fig Salad - The subtle sweetness of figs compote and honey complement well the light fresh arugula and ricotta cheese. Interesting texture mix of creamy fluffy ricotta with crispy salad leaves.

Baked Potato Skins - Baked half potatoes with the core part removed and stuffed with minced beef, topped with cheese. Crispy and substantial~ it makes perfect food for HH :D

Wild Mushroon Truffle with Trofie - Thick mushroom cream sauce with overflowing mushroom aroma... I can't tell if the sauce was too thick with heavy cream or the truffle fragrance was too strong, the sauce was a bit heavy for the palate, but it's very tasty overall. Trofies were lovely and chewy too ;)

Very decent quality food and ingredients (esp. the salad, really fresh for all components). Two of us paid about $200 each for those above including coffee, nice price for this quality!


Fiat Caffe
Address: Shop G5-G6, Leighton Centre, 77 Leighton Road, Causeway Bay
Tel: 2808 4777

Macau Soul - A Portuguese wine paradise

Nice Portuguese wine lounge near the Ruins of St. Paul's (大三巴)!! 

We opened a bottle of Quinta do Crasto Douro 2008 Reserva, I am no expert in wines but what I can only tell is this is a blend red wine with 35 grape varieties, which is produced by one of the very best wineries in Portugal. You could tell from first sip it's a wine to enjoy but not to drink. It is full bodied, intense, complex and fruity in taste, and very smooth to the palate.

The owner David told us Macau Soul is the only place in Macau that sells this wine. It only costed us MOP350, which it's normally sold at over HKD2,000 in restaurants in HK!! Such a great value of money for this quality! The prices for other wines (only Portuguese) are friendly too. You could get a good wine at under MOP200 and spend an evening there. But I'm sure you will not limit yourselves to only tasting wines coz. they have delicious home made food, and generous portion of cheese plates too! 

This is David decanting the wine (he and his wife, Jacky, are enthusiasts in travelling and photography, and of course in wines too!).

We managed to ask for a Pecan and dried fruit cake served with double scoops of homemade vanilla ice cream and a splash of Jack Daniel...omg...speechless!

One last tip, call in advance to visiting to make sure they are open and make reservation. David and Jacky run the lounge themselves but this lovely old couple travels a lot!

Macau Soul 澳感廊

Address : 大三巴街31A

Tel : (853) 2836 5182,(853) 6686 2205

URL: www.macausoul.com

Recipe: Strawberry Custard Tarts...totally irresistible!

In this festive season full of laughter and joy, what would you associate the color red with? Santa Claus? Presents? Christmas party? For me, red is the color of festival, happiness and energy, and it just so happened to be the color of a couple of my favorite fruits too! Aww...just take a look at these beautiful strawberry custard tarts... tell me if you know anybody who won't get fanatical seeing red like this- a shrink may well be needed :P

So here is the recipe of this cheerful and luscious dessert that could stir up your festival mood right away (yea! put even more brandy in :P)~ try this for New Year ^^

Strawberry Custard Tart (yields 6 - 5" tarts)

Ingredients:

- 3 dozens Strawberries (6 on top of each tart - variable depending on personal preference)

- 6 thin slices vanilla-flavored chiffon cake (Optional - for placing inside the custard layer)

Tart base

- 80g unsalted butter (soft to touch at room temperature)

- 150g cake flour

- 35g sugar

- 1 egg yolk

- 2g salt

Custard

Part A)

- 300ml milk

Part B)

- 2 egg yolks

- 60g sugar

Part C)

- 50g cake flour

- 10g corn starch

- 100ml milk

Part D)

- 30g unsalted butter

- 20ml brandy (or rum) <-- Trust me this can't be skipped!!

Gelatin dressing (this is optional but it's so much more shiny and bubbly with the dressing on!!)

- 2 tbl spoon gelatin powder

- 20ml warm water

- 50g strawberry jam 

Alternative: simply crush approx. 8 fresh strawberries and cook with 40g sugar and 2 tbl spoon lemon juice)

Method:

Tart shells

1. Beat butter till creamy

2. Add in sugar, salt, egg yolk and mix well

3. Sieve in cake flour in two batches and knead the dough by folding and pressing forward by hand until consistently combined

4. Wrap the dough in plastic wraps and place in freezer for 30min

5. Lightly flour the table surface 

6. Pre-heat oven at 180°C

7. Take out a small dough ball and place in the centre of the tart mold 

8. Spread out and press the dough against the sides of the mold with even thickness

9. Trim around the top of the rim to make the tart shell clean looking inside the mold

10. Poke around the tart mold with a fork
11. Bake for 20min until golden color (cover the tarts with aluminium foil if becoming too dark)
12. Let the shell cool and dry

Custard

1. Bring the milk in Part A into simmer
2. Sieve and mix the cake flour and corn starch in Part C
3. Pour in the 100ml milk in Part C into the flour mix, stir to mix
4. Beat the egg yolks and sugar in Part B
5. Mix the combined Part C into Part B
6. Pour the hot milk of Part A slowly into the B+C mixture, stir to mix
7. Heat the mixture with low heat, keep stirring until just thickened then leave the heat immediately
8. Stir in butter and brandy in Part D for the flavor

9. Let the custard cool and then refrigerate for 20min, covered with plastic wrap

Build the tart!
1. Take out the tart shells from the molds (better place each in separate dish to avoid too much transferring when it comes to serve - just to lower the risk :P)
2. Spread a thin layer of custard in the shells
3. Place a thin slice of chiffon cake on each shell

4. Fill the remaining wells of the tarts with custard
5. Decorate with fresh strawberries :)

Gelatin dressing
1. Melt the gelatin powder in hot water
2. Mix in the jam
3. Drizzle carefully on the strawberries without letting it overflow down the outside of the tart shells 

Each tart is good for one or two to share~ perfect for this time of the year that encourages giving and sharing :) Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2014! <3

Chiffon cake recipe - so easy and versatile you will get addicted to making it!

This time of the year is like honeymoon - work is less crazy, I got annual leave days to clear, Christmas and New Year are around - meaning more holidays, and the main point is - finally I got some real leisure time to enjoy myself yay! :DD

So I made 2 variations of chiffon cakes in a row this weekend - one with bananas + dried cranberries, another with cinnamon poached pears & apples (omg it's the taste of Christmas!). Chiffon cake is relatively light as it doesn't contain butter~ so yea I guess I won't become a 肥妹 yet after this long weekend :D

This recipe I followed can yield spongy yet substantial cake texture, and it won't be too sweet (just the right sweetness I like) - the flavor is up to your choice of fruits/ ingredients and here are two types you can try~

Banana and cranberry chiffon cake

(8" cake pan - serves 4-6)

Ingredients:                     

- 5 eggs (separate yolks and whites)

- 60g sugar (10g for flour mix*; 50g for egg white foam**)

- 40g olive oil (or vegetable oil)

- 90g cake flour (or 60g cake flour + 30g wheat flour)

- 1/2 lemon (for juice)

- 2-3 bananas (crushed and have 1/4 teaspoon lemon juice added)

- 30g dried cranberries

Method:

1. Pre-heat oven at 160°C

*Flour mix

2. Mix the egg yolks with 10g sugar

3. Add in olive oil 

4. Stir in crushed bananas

5. Sieve and add in cake flour, stir till all mixed

*Egg white foam

6. Beat the egg white till a bit foamy

7. Add in 50g sugar and 1 teaspoon of lemon juice in 2 batches 

8. Keep beating till the foam is firm and smooth, and be able to form soft peaks

Get ready for the bake!

9. Fold in egg white foam into the flour mix in 3 batches

10. Add dried cranberries to the mix

11. Pour the melange into the cake pan and send it off to the oven for 50 minutes (at 160°C)

Enjoy watching the lovely cake puff up and get bronzed~

To serve:

12. Insert a toothpick into the center of the cake, if it comes out clean, it's done!

12. Place the cake upside down to cool once it's out of the oven (you could refer to the 2 methods below)

13. Optional: may decorate the cake top with icing sugar, and enjoy with apricot or whatever jam you like

Variation (which replaces bananas if you are not a fan): Spiced apple and pear chiffon cake

Ingredients:

- Same as above, except no bananas and cranberries

- 1 apple & 1 pear (anjou / bosc pear), chopped / finely diced

- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

- 60g sugar

Preparation:

1. Heat 60g sugar and about 2cups (500mL) of water in a saucepan

2. When the sugar has melted and starts to boil, add in chopped apples and pears, and cinnamon

3. Stir and bring the mix to simmer for 20 minutes till the fruits soften

4. Cover the saucepan and let the mixture sit for at least 2 hours (or overnight in the fridge)

5. Right before use, drain excess sugar water, and slightly dry the surfaces of the chopped fruits on a kitchen towel 

Method (95% the same as above, but pay attention to the slight differences~):

Pre-heat oven at 160°C 

*Flour mix - same as above but DON'T add in the fruits yet

 <-- Don't do this! It will moist the batter too much (bad example :P) 

and become this --> 

*Egg white foam - same treatment as above

The last mile before the bake...

1. Pour the flour + egg white melange into the cake pan

2. Drop the chopped fruit into the cake mix evenly (to allow the least time for the fruit chunks to sink to the bottom)

3. Send off to the oven for 50 minutes (at 160°C)

Done! Same serving method as above :)

Bon appetit! Enjoy!

Herbivores - Not only for veggie but also for tasty food lovers

Herbivores topped my mind when choosing a place to farewell my vegetarian colleague, and I hope it succeed in leaving her a tasty memory.

The tablewares were nice-looking, all designed and branded with the restaurant's name. The food was homey and delicious :))) We ordered set lunches that came with a soup/ salad, a main course with 3 choices, a dessert of the day and coffee/ tea, at $128+10%.

Pumpkin Carbonara was phenomenal~the sauce was so pumpkinly and slightly sweet, I couldn't tell if the sweetness was from the pumpkin or seasoning, fragrant mushrooms in it gave the dish a wonderful touch.

The Four Cheeses Pizza had a thin crispy crust. The pizza was cut in a way I was able to roll up short burritos of tasty tomato paste and generous amount of cheeses with arugula :) 

The dessert was yogurt pudding with mango sauce. The sourness was quite a nice finish for the meal.

The restaurant could seat 18-20 ppl, it is probably a cozy venue to throw a decent vegetarian party!

Herbivores

Address: G/F, 35 Staunton Street, SOHO

Tel: 2613 2909

Beachy munchies ;)

A highly recommended snack to bring with you to the beach - a can of frozen pineapple chunks!

Simply freeze the whole can the night before, it will make your beach day so much more wonderful! Just remember to bring a can-opener with you ;)

Enjoy the sun...sand...sea...and some icy juicy pineapples...mmm :)

Spoil Cafe - spoil yourself with no guilt feelings

Star Street Precinct in Wan Chai is famed for restaurants and gourmet. Going further into the neighborhood, you could find even friendlier eateries - Spoil Cafe is one of them. Situated at a little lovely corner on Sun Street, diners could have themselves spoiled by some seriously tasty food.

The ambiance
Spoil is a small restaurant with no more than 20 seats. Despite the small seating area, the high ceiling and full height glass walls create space and make the room look and feel relaxing.

Tiger prawn pasta with Thai style cream sauce
I highly recommend this personally, the sauce resembles the texture of carbonara but with an overwhelming taste of shrimp instead of bacon..absolutely delicious!

 Grilled spring chicken with orange citrus seasoning
The spring chicken was juicy and scrumptious, marinated with an appetizing citrus mix with lemon peel and orange juice.

Their bread loafs were homemade too! Like ciabatta bread but more moist and cake-like, not bad!

Desserts!! Spoil is famous for its crunch cake, but it's so popular that advance reservation is a MUST in order to get a piece...obviously my friend and I didn't due to our impromptu visit >< anyway, the desserts we ordered were delicious too :)

Signature rich chocolate cake & New York cheese cake
New York cheese cake was good, not disappointing, we know it's easier to make tasty NY cheese cakes than awful ones ;) In contrast, the 75% chocolate cake was extraordinary - very rich (didn't get to ask which chocolate they used, Valrhona?), not too sweet and has a lovely texture.

Spoil Cafe, like some of its counterparts in the Star Street Precinct, is good for diners with a quest for good taste, and for those who'd appreciate a relatively quiet neighborhood to take a stroll after dinner.

Spoil Cafe
Address: Shop A, G/F, Shun Ho Building, 1 Sun Street
Tel: 3589 5678

Lab Made Nitrogen Ice-cream - The Art and Science of Forming Ice Crystals

Science is gradually making its way into the world of gourmet, giving rise to molecular cuisines and the fancy terminology called mixology, even to "molecular ice-creams". A year ago, Ronnie and his girlfriend, two UK-graduated pharmacists, gave up their well-paid jobs to open the first nitrogen ice-cream shop in Hong Kong - something thy felt very impressive and passionate for. And the formula justified too, the combination of pharmacists with good understanding of science + experimental spirits + passion for good tastes = Lab Made Nitrogen Ice-cream.

The secret of the smoothness and creaminess of Lab Made's ice-cream is the freezing time. The longer it takes to to freeze ice-cream, the bigger the ice crystals, so the more grainy and icy the texture. Using extremely cold liquid nitrogen at -196℃ to rapidly freeze the ice-creams within only 60 seconds, much smaller ice crystals are resulted, and hence a smoother texture. The vaporization of "boiling" nitrogen at room temperature during the ice-cream production also creates cool visual effects at the open kitchen/ lab.

Not only the texture, the flavors at Lab Made also never fail to impress. Their menu changes every two weeks, creative ice-cream flavors are replaced by even more creative ones, some previous wins include HK Custard Bun (流沙奶皇包!!), purple rice sweet soup (紫米露), super lemon meringue pie, The Big Daddy - whisky chocolate, sea salt caramel...so what's on right now?

9/7 – 21/7 flavors
A – Birthday Cake
B – HK Custard Bun
C – Banocolate Rice Crispies
D – Blueberry Breakfast

Another thing that impresses me is that, Lab Made's scientists don't hide in a lab inventing new flavors, they are indeed aggressive in marketing and bringing out their inventions to the public outside Tai Han. They have extended their reach, and made themselves available for private or company parties' catering! Here's a recent adidas event featuring Lab Made - reeeeally CooL!

 This is ice cream re-invented. Happy 1-year Birthday to Lab Made Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream!

Lab Made Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream Laboratory
Address: G/F, 6 Brown Street
Tel: 2670 0071