Sweet Pickled Purple Quail Eggs

It's time for Halloween, little ghosts and zombies are waiting around every corner, greedy outstretched hands hungry for candy, candy, and more candy!  Instead of packing yet another bag of sweet candy for my little girl to take to school to share with her little goblin and princess friends, I thought to make a more healthy sweet Halloween treat.

I ended up making these quick, easy, fun little snacks, the Sweet Pickled Quail Eggs, naturally colored a lovely ghoulish Halloween purple with the dye from purple sweet potato.  "These are monster eggs," I whispered in a scary voice to my little girl and she loved them, gobbled up 3 in one go and then asked for more and we are making another big batch for school!

Homemade Red Bean Mochi 紅豆麻糬

I must confess, this little treat is something I'm deliriously, seriously in love with...ever since fateful day long ago when I wandered into that tiny mochi shop somewhere in Tokyo and tentatively bought one of the red bean mochi (expensive, I thought), bit into it and discovered...food nirvana.  

It was a revelation, the mochi soft, gooey, sexy, oh so fresh and smelling deliciously of fragrant rice, the red bean paste so light, fresh and tasty.  Really it was an OMG moment...what food magic was this?  I mean I had had mochi before this point but hadn't especially liked them that much...they were usually so-so, dense, chewy things with slightly stale too sweet red bean paste tinged with preservative.  But these, these tender sexy things were out of this world yummilicous!  And thus I discovered the joys of the freshly made japanese mochi.  

While we in Hong Kong have the luxury to buy freshly made japanese mochi, it is quite expensive so I have been thinking to try to make mochi at home for a while.  Finally got around to it and was tickled pink to discover that Homemade Red Bean Mochi 紅豆麻糬 is not only really, really easy to make but really deliriously tasty as well.  Almost as good as that first red bean mochi I ate standing in the streets of Tokyo, if I do say so myself!

Homemade Silver Pin Noodles 自製銀針粉

Lovely, slippery, chewy, homemade, hand rolled traditional Chinese noodles!  Easy to make, these traditional Homemade Silver Pin Noodles 自製銀針粉 will have you feeling like you've time traveled to a past when folks gathered around the table, rolling the dinner noodles deftly with a clever quick hands, all the while chatting and gossiping of this and that.  

Really, while it's actually quite easy to make these noodles, you might want to make sure you have a few friends or kids to help you out, make it a noodle rolling party!

Silver Pin Soup Noodles with Roasted Duck and Mushrooms 火鴨冬菇銀針粉

I'm so happy to share this warming and deliciously cheerful soup noodle dish, perfect to take the chill off these wind swept autumn days.  There's nothing like a hot bowl of soup noodles to fill and warm your tummy when the weather turns cool.  

This tasty traditional Hakka 客家 soup noodle dish used to be found at street corner shops and small dai pai dongs 大排檔, but as of late has all but disappeared.  Which is a shame because it's really quite yummilicious and such a comfort to eat, slipping down the throat easily and tastily, noodles topped generously with a bit of this and that, a savory and homey feast of tastes and textures all tenderly nestled in tasty hot soup.  But never fear, it's quite easy to make a bowl of these Silver Pin Soup Noodles with Roasted Duck and Mushrooms 火鴨冬菇銀針粉  at home!