October 31, 2022

Caramelized Figs

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Happy Halloween!  For our spooky day sweet treat, we decided to fig it out!  It really is the season for figs in Hong Kong as the markets have been absolutely flooded with fresh plump figs recently.  A bit of sugar and a hot pan and you’ve got really scrummy caramelized figs.  It’s an easy and non tricksy way to prepare a perfectly perfect and healthy sweet treat!

October 23, 2022

Spicy Minced Watercress Salad 爆淹西洋菜

Spicy, Minced, Watercress, Salad, chilled, recipe, vegetable,  爆淹西洋菜, chinese

 A most interesting fact: the humble watercress is one of the oldest leaf vegetable consumed by humankind!  I love food facts like that, they really do tickle the imagination, allowing the mind to travel far into the past to marvel at the simple things that connect us across the dunes of time.

We mostly use watercress to make soup as it imparts a lovely flavor.  Stir frying with a touch of garlic is also a nice way to have watercress.  Recently I read about another way to prepare watercress that I have been most eager to try.  This easy to prepare refreshing Spicy Minced Watercress Salad  爆淹西洋菜 is deliciously crisp and slightly peppery with a hint of sesame.

October 12, 2022

Bandit Chicken Wings 土匪雞翼

Chinese, hong kong, bandit wings, bandit chicken wings, recipe, cumin wings, 土匪雞翼

Bandit chicken wings!  So yummy and super popular here in HK and what an extraordinary name, no?  Is it because these lovely spiced infused roasted chicken wings look as sneaky and cheeky as a bandit?  Well, perhaps, but I've heard of another story about where this dashing name originated...from a story about bandits, of course!

Long ago in the Chinese province of Hunan, 湖南, there was a band of bandits that was terrorizing the countryside, raiding homes and towns, stealing from the people.  They took the usual bandit loot of money, food, etc. as well as, taking it one unusual step further, spices and herbs!  Musta been a foodie in that sneaky lot, eh?  A Foodie Bandit chief, perhaps?

So anyways, the story goes that the stolen spices were then liberally (why not, afterall free, amirite?) used to marinate and then roast chicken.  And the smell of that roasting chicken was so deliciously aromatic and the main spice used, cumin, so pungent that one could smell its distinctive aroma for miles around.  Unfortunately for those food inclined bandits, the memorable aroma was enough to alert folks of their nearby presence and ended up dampening their banditry efforts.

Not the fret, tho, sneaky bandits.  Your legacy lives on in your uniquely yummilicious Bandit Chicken Wings 土匪雞翼:  deliciously aromatic spice infused chicken wings with crispy spice encrusted skin.  Still popular after all this time!