Calbee Chips Black and White Re-packaging

Imagine our shock, while strolling through the colorful world of the modern supermarkets, to see these packets of Calbee potato chips, completely in black and white packaging!  So beautiful, amiright?!  I've eaten Calbee potato chips before plenty a time, they're one of the biggest Japanese potato chip makers around, with many an interesting asian inspired flavor.  But I had never seen anything packaged in monotone like these chips and so, naturally, we had to grab some to try out!

Mango Pomelo Sago Dessert 楊枝甘露

This yummilicious Chinese spoon dessert is just the thing to take advantage of the autumn pomelos that are flooding the market at the moment.  It's pomelo (and mango) time, folks!  

You'll find these kind of desserts in Hong Kong specialty dessert shops, 糖水鋪, which, if you haven't tried yet, you must cuz the desserts they serve are pretty fab!  These dessert shops are in every residential neighborhood, usually open later and into late night, and serve all kinds of traditional and newer types of Chinese desserts.  

This fabulous Mango Pamelo Sago Dessert 楊枝甘露, also known as 芒果柚子西米露,  is one of the newer HK desserts, a most delectable concoction of flavors and textures: chewy sago pearls, juicy pomelo sacs and deliciously sweet mango all tied together with lusciously creamy coconut cream.

Hong Kong Made Cola 香港製造可樂

We discovered this neat-o soda recently, selling at a favorite restaurant of ours.  A Hong Kong made cola?  How terribly interesting!  Of course we had to try it!  

This hong kong made cola, called Ma Wan Cola 馬灣可樂, is new on the market I believe.  It is made in Hong Kong (yay!) and originally produced especially for children, having only healthy ingredients.  But healthy cola can be enjoyed by everybody, amirite?!

Bandit Chicken 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 to 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!

Chinese Banana Rolls 香蕉糕

We were asked by a reader for a recipe for these quintessential Hong Kong treats, the Chinese Banana Roll 香蕉糕, a banana flavored rice mochi roll that would "taste like the ones I bought in a hong kong bakery when I was little".  After discussing with my hubby about his childhood memory of these delicious rolls, researching recipes, scouring about for store bought banana rolls (they're not that easy to find nowadays) and making more banana rolls than we could eat, we finally came to two conclusions.  

First conclusion: most of the banana rolls nowadays most likely get their distinctive banana aroma from using either real banana extract or synthetic banana oil (probably the latter).  Second conclusion: the banana roll recipes we tried that used fresh banana as a flavoring base didn't really work as the final banana aroma was way too weak.

So after much experimentation and making and eating a couple of yards of the delicious stuff, we've come up with a way to use natural bananas but with their flavor intensified so that our version of 

Chinese Banana Roll 香蕉糕 comes out as a soft lusciously chewy piece of tender mochi roll flavored sixty percent creamy banana flavor and forty percent ricey goodness.  It's purrrfectly bananas!

Maltose Crackers 麥芽糖夾餅

Here's a treat straight from the past of Hong Kong!  These simple to make and yummilicious snacks were sold from street vendors to children in the 50s and 60s of Hong Kong.  The conveniently sandwiched stick allows children to eat their snacks and run around at the same time.  A type of Hong Kong  lollipop, if you will.  

Both savory and sweet, these Maltose Crackers 麥芽糖夾餅 are unique snacks from Hong Kong's past!  Plus they're so easy to make that kids can do it themselves, with some supervision during the maltose part...you don't want to come back and find them ensnarled in a sugary web!

Swiss Chicken Wings 瑞士雞翼

Swiss Chicken Wings?  What a minute...what the bloggity jazz is Swiss food doing in a post about  Chinese food?!  Well actually this yummilicious dish is not from Switzerland nor is it related to any kind of Swiss food.  These darkly glazed, succulently sweet and savory Swiss Chicken Wings 瑞士雞翅 are pure one hundred percent Chinese!  

The name of the dish comes about from a classic case of translation gone wrong: many years ago a tourist found his way to a western style Hong Kong diner called Tai Ping Koon 太平館, famous for its fabulous east west fusion dishes, and ended up ordering their house special, sweet chicken wings.  

Finding the chicken wings most delicious the tourist attempted to discover the name.  In classic translation comedy style, the waiter's Chinese accented "Sweet Chicken" sounded like "Swiss Chicken" to the tourist.  And thus the name and fame of the Swiss Chicken Wings was born.

Pineapple Buns 菠蘿包

This recipe is for our reader Raymond who asked for a recipe for Pineapple Buns with the real traditional crackle cookie tops.

I hope that this recipe is the one he was looking for, anyways this is the one that we know as the traditional Pineapple Bun, or 菠蘿包, a soft fluffy bun underneath and a crunchy crumbly crackled sweet cookie like crust on top, invented in Hong Kong in the sixties and still a standard at all Hong Kong traditional bakeries.

A taste sensation, the cookie crust crumbles delightfully in your mouth when you bite into the soft warm tender bun.  Pineapple Bun, named for the texture of the crackle crust that resembles the real pineapple, is a real special afternoon or breakfast treat and an absolutely unique Hong Kong style bake!

Chinese Salt Baked Quail Egg 鹽焗鵪鶉蛋

Cheep, cheep!  Presenting our interpretation of a 'natural' Easter: this year we bring together the idea of Easter eggs and the idea of street food culture in Hong Kong.  Our Easter nest is full of tiny naturally speckled eggs!  

Namely the delicate Chinese Salt Baked Quail Eggs, or 鹽焗鵪鶉蛋, usually found at your local street hawker, these roasty, just salty wee eggs come still piping hot in a paper bag.  There's nothing quite like it to have in your pocket on a windy day to warm your fingers with!  

Hong Kong Local Food Recommendations 香港美食推薦

Dear Hong Kong Cookery Readers - We've been asked every once in a while about specific recommends for Hong Kong food places and now one of our readers,  Michelle from Indiana, has written in to ask about where to find the best Hong Kong local eating places and food exploration places and I thought I should share our reply with all of you!  So here it is and Happy New Year to All!  (Special thanks to Michelle for the inspiration for this post!)

Hong Kong Style Mango Pudding 香港芒果布甸

One of the delights of the Hong Kong dim sum feast is the mango pudding.  Not just any old mango pudding, mind you, but the classic one developed by the ingenious chefs of dim sum who have been trained in the tradition of creating small, beautiful, delightful tasty treats that can be eaten as part of the buffet of tidbits that is the dim sum lunch.

While mango pudding has existed in many other permutations, this particular Hong Kong Style Mango Pudding, or 香港芒果布甸, is light as a feather, melting in the mouth, packed to the brim with the freshest mango taste and texture and creamy with an aromatic hint of dairy.  Now you don't need to come to Hong Kong for this dim sum treat, you can make it quite easily at home!

Chinese New Year Flowers 中國新年花

The one thing you have to do every Chinese New Year if you live in Hong Kong is to visit the Chinese New Year Flower Market, or 中國新年花市.  

This huge, chaotic market located yearly at Victoria Park in Causeway Bay began as a flower market to sell New Year's flowers to all the households preparing for the New Year (one must have flowers in the house for New Year!) and has evolved over the years into not only an amazing flower market but also general fair or market, where anything and everything is sold, from toys to gadgets to political literature and t-shirts.  Everything with strong emphasis on preparing and celebrating for the upcoming Chinese New Year, of course.  

We go every year to enjoy the very festive (though very crowded) atmosphere, to buy a balloon (a giraffe balloon!) and a toy or two for my little girl and, most importantly, to pick up our Chinese New Year's Flowers 中國新年花.  The Chinese New Year Flower Market is just so gorgeous and fun, with festive and colorful New Year's flowers as far as the eye can see!

Fishing Hong Kong Style 港式釣魚

In Hong Kong we live on an island surrounded by the sea.  Hard to remember sometimes in this concrete jungle that is the city.  But really truly, yes, we all live by the sea.  Often times we will stroll by the ocean pier just to breath the fresh breeze and feel the freedom of the open skies. 

Recently in the depth of the winter the weather has been just lovely (read blue skies instead of grey) and we have been exploring our outdoor options more than usual.  Thus our inspiration for a Fishing Hong Kong Style expedition 港式釣魚, a frolic along the pier of our nearby sea, a first fishing experience for our little girl and a fun reminder of past fishing adventures for mom and dad.  (Not sure why the ocean was sloped that day but it sure felt gorgeous!)

Lychee Fruit Season is Here! 荔枝 - 糯米糍

Lychee season is here!  Yummy yeah!!  The glorious and sexy lychee fruit, beloved by Chinese emperors past, is the herald of real summer here in Hong Kong and the southern China regions.  When one starts to see mounds of these luscious red fruit around you know that 1) the heat is here to stay and 2) that you can start indulging in tasty revels of sun kissed summer fruits.

And of course the Queen of Summer Fruits here is none other than the lovely Lychee fruit, or 荔枝.  And...psst...my fruit vendor told me just the other day that its been a bumper year for the lychee fruit and it's the best crop in terms of sweetest that they've had in many, many years!

Wonton Noodles Mobile Hawker Stall 雲吞麵小販攤檔

One side for making the wonton and storing food supplies and eating implements,
the other side for the broth filled cooking pot and the charcoal brazier beneath

It often fascinates me how much the world has changed in the last, say, six to seven decades.  That sounds like a long time but it really isn't, it encompasses the lives that my parents grew up living (which doesn't really exist anymore.)  Thru the advent of modern technology and science, etc., the world has really changed so much that many of the older generation, like my dear 爸爸, are often times at a loss to cope.  

For myself it's a different kind of problem, I often find a hopeless grey fog in front of me when I try to imagine or reconstruct the way that things used to be done in the past.  I mean how the hell did things get done before the invention of machines that churn out endlessly to meet our every need nowadays?

How, for example, did people make ice cream before ice cream machines?  Or even before electricity for heck sake?!  With such thoughts often in the back of my mind, I was pleasantly surprised the other day when we stumbled upon a display of an old time 1940's Wonton Noodles Mobile Hawker Stall, or  雲吞麵小販攤檔.

Himalayan Wild Honey 喜馬拉雅野黃蜂糖

Sugar, it turns out, can be not only delectably sweet but also rather interesting in character if you take the time to get to know it better.  I used to think that sugar was just sugar.  Boy was I ever wrong!  Ever since I've gotten interested in trying different sugars (specifically less processed sugar), I've found that every sugar is different, each having a character of its own.  There are so many interesting sugars available nowadays.  Take for example, one recent discovery of ours, crystallized Himalayan Wild Honey.

Steamed Garoupa Fish 蒸石斑

This Steamed Garoupa Fish, or 蒸石斑, originates from a story of lateness.  I have always been late in things and I'm not bragging about it.  A lot of times it has caused me no end of annoyance and I have always been of the opinion that being late a bit and a good worker balances out (even upends!) being on time and fairly useless in your work.  

But one thing that being late in has worked for me is being late in getting my a** to the wet market to buy fresh food.  So, oops, it's late, gotta go, grab my little girl, get her dressed and brushed, and off we go down the busy Hong Kong streets to the local wet market to see what the catch of the day is.  The thing about wet markets is that they close pretty early, around 7 pm-ish, or even earlier if they sell out their wares for the day (more likely of the fresh seafood vendors).  But let me tell you, being late to the wet market can have its advantages!

Hong Kong View of the Day

Dear readers, we want to introduce our new blog called Hong Kong View of the Day, something new and fun that we are trying out.  Living and cooking in Hong Kong as we do, we thought that all our fanatical chinese food fans might like a bit of a look into this crazy, weird, chaotic yet fascinating Chinese city.  So we are sharing our views and thoughts of Hong Kong with a new photo a day.  We will always post the latest photo of the day in the lower sidebar of The Hong Kong Cookery blog so be sure to check it out!  Let us know what you think!

Handmade Bamboo Steamer 手作竹蒸籠

Have I mentioned that we love bamboo?  Yes...well, let me say it again anyways:  We love bamboo!  Slowly but surely we have switched over to bamboo for most of the cooking utensils for our little kitchen, at least all those that are available in bamboo.  Our chopping boards, our spatulas, our chopsticks, our steamers...

A strong, light, durable, inexpensive, mold resistant (much more so than wood!), heat resistant, wildly beautiful material, bamboo's use in Chinese cooking is crowned by this: the wonderful fragrance and taste it subtly infuses when you cook with it!  Once you've tried it there's no going back, you'll be hooked.  Recently, in need of new bamboo steamers, we decided to make a little pilgrimage and procure ourselves a true Hong Kong handmade bamboo steamer!

Chinese Baked Pork Chop Rice 焗豬扒飯

One of the best "if you are really starving and in need of 'comfort food'" food ever.  Hummm...  Did that make any sense? Well, you know what I mean!  Or, to be absolutely correct, you will know what I mean after you try this Chinese Baked Pork Chop Rice, or 焗豬扒飯.  

This is a local Hong Kong classic, an absolute standard at all the cha chaan teng, or 茶餐廳 in Hong Kong.  Cha chaan teng is the name for the local style dinners/cafes that dot the culinary landscape of Hong Kong.  Small affordable chinese food eateries that serve up fast, greasy food in big portions; interiors done up with lots of fluorescent lighting and rows of small eating booths.  A cha chaan teng has to have a decent Chinese Baked Pork Chop dish to serve to the hungry masses if it wants to be taken seriously as an eatery!