Dirty Noodles at Wing Kee

This noodle place is really small and cramped. But it is also very popular. There is always a long line of people waiting outside. The tables are so small it is impossible to imagine how it can seat 5 people, at times all strangers from each other. But people couldn't care less - everyone here comes for the noodles.

I had yau min (our very own miki) with ngau lam (beef brisket), loh pa (radish) and tung kuh (mushroom).







Z had yau min as well but with ngau lam, fan cheong (pork intestine) and yau yue sow (octopus tentacles) which she happily shared with me. The intestine and the tentacles are surprisingly tender - not at all rubbery.




See how bright the bowls are? Like most eating places of this kind in Hong Kong, the utensils are color-coded. In this case, the orange bowl tells the waiting staff we had noodles with 3 dishes on it. Say you order noodles with 2 dishes, they will serve it on a bowl of another color. So just by looking at the bowl, the waiting staff knows how much is your bill.

It may not look appetizing but this is by far the best lah tsah min I had in Hong Kong...and it’s cheap!

Wing Kee Noodles
27A Sugar St.
Causeway Bay
Hong Kong

Tomato juice

Ingredients:

Natural tomato juice

Salt

1. Open a box.

2. Pour into a glass

3. Drink

The doctor said it should make your colon happy!

Katong Chendol

The Malaysian version of halo-halo.

Japanese udon with bamboo shoots

Ingredients:
1 pack / 200 grams fresh Japanese udon
100 grams fresh prawn, shelled, sliced at the back (you know what I mean)
100 grams ready-to-eat Taiwanese bamboo shoots
100 grams baby bakchoy
1/2 cup sliced carrots

1 tbs corn oil
1 tbs sweet soy sauce
1 tsp oyster sauce
1 tsp XO sauce
1/4 cup of water
a clove of garlic
1/2 onion, sliced
a pinch of dried chilli flakes ( or fresh-cracked black pepper)

The way I cooked it -

1. Stir-fry shrimp on a medium heated wok for about a minute. Set aside.

2. Saute garlic, onion and carrots for about 3 minutes. Add the XO sauce and dried chilli.

3. Add the water, oyster sauce & sweet soy sauce. Cover and let boil for a minute.

4. Add the udon, shrimp and the bamboo shoots. Give it a quick stir and cook for about a minute.


5. Then add the baby bakchoy and cook for another 2 minutes.

6. Serve with a light miso soup.

This should serve 2 persons.

Here's the udon on the plate -




Here's half of the udon on my lunch box -



I can't wait for lunch!

Red and brown rice with bratwurst

Lunch box today was inspired by 80 Breakfasts' Barley and Sausage recipe. I used whatever ingredients I already have in my kitchen and then some.

I bought a pack of Nurnberger pork bratwurst from citi'super.

I already have -
red and brown rice ( which I used instead of barley)
dried rosemary
fennel seeds
fresh chives
fresh Italian parsley
carrot (instead of potato)
garlic
onion
salt and ground black pepper

(The chives, parsley and carrot were left-over of previous kitchen adventures).

The red and brown rice takes time to cook so I cooked it the night before and kept it in the fridge. Then in the morning, before I toss it into the sausage mixture, I heated it high for a minute in the microwave.

Pork Asado (Tagalog style)

Z requested this recipe when she smelled my lunch box today.

Ingredients :
300 grams lean pork (pref. one chunk)
2 pcs medium size potato, peeled, whole
1 pc medium size carrot, peeled and cut into 2 chunks
1 pc large red bellpepper, cut into bite size

1 tsp 5-spice powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp cinnamon powder
1 tsp dried oregano and rosemary
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
2 pcs bay leaf (this is called laurel leaf in our household)
2 pcs star anise (optional as I already included 5-spice but I like the strong aroma of star anise. And since I already have it.)

1 tbs canola or corn oil
3 tbs light soy sauce
2 tbs dark soy sauce
1 tbs rice vinegar (or any type of vinegar. I actually used balsamic)
juice of half a lemon

2 medium size tomato, chopped
2 cloved garlic, peeled and crushed
1/4 cup chopped white onion ( or half an onion)
1 cup water (you may need to add more as you cook)

I know some of the ingredients are not Tagalog per se, but let's just say that's how I would do it if I have all the ingredients - and I happen to. Also, Z said the list of ingredients is intimidating (read : too many) but I told her save for the pork and veggies, I already have all those ingredients in my kitchen.

So here's how -

1. On medium heat, lightly brown the pork in a heated pot with oil (about 3 minutes each side). Set the pork aside on one side of the pot.

2. Saute garlic, onion and tomato for about a minute or two. Doesnt matter how you do it, really. In fact, you can toss the garlic, onion and tomato together. Just be careful not to burn the pork while you are doing this.

3. Add the rest of the ingredients (except potato, carrot and bell pepper).

4. Cover and let it on a gentle simmer for about an hour, stirring occassionally.

5. Then add the potato, carrot and red bellpepper and let is simmer for another half an hour.

6. While the pot is gently simmering, take out the potato and carrot and let is simmer for another half an hour.

7. Slice the potato and carrot half inch thick and put back into the pot.

8. Before serving, slice the pork half inch thick and top with the sauce.

Serve with white rice. Also good with fresh baguette or rolled inside a flour tortilla.

Serves 2 very hungry people (or 3 not-so-hungry).

Here's the picture of the left-over which I also had for dinner with a glass of red wine.

Bamboo rice in Ping An

2008 Christmas holidays

We have been travelling since 7 o'clock in the morning from Yangshou, with a short stop at Heping. We arrived at Ping An village before 1 o'clock in the afternoon tired and very hungry. When the tour guide suggested we stop for lunch before we head to the rice terraces, we could not have been more happy.

And this is our reward.

The most amazing rice cooked inside a fresh bamboo tube! The rice has bits of veggies, sweet potato and Chinese sausage ( lap cheong). It's very chewy.

We ate the rice with chives with egg...

..stir-fried celery with bits of pork..

..and braised pumpkin with green onions.

Perhaps I was just so hungry but these were the sweetest veggies I have had in a long time. The lunch alone was worth the trip! (OK, maybe not).

Adobong Pusit / Sotong

My friend Z, who's Malaysian -Chinese, tried to cook Adobong Pusit using a recipe she found on the internet. She said her mom is repulsed by the squid ink so she didnt use it. I told her without the ink, it becomes "un-authentic".

I mentioned that my own mother sometimes adds sotanghon / tanghon / fan see "to stretch" the budget, so Z also added some.

Z said her mother thinks it was a mess cooking it... but the taste? Ho ho mei ah! (She's hopeless with the camera, though!)

Rolled oats & dried figs

Breakfast - rolled oats mixed with cinnamon and honey and dried figs...

and bananas.

"Do you want some risotto?"

Even the homeless in the US can afford to eat mushroom risotto.

Egg tart

The real deal...from Margaret's Cafe e Nata in Macau. (I didn't have it today. This photo is from an old file)

Maxim's

I didn't prepare my lunch box today, had to see the doctor during lunch time for my physical exam result.

Had a Maxim's ma bo lunch box instead, which I like to think as the HK equivalent of bento box. 2 dishes ( beef brisket with turnips and stewed beancurd with mushroom) and a big heap of white rice. Quite filling.

Chicken and potatoes

This is one of the easiest and quickest meals I could make.

I marinated chicken fillets overnight with -
2 tbs light soy sauce
1/2 tsp sweet paprika
1/4 tsp mixed dried French herbs
a glove of garlic, chopped
a pinch of ground black pepper
juice of half a lemon

Pan-fried, then cut into bite size. Back into the pan with the marinade, boiled potatoes and carrot which I cubed and some chopped fresh parsley. Cook for a couple of minutes or until all the marinade's almost gone.

On white rice.

Beef patties and shredded cabbage

Today it's beef patties with Indian spices (cumin and corriander) and shredded cabbage with bacon.

On brown rice.