Shanghainese Goodness

It's been quite a few years since I last visited Shanghai. Unfortunately the opportunity has not come up yet, but at least I know I can always turn to Liu Yuan Pavilion in Wan Chai, Hong Kong to give me my Shanghaiese fill. Such a delicious meal! It's been awhile!

Say hello to our drunken chicken. The chicken meat was so juicy and tender. You have to eat it right away though or else the alcohol soaks into the meat and then it just tastes like alcohol chicken-which I guess is basically what is it anyways.

This was definitely one of my favorite dishes. I'm not sure what type of fish this is but basically they took out all the bones and then made the meat into chewy pasta like pieces of goodness. It was delicious especially if you added a bit of vinegar to it.

Ooh another win for the night. Woba. Think of it as a rice cake or rice crispies but with salty egg yolk. Yum. If you follow my blog you know I love salty egg yolk... which reminds me never to check my cholesterol levels. I'm sure I'm on my way to a heart attack at age 30. Knock on wood.

Fried yanxijuan. Fried bread. Yummy.

Hongyouchaoshou. Basically spicy wonton like dumplings. Always a favorite of mine but the trick is the sauce. Chinese have this concept of mala which is a different type of spiciness. Instead of just lighting your mouth on fire, this type of spice just is spicy enough to numb the tongue.

And of course my favorite little peas. Not many places do this dish anymore because of all the work that goes into it. These peas are all handpicked. It takes many many bags just to get enough to fill this small plate. So much work.

And what better than to end a day with wintermelon?

Look at this huge chunk. One for each person. Whooo... I was stuffed.


Great way to end my 3 month stay in Hong Kong. I have a few days left so I'll have to make it count of course!
Happy Eatings!

Double Dose of Japaneseness

Hong Kong has always been obsessed with Japanese food but since the tsunami that hit and devastated Japan, Hong Kongers have been very weary about eating sushi from there because of the possibility of radiation, etc. Then again most of the fish used in sushi most likely isn't from Japan but either way no worries didn't stop me. I mean if I can eat silk worms and bees, radiation got nothing on me right? Well, I'll let you know if I start sprouting extra arms or something. 

Own our little private room at Tomokazu in Causeway Bay. This place is about a medium price range but it's awesome because they are open till 4 am-ish?

 Plus their salad is really good. 

 Grilled fish I think

 Fatty toro handroll. 

 More food.

 Eel hand roll. 

 Tempura

 Green Tea Ice Cream. It was good but I've had much better green tea ice cream elsewhere. 

And of course I had to try the Black Sesame flavor too. It's my favorite flavor. I have to buy anything that is Black Sesame. 

Irori was our next stop. The is the next day mind you! I took a break no worries! I am very sorry to my dear wallet though. I have an obsession. Thank goodness I didn't have to pay. 

 Sweet shrimp...my fav!

 Uni!

 A satay of pork intestines and such. Awesome. 

Eggplant and fish flakes. 

Happy Eatings!

Do you have a sushi obsession too? 

Getting Sidetracked in Mong Kok

So I've realized that my past posts have been more of bizarre foods so why not return to some foods that more normal people unlike me would enjoy as well! Here's my recent trip to Mong Kok. I had no intention of stopping and eating. I was supposed to just stop by and drop something off but then I saw my favorite Mong Kok stand...

This noodle stand is amazing. You get to choose what kind of noodles you want for I think $10 HK dollars so a little more than $1 US and then each additional topping you chose you pay for. I chose kidneys, sausage, "sharks fin", etc. And then you get spicy and garlic sauce dumped on top. $16 bag right here. Made my day! This stand is genius. So cheap, but so good. Hits the spot overtime. 

And of course after I got my cold noodles, I continued on my journey to drop something off and got distracted once again by this lady making some stuffed green peppers. Err fail! Looked too good. I had to sidetrack again. 

Why yes I'd love some stuffed peppers but wait what is that stinky, horrible, lovely, beautiful smell in the air? Sticky tofu. Crap forget about dropping anything off. Hands off, napkins out-it's time to get dirty and smelly!

 The skin was so crispy and good. Personally I like steamed stinky tofu more usually but this was muy bueno. 

Don't forget the sauces!

Finally got my tofu so then I could finally get onto my stop right? Wrong! Then I saw squid... Damnit! Pit stop! 

 So glad I got this though cause the sauce they used was so so good! It's a must try! Thank you for my aunt for putting up with me and holding up the food for me. Totally got sidetracked and I ruined her dinner plans cause she ate with me. 

 Seriously just when we thought I could slow our visit down anymore I saws this!!! It's from Taiwan. I had it at Shilin Night Market when I was there and of course it was amazing. Damn it.... yeah you know the story... I just got in line. 

 Popcorn crispy chicken! So so worth it!!!!!

 Why is there still food you ask? After all that impromptu eating, I got thirsty... So solution 1 would be to grab a drink but solution 2 was to grab some dessert. -_- 

And of course typical, typical Hui Lau Shan just had to have some new summer specials to try out. Here's my chocolate banana smoothie.

P.S. we finally eventually did get to where we were trying to go... success. 

Happy Eatings!

Hello Yunnan!

It's no secret that I loved my recent trip to Yunnan, China. I loved all the Chinese minorities that were there and their awesome traditions. The Naxi people know how to do it. They have a matriarchal society. Basically the women run everything and are in charge and the men just kinda chill and don't do much all day. Sounds like heaven. They also don't speak Mandarin Chinese. They have their own dialect and their writing system looks kind of like a sort of hieroglyphics. The food of course was amazing. I think if I start working on my farming skills one day I can join the Naxi too! I seriously loved their culture. Wish I could go on and on about them but that's for another blog. Let's keep this all food!

 Here we are in the city of Kunming. This is the meal I had been looking forward to my whole trip and lucky for me it was our 1st stop! Literally translated to crossing bridge noodles, 过桥米线. 

 According to legend (at least the version I know), a scholar many many years ago was studying for his imperial exams. His wife would bring him noodles and little ingredients such as the kind you see above. She would have to cross the bridge to get there. Unfortunately, by the time she prepared her noodles and soup and got the soup to him, it would turn cold. She eventually figured that when she separated the ingredients and soup and  combined them just before eating, a thin layer of oil would rise to top and keep the soup and noodles warm. She had to cross the bridge to him everyday, hence the name crossing the bridge noodles. 

 (This awesome pic was stolen from my friend taken with his SLR camera) Everyone got to make their soup base themselves and add spice. Some broths were quite plain, brothy looking and others were bright red like so. 

 This was apparently Yunnan beer. Tasted like bland apple cider. 

 Love it. The dirtier the better. 

 Yes, I bought food from this old woman.

Happy Eatings!