HAINANESE FOOD

To eat authentic Hainanese food, Killiney Kopitiam at Liang Seah Street, is one of the places to go besides Chin Chin.

Chicken curry in thick coconut milk with accompaniment of roti prata

Popular Hainanese pork chop with tomatoes and onion instead of baked beans and fried potatoes.

Hainanese fried bee-hoon with pork, fish cakes, prawns and cabbage.  Full of wok-hei and on a sweet-side but compensated by the chilly sauce.

Not to be missed - french toast with fragrant rich kaya

Irresistable crispy butter toast filled with thick slabs of butter.

FISH & CO

Fish & Co has opened a branch at Terminal 3 which makes it convenient for those who live in the East without having to go down town.  The setup is spacious with comfortable soothing lights and the spacing of each table is far apart.  This gives lots of privacy.

A big bar counter

Sweet and refreshing Pina Cola

Thick sour cream and tangy chilly sauce

Started off with diluted Creme Chowder

Baked Salmon topped with yogurt

Yummy sambal - need more rice to sweep clean

Plain Jane salsa - disappointing

Gooey, creamy and tangy sauce - right partner

More a brownie than mousse cake - too compact and cold

OYSTER & SCALLOP PORRIDGE

The weather nowadays has gone "crazy" - breeziness and real scorcher alternating in between.  With such weather cooking is a chore after a day's work in the office.  With the help of "magic pot" a one-pot instant meal is waiting to be consumed in the evening.

The scallops, oysters and some Chinese herbs (yu-zhu, dang-shen and wolfberry fruits) are soaked in water the night before.  In the morning boil water in the pot and dump in all ingredients when water boils. Add seasoning.  Cover pot and let contents boil for 1-2 mins.   Put the pot back into the vacuum cooker and let it cook till ready to be eaten in the evening.

TEMPTING!

The quality and standard of roast in Singapore cannot compare to Hong Kong.  It is not hard to sport these stalls along the streets and prices are cheap.  On the last day we bought roast pork and char siew back, well packaged and stuffed in luggage.

Fresh roast pork, duck and goose of the day.

Lean and tender char siew.

The crackling skin with burns is to die for.

Only thin layer of fat left after 2 rounds in the oven.

SHOP & EAT

Shopping in Hongkong is a big plus as the exchange rate is to our advantage (S$1 - HK$5).  Some popular snacks that we bought for friends.

Maxim in Hong Kong is to Bee Cheng Hsiang in Singapore with branches spread across the island.  The almond flakes are popular with promotion of buy 2 get 1 free.

SOGO (Causeway Bay) food section at the basement offers variety of interesting snacks you may find.

A traditional confectionary famous for their "wives" biscuits.

Pastry with stuffings : century egg & preserved ginger in lotus paste and salted egg in lotus paste.

Beautiful and interesting display of Japanese confection and snacks where they are sold at a fraction of the price.

Tempting displays of delicious cakes, pastries and puffs.

JAPANESE CHEESECAKE

I prefer Japanese cheesecake than American cheesecake as it is lighter and subtle.  I had been trying to bake cheesecake to resemble the Japanese type but without success so far until I come across Beach Lover recipe for soft-cotton cheesecake.

I was so happy that it was a success - light and fluffy.

ASPARAGUS

Asparagus is in season and smaller stalks are tender without much fibres.  It is a very easy to cook vegetable, either boil or stir-fry.

Boil asparagus in hot water for 5 mins.  Wrap a small bundle with a piece of fried bacon.  Pour in hot soya sauce with oil.

Stir fry with Chinese sausage, onions and fresh portobello mushrooms in oyster sauce over high heat.

DRIED SEAFOOD

To shop for dried seafood is a must whenever I am in Hong Kong.  It is a lot cheaper to shop there than here in Singapore and moreover the products are fresher.  Des Voeux Road West is lined with dried seafood shops.  You can find expensive and rare items here.

I advise that you patronise the shops in the alley as the prices are cheaper.  The common things that I buy are scallops, fish bladder, figs, mushrooms, fungus, sharkfin bones, cuttlefish which I use to boil soup.

This is the shop where I always patronize was recommended by my cousin.  The shop owner is friendly and their goods turnover is high.

The best time to go is on a Saturday as there are less traffic and most of the wholesale shops are closed for business.

DIM SUM

Dim sum is a daily life of the Hong Kong people, especially the old folks.  It is their routine to have dim sum at least twice a day, once in the morning and during lunch, sometimes in the afternoon at 3pm.

During the morning, with newspapers in hand, they would occupy the seats in restaurants with a
Lpot of tea and one or two plates of dim sum till noon and continue on with lunch.  Every restaurant is doing brisk business even at this economic downturn.

Fish cake mixed with glutinuous rice and peanuts, lightly fried

Soft and tasty pumpkin yam cake

Fragrant spareribs with chicken feet rice cook in small claypot.

Silken fish belly porridge with century eggs, with no fishy smell

Full of fish and century eggs

Sinful crackling roast pork

Crispy quail to dip in fine salt

CHERRY TEA CAKES

A delicious and easy cake to make :

250g butter
100g plain flour
100g almond meal
4 eggs
150g castor sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 packet dried cherries
(cut into small pieces and soak in brandy for 1 hr)

Sieve flour, almond meal and baking powder together
Beat butter and sugar till light and fluffy
Add in eggs slowly at a time and vanilla extract
Beat mixture till well blended
Fold in dry ingredients untill well incorporated
Scoop mixture into muffin tin till 3/4 full
Sprinkle cherries over mixture
Bake till cakes are springy to the touch and test skewer comes out clean
Drizzle hot cakes with cherry brandy