'Dining Fine' Shanghainese Restaurant (嚼江南)

From left: Xiao Long Bao/'Sichuan Secret Taste Chicken in Cold Style' (or 'mouth-watering chicken')/Xiao Long Bao in Paper Hot Pot.

Xiao Long Bao (小籠包) - the popular Shanghainese dumpling known for its ability to inflict tongue burns on unsuspecting devourers who are unaware of the hot liquid inside.

This hot liquid is what sets these apart from normal dumplings, and is caused by the gelatin stock/broth that is wrapped inside the dumpling skin. This gelatin melts but is contained inside the dough skin as the dumpling is steamed. Indeed, the name, 'xiao long bao' refers to the bamboo steamers (xiao long) that these dumplings are usually served in.

This restaurant (which coincidentally is also a hot pot restaurant) serves their xiao long bao in a paper hot pot soup that is kept warm by a small flame faintly visible in the picture on the right above.

I must admit we ordered this mainly for its novelty value. Although the soup base was definitely delicious, ultimately I think this method of cooking makes the dumpling skin too soggy. Perhaps I am just a xiao long bao traditionalist at heart.

Sichuan in origin, 口水雞, which literally translates to 'saliva chicken', is more accurately referred to as 'mouth-watering chicken'. And, provided you can handle a bit of heat, it most definitely is.

Apart from its spiciness (red chilli oil), 'mouth-watering chicken' usually also incorporates sesame, ginger, sweet (sugar) and sour (vinegar) flavours. Fresh and fragrant coriander also adds an extra dimension to the dish.

This version at Dining Fine (picture middle above) had a relatively mild chilli flavour, which is probably well-suited to the local palate.

Dining Fine is located on the ground floor of the CDW Building, 388 Castle Peak Road, Tsuen Wan.

Smoked salmon w/ eggs

I really felt like making quiche that day, but ovens at home are a rarity in HK, indeed, how often do HK people cook, and then with an oven?





So, oven-less and feeling somewhat listless, I just pan-fried some smoked salmon with eggs and had it with that even rarer thing in Hong Kong, a basic basic side of salad unadorned with mayonnaise, dressing, etc.

Wing Kee cart noodles - 榮記粉麵

You can't get much more local than this. 'Cart noodles' or 車仔麵 developed in Hong Kong in the 1950s in the aftermath of the second World War and with the influx of mainlanders from China.

On their low income, these immigrants could often only afford to buy cheap food from street hawkers who sold noodles out of their carts. The wooden carts contained metal basins where the street hawkers would blanch the noodles and, in a separate compartment, cook a variety of assorted toppings for the noodles. The customer could then pick and choose their toppings as they pleased.

These days the old wooden carts are gone for hygiene reasons, but 車仔麵 remain popular amongst locals. It hasn't really caught on amongst foreigners, probably because traditionally the toppings included things like curdled pig's blood, pig's skin and pig's intestines.

Wing Kee in Causeway Bay (they have two stores in Causeway Bay) is run by Mrs Cheng and her family. Mrs Cheng has been selling 車仔麵 with her husband (and now her son) since 1972. Her noodle shops are famous for their radish and soya chicken wing tips, as well as their beef brisket broth, which is simmered for a minimum of 6 hours.

I went to the shop on Jardine's Bazaar (which is apparently better than the one on Sugar St) and had the noodles with chicken wing tips, radish, pig's skin and cuttlefish heads. The broth was absolutely amazing. Chicken wing tips, which are so often overlooked, were actually surprisingly delicious cooked this way.

It just goes to show that you don't need expensive or fancy ingredients to make a decent tasty feed. If you are game enough to eat it.












Wing Kee Noodle, G/F 43 Jardine's Bazaar, Causeway Bay.

Caffe Habitu

I am slowly accumulating a black list of coffee shops around Hong Kong (including, but not limited to, the ubiquitous Star*ucks) which have sold me swill and called it coffee.

Thankfully, Caffe Habitu doesn't quite make that list. Their coffees, made with Australian Pura milk, is better than most, but still pretty average. Their cafes do have a nice, relaxed vibe though.

I mistakenly ordered a caffe misto ('strong white coffee' - bottom picture) thinking it was the equivalent of a flat white. Will stick with the latte next time (top picture) even though their latte art leaves a lot to be desired.

Caffe Habitu is a chain store - I went to G/F 33 Leighton Road, Causeway Bay, and also 8 - 10 Queen's Road East, Wan Chai.

Chicken paprika

About 250g of chicken breast strips
1 tb paprika
Extra virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic
1 chilli, chopped
About 10 cherry tomatoes, halved
Some baby asparagus, ends cut off
S&P

I marinated some chicken breast strips with paprika, extra virgin olive oil and S&P overnight.

Fried the garlic and chilli in olive oil. Added chicken and browned both sides. Added tomatoes and asparagus and simmered for around 10 minutes. Served on fusilli pasta.

The core ingredients for this, i.e. the chicken, the asparagus and tomatoes cost me just under $50 (~AUD$10) at the supermarket (Wellcome, not even Citysuper, etc). While still cheap by Australian standards, it certainly does not beat eating out for under $25 (~AUD$5) as you can here in HK! Still, there's something to be said for the joy of eating something you create yourself.

Seafood risotto - Cafe Triple Crown

Went to this cafe off the back of a recommendation by a HK food blogger.

A word of warning that their comprehensive menu included 'needles in soup'. LOL.

They didn't have this on their tea set menu so I ended up paying $71 for this and a milk tea. Not great value (although they did have some great tea set options at around the $25 mark) and the risotto was a bit bland and disappointing.

Cafe Triple Crown - 3 Thompson Road, Wan Chai

Pierside at the Royal Pacific Hotel

Al fresco dining in Hong Kong - ahh nothing beats the delicious smell of pollution wafting in from Victoria Harbour.

Pierside is located at the Royal Pacific Hotel, Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui.