Young Ginger Roots Part 2: Main Course and Dessert

I half-jokingly told my friends that I have bought so many young ginger roots at the market that maybe I should prepare the whole dinner using that as the major theme. And come to think of that, it’s not a bad idea at all. So after the appetizer of the tomato stuffed with ponzu jelly and young ginger garnish, here’s the main course dish and dessert.

Summer Produce: Young Ginger Roots

Ginger root might be available all year long in local wet markets and grocery stores, but you will only see the milder young ginger root (子薑) in early summer, beginning at around the time of Dragon Boat Festival until early August. It’s rather easy to distinguish them – the regular, mature ginger roots are often tougher with dark, thick skins; while the young ginger roots, though in the same size, her thinner and paler, almost translucent skin, looks juicier and more tender, with a pinkish tint towards the tip.

Quick Executive Lunch at Four Seasons

Recently I made a quick trip to The Lounge at Four Seasons Hong Kong to check out the seasonal truffles menu by the new Executive Chef of the hotel Andrea Accordi who joined the team a few months ago. Admittedly I am not here as often as I am at the other F&B outlet inside the hotel, but I do like the laid-back environment of this restaurant, tucked away at the lobby right next to the reception, for a much simpler set of dishes from their all-day dining menu.

Summer Recipe: Southern Style Corn Fritters

While spending late evenings watching the French Open on TV a few weeks ago, I was looking to fix up something quick to munch on. That's when I saw the cob of corns in the refrigerator, the one that I left behind by accident after getting a few of them in the weekend farmer's market for my bento lunches.

Dinner with a bunch of oldies

The idea of a special themed BYO dinner just came towards the end of our last BYO gathering at the end of August. This time it's been decided that the theme was going to be "Wines before 1990", and someone in our group came up of the idea of hosting the dinner at an equally old-ish restaurant The China Club. (Technically speaking the club was only opened in 1991 but the building itself - the Old Bank of China Building - certainly went way back, so that counts!)

Staying and Dining in a Milan Farmhouse

With my 3-day itinerary in Milan focusing solely on the Expo, and that the Expo's theme is on food and culture, I just thought it's appropriate that I stayed in a place which was somewhat related along that line. Un Posto a Milano, which literally means "a place in Milan", was housed in a 17th Century farmhouse which has now been converted into a combination of hostel, bar and restaurant, community space and urban farm, which sounded just perfect for me as a weekend accommodation choice. 

The Kitchen Table London

When I first told people that we were heading to London in June, our foodie friend and long-time Londoner G suggested that we must try Kitchen Table at Bubbledogs owned by his friends, the husband-and-wife team of James Knappett and Sandia Chang. So despite the restaurant was completely booked up for the next 3 months when I checked online - certainly a good indication of how great the place is - I shot an email to Sandia, saying we would take any last-minute empty spots should they became available later on. After a few exchange of emails, luckily at the end someone made a cancellation a couple of weeks before we arrived and two seats became open, so without much hesitation, we took them and quickly re-adjust our schedule.

Noryo-yuka Cuisine in Kyoto

Sitting on Noryo-yuka (納涼床) - the open-air riverside platform - is an unique way of dining in Kyoto available only in the summer season. As this is our first time coming to town during the hotter months, we were eager to experience this ourselves.

Though there are over 100 Noryo-yuka set up in Kyoto by restaurants and bars of all sort - from traditional Kyoto cuisine to western food to places to drink - they tend to get very popular among locals and tourists so we decided to make a reservation in advance at a restaurant near to where we were staying.

Summertime Chicken Hotpot in Kyoto

With our flight schedule to touch down only in early morning at Osaka airport, we didn't make any specific plan for lunch in Kyoto on our first day, for fear of the possibility of a flight delay. Nonetheless, I did have a specific restaurant in mind - I just figure we would just try my luck walking in if all things went well.

Toriyasa (鳥彌三) is a 227-year-old Kyoto restaurant specialized in Tori no Mizudaki, or essentially chicken hotpot, now already in its 8th generation owner at the beautiful street of Kiyamachi by the Kamo river. We arrived at Kyoto right on schedule so after quickly settling in at our hotel near Sanjo, we made a leisurely stroll towards the riverside area where the restaurant is located.

Beef Tenderloin with Chimichurri Sauce

Last weekend, I made a bunch of Chimichurri Sauce to go with the meatball skewers we prepared for a church reception. Afterwards, I decided to make an extra batch using leftover ingredients to for a makeshift steak dinner at home.

Easy Summer Recipe Part 4 - "Green Monday" Salad

Since late last year, I have been working with the social enterprise Green Monday team to develop a few vegetarian recipes for a project that they do with The Link REIT, which managed several wet markets in Hong Kong in their real estate portfolio. Beginning in January, those recipes were printed as colorful leaflets and be distributed at the markets on a weekly basis throughout the year as a way to promote green living and inventive cooking. 

Easy Summer Receipe Part 3: Cold-brewed Tea

Many of our friends were very kind to bring us souvenirs back from whenever they happened to spend their holidays and tea leaves seem to be a popular choice. We have been having this little problem of overstocking with teas, but now we finally figured out a way to consume those - whether in tea bag form or as loose leaves - at a faster rate.

Easy Summer Recipe Part 2: Cornbread

Last time, I shared the recipe of a super-easy Pasta Salad to make for a big group meal, and this time, let me show you something even easier. Most people in Hong Kong probably have their first taste of cornbread at KFC, where it's offered one of the side dishes for their fried chicken meal, but this is almost as easy to make at home as to order one at the KFC counter.

Easy Summer Recipe Part 1: Pasta Salad

Pasta Salad was the first thing that came to mind when I thought about what to make as side dish for a barbecue last week. I always look for something stronger in flavor to beat the hot and humid summer days so I think a tapenade dressing - with olives, capers and anchovies - would be ideal. It can be prepared from start to finish within 30 minutes if you push it, and is certainly a crowd pleaser with the appetizing bold flavors.

A Crustacean Affair at Cafe Causette

Two weeks ago, if it's not we ran out of time for a proper dinner to catch an evening movie at IFC, we would have gone to Cafe Causette to try out their seasonal Lobster & Bubbly menu. Then the next day I got a message from the hotel's marketing team inviting me to join them to try out the menu - wow, I call this a case of serendipity.

New Chef, New Menu - A Sneak Preview at Nicholini's

A few of us were at Nicholini's recently for a sneak preview of the new menu created by Chef Luca de Berardinis, who just came on board to their culinary team. It's been a while since I last set foot in the restaurant (a long story), but I think it's time to come back, as I have heard good things about the cooking of Chef Luca, who was previously at the helm of the Michelin-starred Il Milione.

This evening's menu was designed just for the occasion with all new dishes - part of that menu will be available for a one-night-only event at the restaurant in August, and the rest will be revealed as the new seasonal a la carte menu soon.

My Summer Dinner Menu - Salt Baked Fish and Pumpkin Soup

Many people thought cooking the whole fish is a very Asian thing - one may immediately relate to the classic Cantonese dish of steamed garoupa with ginger and green onions, or those grilled fish with chili sauce wrapped in banana leaves commonly seen in Thai restaurants. Well, it's only partially true. While this is probably more common in this part of the world, numerous western dishes involved cooking fish in the whole - for example, barramundi or rainbow trout are 2 kinds of fish often cooked as the whole - with barbecue in open fire or baked in an oven the preferred way of cooking.

Having spent a good part of summer in inner part of China where seawater fish was not readily available, I have been craving for fish when I am finally home. So I decided to do a salt-baked fish on this hot and humid Sunday evening.