HK Chinese Restaurants

This is just the tip of the iceberg, but got to start somewhere. I will add as I learn more. So far these are what I understand to be some of the best Chinese restaurants in town. Open to other suggestions!

• Dim Sum West Villa Restaurant (28 Yan Ping Road): great har gau
• Cantonese Lei Garden (338 Hennessey Road): pork cheek on silky tofu
• The Chairman (18 Kau U Fong Road): pan fried prawn cake
• Luk Yu Tea House (24 Stanley Road): better in the evening for authentic Cantonese
• Shanghainese Crystal Jade (2/F World Trade Center, 280 Gloucester Road): xiao loong bao apparently very popular with the locals
• Spring Deer (42 Mody Road, Kowloon): not aware of any dishes to try, but apparently you need to watch your head on the way in!
• Siu Tim Tim (393 Lockhart Road): Sichuan hot pot
• Shung Hing Chiu Chow Restaurant (29 Queen's Road): salty pickled crab
• Seafood Fook Lam Moon (35 Johnston Road): abalone but only if you have a credit card...

HK Private Kitchens

Compiling my list of private kitchens....

• Liberty Private Works (Wellington St): western
• TBLS (Hollywood Road): western
• Da Ping Hou (Hollywood Road): sichuan

Chinese Food Translations

Here are a few menu items I've seen: "Puck to Fry the Cow River", "The Pig Picks the Noodle Shop", "Black Pepper Idea Powder". Hmm.... here I note a few things to remember.

• Gai Bow Chai: steamed chicken buns
• Cha Siu Bow: steamed pork buns
• Cheong Fan: rice noodles with prawn filling, barbecue pork and beef
• Loh Bak Goh: steamed/fried turnip cake
• Siu Mai: steamed dim sum with pork and prawn filling
• Phong Jau: chicken feet
• Ngau Yuk Siu Mai: beef dim sum
• Law Mai Gai: glutinous rice in lotus leaf
• Jook: congee
• Gai Fan: steam rice with chicken
• Dan Tart: egg tart
  
  

Cha Chaan Teng

Fast food Hong Kong style. These cafes don't offer much on the menu but are a good step up from the street stall dai pai dong, many of which began in the 1950s. These are some that are still going strong.

• Lan Fong Yuen (Central): famous for tea brewed through a silk stocking and Gai pa lo ding a dish of chicken steak on instant noodles.
• Kam Fung Cafe (Wanchai): famous for Gai pai, or chicken pie, and pineapple buns.
• Mido Cafe (Yau Ma Tei): originally catered to fishermen, lots of ambiance here; great coffee but not sure I would have their specialty: fried egg and "luncheon meat" sandwich.
• Nha Trang (Central): great little Vietnamese cafe with lots of atmos.

Gnocchetti, Scallops & Aubergine

A unique combo that I had at Domani, the sister restaurant of Pier Bussetti in Piemonte. I have to make this very soon, maybe tomorrow? Just a guess, but couldn't be more complicated than this. Maybe best to use the less bitter Asian variety of aubergine.

home-made gnocchetti

best quality scallops, cut into same size as gnocchetti

aubergine

EVOO

maldon sea salt

ground pepper

tad of butter

1. make gnocchetti
2. bake aubergine until soft
3. remove flesh and put into blender with EVOO, salt and pepper
4. blend well, pass through a fine sieve
5. re-heat aubergine gently in a large pan, season more if needed adding butter at very end
6. while aubergine is warming, season and gently pan fry the scallops in EVOO without coloring them
7. also while aubergine is warming, boil the gnocchetti in salted water
8. very quickly, drain gnocchetti when done, add to pan with aubergine cream, add scallops at the very last second and serve

Scallops, Daikon & Chilli Jam

Mr. Ottolenghi has come such a long way since the day he graciously lent me a big serving platter for a dish I had put together for Manou's birthday across the street from his shop.

1 green apple, cored & thinly sliced, kept in lemon water

6 thinly-sliced red radishes

30 gr blood chard leaves

EVOO

400 gr king scallops

chilli jam

sunflower oil

3 crushed garlic cloves

2 finely chopped red chillies

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp black mustard seeds

400 gr tin chopped tomatoes

40 gr palm sugar

1/2 tsp turmeric

2 1/2 tbsp red wine vinegar

small bunch chopped coriander

pickled daikon

1 300 gr daikon, peeled and cut into thin strips

150 ml rice wine vinegar

2 tbsp sugar

2 tsp pink peppercorns

3 crushed cloves

1 finely chopped red chilli

1. for the daikon, warm 200 ml water and rice wine vinegar in a pan; add 1 tsp sugar, salt, peppercorns, cloves and chilli; once the sugar and salt have dissolved, remove from the heat and cool, add the daikon; chill for a few hours or overnight
2. for the jam, heat 1 1/2 tbsp sunflower oil in a pan and fry the garlic, chilli, cumin seeds and mustard seeds for a couple minutes, taking care not to burn the spices; add the tomatoes, 1/2 tsp salt, palm sugar, turmeric and vinegar and bring to the boil; reduce the heat and simmer for 35 minutes until thick; stir in the coriander and cool
3. drain the apple and pat dry; put in a bowl with the radish, chard, 1 tbsp EVOO and 80 gr of the daikon; toss and season
4. heat another tblsp EVOO in a pan, lightly season each scallop and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side until golden around the edges; gently toss the ingredients, add the EVOO if needed and divide between four plates
5. top each with some chilli jam

Chilli & Coconut Prawns

A bit of a cliche but life is full of cliches. Serve with cocktail sticks and a San Mig.

vegetable oil

finely chopped garlic to taste

finely chopped lemongrass to taste

finely chopped bird's eye chilli

heaped tsp dessicated coconut

1 tsp grated lime zest

150 gr best quality prawns

lime wedges to serve

1. fry garlic, lemongrass and chilli in oil, stirring for a couple of minutes
2. add the coconut and lime zest
3. cook over gentle heat until garlic colors (don't burn garlic or coconut)
4. remove from pan
5. add prawns to the pan, when they turn pink, tip in the coconut mixture
6. stir well, tip into a bowl