Unshackled Ragu

Whenever I make a ragu I feel that I need to make it like a nona would in Emilia Romagna. This time I used my intuition and came up with this. Never have I included garlic in a ragu before. Avoid adding any pasta water when finishing the dish in pan at end.

carrot-onion-celery

ground veal-pork-beef (300 gr, 300 gr, 500 gr)

450 ml tin of Italian tomatoes

few tblsp of tomato paste

1 bay leaf

2 small spring thyme

2-3 cloves chopped garlic

half bottle robust white wine

parmesan rind

nutmeg

chopped serrano ham (or prosciutto butt)

Maldon sea salt

ground pepper

butter

single cream

home-made chicken stock

1. saute vegetables, followed by meat, serrano & nutmeg
2. add wine, let reduce, then tomatoes and paste
3. let reduce half hour, then add broth & parmesan, season with salt and pepper
4. cook on low heat five hours, adding broth if necessary along the way
5. add some cream during last half hour, butter last 10 minutes

Mashed Potato Salad

Inspired by that great dish -- Japanese potato salad--mediterranean style. Serve with some nice jambon de Paris.

left over mashed potatoes

capers

chopped cornichons

chopped parsely

EVOO

maldon sea salt

ground pepper

piment de l'espelette

red wine vinegar

1 tsp best commercial mayo

1. put all ingredients in a bowl and fold
2. drizzle more EVOO, piment

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