Dim Sum Brunch Special

Inflation in Hong Kong is becoming severe recently.  Food prices rocket and we have been suffering.  However weekend dim sum brunch is one of my strategies to enjoy good food at VERY LOW prices. Most restaurants in Hong Kong are offering special prices for bills being settled before 12.30pm. 

Here's a summary of my dim sum brunch yesterday.  The dishes were at half price or even lower comparing to peak hours.

Shrimp Dumplings HK$16.8 (US$2.15) 蝦餃皇

Breakfast Combo 早茶孖寶

Congee + dim sum of our choice HK$24.8 (US$3.18)

Breakfast Combo皮蛋瘦肉粥 / 义燒腸粉

millienium egg / pork congee and roast pork rice roll

Typical Hong Kong Cantonese breakfast

Deep Fried Dace Fish Balls 生炸鯪魚球

Only HK$9.8 (US$1.25) (Super Value!!)

Pan Fried Turnip Cake - HK$9.8 (US$1.25) 煎蘿蔔糕

Fried Rice with Chicken and Vegetables 生炒雞絲飯

Only HK$48 (US$6.15)

We just couldn't resist to order a dish of fried rice to wrap up our dim sum brunch.  It is really of Super Value!!  Nowadays even fast food shop will sell fried rice at HK$40-50. $48 at a dim sum restaurant is unbelievably cheap.  (It will cost around HK$80 at peak hours) However we didn't have to compromise on portion and quality.  It was a regular size, cook to order and very delicious dish of fried rice.

So our anti-inflation Saturday dim sum brunch sumed up at HK$39 (US$5) for each of the four of us, inclusive of tea and 10% service charge. 

Alhtough I notice a bit of price rise recently, such as the dace fish ball used to be $8.8 and dim sum combo used to be $23.8 and the fried rice used to be $38, but our dim sum brunch was still at a very attractive price.

At readers' requests, here is the restaurant I went:

Mega Red
6/F Hopewell Centre
183 Queen’s Road East, Hong Kong
Tel: 852 - 2528 1680

Hong Kong Food Blog - Anti-Inflation Dim Sum Brunch

Bok Choy Soup

Gold and Silver Bok Choy Soup with Mushrooms

Home made bok choy soup is delicious and yet very easy to do.  You only need some time for preparation.  But why call it gold and silver?  Look at the ingredients here and you'll know.  The dry version of the bok choy is gold, the fresh version is silver.  This is the the Chinese way of naming our dishes beautifully.  Together with the mushroom, the soup is extremely delicious, low calories, high fiber and zero cholesterol.  You don't even need to add any meat to it, so it is good for vegetarians and weight watchers.  Of course you can add pork or spare ribs to your own taste.

I like things simple.  So he is my simple recipe of bok choy soup.

Bok Choy Soup Ingredients

1. Some dry bok choy  (free from my sister-in-law)
2. 1 Catty of fresh bok choy, buy those with extremely thick meat (HK$9)
3. Several mushrooms, use big ones with extremely thick meat (from my kitchen stock, c.HK$20)
4. One piece of ginger

Bok Choy Soup Cooking Directions

1. Soak the dry bok choy for a few hours (don't throw away the soak water)
2. Soak the mushrooms for a few hours in hot water.  If cold water, soak overnight. (don't throw away the soak water)
3. Boil 6 bowls of gold bok choy water and one bowl of mushroom water and one bowl of plain water.  These will add extra fragrance to the soup.  Make sure to use the top layers of water, as towards the bottom, there may by some impurities.
4. Bring water to boil, add all ingredients, and bring water to boil again.
5. Turn heat down and let the soup simmer for an hour.
6. Turn to high heat again for 1 minute, add salt and dish up.

My Bok Choy Soup is completely crystal clear and not oily. If you wish, you may add a few drops of EVO to your own taste. 

Why Bok Choy Soup

If you know why I set up this food blog and have read my fasting blog, you would know that I'm a health conscious individual.  But I don't have to surrender delicious food becasue of my eating habit (eat less in principal).  Bok Choy Soup for example, it's simple, easy, delicious, healthy and inexpensive.  I enjoy cooking at home as it is fun and healthy.  If you care to cook some healthy yet delicious food for your family, take a look at my friend Nicholas Zhou's cook book for more healthy cooking ideas.

Some Quick Nutrition Facts About Bok Choy

• Very low in calories. Only 13 calories per 100 gram
• Rich in vitamins A, C and K, minerals and anti-oxidants
• Rich in dietary fiber
• Zero cholesterol

Hong Kong Food Blog - Home Made Bok Choy Soup

Hong Kong Chinese New Year Foods

Chinese New Year is a time for me to binge. You may notice that I have a fasting blog and if you read this post, you're sure that I can recover speedily after binge eating.

During the new year holidays, we visit relatives and the gatherings are all about eating. Here I'm going to share with you some of my favourite new year foods.  And if your planning a visit soon make sure you find the best cheap travel offers out there.

New Year Puddings

Turnip Pudding is one of my must eats. If you've ever read about my health rules in my fasting blog, you'll realise that I enjoy eating fresh and natural. If you don't have the experience of eating turnip pudding freshly from the steamer, I'll suggest your learning to cook it. Here's Anna's turnip pudding recipe. Every year, me and my sister work together to make our own turnip pudding and eat fresh. Woo, yummy! Once you've tried eating fresh, you would never want to eat the re-heated ones, neither pan fried, steam or micro-wave.

My Home-made Turnip Pudding 2012 蘿蔔糕

Water Chestnut Pudding 馬蹄糕
This is a very popular Cantonese dessert year round. But we eat a lot of it during the new year. Little bit sticky but very delicious. We seldom make this at home, but eat at restaurants.

Sticky Nan Gao (New Year Pudding)
My sister-in-law made it at home and served us during our home visit. It is very sticky and chewy, but nice. We had two flavours: vanilla and coconut. It is so sticky that during pan frying, we had to add some egg solution so that the pieces won't stick together.

Home-made Nan Gao 年糕,年糕, 年年高!

In Cantonese, Gao (pudding) sounds like Grow, therefore Gaos are very popular foods during Chinese New Year.

Fa Cai (lucky money) Hao Shi (good business) Da Li (lots of profit) Dumplings 發財好市大利燒賣 - Fa Cai - is the black hairy vegetable; Hao Shi - is the dry oyster; Da Li - is the pig's tongue. This dumpling trio is a must eat when we have our family dim sum lunch gathering on the first day of Chinese New Year. All these foods are given good names and with valuable meaning in Chinese.

發財好市大利燒賣

After our home visit to my brother's house, he took us to a restaurant in Shatin for dinner. There was some unexpected pleasure as he ordered a few old Hong Kong dishes that reminded me of my childhood.

Stir Fried Kale with Preserved Meats 芥蘭炒臘味

This dish looks simple but few restaurants serve it nowadays. And we can only taste in cold winter days. It was really well done with 'heat of wok'. Do you see the smoke (top left corner of the photo)?

Stir Fried Kale with Preserved Meats芥蘭炒臘味

Pork's Knuckle in Hot Pot 梅子豬手煲

There are plums and pineapples in this dish. So it is a little bit sweet and sour however won't conflict the overall knuckle's flavour. Few chefs use this recipe nowadays. Again, very well done, though the waiting time is a bit long (roughly 40 minutes), but we all love it!

Pork's Kunckle in Hot Pot 梅子豬手煲

Stir Fried Goose Intestine with Pepper and Pickles 味菜炒鵝腸

Does this look like flat noodle? Nope. It may be difficult for you to imagine, it is goose intestine. Again, few restaurants serve this dish nowadays. Only some Chiu Chau restaurants do. It is quite time consuming in preparing the goose intestines. But the chef did a great job. It was not fatty at all and very crunchy. If you were to mention some rare foods that Chinese eat, would you include goose intestine?

Stir Fried Goose Intestine 味菜炒鵝腸

Hong Kong Food Blog - Chinese New Year Foods

Snake Soup

In cold winter days, there are some foods exceptional popular among Hong Kong Cantonese. Sticky rice is one, snake soup is another. And these two seems to be perfect partners, as people usually eat them together. The other day my sister treated me with home made sticky rice with preserved meats (lap cheung). I've therefore decided to treat everyone with snake soup.

Snake soup shops in Hong Kong are usually small and full of people, so I have decided to go take away. For environmental reason, I brought my own container and the shop owner gave me bonus - all the four bowls were almost overflowing.
After our majhong games, we had to reheat the snake soup. The shop owner gave us some lemon grass and chips to add to the soup. The chips is a usual snake soup companion. As for the lemon grass, some shops serve chrysanthemum petals instead. You'll notice some other ingredients in the soup such as sliced pork, black fungi - wow yummy and keep us warm!

If you were to name some horrible foods that Chinese eat, would you include snake?

Snake Soup take away - HK$34 per bowl

Hong Kong Food Blog

Lamma Island Seafood Outing

I'd always love to have seafood at Lamma Island. I would say Lamma Island has the best eating environment among all the famous live seafood spots in Hong Kong. See I was eating at a seaside restaurant below.

November and December has the best weather in Hong Kong - clear sky, sunny but cool - ideal for outing. I've therefore taken a day off and went on an outing along with a seafood lunch with my sister.

The tour started at Pier 4 in Central and took about 30 minutes to arrive at Yung Shu Wan. The scenic leisure walk to Suk Ku Wan is about 90 minutes which is easy for people of all age. I even bought fish snacks and shrimp paste kind of souveniors on the way.

Seaside restaurant at Lamma Island

Mantis Shrimp (HK$160)

You may not believe, only 2 minutes after we picked our seafood, the king-size mantis shrimp was delivered to our table, stir fried with salt and pepper. we could still sense the 'heat of wok'.

Scallop with garlic and jelly noodle (HK$25@)

The steamed scallops looked plain, but delicious though.

Steam Live Fish (HK$160)

There was an argument between the two of us. We both like live seafood. But my sister is far more demanding. She wants 'free range' seafood, i.e. fishes that survive naturally in the sea; and I don't mind fishes being manually raised in tanks. There are difference in price, and of course quality of meat and taste. Well, the one we had was from a tank!

Fried Rice (HK$45)

The seafood we picked didn't fill our stomach, so we decided to have a dish of fried rice. I thought we used to be served free soup, but not this time. Inflation! Free items gone!

Live Seafoods

There were plenty of live seafood for our choice. The shop owner told us whether we do A La Carte or set menu, the seafood supply are the same. While we enjoyed picking our favourite choices, set menu also looked good, especially for those who wanted a better budget control. Take the 2/3 persons set menu below for example, they had steamed prawns and stir fried vegetables on top of what we had, and the price of HK$468 was only $53 more than we paid. I must say it's quite a good deal. No wonder a lot of foreigners like to go for set menus.

Lunch Date: December 2, 2011 (Friday)
Cost: HK$415 (US$53.2), no service charge
Lamma Hilton
Suk Ku Wan, Lamma Island
Tel: 29828290

More information about Lamma Island.

Hong Kong Food Blog - Lamma Island Seafood Outing

Luxury Dinner at Special Price

In Hong Kong, there are many ways of eating good food at reduced price. One way I do it is by taking the special offers from restaurants. I receive a leaflet in my mail box from U Banquet for their special promotions. All my favourite foods are there. So I decided to take my family members there and enjoy an economic luxury dinner.

Chicken Broth with S…k Fin (intended typo)*
HK$368 (US$47)

Wow, a lot of s…k fin! Depends on the type of s…k fin, it could be very expensive. But I paid HK$368 only which is good for four persons.Chicken broth usually required a lot of cooking time in order to become milky white, thick and rich in taste. Essence of the broth is the ingredients. Cantonese restaurants usually serve the ingredients and here is our chicken.

*Notes about my intended typo. It is meant to escape from keyword searches. Everytime I write about s...k fin, I receive complaints from environmental fans. I was forced to remove my last post on the topic. Though I feel deeply sorry for the s...ks, I'm unable to control myself in front of yummy food and low price. My apologies anyway to the s...ks and environmental fans. Here is a good news that s...k fans may want to know: S...k Fin off menu beginning January 2012 - Peninsula Hong Kong.

Cantonese Mutton Hot Pot 羊煲腩HK$98 (US$12.56)

Cantonese mutton hot pot is served on real fire. We really love this in winter days which keeps us warm. Apart from mutton, we have tofu sheets, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, mushrooms and plenty of gingers. And there is a special kind of preserved bean curd sauce. The whole combination is meant to make the mutton less smelly and more delicious.

Spinach with Garlic Cloves in BrothHK$55 (US$7)

As a matter of balance of diet, we must have a dish of vegetable. The beauty of Cantonese cuisine is simple yet delicious. And spinach is extremely healthy, not oily and rich in fiber.

Steam Live Fish - $0 Apart from the special price items, here comes the free items. This fish is not too big, but just good for the four of us. The best thing about it is 'FREE'. The chef mastered timing extremely well, and the fish was JUST cooked. Very fresh and delicious!

Snow Ear Fungus and Red Dates Dessert - $0

The snow ear fungus dessert is a Chinese delicacy cooked with white snow ear fungus (雪耳), lotus seeds (蓮子), dried red dates (紅棗) and rock sugar (冰糖). I love this dessert as it is beneficial for facial beauty because the ingredients used are highly nutritious. It is another free item of the night and of course very yummy.

Chinese Birthday Bun - HK$14@ (US$1.8)

Although we were pretty full, we still wanted to share half a birthday bun. None of us were born in November, but we simply love it. This buns were exceptionally good, not only because it is cheap. It is BIG and steam to order. The most important thing is that it has a very thin cover and lots of stuffing. Many chefs were unable to produce a bun with thin cover and thick stuffing. The stuffing consists of lotus seed paste and egg yolk (similar to that of mooncakes). Very yummy!

Dinner date: November 15, 2011
Cost: HK$668 (US$85.6), included 10% service charge
Restaurant name: U Banquet
Restaurant address: 3/F, 288 Hennessy Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong
Restaurant telephone: 852-2811-9628

Hong Kong Food Blog - Luxury Dinner

How to Make Green Bean Syrup

Weather is turning cool and dry in Hong Kong. Per Chinese calendar, winter began Tuesday November 8 in 2011. 立冬, one of the 24 weather festives - time to enjoy some hot and sweet desserts. One of the most traditional and easy-to-make Hong Kong Cantonese desserts is Green Bean Syrup. Every dessert shop would have this on their menu, but home made is cheap and you can tailor to your own taste.

Home Made Green Bean Syrup 綠豆沙

Home-Made Old Hong Kong Cantonese Dessert –
Green Been Syrup with Seaweed and Herbs

Ingredients:
• green beans
• seaweeds
• herbs (optional) (臭草*)
• sugar

* The herb itself is very fragrant, but I don’t know why it is called the opposite – bad smell grass.

Directions
1. Soak the green beans for a few hours. Overnight if possible.
2. Soak the seaweeds until soft and cut into slices of your own preferred width.
3. Boil 8 bowls of water.
4. Add green beans, turn heat down after boiling.
5. Let it simmer for 20 minutes. Then turn heat off.
6. Cover for 20 minutes.
7. Add seaweeds and herb.
8. Turn heat on and simmer for 20 minutes.
9. Add sugar and then turn heat off.
10. Cover for 20 minutes before serving.

NOTE: The alternation between simmering and covering is important to let the syrup become very silky and smooth.


Bar sugar is usually used in making green bean syrup. But I have some red sugar which has a flavour of ginger. I tried to use it and find that my green bean syrup taste extremely well. Did you notice that my green bean syrup has a tint of red?
Hong Kong Food Blog - Green Bean Syrup Dessert

Classic Dim Sums

If you ask me what are the must-eat dim sums in Hong Kong, here are my top choices - Shrimp dumpling 蝦餃, pork dumpling 燒賣, BBQ bun义燒飽, rice roll 腸粉, sponge chicken 綿花雞, sponge pudding 馬拉糕. If you happen to visit Hong Kong and want to enjoy a classic dim sum meal, please make sure to have these on your table. Any dim sum restaurant should have them on their menu. If no, simply black list it.



The other day, I so happened to have picked these classic dim sums for lunch. Don’t assume that good things are expensive. I’ve mentioned several times in my blog – if you manage your time good enough – you can eat good food at very cheap prices. For my classic dim sum meal, I spend only HK$130 (US$16.6) for the two of us on a Saturday, inclusive of tea and 10% service charge. If I go early and settle my bill before 12:30, it could be even cheaper.



Nowadays in Hong Kong, you can easily spend $40-50 in any fast food or even takeaway shops. But I paid only $65 per person and enjoy a good meal in a good restaurant. Here are my photo collections.

Al Dente Shrimp Dumpling 蝦餃 - My Favourite!!

Sponge 綿花雞 Chicken (left); Pork Dumpling 燒賣 (right)

Rice Rolls 腸粉, can be steamed, stir fried or my pan fried dish below.

Served with sesame sauce and soy sauce, very yummy!

Steamed BBQ Pork Bun, cha xiao bao, 义燒飽

The yellow Sponge Cake 馬拉糕, is one of my most favourite desserts

Inclusive of tea and 10% service charge and six dishes of delicious dim sum, this lunch is only HK$130 (US$16.6).



Mega Red

6/F Hopewell Centre

183 Queen’s Road East, Hong Kong

Tel: 852 - 2528 1680

Hong Kong Food Blog - Classic Dim Sums

Vegetarian Chinese Food with Great Chinese Tea

If you want to enjoy delicate, healthy and delicious Chinese vegetarian food in Hong Kong, the Lock Cha Tea House is the number one place I would recommend.

I’m treating my vegetarian friend at this wonderful restaurant at the Hong Kong Park today. This place is highly recommended for many reasons. Here are some.

 - Very delicious Chinese vegetarian dim sum over lunch hour
 - Super quality Chinese tea
 - Very classic Chinese tea culture setting
 - Very friendly services
 - Can visit the Tea Museum next door
 - Can visit the beautiful Hong Kong Park for a leisure walk after meal

The only disadvantage may be price. As the tea is of superb quality, you need to pay HK$25 per person (and HK$38 after 2pm) but each of you can pick your own favourite tea. The dim sum prices are not too high, however comparing to the quantity, it may still be a bit pricy. For example, the $25 Winter Melon Dumpling has only 2 in it. As there is no MSG and not oily at all, you simply fill your stomach very comfortably and healthily, of course. After all, our meal cost HK$198, including six dim sum, two tea and 10% service fee. As for the evening, they offer set dinner ranging from $98 to $220 per person.

My friend told me that she once visited their kitchen and was completely impressed by its cleanliness.

So, here we are, enjoying our super vegetarian lunch

We both chose Tie Guanyin for the tea 鐵觀音 I managed to do the Chinese Tea Art
Vegetarin Rolls
Another kind of vegetarian rolls Vegetarin Dumplings (sauces are nice) Winter Melon Dumplings
Turnip Cake
Green Vegetables with Oyster Sauce
Wait! Oyster sauce at a vegetarian restaurant? Yes.My friend told me that there are vegetarian oyster sauce available at supermarkets. But I had no idea what the ingredients are. A Highly 'Tea Interior' And a very Chinese entrance Lock Cha Tea House
G/F, K S Lo Gallery of Hong Kong Park
Telephone: 852-2801-7177
Opening Hours: 10:15am – 10:00pm

Hong Kong Food Blog - Vegetarian Lunch at the Park