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GORGEOUS pics - Thanks for sharing. The Dong po pork looks particularly inviting - Especially in the crockpot. I must get a good recipe to be able to try myself

Beautiful! Can you tell me what kind of tofu you use for stuffed tofu and what is the stuffing? Thank you! I used a fresh (silken) tofu bought from a Chinese supermarket here in the UK. I actually cheated a bit for the stuffing (!) Traditionally, you would use a mixture of pork and perhaps some white fish of some sort or even prawns if you were feeling a bit indulgent. My mother used to put some dried fish in the mixture. However, I just used pork (belly again for the fat) and added a load of fish sauce to give it that umami hit and added some finely chopped spring onions.

The initial deep fry is to render out some of the fat, but deep frying the taro also means that they absorb less water during the steaming process, thus less likely to turn to mush in the final dish. As for duration of steaming, you steam it until the meat is tender, steam it too long and it will indeed affect the "mouth feel". Ideally, the meat should be tender and the taro cooked through, but still hold its shape when picked up with chopsticks. Thanks for the nice comment about my pictures

Thanks for the nice comment about my photos I don't think I can compare to your Mother's cooking but I wanted to do some traditional hakka dishes - Especially ones I remembered eating when younger. That said, the one dish I didn't do this year which I have done so in previous years was (what I call) Hakka Pork (Jiuew Yuk Baht) which is basically pork (shoulder) steamed with lots of black beans and dried orange peel. It was either that or Kau Yuk and after asking the rest of my family, they all preferred Kau Yuk. I look forward to seeing your pictures later this week

Photos are up, you can view them here

The suckling pig was the one thing that was bought in (yes, from Peach Garden), my oven is nowhere near big enough to cope! I agree with you about Kau Yuk (pork belly and taro) being deceptively labour intensive, but the results are worth it! I was particularly proud of the Eight Treasure Duck (Bat Bo Ahp)which again was labour intensive, but very tasty and enjoyed by all. I ended up cooking a fish maw dish (with pig's liver) too which brought the total to 9 dishes. I think it wouldn't really be a CNY meal if there wasn't some sort of effort put into the dishes Will post pictures later

There will be 8 - 12 people. Dishes will include: Braised (dried) oysters with black sea moss Steamed whole fish Pork belly and taro Salt baked chicken Eight treasure duck stuffed tofu and bitter melon Roast suckling pig

I'll be cooking for my family who are coming over for Chinese New Year. It'll be 8 courses (dishes) including some tradtional Hakka dishes

Ooooh! Just tried again and got that date too Ah, see you there then Indeed! It's my friend's Bday the following day so it may be a nice treat for her (If it's any good, I'll keep the April reservation for my Bday too!)

Ooooh! Just tried again and got that date too

Reservations opened today, restaruant opening January 31st. Reservations are via OpenTable, but are linked at the main website here. For my table of 4, the only date I could get was April 2nd(!)

The Fat Cat has indeed, closed. They've certainly removed the sign. Can't really say that it's a big loss for Solihull - I've not been too impressed with the food (especially when they mistake coriander for flat leaf parsley and use it as a garnish!) There are some places in Hampton in Arden - The White Lion which serves French bistrot-type fare and Beeches Bar and Grill (although the food can be a bit hit-and-miss, but the hits are very good). The Inn at The Farm (on the outskirts of Solihull) is further out but worthwhile for dinner. Finally, Peels has been getting some nice reviews so may be worth looking at?

Duplicate post - sorry!

Those salted duck eggs look IMMENSE! The yolks are very impressive

I wonder if that's for the planned Chef's table they're introducing?

I stopped by for Saturday lunch a few weeks ago and had a very enjoyable meal. Photos can be viewed here

What's even worse is that the bakery it's above isn't even that good - The bakery in The Arcadian (opposite China Court and also where Golden Pond is on the upper level) has far better chinese egg custard tarts (IMHO, of course).

I've been meaning to try this place for ages, have heard good things. I've yet to be disappointed by Cafe Ikon - They show La Tasca opposite on Broad St how tapas and Paella really should be. A few years ago, going to Chez Jules would mean great value for decent food (especially when they did a 3 course menu + a bottle of house wine for £12) Unfortunately, it now means unpleasant food, poor service and the same 3 courses + half a bottle of wine for £15. Shame really, I used to love going to Chez Jules but I've not been for over 2 years now because of the awful esxperience I had last time I was there.