Yuki

Snakes are usually served during the cooler weather(since people believe snakes are high in nutrients and will help provide energy for the cool weather), but I think that if you go to those specialty snake shop, then you can still find snake.

People used to go to snake dinner hosted by union and clubs during the winter(maybe they still do that?). I remembered that there would always be a snake soup, deep fried snake meatball, stir fried snake meat with vegetables, and stir fried glutinous rice. I agree that they don't taste that much different

I know that there is a dessert where a whole lotus root is stuffed with sticky rice and then cooked in syrup infused with osmanthus. You can see a picture of it over here. Sticky Rice Stuffed Lotus Root Although you can stuff the holes with ground pork but I would imagine that it would take quite a bit of work to not break the lotus and ensure all the holes are filled completely. My family usually just slice the lotus into 0.5cm slices and stick some mixture of pork, and mushroom between two slices of lotus root.

Thanks for the great pictures! I would like to know the name of that place so I could convince my family to go with me(they can't stand too oily or hot food). By looking at the first picture, it seems like all the food arrived at once since all the dishes were relatively tidy.

Thanks for the great pictures and lesson!! I usually make my steamed egg custard with only a tablespoon of water(leftover from soaking the scallop) and some dried scallop. My cousin makes a deluxe version by replacing the water with chicken stock, and she probably use a lot much liquid than I did.

I grew up with Scheweppes cream soda but I can only find it in the local T&T supermarket. Apparently Scheweppes mixed with milk is a popular drink, and I found that out during the Christmas party when my friends emptied out the 4L jug of milk(they brought lots of cream soda to my house).

I can't believe that you missed out on all those street food!! Those noodles and various ingredients in the bag are a great way to fill the stomach for poor students(they just spent all their money on manga, anime, and CD) since you can get each ingredient for HK1.00 in the cheap places.

Thanks for the report and haunting me with those pictures. I would like to get a decent bowl of pork feet noodle and mixed pork organ congee in Calgary. I just have to wait for 4 more months before going back for the summer....

Not exactly a theif... but when you order tea or coffee in Hong Kong's fast food shop, they will automatically give you packages of sugar. Since my parents do not want to waste anything(they don't put sugar in their drink), they will bring those sugar home. Once we have collected a large pile, then it is my job to open all the little packages and empty them out in the sugar jar. My parents haven't brought sugar in a very long time....

Watermelon seeds are an essential part of Chinese new year. There are many different types of watermelon seeds and you can find specialty stores in HK that sell them. Watermelon seeds are soaked or stir fried with flavoring. Some popular flavors are five spice, cream, soya sauce, and licorice. I prefer the regular or five spice black watermelon seeds and don't like any of the red seeds. You can find creative flavor like green tea, and sour preserved plum.

We always soak the pineapple(after peeling) in salt water for 5-10min so it won't irritate the tongue. The salty taste doesn't stay on the pineapple and even if it got saltier, I probably wouldn't have noticed since I have never tried any unsoaked fresh pineapple. I think soaking the pineapple in salt water might be an Asian thing.

I am currently in a midterm exam/assignment/lab cycle now(which should end on Tues, but then final exam cycle would be coming soon ) so I spend a lot of time eating in the school. I live off of fruits(mandarin orange, banana, apples, grapes and anything that doesn't require a knife), noodles(instant noodles, shrimp roe noodles, and instant macaroni(Thai Tom Yum Goong Flavor) all cooked by the microwave ), and whole wheat crackers with canned flavored tuna. I usually have them in my locker so I don't have to buy food from the school everyday. Of course if my sister is feeling generous then she would pack lunch and dinner for me.

I would love some dace fish balls to go with my congee now. A traditional dipping sauce for dace fish balls would be fermented clam dipping sauce which might be too fishy for some people.

I always cook the sparerib in the rice cooker, and the rule is to put the dish when the water starts to bubble(don't think it would do any harm if you put it in the beginning though). My family used to steam a type of fish with plum sauce but it is not the type that is used for roasted duck. The sauce is almost black and has bits of plum in it.

I like the canned Chinese herbal tea with jelly, and I used to use a can opener to open the can of tea to extract all the jelly. I also like bubble tea but only if it is well cooked, the bubble has to be soft but still give some chew. Mango drinks with chunks of mango in also great in the summer. I usually don't mind chunky things but the sellers should cut/cook the objects into a size that will fit the straw(or get a bigger straw). Having a cluster of bubbles stuck on my straw can be annoying.