Prawncrackers

Glad to see that everyone is still cooking lovely stuff whilst i've been on holiday in Hong Kong! Easing myself back into the kitchen with some strictly Western stuff. Ham Quiche, what really made this for me was the layer of caramelised shallots. Cheeses used were Cheddar, Tallegio and Parmesan. A really good combination: Pork Chop with Chorizo Patatas and Pak Choy: and tonight duck breast, sweet potato duck confit hash and red wine reduction. The hash was seriously good - i used a whole duck leg for each pattie!

Day 6 was the wedding day. We'd never been to a Hong Kong wedding so the whole day was a real experience for us especially as my wife was one of the "bridesmaids". I'll speak no more of it lets just say i'm glad we never had to go through all of it ourselves. In the evening was obviously the banquet, here is the menu: At banquets the food is served to each guest rather than the usual help yourselves family style. Yes, those are red bulbs in the eyes! But disappointingly it was the least tasty of the three suckling pigs we'd sampled on this trip. Not as crisp, it felt like it had been hanging around for a little too long. Scallops with Honeyed Walnut is a fantastic combination: Never had bamboo pith before, really wonderful texture: The spotted grouper was particularly lush, managed to bag my favourite collar piece first and when no-one was interested in the head i snaffled that too!

If you like that Shelby you'll love the next one!!

Day 5 was really when the serious eating began! In the daytime i met with some relatives on my side and the evening there was a big family gathering on my wife's side for a wedding's eve meal prior to blessing the bride's head. So double stretch on the waistband that day In the day again we found ourselves in Harbour City, TST, but this time it was the House of Jasmine restaurant. Started with fried Dace balls, bit unexciting but nice: Gai Lan: Roast goose, very delicious in this place. Even made my normally stoic HK uncle declare it so. Though he did caveat it by saying it may be because he's not had it for a few months. You just can't impress these people can you? Fried rice with crab roe and scallop: Juicy and bouncy Prawn and Fish Maw dumplings: Siu Mai topped with Abalone: Suckling piglet, accompanied surprisingly with leafy salad dressed with balsamic. Sampled a few suckling pigs on this trip and these few morsels were the best of the lot: Big prawns and chive dumplings: I'd thought we finished our meal until my uncle spotted this trio of pork on the menu: We waited a good 20 minutes for this dish to arrive right at end of the meal. It was so late that we had to pay the bill before it arrived as cashtill was being closed after the lunch service. But it was worth the wait: left was a breaded pork cutlet, right was some crispy fried nam yue pork and in the centre was the star of the show Dong Po pork. I think this maybe the single best dish of the whole trip. So deep and succulent, the other two preparations although tasty in their own right were there simply to contrast the melting quality of the Dong Po pork. Has anyone else had this? The restaurant was excellent, comfortable, modern, light and moderately priced. I'm planning a return visit next time i'm back in HK. After going back to the hotel for a wedding rehearsal/rundown we had to dash back to Yuen Long. Unfortunately i didn't get the name of the restaurant where we ate next. Only that it was a very large establishment in the older part of town. To start was peking duck: Suckling pig and jellyfish: Large juicy prawns in a Shanton broth sauce with crispy noodles. Best dish of the meal, prawns were unbelievably moreish, i have no idea what kind of prawns there were but i could've eaten that dish on my own or at least tried to: Scallops with broccoli: Stir-fried grouper with celery. The skin on this grouper was so thick that it had a meaty texture in itself: There was some soup that i omitted to photo, but here were the tasty remains; black chicken, pork and load of clams: Braised Pork with Bitter Melon in black bean sauce: Stir-fried battered fish - not sure what kind: Sui Gow (water dumpling) and Fried Glutinous Rice: Lotus Buns: Sweet Red Bean Soup: That's it, Day 5 over. Yes, that was one day!

Okay let's get back to it! Not sure whether this post should be in this thread but for continuity i'm putting it here. Moderators please move it if you think it is best. Though bear in mind this was only a day trip from Hong Kong. On Day Four we were in Macau, having never been before i wasn't sure what to expect. I was with my wife, sis-in-law and cousin and was outvoted when i said i didn't want to go to the new Venetian casino. Not being a gambler or much of a shopper it didn't appeal to me whatsoever. There was a little mild (be or a?-)musement in the sheer scale of the place, the fake gondolas and Venetian squares. We stopped at the food court there, had a light lunch and sampled the first Po Tart of the day: As you can see this specimen was a little pathetic. Very disappointing but not wholly unexpected considering this was a Casino food court. The next one at the bottom the steps to the ruins of St Paul's Basilica was a completely different proposition altogether: As was the pork bun: If there's any memory i will take back from Macau it is the taste of that Tart and Bun. Simply superb. Along the Rua de Sao Paolo there were so many snack shops selling pork jerky: Amongst my favourite was the Spicy Piglet. Still warm and perversely for jerky it tasted so fresh! I've never tasted better. We ended up at the the A-Ma Temple and along the harbour road there we stumbled into the O Porto Interior restaurant. I was intending to eat at A Lorcha after all the recommendations in the Macau thread but it wasn't open for another hour. The interior of O Porto Interior was very chintzy but the staff welcoming. Alas we didn't have much of an appetite after a lot of snacking but did manage some Portuguese Sausage, Macanese stuffed crab (very cute), fried rice with salt cod and African chicken: All the dishes were very good, so much so that even my usually very picky Hong Kong sis-in-law found it tasty. My only regret was that we didn't have more of an appetite with which to sample more dishes. There is always next time i suppose!

Days 2 and 3 Actually these two days were relatively quiet dining wise. Most of our relatives live in Yuen Long and on day two we had some pretty decent dim sum lunch at the newly opened Nice Invitation restaurant opposite the Citimall (if anyone is familiar with Yuen Long that is). In the evening we had a quiet meal at Hang Heung's Kitchen in the New World centre TST, a very 'traditional' Chinese eatery with ridiculously small and uncomfortable wooden stools. Started with soup then roast meats, prawns & celery, beef & mushrooms and liver sausage & veg: The roast meats were good but the rest of the meal was very ordinary. Maybe it was the stools or maybe it was the loud constant annoying sound of steam whistling somewhere but i couldn't wait to get out of this place. This is probably the closest restaurant to our hotel and the only reason we stumbled into it. Day 3 we went to Ocean Park to see some Pandas! Couldn't resist posting one pic, my wife and i love pandas Foodwise this day was pretty quiet, had some squid and the only non-Chinese meal of the trip, a Japanese Eel Rice somewhere in Times Square, Causeway Bay, in the evening.

The Mooli buns I think are baked, they have a thin crumbly pastry shell stuffed with cooked soft juicy shredded mooli (aka daikon or white radish). They only taste of mooli so are quite bland but good texturally.

Ah, glad someone is still reading this thread! Any ideas what that ham terrine dish is properly called HKDave? More to follow later.... much more

It's a bit long in the tooth this thread so it's past time i made a contribution to it! Just come back from probably the most gluttonous week of my life. Was in back in Hong Kong for a wedding. Since all the relatives were back for the festivities too it seemed each meal became more and more extravagant during the week. I'll start on Monday 27th Oct (the wedding was on the Sat 1st Nov). Day 1 - Crystal Jade Restaurant in Harbour City Tsim Sha Tsui. For the first time ever we stayed in hotel in HK. The Renaissance in TST to be precise and we were met when we landed by our cousins so we tried a local place. I believe this restaurant is part of a chain but the food here is fantastic. Mixture of Shanghai & Sichuan dishes: Sichuan Mouthwatering Chicken: This ham terrine dish that i've had before but can never remember the name of (any ideas anyone?) Siew Long Bao (regular pork ones): Tea-smoked pigeon: Wor Tip: Spring Onion Pancakes: Won-tons: Fried Rice with Ham: Fried Pork Buns (Sang Jing Bao) Poached Salty Duck: Baked Mooli Buns: For me the best dish was the pigeon, though that is probably partly because we can't get it here in the UK. The most disappointing was the Siew Long Bao, just not as juicy as they should be. This place was packed, we had to wait 20 mins even though my cousin had already booked ahead. Not surprising though as the bill was very reasonable and the service very efficient. More tomorrow - have so many photos to upload and it's such a chore!

Back to basics this week after some recent excesses, Char Sui Pork & Veg and Pea & Pancetta Linguine Carbonara:

Mate, i thought draining them the Cantonese way made them angry but scraping the eggs off this girl was a new level of gnarliness. Thinking back about this, if there was one thing that put me off then it was the mad thrashing tail and bits of egg flying off.

Thanks menu, there were just olives, chorizo and anchovy (on my side only!). I'm beginning to learn that less is more with pizza but still manage to make fairly hefty ones anyway. Still damn tasty though!

Don't worry about me, we loved eating that lobster! I said if your conscience isn't clear!!!

I have to third that! That is a fantastic display. No wonder it's your favourite butcher, looks terrific and cooked perfectly. Inspired by recent pizzas on the thread i couldn't resist making my own last week: I usually use a combination of buffalo mozarella, smoked cheddar and parmesan. But the cheeseshop didn't have any mozarella so on a wild punt i substituted tallegio. It was wonderful, i think i may have found my holy grail of pizza cheese! It's bit dearer than mozarella but it's so much tastier. Tonight, my buddy come round so i treated him to some asian flavours; Salt & Pepper Soft Shell Crabs, Tea Smoked Duck, Lamb Rendang & Veg:

You're both right. It's the only time i've ever seen lobster eggs and it was a pure impulse buy. I'm sure this was just a one-off occurrence. It's actually quite difficult to spot the eggs when the tail is curled up normally. It's only when you pick her up, give her shake and uncurls when you actually see the eggs. I was completely astounded. The eggs themselves are a little bland and though pretty, on balance i wouldn't recommend cooking with them if your conscience isn't completely clear.

Thanks for bringing this thread back Adey. I couldn't be arsed to start a new one! Purnells is fantastic and you should definitely not hesitate to visit next week. I've never been to lunch but judging by the 'a la carte' dinners i have there it should be a steal at £20 a pop for 3 courses. Last time we went was just last week, here are some pics to whet your appetite (apologies for the fuzzy photos - they stuck us in the darkest corner): Glyn's signature Cheese & Pineapple Starter (my wife always has this) Chicken liver parfait, cured duck and textures of beetroot (the sorbet element was stunning): Pork fillet, mushy peas and nuggets: Monkfish rolled in cep and ox cheek: And, because we love the desserts here, we had the first three on the menu! I think my starter was the best dish of the lot. The chicken liver parfait was truly perfect, along with the rich duck and refreshingly sweet beetroot it was a sensation. Most disappointing was my main, Monkfish was a little over and the ox-cheek not deep enough and the potato crisp soggy (it felt like it been hanging around too long). So if you could order 'a la carte' at lunch i would highly recommend my starter.

Gosh Mifi, it's just like i read your mind!! Tonight we had Pata Negra Ham, Manchego, Fat Gordal Olives & Chorizo (from my garage): and yesterday a lovely longhorn cote de boeuf, simply seared and dressed with copious amounts of Japanese-style sesame & shallot sauce:

Beautiful shot of a wonderful looking pizza petite tête de chou. Tonight Butter Poached Lobster, Chorizo Rice, Saffron Scallop Sauce with Lobster Roe then a slice of Bramble Cheesecake, yum yum: The flavours of the lobster dish were wonderfully intense. I made a lobster stock to cook the rice and had some scallop stock in the freezer to make the sauce. The combination of the two stocks was really knockout! The roe gave a nice visual and textural element to the sauce and was really indistinguishable from tobiko (flying fish roe).

As suspected there was no dark green unfertilised roe inside this female lobster as it was all on the outside. Plenty of light greeny brown tomalley though: The flesh was fine and the actual eggs themselves cooked up quite nicely. They do turn brilliant red and are indistinguishable from tobiko (flying fish roe). Will post a pic of the dish when i get chance on the Dinner thread.

Right, now I am confused! My understanding of lobster physiology is this: - The green stuff found inside female lobsters is the unfertilised roe (often called coral). This turns beautiful bright orangey red when cooked, with a waxy texture but nice flavour - This stuff is not to be found in male lobsters (obviously because eggs come from the female right?) - The tomalley is the liver/pancreas and can be found in the head of both sexes and is a pale brown colour that does not change colour when cooked. This stuff is truly delicious. I've only got experience of handling these local homard lobsters and my observations have always followed my understanding above. I've never seen a male lobster with red coral before and the brown stuff never turns bright red. When choosing lobsters I always have this in mind, whether I want more meaty males or corally females. Have mine eyes deceived me all these years? This time it's different in that I've never actually seen the fertilised eggs on the outside of a female lobster before. I'm thinking actually whether this mother should have been thrown back?

That's the thing HKDave, i'm sure this roe is fertilised becauseit is actually little egg like caviar! I thought unfertilised roe is the green viscous roe you get inside of the female lobsters. I've cooked with that stuff before plenty of times and it's delish but i've just never come across actual lobster eggs like this. I'm thinking actually that this female won't have any of the unfertilised roe now that she's spawned. We will see when i crack her open tonight!

Foraging in a crate of lobsters at the wholesale market this morning, I found a very lively one packed with roe. The rest seemed a bit dopey so I thought why not and bought that one. It did occur to me at the time though that I've never come across lobster roe before: So, question is what do I do with it and how edible is it? I've scraped off most of it (you should have seen her struggle!), rinsed and salted it like caviar. I tried a little, it was bland but I'm hoping the flavour will improve by the time I get home from work in approx 9hrs. Can I cook with it or should I just use it as a garnish? Does anyone know whether the flesh of female lobsters are adversly affected by having roe?

Couldn't resist posting that pic because the colours photographed so well (plus it tasted good too of course). Twice-cooked pork is a funny one because it's actually cooked three times! First, i gently poach a nice square piece of skin-on pork leg meat in salted, gingerised, scallioned water for 20 mins. Remove and let cool. When cool, take the skin off and slice thinly perpendicularly. Each slither should be half meat, half pearly fat. That's why a nice square piece of meat to start is preferable. Second, hard fry the slithers in batches till they are brown and crispy. Not too far or they'll be too dry. Set them aside. Third, fry off 2 heaped tsp of chilli bean paste (or to taste), garlic, ginger and scallion white in a little of the leftover lard. Add a splash of shaosing, sesame oil, dark and light soy and softened crushed black beans. Add the pork along with scallion greens and fresh red chillies. Stir fry, add a splash of water if it looks a little dry. Finish with as much chilli oil as you like.

Lovely stuff but methinks there's a photo missing from your last post Daniel, where is the after shot of the veal?!

Thanks Dejah, the tempura was pretty standard though as you spotted the prawns did get an extra coating of panko. Probably, everybody has a different tempura method so I may be teaching people how to suck eggs around here but here goes! I mix half cornflour and half plain flour, toss the prawns and peppers in the mix to give an initial light coating of flour then set aside. I then drop a few ice-cubes into the flour mix and some cold water to form a lumpy batter. First, the peppers were dunked in the batter using the fat end of wooden chopsticks and fried in moderately hot cooking oil. Whilst it is frying I used the same fat end to sprinkle more batter onto the peppers, I think this is called the Hana (flower) and creates more lacy batter onto the food. When the peppers are done set aside on a rack in a warm oven. Prawns are always last and they get an extra dip in panko after the batter but no hana when frying. They've been shelled except for the very end piece where you handle them. Also, they have deep little slashes across the belly to stop them curling too much. That's it, it's really simple but you do have to be organised and careful when deep-frying as always. Little things make life easier, having a warmed rack to drain, keep things crispy and another pair of long thin chopsticks to handle and separate the food in the oil. I have a pair of metal moribashi and they make making Tempura a real joy.