Duvel

Hahaha, you amateurs ! Melon cream soda - ‘nuff said ...

So does Spain, actually ...

Was that before it got sauced ..?

Befitting the hot & humid weather: Unagi-Don set at Kinjo’s Izakaya, Central, HK. The unagi was steamed & grilled, and dusted with toasted nori, sansho and sesame - just perfect !

My everyday bread follows pretty much your formula: straight yeast dough, 70% hydration, no knead, overnight fermentation, Dutch oven. What I do though is vary the grains: wheat at minimum 50% for structure; then rye, spelt, emmer, oat, corn, different degrees of whole grain ... taste and character of the bread will be very different based on your combination, while the method (and thus your effort to prepare) remain constant. Please give it a try ...

Current offering at McDonalds HK is a large Chicken McNuggets box with four seasonal sauces ... The fermented bean curd one was great - very savoury, the egg yolk was tastewise good, but so rich I couldn’t eat it (which says a lot for someone who could drink mayo from shot glasses ...). The other two were unremarkable.

After a basically lost day (rough intercontinental flight plus no cold beer in the house) I had to make ends meet with what was available ... Hakushu 12 on the rocks ... Puff pastry base with black olives, soppresata (curtesy of our emtying freezer) and spring onion ... Worked pretty well, actually ...

Return flight Frankfurt to Hong Kong, this time in “regular” business class. The menu comes in a kind of newspaper style ... Antipasti for starters were nice. As heavily advertised, I had to take the burger. It was fine. Fries could have been crisper. Cheese plate was missing a blue cheese. The stewardess kept apologising, even when I left the plane ... All enjoyed with G&T and a great view !

I took it that the ketchup was for the sausage ... it never touched my scrambled eggs !

I see what you did there 😜

To talk about the “good” part: Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong to Frankfurt. Complimentary upgraded to First 🥳 ... Some Brandade amuse geule that came with the first Champagne (and some freshly toasted nuts). Caviar with more Champagne ... Harissa soup & Burrata not shown. Steak was great ... Breakfast (continental choice)

Hahaha ... I think you underestimate the guys 😋 I fell asleep after the steak ... so no burger. But I fly back tomorrow ...

I just boarded the plane and discovered that burger is one of their snack options. I couldn’t confirm whether it’s Wagyu, so might need to sample ...

If you could convince me that there is a significant advantage over the conventional burger, maybe ... At this point I do not subscribe to the health benefits, neither to saving the world by substituting 1 burger or so per month with meat substitute. So, it boils down to taste and for me it doesn’t justify a premium ...

Disclaimer: there are plenty of restaurants in Hong Kong that offer Beyond Meat burgers or Impossible burger ... I never had the slightest desire to try. Reading through all of this, at least I thought Incould give it a try. So, tonight while frequenting the Cathay lounge before my flight to Germany I stumbled upon the Beyond Meat burger ... it might have been catalysed by some whiskey highball, but we can’t be sure. It was ok. Juicy, umami, texture a bit like store-bought mince beef, compressed to a patty. With the adequate condiments an OK burger. The olive oil brushed brioche bun surely helped as well ... It scratched an itch, but it kept itching. Wagyu cheese burger did the rest 😋

I have no idea what “ballpark” mustard is ... Maille or Löwensenf (extra scharf, please) usually does the trick 😉

There is potato salad without mustard ?!?!

Matsuyama Airport, Shikoku (Japan): Uwajima Udon with wakame, tenkasu, kamaboko and and a mackerel-based fish cake, that I never sampled before. Must be the local touch - Udon is one of the specialities in Shikoku.

Yes, steamed and then dehydrated, typically by frying or hot air ...

Well ... There are plenty of styles available, and I would assume any permutation will have been explored. Kitakata (northern Kyushu) is indeed famous for curly noodles in shio broth - and I had them one Kyoto as well. Additionally, as @Alex pointed out, several (extremely popular) instant ramen utilise this style as well, as allegedly the soup base coats the noodles better. So, I would not discard them as “un-ramen-y”, just probably not strictly necessary for your explorations ...

Harzer Käse is worthwhile seeking out ... marinated with vinegar and onions it is very tasty.

I live in Hong Kong and am very privileged that I get anything I want. Literally. Sure, I might not want to shell out the money now and then, but you could get everything here. There is just one exception: Mett: raw, spiced minced pork meat to be consumed uncooked. That I can get only in Germany ... By Q4 I will relocate back to my home country and I guess I will feel pretty much like you - and while there is an abundance of Mett most things that I eat here or cook with will be out of reach ...

65% Wheat, 30% spelt and 5% whole grain rye. 70% hydration, overnight fermentation, baked in preheated cast iron for 15 min at 250 oC, then “naked” 30 min at 200 oC. That’s pretty much the best formula I’ve come up with yet and will be our standard bread from now on ...

Left one: Shiro Shoyo (literally white soy sauce): less dark, higher salt content. Middle one: fairly regular koikuchi, if not a bit fancy; from Shodo Island, Shikoku. Right one: Shibanuma premium soy sauce, Ibaraki prefecture. Koikuchi as well. I assume this is the most tasty one ...

I was also wondering about that ... they check your car and you need to pay “import” taxes (between provinces ?) ...