Duvel

Fish in general is not an issue. Most of it is placed on ice, but more often than not is still alive when you select it. Meat yes - but these are very freshly killed animals and usually rather large chunks (less surface area) and most treatments here consist of marinating and cooking to a more done result. That being said I usually by my meats that go for SV frozen from imported sources

Damn it ... they were on offer. Should have stocked up

My bad Normally, I prepare the dough ahead and let it ferment in the fridge for 24-48h. If I need to make a crust "spontaneously", I started to add yoghurt to the liquids. It adds tartness, complexity and the dairy helps to form a more stable gluten matrix much faster. So, in this case: 400g (Korean) bread flour 110g (French) yogurt - on the liquid side 170g water (combined with yoghurt about 70% hydration) 4/5 of a "Dr. Oetker" instant yeast satchet 8g salt 2g sugar Combine, knead for 5 min and let rise. Three fold & stretch cycles in about 1h. Divide intwo, roll out thinly and place on a sheet of baking paper. Sauce is crushed tomatoes, balsamico vinegar, salt, some mixed herbs. I put the pizza base with the sauce and whatever items need to be cooked in a preheated oven at 250 oC, full whack heating & circulation. Directly on the bottom of the oven, no metal sheet. The baking paper will brown significantly. After about 5 min I remover the nicely expanded base, add the other ingredients (e.g. olives, ham etc.) and the cheeses and return in the oven for about two minutes - done.

Oh yes, both locations. The pizza is excellent, albeit a tiny bit less charred than in NYC (my first Motorino experience was there). Rare treat though, as the pizza is priced at just below 200 HKD (25 USD). They do a have a lunch option at 150 HKD with a soft drink. Maybe I should visit again ... Brussel sprouts & guanciale @Motorino Wan Chai... However, normally if we go out as a family to Central at night we head for something Asian - all three of us are very partial to sushi and there is great sushi to be had at much lower cost. Pizza is pretty much something "homey" for us and the preparation is part of the fun ... My little helper ...

Thanks ... that's my standard "quick" pizza. Details see below Funny you have never considered this pizza. I always thought that mushroom & salami is one of the quintessential basic combinations. It is at least the most popular one in Germany, sometimes with added sweet ham. My son loves it ...

I did not manage to compile the pictures from the dried goods market ... something being left for tomorrow In the meantime: Dinner. Comfort food. Pizza night is usually on Sunday, but hey - we are all flexible ... Mushroom & salami Black olives & goat cheese The obligatory crumb shot Very nice "Weissburgunder" ...

So far I have not seen a live larger mammal being killed at the market. Everything comes in (rather unusal) cuts ...

They are very pretty. I was hoping it carries through the photograph ...

The only dish I know for the toads is baked ice with toad legs. Let me investigate further

Lunch today is "Siu Mei", or roasted meats. Actually it describes everything coming from the above shown Siu Mei shop ... From left to right: Si Yau Gai (soy sauce chicken), Char Siu (barbecued pork) and Lou Dan (soy sauce boiled eggs). Left: Siu Aap (roasted duck), right: Siu Yuk (roasted pork with crispy skin). Sauces are Lou Sui (sweet aromatic soy sauce) for dipping as well as hot mustard for the Siu Yuk. Accompanied by mushrooms with garlic & chili and smacked cucumbers, again with garlic and a dash of vinegar. Oh yes ... and everything served with a Paulaner Hefeweizen (wheat beer), just because it's weekend

Outside the wet market, the local shops continue... This one sells everything you possibly need for putting into hot pots - very popular in Hong Kong: Fruit (we will see a large fruit market this afternoon) ... Longans & lychees ... Roasted meats (guess what for lunch today ?) A nice shot of tradition meeting "modern" Hong Kong ... On a side entrance of a roasted meat shop, something waiting for a spot in the roasting oven

3rd floor: Meeeaaat ... Beef & pork ... Variety meats (under the table) ... Chicken ... Very fresh indeed ... there are live chickens in the background. You order, make your round and gete a freshly dressed chicken some minutes later . Black chickens. Good for tonic soups ...

2nd floor: Fish ! All your hearts desire - and fresh ... This display is very usual - Cantonese love to see the swim bladder intact. Shell fish, shrimps ... Fresh (barely) alive fish ... Minced fish meat (in the middle) for filling veggies, tofu or rolling into fish balls for hot pot ... Not quite fish ... but toads. Turtles ... and blue crab.

Every district of Hong Kong has it's own wet market, where mostly the local population buys their groceries, fish and meat. Notable, fruits are not sold at wet markets, but separate fruit markets instead. Sometimes the wet markets are couped with cooked food markets, where local fresh and rather cheap food can be found. At Sai Yin Pun wet market ... The "Dried veggie and tofu" place ... All types of soy bean products ... Large cubes of coagulated duck blood are paired with tofu products, due to their similar consistency and usage ... 1st floor: Veggies galore ! Tradition. Gai lan ... The root vegetable store ... Greens ... Leafy greens ... Some sort of bean ?

Good morning from Sai Yin Pun ! I headed out this morning for the wet market and was planning to have a congee with a fried bread stick ... After running around for a while (sipping on a lemon ice tea - an alternative to the dark green tea I have on weekdays) I found a congee shop. But somehow I decided to look for something more savoury later ... Fried bread sticks on the top, more fried dough items below and baked buns on the bottom, all to be consumed with ... ... thick Congee, served with roasted peanuts and pickles. The fried dough sticks are slightly sweet and taste a bit like doughnuts.

If you would be interested, I think I could get a source ...

Tonight I was invited at a dear Japanese friends house. We share the same circle of friends - all local - and I did teach them how to bake bread at one point. Today we took a lesson in making Gyoza and Takoyaki. The former was rather conventional (homemade filling and folding), the latter featured - amng other items - Mentaiko (spicy cod roe) and Nuernberger sausages. I contributed chicken wings (cooked sous vide at 70 oC for two hours, then pan- or deep fried, respectively, as requested by our HK friends). Korean style sauce or curry-salt to go with it ... Takoyaki. Chicken wings Gyoza... Bit of refreshment Itadakimasu !!!

Yup, that still is pretty much the norm on sundays, for all the domestic helpers gathering in public places and enjoying their only free day of the week. I'll post an updated picture ...

Yeah, I might have overordered a bit. But Iam a German guy from a small village - leaving leftovers has never been an option for me. The server was a bit surprised as well

The tripe was nice, though distinctively "untripy". I had Callos in Spain that had much more of a "taste". That being said, it tasted god with the garlic nicely complementing the mild taste, and it had a great texture ...

Today I went to nearby Causeway Bay for lunch. The original idea was to get a hair cut in my lunch break, but it turns out the place I used to frequent does not longer exist. This happens quite frequently: a job is doing well, so landlord decides to double or triple the rent. A lot of restaurants - even very successful ones - drop out of business this way. Anyway, since I was in Causeway Bay anyway I decided to drop in my favorite Sichuan place called "Yu". I opted for the tasting menu, augmented by a bowl of spicy pork dumplings. I do tolerate spicy food, but I prefer to have a glass of cold soy milk with this type of meal. Cold chicken in spicy sauce (super ma la) ... From left to right: smacked cucumber, beef tripe (very garlicky) and tree fungus with corinander. Sour soup with potato noodles. Nice ! Pork dumplings in spicy oil. These are very good. Small portion though ... The whole ensemble ... It was very good. I enjoy the "Ma La" effect and having your tongue and lips still tingling on the way back to the office ...

Good morning from Central! It’s a beautiful day again. To give you an idea how housing looks like in Discovery Bay, I took a picture of our house. We occupy the ground floor and have a little terrace in the back. Unfortunately, we don’t own a little golf cart, but busses run frequently between the two “centers” of the town. Next to the ferry pier lies the “South Plaza”. It consists of a supermarket, plenty of restaurants, shops for daily necessities and public services (such as doctors etc.). Restaurants include Japanese, Korean, Thai, Cantonese, Soup&Dumpling, Italian, Mexican, French, Spanish, Turkish, Subway, McDonalds, an English pub and some "mixed" style comfort food places (Pizza, Burger, Steak ...). There are public sitting installments, so at night you can grab a beer at the local convenience store of have some take-out food and enjoy it there. It’s very pleasant, as cyou can have watch your kid playing on the plaza with others while mingling with their parents. View from the ferry ... This morning the usual green tea with a croissant. Might be the blogging, but I do feel more hungry theses days

What I realized it that if you have a profound interest and appreciation of food and cooking, it is very easy to connect to people from other cultures. The moment your counterpart realizes that you are interested and even have some knowledge on details of "their" food they take it as a genuine interest in their culture and somewhat also in themselves (which is true in way). I like interacting with business partner from many countries over dinner, simply by selecting dishes together, discussing details of preparation and finally enjoying the food together. I opens doors ... (and amongst all our production sites and business colleagues I am known as "the guy who takes pictures of every dish he eats" - literally)

Yes, it is upcale - by the location alone. Though I find that due to the high prices for "western" food items in general, the difference between upscale and regular is not that high. We can have a look into a more "local" supermarket, but I believe you get a much better view on local food acquisitions tomorrow, when I take you to the wet market (Shek Tong Tsui market) ...

Most everything that I encounter is in English. That being said, going out to the more "native" areas of Hong Kong - starting with Kowloon and then up to the New Territories - you will find a lot of shops & establishments that cater for the local clientele only. Those are run in Cantonese. And yes, a significant part of the (older) population speak little English at best. Mandarin does not help you with that particular group of people either, unless you are able to write (traditional characters). Then you can communicate in written statements ... In Central, on Hong Kong island in general as well as the parts of the peninsula that's geared towards shopping and amusement navigating with English only works pretty well. In my job, English in the lingua franca. I do deal with many different production environment in several countries and doing that in English is the only way. Even with our head office in Germany communication run mostly in English. During my studies I spend one semester in Taiwan and learned some Mandarin beforehand. I thought to reactivate that knowledge and signed up for Mandarin classes, but had to find out that my ability and willingness to study hard in between classes at home was rather limited. I like to tell people that it's hard because I am a scientist and my brain is just wired the other way around, making it sooo difficult to pick up languages; the truth is I am just lazy (or - put in a more euphemestic context - prioritize other activities in my spare time). Instead of doing the conversational routine as per the textbook, we are now translating recipes and I am getting both some practical value as well as an intrinsic motivation to continue ...