Duvel

Sunday night, heading out for a business trip to Shanghai. Food in the Cathay Lounge at HK airport is predictable, but good: Pumpkin risotto with scallops, followed by sea bass on buttered peas. Not pictured are two flutes of M&C (cause it's a Sunday night that I can't be at home, so you need to reward yourself) and a very well prepared G&T ...

Two fish fingers, slightly beyond their expiry date ?

Autumn has arrived - only 23 oC today. Homemade chicken soup with macaroni, carrots and peas. I started to add tiny mounts of white miso to my chicken soyps - not noticeable as miso, but just the little umami-boost needed for a plain soup ...

Bratwurst mit Sauerkraut - the breakfast for Champions. Moe sure is a lucky guy ...

Dis-gus-ting ! Do you know how all bread from Subway tasted like this "Rosmary-in-wet-sock-microwaved" ... just like that. And its supposed to taste like Basil ?!

There are two types of Sushi places in HK: the "Japanese"-style ones, usually good to excellent with more traditional offerings, high quality and high prices (RRO's lunch would fit right in there). And then there are the "localized" ones, good to lousy, with more creative offers, medium to budget prices and quality that you either know or you are desperate. Todays lunch fell in the very last category. I had to run errands in the Fuk Wing street in the heart of Kowloon, known for all sorts of party decorations and cheap toys. Being done at around 13.00h with a toddler sleeping in the stroller is not a good prerequisite for a satisfying lunch. Everything popular (the beef intestine noodle soup shops, curry fishball joints, Sichuan hot-pot places) was crammed with queues, which means no stroller parking with a sleeping kid. Finally, on a corner an unknown Kaiten sushi place - and after some haggeling we were allowed to park the little one in the corner. As I was starved I filled up on the very decent plates from the conveyor belt and then ordered a la carte for some fresher sushis. Note the size of the side-order soup, which was actually a bone-marrow based Ramen. All in all quite ok and for 240 HKD a steal. Would not dare to bring friends here but for an emergency Saturday lunch I'd return any time.

La Vie en Rose ...

Lazy dinner: Sliced steak with caramelized onions, dijonnaise, cheddar and pickled carrots on a baguette. 10 min to make, 5 min to eat. More time to watch "The little mermaid" with someone much smaller ...

Thanks, sounds straightforward... Will bring some rennet from my next trip to Germany and then start production!

Homemade "chevre" - care to share how you do that ?

Thanks to @AnnaN 's recent triple: Caldo Verde ...

Oven-roasted pumpkin pureed with sharp cheddar, cream, nutmeg and salt. Mixed with macaroni and topped with fried lardons. Simple and satisfying ...

Think chemical. Use bleach on anything that looks organic. Get those electronic dispensers for pyrethroids and install them everywhere. Put vases filled with distilled vinegar and two tablespoons of marmelade everywhere. Go to a Japanese store and get these little fumigations sets for Tatami mats (used to develop HCN, but now are based on formaldehyde afaik). Hit them hard, hit them early. This is not a battle you want to loose ! (yes, I had a rough afternoon ...)

Lunch at Maxim's City Hall, an HK institution in a great banquet hall just next to my office. We were there early at 11.30h and it was packed. It reminded me why we don't go there more often ... We had: Peppers stuffed with shrimp paste Deep-fried won ton Fried tentacles Baked char siu bao Sui mai Deep-fried taro fritters with chicken pieces Steamed beef ribs with black pepper Har gow Xiao long bao When the bill arrived, it reminded me of the second reason why we don't go there too often (its not expensive per se, but for everyday lunch slightly out of budget). After a nice lunch break finally finishing with a walk back to the office and a nice view across Victoria Harbor ...

There is nothing like coming home after a busy monday knowing that there are only left-over veggies waiting. After discovering that neither the carrots nor the eggplant made it over the weekend menu options suddenly simplified with only a cabbage left. So, Okonomiyaki - one of the best things that an old cabbage can hope to become ...

Groundhog day: again still full from previous meals, again leftover pizza. Same dough as yesterday (plus 24h cold rise in the fridge). First one with smoked bacon and mushrooms, second one with onions, tuna and green olives. All accompanied by an off-dry Riesling from the Palatinate and hopefully later something herbal to support the gastrointestinal system after an overloaded weekend ...

Headed out today to 208 on Hollywood road, an osteria with a nice brunch buffet (and a kid's playroom for a relaxed morning*). Buffet was good, a lot of seafood (crabs, octopus salad, home-cured salmon, ...) and salads. Extensive antipasti section as well. The offer comes with a main as well and I opted for Eggs Benedict. It was just ok. Bit then again, even a mediocre Eggs Benedict is still very satisfying ... * all the guys attending made fun that it would be an even more relaxed morning if we would take the free flow of wine & beer offer as well. Strangely, none of the ladies attending made any attempt to agree ...

Still pretty full from lunch, but the little one has to eat (what a convenient excuse ...). Quick pizza: 10h room temperature poolish started this morning, topped up with same amount of flour, some water and salt. 30 min fermentation, rolled out and put whatever was in the fridge (in this case passata, brown champignons, olives and lardons). 8 min @ 250 oC, directly on the bottom of the oven. Sharp cheddar and mozzarella added at 5 min. Panorama & crumb shot ... (after the little one ate half of a 1/8th slice, I had to finish the rest, right ?)

@BonVivant Great choices ! Have you ever tried "Salsa Espinaler" with the clams ... it takes even the cheaper ones to a whole new level !

Ok, then lets close in: Shoots at all ? Ginger/Galangal/Ginseng/Turmeric ?

Today was our semiannual IKEA run. There are three IKEAs in Hong Kong, and contrary to any I have seen prior coming to HK they are located in either two upper floors or two basements in different shopping centers. We opted for the one in Sha Tin, because next to it is Snoopy World, a (small) free Snoopy-themed amusement park for the little one. I vowed to myself not be lured in by the Køttbullar, and managed to avoid the restaurant altogether. As a reward I found a Din Tai Fung in the adjacent shopping mall. We had: Xiao Long Bao, house appetizer (tofu, kelp, vinegar) and pork trotter jelly Stir fried pea shoots and Bao Zi Wild mushroom and mustard greens dumplings Pork & shrimp steamed dumplings Dan Chao Fan for the little one Won Ton soup (technically also for the little one, but he just drinks the soup). Everyone happy !

Lemongrass shoots ?

Dinner was simple: half a bottle of Schneider Riesling No.1, some whipped together Schupfnudeln with caramelized onions and smoked ham shavings and a piece of Chaource for good measure. Life is good!

Yesterday, my annual order of wine arrived. Being an expat in HK, I am quite lucky that my German mother company takes well care of their delegates, at least as alcohol is concerned. Once a year, we can order (at German prices) wine from the company, which is an excellent deal in both price and quality. In order to celebrate, we had some Brazilian friends over for semi-dry Riesling from Deidesheim (Palatinate), Flammkuchen and - because for our friends the needs to be some meat involved - Lahmacun, Turkish lamb mince pizza. Didn't get minced lamb at the local supermarket, so I simmered minced pork with an Oxo lamb stock cube. Worked like a charm ...

Last night we had BBQ dinner with some friends and colleagues. "HK style" BBQ takes usually place on beaches or rented properties as usually no one ever has a space big enough to put even the grill, let alone host more that half a dozen people. The food is straight forward: Marinated skirt steaks, turkey wings, pork cheeks, all types of interesting "fish" balls and frankfurts, veggies and garlic bread. All grilled over fairly high heat and at the end basted with "BBQ honey", a golden syrup that just caramelizes on the surface. It sounds weird, but somewhat works. On top, the place provided us with two (professionally roasted) suckling pigs. I got both snouts! As the place we rented only serves beer it did not charge corkage for wine, so we had an eclectic range of German wines (just arrived the same day, my annual order), Sake and Baiju. Needless to say it was good fun, very filling and only caused the tiniest of headaches this morning ...