aprilmei

I think this is Soursop, not custard apple. ← You know, you might be right. I've only seen them whole and then as juice (I drink it constantly when I'm in Vietnam). I've never seen it cut up.

The fruit next to the kiwi is sea coconut. The reptilian looking fruit is snakefruit (and I've never seen it before in HK; only in Malaysia) and the dark larval looking thing is sea cucumber.

That fruit is custard apple. Weren't you asking about it before? It's an ugly fruit but it tastes delicious, unlike dragon fruit which is beautiful but doesn't have much flavour (at least the white-fleshed ones, which are they only type I've tasted).

I'm not sure if the mutton casserole is available now because it's a winter dish. The yuen cheung might not be, either - for the same reason. I actually very rarely look at the menu when eating there - we depend on our waiter to recommend what's good that day.

They call them bamboo clams Hong Kong, and they're delicious. Next time, order them steamed. I believe they're the same as razor clams but I'm not sure; I've never eaten them in the States.

Just mix it into boiled egg noodles. It's as fast as making instant noodles but a lot more delicious. You'll be very thirsty afterwards, though.

Yes, you can eat it. There's a chain of Chinese dessert shops here that in the summer, makes this delicious coconut ice cream and they add chunks of the sea coconut. The fruit (or whatever it is) has a thin papery husk. The flesh of it is quite thick with a tender crispness that's sort of like rambutan. It doesn't taste like "regular" coconut, though.

Ling, I went to Victoria on Sunday with my relatives and we ordered the fried beef brisket. The waiter approved of our choice, saying it was delicious. And it was - so good we ordered a second plate of it. On our waiter's recommendation, we also ordered the baked chaxiubao - something I never order for dim sum because it's so easy to get it at Hong Kong bakeries - and at much cheaper prices. This was amazing - the perfect chaxiubao. The outside was soft, delicate and thin, holding an impressive amount of chaxiu. I'm a convert and will order the chaxiubao whenever I go to Victoria.

I always thought the steamed ones were Cantonese? Or are we talking about different things? I need to go home and look in Florence Lin's book.

I think the baked ones have yeast, the steamed ones don't.

The shrimp roe isn't necessary. The only ingredients that are consistent from one XO sauce to the next are the dried scallops, oil and chillies.

I've made it but I couldn't give you amounts. I didn't add any dried shrimp or ham because as I mentioned before, I like the scallops part the best. Dried scallops: soak for a few hours then steam until very tender (this is important; I didn't steam them long enough so they were too chewy in the finished product) Garlic, minced Shallots, minced Dried and fresh chillies (I used Thai chillies), chopped Oil (you need more than you think is healthy) Dried shrimp roe Soy sauce, if needed Shred the steamed scallops. Heat some oil in a pan, add the garlic and shallots and cook until soft. Add the fresh and dried chillies and cook for a few minutes then add the scallops. You'll probably need to add more oil - I just kept adding it until it looked right. It should be very oily - it's a condiment, after all - but not too much oil should be floating to the surface. I cooked it over low heat for about 45 minutes but I was trying to soften the scallops (it didn't work). If it needs it, add some soy sauce then stir in dried shrimp roe. I made it because I was curious and had loads of dried scallops. It's easier (for me) to buy it and the quality sold by restaurants in Hong Kong is so high, I don't think I could make it any better.

The supermarket versions are not good examples of XO sauce. As canucklehead says, it depends on the quality of ingredients - and for the good stuff, you have to buy it from restaurants that make their own. Even then, I'd be selective about which restaurant to buy it from. The best versions (in my opinion) have a lot of dried scallops compared to (relatively) cheaper ingredients such as dried shrimp and Chinese ham - I like it to taste very scallop-y. Others disagree, though. All the top Cantonese restaurants in Hong Kong make their own and sell it. I also like it as a dipping sauce, or mixed with boiled noodles (preferably crab or shirmp-roe noodles) for a quick meal.

Did you make a trip to Din Tai Fung on the weekend? They make these beautiful one-bite xiao long bao but only on the weekends - I like them much better than the ones you have to eat in several bites because you don't have to worry about losing the soup. I think there were about 20 in a steamer basket.

There's always next time - then you can also try pineapple cakes, those delicious little cakes (or maybe it's a cookie) made with mung beans or peanuts or black sesame seeds, the shaved ice with sweet beans and jelly, the joong-zi, spicy hotpot... oh, there's so much to eat, the food in Taiwan is great. Oh, and did you go to the mountains (in the hills of Taipei) to have tea?? It's beautiful there. Packaged eggs do sound gross but iron eggs are delicious. Get the quail eggs, they're better than the chicken eggs.

I think the food in Taiwan is amazing but it's very different from Cantonese food - it seems richer and more strongly flavoured. I don't know if I would say it's "better" than Chinese food anywhere because it's too hard to compare such different types of cuisine - it just depends on what you like. Even the joong-zi are different there. And I love the savoury hot soybean milk - I've never eaten that anywhere else (although I'm sure it exists) My Taiwanese cousin-in-law thinks Cantonese food is too subtle

Wow, I live in Hong Kong and go to Victoria quite frequently but I've never tried the fried brisket. I'm going there with my relatives on Sunday so will be sure to order that dish.

Oh, I'm sure you know that bivalve is geoduck. We usually order that at hotpot restaurants, where they'll serve it with little dishes of wasabi, to be eaten raw or dipped for just a few seconds in the broth. Then we ask the chef to cook the stomach salt-and-pepper style. The edges of the thinly sliced, raw geoduck should be wavey (not straight) - which is an indication that it's very fresh (which is the only way to eat it). The baby geoducks (about 5cm long) are usually steamed with garlic - very tender and sweet.

I make bo jai fan quite often but mine is never as good as the places here that specialise in it. It's pretty good, though. After bringing the water to the boil, I put the lid on the pot and turn the heat low enough so the water doesn't boil over the top. When most of the water is absorbed (so it's the same level with the rice) I turn up the heat. You can smell when the rice is starting to brown on the bottom of the pot. One thing I've noticed about bo jai fan places is they soak the rice - they have a large vat of it soaking and ready to scoop into the pots. Then they add more water and the toppings. Soaking it presumably makes it cook more quickly. It still takes awhile, though.

Oh sorry, you're right about that.

What a funny but sweet gift to buy. how did he think of buying you pig stomach? I guess a homemade card is too ordinary?

Oh, this is a good idea for a thread. I buy pastry books only if they use metric. I've found that British/European editions of books are more likely to have metric than the ones published for Americans. The pro books almost always have metric. Of the non-pro books, Rose Levy Beranbaum's books have cups/spoonfuls, oz/pounds and metric. The new Susur Lee book, The Sweet Spot, also gives the three measuring options. I'm interested in hearing of other books.

God, I hope it's a one-off bad (or rather, mediocre) meal at Farm House. I've always found it such a dependable place - one of the restaurants I don't think about for several months then someone comes to visit and suggests a meal there, and it's as good as ever. Have you ever tried a place called Sky View in Causeway Bay near Times Square? That's one of my new favourite places; I took my relatives there and even they loved it!