A big parcel from USA - continued

Once upon a time, I found Phyllis' fantastic food blog, me Hungry, from Foodbuzz. Since then, Phyllis and I have been reading each other's blog, and finally we have become very good friends (although we have never met each other in reality, yet!).

Few days ago I received a big parcel from Phyllis and her husband, Kris (this hottie composes songs!!!!) from USA. When I opened the parcel... I went speechless... (scroll down and you'll know why!). That's really so kind of this sweet couple!

Yeah, I love snacking and if you have been following my food blog, I even have a Guilty Pleasure Snack List. Most of the goodies they sent me are hard to find in Hong Kong (and some of them cannot even be found in HK)!

Who said true friends can't be made via the Internet?

Thank you, Phyllis and Kris. You two have brightened up my days!

All the goodies were neatly packed in this big box

Ta-da!

Chocolates!

Candies!

Crisps!














Go Yankees!
Kris' CD!!!

Look, I couldn't even put them all back into the box like how they were.... haha

Heavenly Housewife, "unfortunately", no squirrels this time, haha!

A big parcel from USA

I'm gonna let you know what goodies are inside this BIG box, ONLY after I have received more than 20 comments, LOL!

Celebrating 1st July Hong Kong Handover Anniversary

1st July 1997 = The People's Republic of China resumes sovereignty over the city-state of Hong Kong, ending 156 years of British colonial rule. (Source from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_1)

Cheers!









You may also like to read this: Magyar Pálinka (Hungarian Brandy)

An interview with the lover - Hokkaido Sweetcorn

I bought a few packages of cooked and vacuum-packaged Hokkaido sweetcorn few days ago and the lover loved them!

Me: How did you like the sweetcorn?
The lover: So fat, juicy and sweet. Very very tasty!

Me: Fatter and sweeter than me?
The lover: Hm.....
Me: Fatter and sweeter than me?
The lover: Hm.... yes.... honestly...
Me: !(**fk*(*#(f*!&^T%s#_+)(T$hll

Me: You've tried both the original and grilled versions, right? Which one is better?
The lover: I prefer the grilled version, but both are damn delish, can you get me some more when you have time?

Me: Sure no prob hunny, gimme 500 bucks first.

The lover: (speechless)

Me: Thank you for taking the time out for this interview.
The lover: Any time.

Left: Original version. Right: Grilled version

The cooked sweetcorn is encased in this vacuum package

The original version

The grilled version

Where to buy?

ThreeSixty

My Guilty Pleasure Snack List (2 of 10)

To be frank, I've been struggling to continue posting "My Guilty Pleasure Snack List" since my first post last April (see My Guilty Pleasure Snack List (1 of 10)), as I'm afraid to scare you guys off when I disclose what I'm gobbling up (secretly) at times, and I'm too shy to let people know that I get sugar high easily....

http://www.terranostrachocolate.com/

The texture of this rich chocolate is really silky.

Ramen Dinner

One of my favourite Japanese noodle restaurants in Hong Kong, Hakodate Japanese Restaurant 函館元祖北海道拉麺.

This restaurant is run by Japanese

Calpis (or Calpico if you are in USA) mixed with Kyoho grape concentrate

Above & below: Tonkotsu Ramen (pork bone soup) with Gyoza (Japanese potstickers)

Above & below: Shio & Butter Ramen (soup seasoned with salt)

Deep fried chicken nuggets

Hakodate Japanse Restaurant 函館元祖北海道拉麺

Address: 11B, Hoi Kwong Street, Quarry Bay

Tel: 2562 8706

油醋菇開封日之花絮

開封油醋菇那晚當然不只吃了油醋菇啦，看看那天我們吃了些甚麼：

新鮮生蠔有Skookum (US) 和Bretonne (UK)﹐我忘了拍照。

　Fish & Chips 炸魚薯條

Above & below: French Brown Crab 法國麵包蟹



Cherry Tomato, Basil & Parmesan Risotto 櫻桃茄蘿勒意大利飯

Blue Mussels Steamed in Cream & White Wine Sauce 白酒忌廉汁煮藍貝

Pan-fried Foie Gras with Earl Grey Tea, Plumped Prunes & Pine Nuts 香煎鵝肝伴百爵茶西梅松子仁

Linguine Bolognaise with Poached Egg 水煮蛋肉醬扁意大利麵 (注意﹕此店的Bolognaise用的是豬肉)

Mushroom Risotto with Black Truffle 黑松露雜菌意大利飯

Australian Corn-fed Pork Loin with Apple Cinnamon Sauce 澳洲穀糠紫豬柳配蘋果肉桂汁

Sea Urchin Linguine 海膽扁意大利麵

Above & below: Seafood Risotto in Lobster Sauce 海鮮意大利飯配龍蝦汁

Mixed Mushrooms Stuffed Spring Chicken Roll with Black Truffle Sauce 雜菌釀春雞捲配黑松露汁

吃到餐廳裡只剩下我們這檯人，中場休息再來甜品：

Warm Chocolate Pudding with Vanilla Ice Cream 心太軟伴雲呢拿雪糕

Blueberry Panna Cotta 藍莓意大利奶凍

Mango Panna Cotta 芒果意大利奶凍

Chocolate Mousse Cake 朱古力慕思蛋糕

New York Cheese Cake 紐約芝士餅

Lemon Tarts 檸檬撻

延伸連結：

Fun生活 －試新嘢

Official Website of Oyster Cube

相關舊文：

油醋菇開封喇! Funghi Sott' Olio

學松露玫瑰學做菜 - 油醋野菇 Funghi sott'olio

Century Egg Tofu 皮蛋豆腐

Eeeeeew, what the heck is this?

Century Egg Tofu

The hot & humid weather in Hong Kong is killing me and I've lost appetite for proper hot meals. Century Egg Tofu pops up in my mind whenever I come across this kinda situation, as it's easy peasy to make and no cooking is involved. This is the cold dish for lazy bones.

You can eat your Century Egg Tofu neat or with rice or noodles. But I must confess to you folks out there, the taste of century eggs is acquired. If you don't like stinky blue cheeses, then there will be a 99% possibility that you may not like century eggs.

Century Egg Tofu is a cold dish very commonly consumed in Taiwan and Northern China. There is also a similar version in Japan called Hiyayakko (冷奴), but there is no century egg in the Japanese version.

In my version, I have replaced the commonly used Bonito flakes or Katsuobushi with pork floss. In addition, spicy pickled radish (or spicy pickled daikon) has been included to add a crunchy texture to this dish.

Ingredients (Serve 2):

Spring Onion - 1 stalk

Pork floss - As much as you like

Soft Tofu (or Silken Tofu) - 1 piece 350g (This organic tofu is Made in Hong Kong!! Yeah!)

1 Century Egg - I normally get century eggs that aren't coated with mud and rice husk coz I'm lazy to remove those things before shelling the eggs

How to Make:

Unpack the Tofu, place it onto a plate. (Note: if you buy packaged tofu, you don't even need to wash it.)

This is Century Egg, i.e. preserved duck egg

Shell the century egg. Can you see the pine-branch/snow flakes like pattern on the surface?

Cut the century egg in half, then place the 2 pieces on top of the tofu

Sprinkle the chopped green onions on top

This is pickled daikon (pickled radish)

Add as much as you like to the Century Tofu Egg

This is pork floss, use Bonito flakes or Katsuobushi if you like.

Sprinkle pork floss on top

Season with seasame oil

And season with soy paste or light soy sauce

Ta-da! Century Egg Tofu, Bon appétit!

油醋菇開封喇! Funghi Sott' Olio

Funghi Sott' Olio (Mushrooms Conserved in Olive Oil)

三個星期前跟著松露玫瑰姐姐的食譜學做的油醋菇，其實在6月18日已經夠3個星期可以開封了，但我想和友人分享，遂誠邀了幾位朋友當白老鼠，到了21日才在好友Ivan的餐廳裡一起開封試味，多謝大家賞面出席。

準備開封喇，拍個照留念

菇菇醃了3個星期，除了顏色深了一點點外，沒太大分別

老老實實，3星期裡的第1個星期，我每天都開廚櫃看看菇菇有沒有異樣，畢竟香港天氣又熱又澀，真的很怕在消毒玻璃瓶的程序上做得不夠好，導致整瓶油醋菇發霉而功虧一簣喔！但到了第2個星期開始我也把它忘記了，哈哈，真善忘的哪！好彩星期日晚拿出來檢查時菇菇完好無缺，安心了。

好友Oyster Cube餐廳老闆Ivan拿著我心愛的菇菇拍個艷照留個念

好友Dee開了瓶蓋說：好香啊！交足戲喔^_^!!

各人期待中（只有我自己在期待著罷了）

開封喇開封喇！！

好香啊！好漂亮啊！我個人來說味道很好，連不太愛吃酸的BB也覺得很好吃。唯下次再做的話我覺得煮菇時要再多放一點鹽，今次太輕手了，只放了半茶匙而已。

友人都開動了，Fun兄似乎吃得好開心啊，謝謝賞面，哈哈！

聽松露姐姐話，要把油留著，它可以用來蘸吐司吃，也可以用來拌意大利麵吃，精髓所在喔！

今年聖誕節前夕會很忙，打算做這油醋菇送給各方友好啊！

延伸閱讀：學松露玫瑰學做菜 - 油醋野菇 Funghi sott'olio

Amarula Liqueur - South Africa

Amarula Liqueur

I got to know Amarula when I was wandering around the alcohol aisles at my favourite supermarket. Feeling a bit disappointed when I found out that they were not selling Sheridan's Layered Coffee Liqueur there, I was approached by the wine consultant of the supermarket and she recommended this South African creamy liqueur to me.

Amarula is made from fresh cream and a unique South African fruit called Marula. Elephants in South Africa are crazy about marula fruit. Every year in Feburary when the marula are ripe, elephants will travel miles to reach marula trees to munch away all the fruits.

This liqueur is absolutely gorgeous and addictive! It's full of the flavours of vanilla, butterscotch and caramel, and there is also a very slight strawberry & citrus fruit after-taste for me, reminiscent of drinking a slightly thinner milk shake. If you like creamy liqueur, you will like this drink with no doubt. What's more, it's not expensive at all, only HK$160/bottle/750ml (i.e. US$21)!

For more information of Amarula and marula fruit, please visit http://www.amarula.co.za/.

Drink it neat or on the rock. I prefer drinking it neat after having the bottle chilled.