Day 2

Went to the panel tasting called Iberian Criterion today. It has 10 table wines from Spain and Portugal, Presented by the makers from cia. Telmo Rodriguez, Quinta Vale Dona Maria, Torres, Cordonius, Symington and Quinta de Crasto. Rodriguez and Cristiano van Zeller from V.D. Maria are my two favourite wine makers for the last few years. The wines are across the board excellent with unique characters, soft tannin, lfull but restrain fruit, interesting mineral, bright clean acidity and long but clean 'tails' (to borrow from sake tasting terms). What is most remarkable is the finesse and elegance of these complex wines--great class and ready for food and enjoyment, they are exceptional but not full of themselves. I bought these three today (the Brolio is one I miss buying yesterday). The V.D.M. is more lean and structured than the 2002, more like the 1997. The CV is Cristiano's new project and it is massive but still very elegant and food ready, I like it so much that I bought one bottle even though it costs $106, he made only a few hundred cases after all... The sad thing of the day is that Telmo's wonderful M2 is sold out...

First Day of Wine Festival

The Vancouver International Wine Festival is here again and I went to the general tastings on the first day today. After tasting 140 some odd wines, I bought this bunch.

En Papillote again

I had someone over for dinner and I made the saumon en papillote again but this time with my very sweet tomato sauce from last year and sockeye from last year. It turns out well but the fish, thinner than the Coho, is just slightly overcook at the same temp and time. It is still good and not dry yet. Served in fine china this time.

Fresh Bread, Old Tripe

To change the pace a little, I baked the leftover tripe with some Parmigiano. Very good compliment to my freshly baked bread.

Trippa alla Fiorentina

This is about the best way to eat honeycomb tripe. Onion, carrot, celery, garlic, bay leaves, oregano, tomato sauce, red wine, parsley and lemon peel make great accompaniments to the tripe. Finished with a little parmigiano makes it rich and creamy. I wish I had bought more tripes.

Spring Time

Well, at least spring is down in California now, these are pretty nice asparagus. I stir fried them with shrimps and season it with garlic, ginger, Chinese hot bean paste, rose liqour, sugar, soy sauce, and scallion.

Shaobing 烧饼

Shaobing is a very popular kind of Chinese savoury pasty eaten as bread at meals. It is made with layers of hot water dough and light roux. The end result, when cut, is a nice crispy pocket into which tasty food can be added to make a nice 'sandwich'. This is my first attempt and they ain't bad at all.

Snack Pasta

The very tasty dry cured spicy olive was a little too tasty for the saumon en papillote but just right for pasta. I have garlic, olives, anchovy paste, tomato, chili, olive oil, salt, pepper and oregano in here with the pasta. Very good night snack.

Fen Guo

Well, I wrapped the little bit of remaining chive stuffing in clear wrappers. Pretty, aren't they?

Chive Fried Rice

I woke up today and thought why don't I make fried rice with the chive fillings from yesterday? So I did. Turned out good too, just a little egg and a little Sambol, quick eat.

Chinese Chives and more Chinese Chives

I am trying something new for dumpling. Here I have a lot more Chinese chives then pork, worked them finer in the food processor then added shrimp, seasoned with ginger, soy sauce, sugar and sesame oil.









Made my own wrappers as usual and boiled some. I rather like them, maybe even better then the pork dominated ones, because the Chinese chives here are not very strong and this way I get a good taste of the chive.









I fried some too and they are equally good but a different texture. Maybe I will make some of those clear wrappers and see how they are later.

Saumon en Papillote

I still have some salmon in the freezer and need to be eaten before the new season comes around. En Papillote is a great way to cook salmon. Here I have some dried cured olives, carot, fennel bulb, tomato, chili, salt, pepper, garlic, olive oil and lemon zest and juice. Baked in 400℉ for 20 minute. It is just about perfect except the olives are little strong. Next time I will use less olives and chop them finer.

Crispy Skin

I always wonder what happens to all the salmon skin that is cut off from fillets. I like the skin even better than the meat. I just salt-and-peppered this piece and fried it in a little olive oil until crispy. Tasty, fun and lots of omega 3 and 6. Chips that is good for you!

Clams

I made bread and T&T Supermarket had fresh clams on sale so here it goes: garlic, tomato, chili, olive oil, oregano and clams. Fun to eat.

Beef Wrap

I made pita and still have some brisket and tendons in the fridge, so why not make a wrap sandwich out of it? Turned out pretty good too.

Back Home

I am back in Vancouver and the picture look repetitive: brisket, papaya soup and bak choy.

Joffre II

Now this is not a bad creation, half a chicken is cooked with sauce in a lotus leave. The flavour is like that of a begger's chicken but a little saucier. The meat is very tender and the flavour of the seasonings penetrated the meat very well. It is a more or less honest dish, unlike the foie roll.

Avenue Joffre

Avenue Joffre is a Shanghai cuisine restaurant with a very nice room. The food though is not quite up to the room. This is a very well presented dish foie gras rolls, unfortunately if I didn't know it is so called, I would not have guessed there is foie gras or any liver in it. It probably would have tasted better with just pork fillings. But then, they cannot charge good money of a simple pork roll! A pity that goose died in vain.

Lamma Island V

It is not easy to find good shrimp paste fried rice.
Good shrimp paste is hard to find these days and it is all to easy to burn it when cooking under the intense heat required by fried rice. This one is passable, with just a faint hint of burnt and quite a good shrimp paste. Another point to the rice, it must have been leftovers so the texture is perfect. Quite enjoyable.

Lamma Island IV

This is a well done but not unusual dish--scallop steamed with garlic, scallion and cellophane noodles--most seafood restaurants in Hong Kong sell this. Here it is fresh and tasty.

Lamma Island III

They called these Scottish Razor Clams but I don't think they are actually from Scotland. It is not so easy to cook this right, just a hair overcooked, it becomes a giant rubber band. Here it is done with, perfectly sweet and crunchy with a very flavourful chili and black bean sauce.

Lamma Island II

These shrimps are medium sea shrimps, They are wonderfully crunchy as only jumping fresh shrimp can be. Just briefly poached, loveliest as can be.

Lamma Island

Lamma Island is a popular place for seafood in HK. You can pick your healthily living fish or shellfish from the tank and they will cook them to order. The price is reasonable and you can pick your price range.









The selection is wonderful.












The place is not exactly classy but it is a nice platform extended over the water, a very nice village flavour.

Osmanthus Jelly

When this came to the table, I thought it was four mahjong pieces! Osmanthus Jelly is layered with coconut jelly, very refreshing.

Blondie

This is a very common dessert with milk custard encased in crispy light caramel. The Imperial part about this is the thin threads of sugar that decorates it. Excellent presentation.

Fish and Fried Rice

The fish is Mandarin Perch, a very popular and not very expansive fish. This is surprisingly good: the fish is fresh and cook just right with mild seasonings that brings out the natural flavours of the fish. The rice is done right too. While the dish is not unusual, to find one that is done right isn't a simple task.

Well Braised Shortrib

This is the best dish at the Imperial Manchurian--braised shortrib. It is cooked whole so it probably takes hours and hours to do. The good thing about it is the perfect timing. It is very easy to overcook this and have it literally melts in the mouth. This, however, is perfectly tender yet holds together enough to have an excellent texture on the teeth.

Not that Royal, really

This is at the Imperial Manchurian Restaurant. The food is fine but not very imperial. Here are the appetizers: sliced beef and fried tofu, not bad but not remarkable.

Giant Fish

This is a five pound 'tiger' grouper steamed to perfection. This is no mean feat, to steam such a large fish. This is at the Institute of Security Dealers, despite the dull name, the kitchen is excellent with tradition Cantonese cuisine.