Le blanc de bar en peau croustillante, pommes de terre fondantes safranées et légumes

Robuchon a Galera, fish course

This is a well cooked piece of fish but as typical of this kind of preparation the fish itself is a little under seasoned. The potato is exceptional though, more like a cream sauce than mashed potato.

La Saint-Jacques, le calmar et la crevette dans une nage coralline parfumée au basilic

Robuchon a Galera, Fish Dish:

A lot of detail works went into this dish but it seems to be lacking something, something exciting. Well made but...

Pintade two ways

Robuchon a Galera: Meat course
It is very well done, the crispy one is nice and crisp and the poached one is soft and smooth. The plate is impressive. Other than the plate though, I don't think this is better than the one in Chow or Gastropol here in Vancouver. A highly enjoyable dish, nonetheless.

Le foie gras mi-fumé en copeaux sur un lit de champignons confits à l’huile vierge

Robuchon, appetizer 2: This looks like a pizza but the base is really is made of slices of tastily cooked big mushroom. On top are curls of smoked foie gras. The mushroom is silky and the foie is wonderfully creamy. What a wonderful combination!

Le saumon mi-cuit pressé en duo d’avocat épicé, aux asperges vertes à l’huile de citrus

Robuchon a Galera, appetizer one: lightly cooked salmon mousse with avocado and asparagus. Handy work.

Amuse-Bouche

Had dinner at Robuchon à Galera in Macau. This is the amuse-bouche. Some sorbet or another, refreshing, I remember...

Steamed Clams

The clams are big and fresh, the sauce is simple but good, but, as Hong Kong people like to complain about other cuisine's cooking of clam, some of the clams are overcooked. Such a trick to get every clam right, but the sauce is still very good with bread.

African Chicken

African chicken is perhaps the most famous dish in Macanese cuisine. The funny thing is every restaurant make something almost completely different. I grew up eating the blackish African chicken from Solmar but this brighter colour from O Porto Interior is very different but no less wonderful, less spicy and more creamy.

Crispy Pig

This is a famous dish in Macau--crispy roast pig. A small pig is roasted nicely so the skin is crispy and the meat is moist and sweet. We were lucky to have the last half of the night. Very enjoyable.

Cabbage?

The surprise find at the O Porto Interior dinner is this poached cabbage. Maybe because Portuguese dishes tend to be heavy, the light, fresh and sweet cabbage is just perfect accompaniment.

Portugese Ox Tongue

O Porto Interior is an old time Portugese-Macau restaurant that serves very good old time food in a room, or two, of just a enough kitsch and old pictures on the wall to be nicely notalgic. Here is the braised ox tongue, quite a tasty dish.

Old Fashion Shark Fin Soup

When I go to Macau, it is always a nostalgic journey. Even with all the blinking distraction of the new casino-hotels, I always go visit the places I went when I was little. Tou Tou Koi 陶陶居 is just one of those places. Amongst its famous dishes is the shark fin soup. The stock is rich and flavourful and...









good size fins are plentiful. While it is not cheap, it is still a great value and has superior quality when compared with most restaurant in Hong Kong.

Unique Chestnut Roaster

This is from my recent trip to Macau. This got to be the most unique chestnut roaster I have seen. It was a hot day so I didn't buy any from him. While I don't know if this roaster works better than others, just looking at it is exciting enough. Keep wondering if it would make a good coffee roaster...

Lobster, steamed

Cut up a 2-pounder, sprinkle on some chopped garlic, and steam for 10 minutes. Pretty easy. A sauce made of heated oil, scallion, sugar and soy sauce is good.

Big Scallops

It is getting more and more common to have big live Hotata scallops in markets. They are just about the sweetest thing from the sea. Usually I just take out the meat and the roe and simply sear in a little oil and then finish with a little bit of butter.

Hard to Classify

I don't know if this is a soup or a stew. I started with onion, carrots and celery sautéing in olive oil. Tomatoes and soaked white beans are then added. Water, chicken bullion, bay leaf, thyme and dry basil are put into the pot and cooked slowly until the beans are almost done. Then I thought, why not make it a meal? Well, some roasted pork is chopped and potato diced. Cook for 20 minutes or so and everything is soft. Chopped kale and parsley enter and cook for 15 more minute until the kale is not hard any more. A very healthy winter soup/stew is done.

Leftover Fried Rice

Have leftover rice and roasted pork, here comes fried rice again. Eggs, scallion, shiitake and soy sauce tie them all together.

New Pan

This 12-in sauté pan was on sale at the out-of-business sale at Linen-n-Things. It is bigger than expected but its size turns out to be a good thing. I can cook the chicken and the potato in the same pan. The chicken was first salt and peppered and the potato parboiled. After sautéing the chicken well in olive oil, the potato was added to brown too. Garlic and pepper flakes are added moments before it is done. All in one pan, nice.

Last Minute Beef Stir-fry

Once in a while, whole tenderloin comes on sale and I would buy one, cut it into chunks and free them. Here I took one out, sliced it and marinated it with garlic, sugar, soy sauce, shaoxing wine 绍兴酒, sesame oil and cornstarch. Sautéed some onion until slightly softened then fresh shiitake are added. In then went the beef until slightly browned then seasoned with hot bean sauce 豆瓣酱, shaoxing wine, sugar and soy sauce. Served over rice, it is like eating at a cheap cheap neighbourhood joint in Hong Kong.

Slow Raosted Pork

Okay, slow roasting pork again. Here is a boneless shoulder stuffed with garlic, thyme, rosemary, salt, pepper, cumin, Italian parsley and olive oil. I browned the nice bundle first before roasting at 200℉ for hours.









The thermo read 160 but a little bit on the side wasn't quite fully cooked. So, back to the slow over it went for the better part of an hour. Because of the low temperature the cut didn't dry the meat out and the result is moist and very tasty.

Next day...

The leftover dumplings were pan fried the next day. Just put them onto a hot pan with some oil and brown lightly. Add water to up to half of the dumplings' height and cover. Cook over medium high heat until the water is gone. Continue frying until nicely brown. Here it may look a little dark but I do like it just this side of brown.

Too-Lean Dumplings

Lean meat is healthier, so they say, but it is not always good. I like my dumpling filling simple, just a little ginger, sugar, soy sauce and sesame oil to season. My favourite vegetable though is Chinese chive. Here I bought some very lean ground pork and the result is quite a dry dumpling.







Using store bought wrappers, the result looked fairly good.












Looked good boiled too but when I bit into it, it was rather woody. Next time I will either buy fattier meat, or add cornstarch and/or (more) water.

Back to Winter in Vancouver

Just got back to town, picked up my car from the repair shop, and I needed something nice. The good thing about winter in Vancouver is this ugly thing--sea urchin! It is not difficult to open up this spiny shell but getting and cleaning the good bits is a rather noxious process.







The result though is quite sublime. Here is the good bits with some of their oceanic friends.