Chinese

Whenever the weather becomes warmer, I feel like eating lighter and more refreshing dishes. After making zaru soba and sampling two delicious cold appetisers (five-spiced beef salad and spicy potato slivers) at Ba Shan last week, I was in the mood for more. So I turned to Ken Hom’s recipe for a street snack, Chinese … Read more

I’ve always loved my mother’s congee. She makes it very simply, mostly with pork or chicken and shreds of dried scallop. I also had congee for breakfast every day on my recent trip to Hong Kong, when I discovered it was one of the many breakfast options at my excellent hotel. So when I bought … Read more

My mother and I haven’t lived together for many years now, so I always look forward to her home-cooked meals. They remind me of my childhood, so when we see each other, I always ask her to cook the same few favourites that I grew up on. I never get bored of them. Every Chinese … Read more

Being Cantonese and with a preference for more delicate, subtle flavours, my repertoire of Sichuan dishes is miniscule (dan dan mian, Sichuan hot pot), although I do like to eat in Sichuan restaurants once in a while (Ba Shan, Chilli Cool, Bar Shu, Snazz Sichuan). During my stint in Beijing though, I had no alternative … Read more

Reading Eileen Wen Mooney’s Beijing Eats a short while ago inspired me to start cooking more Chinese food. I chose to start with dan dan mian, a Sichuan snack dish or ‘xiao chi‘ (small eats) of ‘noodles dressed in a mixture of sesame paste and peanut sauce with a little chilli oil’. According to Eileen, … Read more

In earlier posts, I’ve described how my family and I prepare hot pot at home in How To Make Chinese Hot Pot, and what dipping sauces to use in How To Make Chinese Hot Pot Dipping Sauces. As we are originally Hong Kong Cantonese, our style is  Cantonese, using a more delicate and subtle soup … Read more

Stir-fried Chinese morning glory with fermented bean curd is one of my all time favourite dishes. I’ve been enjoying it ever since I was a young teenager, regularly ordering it in Cantonese restaurants. Strangely enough, my mother never made it at home,  even though there was usually a jar of fermented bean curd sitting in … Read more

I’m sure you know how much Chinese restaurants charge for Cantonese steamed fish. Rather than spending in excess of £20 to £40 on this one dish, why not prepare it at home instead? It’s really simple, according to my mother, and very healthy for you. You can steam any type of fish, but Chinese people … Read more

When I was researching restaurants to visit in Hong Kong last year, I came across passionate debates on Chowhound and other forums on where to eat the best Cantonese wonton noodles, focusing on crucial details such as the size of the wonton, the silkiness of the skin, the taste and texture of the filling, and … Read more