HONG KONG: Brunch at Amber

Brunch at Amber at the Landmark Mandarin Oriental has never disappointed me. With their free flow of Veuve Clicquot, and their unlimited dessert buffet with their very own chocolate sommelier(Max) fixing up your dose of sweets for the day. Something surely not to be missed. The managers and servers there are very knowledgeable, providing excellent service, maintaining a smile and professionalism at all times.
Brunch Hours: Sat and Sun 11:00-3:00pm.

Parma Ham Taster

Although I'm not a huge fan, they had a pretty good selection and boy, does the presentation impress?

Tomato Confit

This on the other hand was a tasty and appetizing gazpacho. Refreshing and sweet. The serving wasn't too generous though, it was gone in two small sips.

Pan-fried foie gras with poached rhubarb and hibiscus and black pepper coulis

There are some dishes that I would probably prefer in a smaller scale restaurant, such as their foie gras, not one of the best but of course, still above average. The seasoning was near perfect, it was rather the texture where I had my doubts. The outside was not crispy enough, while the inside was amazing, melting in your mouth as you would expect.

Tasmanian Salmon

Tasmanian salmon - confit smoked and served warm. The generous hunk of salmon had a thin crispy skin, while the texture of uncooked smoked salmon, but it was warm, soft and tender.

Wagyu Beef

All I've got to say is that this was one of the best I've ever tried. Ordered it twice (Hence the two different platings)

Black Cod

Black Cod melted in your mouth, although it's not too flavorful, the texture made up for it. The garlic foam made a nice addition to the fish.

Dessert Selection included chocolate cake, creme brulee & macarons, opera, lemon tart, blue berry cheese cake, chocolate fondue(dark, milk, white), bread pudding and specialty chocolate milk, made by the chocolate sommelier.

Max

His station

Desserts:

VANCOUVER: Jang Mo Jib Kamjatang Recipe

Jang Mo Jib, Robson Street.

Everyone living in the Lower Mainland all know about the Bubbling Pork Bone Korean soup(Kam ja tang) at Jang Mo Jib. The one in Downtown, Vancouver is the original one, the store that most prefer (1719 Robson, Vancouver. Tel: 604-642-0712), however, if you wanna get bubble tea after dinner then you can go to the one in Richmond (8320 Alexandra Road, Richmond. Tel: 6042330712).
If you're more adventurous then you can try making your own. Recipe from My Korean Kitchen

Ingredients

(It is enough to serve 3-4 people)

• Pork spine or neck bone - 1.4 kg (You need to pick the right one. The bone I bought had hardly any meat. Then why is it so expensive? Is this really free in Australia and USA?)
• 5 medium potatoes
• Crown daisy leaves (ssukgat) - 1 fistful
• Mung bean sprouts (sukju) - 1 fistful
• 12 perilla leaves (so called sesame leaf, ggannip)
• 6 Chinese cabbage leaves (Baechunip)
• 2 green chilies
• 22 cups of water total

Vegetables and spice to get rid of pork smell

• 1/2 stalk of green onion (just use the white part for this recipe)
• 1 medium onion (peeled)
• 5 cloves of garlic (peeled)
• 1 thumb size piece of ginger (peeled)
• 10 whole black pepper seeds (un-ground)

Sauce (mix these well in a bowl)

• Chili powder (Gochutgaru) - 3 tbsp
• Minced garlic - 1 ½ tbsp
• Ginger powder - 1 tsp
• Refined rice wine- 2 tbsp
• Anchovy sauce- 1 tbsp
• Water - 1tbsp

Other condiments

• Salt -1/8 tsp
• Soybean paste (Doenjang) - 2 tbsp
• Ground sesame - 4 tsp
• Pepper -3 sprinkles

StepsⅠ

1. Soak the bones in cold water for 2 hours (to get rid of blood) . Drain away the water.
2. Put the bones into a big pot and add 7 cups of fresh water, then boil it for 5 minutes.

3. Drain the water (throw it away) and add 7 cups of fresh water - again. Add the all ingredients from the “vegetables and spice to get rid of pork smell” section. Simmer it on medium to low heat for 2 hours. When the water seems to get reduced you need to refill the water to maintain 5 cups of expected broth (I ended up adding an extra 8 cups of water - 1 every 15 minutes.)

4. While you are waiting;

① Rinse the crown daisy leaves, cut off the thick stems.

② Rinse the mung bean sprouts.

③ Rinse the perilla leaves and thin slice them.

④ Rinse the green chilies, take out the seeds, and thin slice them diagonally.

⑤ Clean the potatoes. Boil them in a pot until 90% of them are cooked. Drain the water and cool them down. Peel the skin off.

⑥ Rinse the cabbage leaves. Boil some water for 1 minute and add the salt. Parboil the cabbage. Drain the water. If the leaves are big, you can tear them up length ways.

Steps Ⅱ (after the two hours of simmering)

1. Sieve the broth into a separate pot. Then put the bones back into this broth but throw away the boiled vegetables.
2. Add the peeled potatoes, soybean paste, and the sauce (that you previously made) into the the pot.
3. Boil it until the potatoes cook completely.
4. Add the crown daisy leaves, mung bean sprouts, perilla leaves, green chilies, and cabbage leaves on top.
5. Add the ground sesame and pepper sprinkles.
6. You can start eating when the vegetables are cooked.
7. Enjoy your meal. (You can adjust the taste with some salt if it is necessary, but I didn’t add any.)

You need to start preparing about 4-5 hours before you are going to start eating. I know! It is a huge time consuming process. But trust me, it is worth the time!

Enjoy with kimchi!

Note: Recipe from My Koren Kitchen

Save Time De-corking Your Wine with the Slide Technique

Noisy wine expert Gary Vaynerchuck offers a quick but smart tip for removing the foil sleeve from a bottle of wine without the tedious cover trimmers. His simple secret: Just pull it off. This may not be mind-blowing if you already knew this seemingly obvious trick, but if you didn't, it's a real time-saver.

How to throw a Cheese and Wine Party

Will be holding one at my place in November, thus I've been doing a little research on my Cheese and Wines. These tips are some of the more useful ones I've gathered. If anyone has additional pointers, please do share.

Decorations

A wine and cheese party should be somewhat elegant but not too gaudy. You could have simple white tablecloths with white candles. Perhaps decorating the table with grapes and grape leaves or something seasonal such as fall leaves if the party is in the fall or holly, pine boughs and ornaments if it’s at the holidays. A summer party might be cute with light floral bouquets. Fruit – especially grapes go great with wine and cheese so you could have a 3 tiered centerpiece or large antique bowl filled with grapes and other fruit on the tables too. If you choose one large table a big centerpiece would be a nice focal point, you could even use and old architectural urn filled with ice and wine bottles or a large tiered platter with various tidbits on it.

You’ll want to have labels for each cheese that states the name and general flavor – you can expand on that by adding the origin and maybe some history if you feel ambitious. Each section of cheese could have it’s own cutting board and cutter – A cute idea would be to use the cheese boards that are made out of flattened wine bottles to cut the cheese on.

Wine And Cheese Party Pairing Tips

• White wines match best with soft cheeses and stronger flavors.
• Red wines match best with hard cheeses and milder flavors.
• Fruity and sweet white wines (not dry) and dessert wines work best with a wider range of cheeses.
• The more pungent the cheese you choose, the sweeter the wine should be.

• If you’re a cheese adventurist, meaning you go for the stinkiest of cheeses, pick a big wine to back it up. Try a French Bordeaux or a buxom California Cab. Ports and dessert wines are your best choice if you like mold-donned or blue-veined cheeses.

White Wines	Recommended Cheeses
Champagne or sparkling	Brie, Camembert
Chardonnay	Mild Cheddar, Gruyere, Provolone
Gewurztraminer	Swiss, most German cheeses
Loire Valley wines	Goat Cheese
Riesling	Gouda
Sauternes	Roquefort, Blue
Sauvignon Blanc	Goat Cheese

Red Wines	Recommended Cheeses
Amarone	Gorgonzola, Parmigiano-Reggiano , Asiago
Cabernet Sauvignon	Camembert, Sharp Cheddar, Blue
Port	Stilton, Gorgonzola
Shiraz	Sharp Cheddar

Final Words

• Purchase your cheeses in large wedges for an ideal presentation.
• Cheeses should be served at room temperature. Pull them out of the fridge a couple hours before your party.
• Serve most wines fairly cool — whites between 50-55 degrees and reds between 60-65 degrees.
• Let your reds breathe 15-20 minutes after you open them.
• Make handwritten name cards for all your cheeses and use a pretty upside-down fork display the card upright in the cheese.
• Display cheese on a pretty china platter, a wood cheese board, or even a slab of marble.

Links: Guide to Wine and Cheese Pairings, How to throw a Wine and Cheese Party

Enjoy!

PHUKET: Street Food

I love how the street food in Thailand are all so colorful.

This one is a mini crepe, that is filled with cream and dyed coconut. Very sweet and easy to eat. Can be addictive but careful of those extra pounds.
These are a variety of different dishes, from Thailand fishballs to sausauges, to prawn cakes. WARNING: VERY VERY SPICY.... other than that, was unable to make out the other flavours.

Other sweets. The thing in the middle that looks like a sushi. It's not. It's seaweed with jelly in the middle.

HONG KONG: Caffe Vergnano 1882

There aren't many coffee chains in Hong Kong that serve decent Italiano Coffee until I came by this chain, Caffe Vergnano 1882.

Their flavours are rich with complex notes. A bit on the expensive side for a cup of specialty coffee, around $40hkd(approx $5usd) for a regular size. Aside from their coffees, they also serve light meals such as pasta or panini's.


This one is Speciale Bicolore

NEW YORK: The French Laundry

No, I haven't been yet, but this world renowned restaurant has been one that I've been longing to go to since I've known of it. Operated and owned by Chef Thomas Keller, The French Laundry has been known for its "serious food" yet fun and memorable.

Critics have been raving on and on about their 9 course chef menu, without a single repeated ingredient. With their ever impressive presentation of their food, eating is not longer just stuffing food into one's mouth but an art that is never duplicated.

Enjoy, pictures from their website: