Corn beer bread with oven roasted tomatoes, rosemary and cheddar

fresh beer bread

As I mention a few posts ago, I wanted to try and make some more versions of beer with different ingredients.  Each week I get deliveries from Home Grown Foods an organic fruit and vegetable supplier in Hong Kong, recently I have gotten a lot of lovely fresh tomatoes.  I had so many tomatoes that I decided to make another batch of oven roasted tomatoes, and add them to the beer bread alongside rosemary and cheddar.

eatRIGHT Hong Kong

Thai scallop salad

For lunch the other day I went to eatRIGHT to try the set lunch, I decided on having the scallop salad followed by tandoori chicken with couscous and for desert almond cake with a skinny late. Right away the waitress came back and informed me they were out of tandoori chicken, but they would make me a chicken breast instead which was great. I thought it was good service to offer another option even though they were out of the tandoori.

Bun Cha And Monopoly

fresh herbs: thai basil, mint, cilantro 

On Sunday night we did something very odd for Hong Kong, we actually went to a friends house for a pot luck. Everyone always seems meet and eat out in HK the apartments are so tiny, there's never much room to have friends over. So it was nice to go to a friends for a change we all sat around the coffee table on cushions from the couch. I decided to experiment and make a Vietnamese dish called bun cha which is pork meat balls with rice noodles, fresh herbs which you wrap up in lettuce leaves like a taco and eat.

Going snowboarding in Japan next week!

on my last trip to japan

Yesterday I was looking at Facebook and I saw a post of a friend snowboarding and got extremely jealous. (i don't think I have been snowboarding is 2 or 3 years) So this morning I woke up and booked a ticket to Tokyo for next week, I am planning on arriving then taking the bullet train or a bus or a combination of transportation to get to Hakuba. I actually looked at flights last night and wasn't 100% sure about going, then looked this again this morning and got a fanfare from Cathay for $1700hkd return, about 2000 cheaper then last night. So at the end of next week you can expect restaurant reviews from the ski slopes of Japan! I cant wait, snowboarding and japanese food! Sashimi, ramen, sushi, yakitori, okonomiyaki... yum my stomach is already rumbling.

RHKYC - Pan Fried Crab Cakes

view from my office :)

So truthfully, most of the time when I eat out I eat at the RHKYC Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club. I come here a lot, it's a great place to do work on my days off, I can sit outside on the balcony overlooking the Harbour do work and have lunch. Clubs are big in Hong Kong - everyone seems to be a member of one or two, or even more. I have a friend who's on a mission to join about  five of them. (she's joined two so far, and is pretty determined to get into the Hong Kong Club, eventually). Each time I come to the yacht club I generally order a lot of the same food, so for the next few months I have decided to try and order something new every visit and review it. I was also thinking maybe I should start reviewing the food from all the clubs. I am going to the Football Club for dinner tomorrow and have friends who are members at almost all the other clubs.

Socialito Hong Kong

Yesterday I went to Socialito Taqueria for a quick lunch on my quest for tasty mexican food in Hong Kong. For lunch I decided on the Pork Belly Tacos $80, and the Tuna Tostaditas $90.  The tuna tostaditas with avocado oil, grilled pineapple, picked jalapeno, spicy coconut aioli and cilantro were quite unique the flavours were a combination of Mexican and Thai together. I really enjoyed them they were light, the crackers crispy, the tuna fresh and the fruity smoky flavour of the grilled pineapple was really nice...

Chicken Haloumi Tacos With Mango Salsa

chicken tacos with fresh salsa and cilantro

Its time to go back to work tomorrow, no more Chinese new year holidays... I have had a great CNY meeting up with friends, hiking, and barbecuing. With my exam fast approaching I had to spend a few hours of the holiday studying, I have been reviewing a lot at home and even met up with friends to study at the peak cafe. (Next time I think we will meet at a coffee shop the 4 glasses of mulled wine may have slightly impaired our studying abilities)

Oven Roasted Tomatoes

Kung Hai Fat Choi, I hope everyone has a happy and prosperous year of the snake! Today I have been studying for my nutrition exam, the weather is beautiful and I should go out. But I am off to the fireworks and lion dance at the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club tonight and want get some studying done. I am going hiking tomorrow then having a barbecue tomorrow afternoon and don't want to feel to guilty about not studying on my days off.

Lamb Shanks With Pumpkin

As usual the weather is Hong Kong is getting colder for Chinese new year, and while most of my friends seem to be jetting off to warmer destinations I will be studying and cooking. (Well not to much study) When its cold outside one of my favourite dishes to make are lamb shanks. I love how the tender meat just falls of the bone. I usually make a Thai version of lamb shanks with coconut milk and red curry paste but I decided to try something new this time. (ill put the other recipe up when I actually pay attention to how much of the ingredients I put in and take a photo) Serve the lamb shanks on top of rice.
Happy year of the snake!

Dumplings Hong Kong

One of my favourite places in Hong Kong to get dumplings is Dumpling Yuan, I always take visiting friends there for a meal. First thing is that they are fresh and most times you visit there will be a lady sitting at a table hand making the dumplings on wooden trays. Second and the most important is the dumplings taste amazing, you can get all versions of the dumplings steamed or fried. My top 3 choices for dumplings are:

Easy Beer Bread

lunch on the beach: beer bread, potato salad and steak sandwich

I remember when I was in kindergarten I used to go to a friends house after school, and her mum would often have fresh beer bread. I have been thinking about it for ages and finally decided to make it while I was in Australia. I am not sure why I didn't try to make it sooner, it so easy to make. You can experiment with different kinds of beer,  herbs and cheese to change the flavour. I am going to try to make a few more combinations in the coming weeks, maybe adding rosemary, feta and caramelised onions. Check back for more recipes soon.

Australia

bull cray and me

Sorry for the delay with my writing this post, I had to write 2 papers for university, one on analysing my diet and one on nutrition for an elderly Chinese lady who has a budget of $77 Hong Kong dollars a day. (Which I don't think is going to be my target market when I finish my course, as she probably can't speak English) Without any further delay my post on Australia. I spent the Christmas holidays in Adelaide and Beachport in South Australia.