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Sweets for your sweet
Food+Drink (Guangzhou) / Dining
Written by : Kelly Wang
Feb 4, 2008
Tags :
make
sweet
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| Why not try making your very own chocolate at home this Valentineís evening till brainstorming over the perfect Valentine’s Day gift? Why not try making chocolate at home! It’s very inexpensive and the effort is always, er, well received. The following recipe shows the basic steps of making simple chocolate treats. Ingredients can vary according to your personal preferences. And good luck on Valentine’s Day!
Ingredients:
Dark chocolate (60%), Peanuts, Walnuts, Raisins
How to make:
Roast peanuts/walnuts/almonds in a pan at medium heat for about 5 minutes. Then crush the peanuts and walnuts for later use.
Melt the chocolate in a microwave (low heat only) till it reaches 32 degrees.
Stir the melted chocolate until the temperature drops to below 28 degrees.
Tap the container evenly to get rid of any excessive air.
Place the melted chocolate into moulds and shake the moulds until the chocolate evens out. Afterwards, make different shapes ... ... |
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McCawley's Irish Bar and Restaurant
Food+Drink (Guangzhou) / Nightlife
Written by : Ethan Zhou
Feb 4, 2008
Tags :
bar
shekuo
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| A touch of emerald green.
It's been couple years since McCawley set up shop in Seaworld and yet it still brings in the drinkers. It's a slice of Hibernia in Shenzhen, with predictably woody trappings and decked out with the Irish paraphernalia ( more Joyce, please!) Happy hours from 10am-8pm where you can enjoy Carlsberg for 22RMB. After 8pm, this goes up to 27RMB. No city is complete without an Irish bar, but here you can enjoy live rock music on the second floor (from 10pm). With a roof garden and outdoor seating, it's also much more than a bar/restaurant. In fact, it's something of a community meeting place, rather like a typical pub in Ireland, only with a twinge of Eastern flavor.
Shop No.118, Seaworld, Shekuo, Nanshan Dist, Shenzhen (0755 2668 4496) 麦考利，深圳市南山区蛇口海上世界118号
Daily 10am-2am. ... ... |
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Chan Tsun Fun
Food+Drink (Guangzhou) / Creme de Canton
Written by : text by Ethan Zhou, photos by Woody Lai
Nov 5, 2008
Tags :
Chan Tsun Fun
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One of the elements of Cantonese morning tea looks is a rice-based
dish that looks somewhat like Cheung Fun(肠粉 rice noodle roll),
but has no stuffing, but is instead steamed with a lotus leaf, translucent
and elastic. It smells like rice, but after you add just a drop of soy
sauce, you can see it is the perfect dish for absorbing other flavors. Chan
Tsun Fun (陈村粉 rice noodle from Chan village) is only available in the
PRD.
History
In 1927, in a little village called Chan in Shunde, Guangdong, a resident
created a kind of rice noodle with a thin, fresh, and smooth texture. As its
fame spread far and wide, outsiders began calling it Chan Tsun Fun, or-
Chan village rice noodle. Its complicated and delicate preparation process
meant Chan Tsun Fun couldn't be produced in large quantities, making it
an expensive item. The process of preparing Chan Tsun Fun involves more
than 10 steps, for example the rice (ingredient) had to be stored for at least
half ... ... |
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Bak Chit Gai
Food+Drink (Guangzhou) / Creme de Canton
Written by : Kelly Wang
Oct 29, 2008
Tags :
Bak Chit Gai
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If the fear of salmonella does not raise a red flag, then
the concern of avian flu will probably stop you from enjoying
Bak Chit Gai (Bai Qie Ji in mandarin), or poached
chicken that is just cooked and still carries slight traces of
blood in the bones. Yet, in the true spirit of adventurous gourmets,
the Cantonese will stop at nothing for good food. That's
why Bak Chit Gai remained a popular dish in Guangzhou
during the SARS outbreaks and continues to stand out as a
significant, if not the most important, and absolutely loved
dish for upscale banquets, casual dinners or simply day-today
family meals.
When it comes to making chicken, the Cantonese definitely
win hands down with a great variety of styles. Cooking
techniques such as steamed, boiled, stewed, braised, baked,
fried, barbequed, combining various chicken breeds make
for a never boring consumption of this rather not-so-versatile
choice of meat. So what makes Bak Chit Gai so special?
Bak C ... ... |
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New Wines Break the Mould
Food+Drink (Guangzhou) / Wine Culture
Written by : Elliot Brenchley
Oct 29, 2008
Tags :
New Wines Break the Mould
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| I'm often sucked into conversations about the direction of
China's wine palate. There's nothing more frustrating
for me than when someone knowingly exclaims that "the
Chinese market solely cares about classic French wines
like Bordeaux and not much else." I don't disagree with this statement,
but just the attitude that it projects. Out of 10 recent tastings
I've been to in Guangzhou, at least 70% have extolled the virtues
of new-world or under-marketed wines. This is extremely encour
aging. It shows the wheels of progress are in motion and there's
a sense of invigoration and excitement in the air concerning the
changing taste in wine here in China.
I asked a handful of distributors to showcase some of their new
labels for the fall. There was no direction given on my part as I
wanted to use the opportunity as a survey to get an idea of the
general direction in which the PRD's wine culture may be headed.
The results were exciting.
A ... ... |
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Wo Ai Shanghai
Food+Drink (Guangzhou) / Dining
Written by : Ethan Zhou
Oct 2, 2008
Tags :
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| For those who think Shekou is full of expensive
Western restaurants, Shanghai Pavilion will
open your eyes. The only Shanghai restaurant in
Shekou, it serves traditional Shanghainese food
at very reasonable prices. Run by Mr. Ling, an elderly
Shanghainese man and his wife, and employing
two chefs from China's financial capital,
the restaurant attracts tons of people of Shanghai
and Zhejiang origin daily. The walls of the restaurant
have photos of old Shanghai, and even
an exquisite poem written by him. "I have been
in the restaurant business for many years, but in
the end I decided to open a restaurant serving the
food I know best – from my hometown Shanghai,"
says Mr. Ling. He recommends the homemade
Shanghai Smoked Fish (上海熏鱼RMB38) and
the cold appetizer jellyfish with sesame oil (凉拌
海蜇头RMB45). At dinner, we found Mr. Ling busy
serving guests and offering recommendations. A
more true Shanghai experience is difficult to come
acr ... ... |
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G(ee)!
Food+Drink (Guangzhou) / Dining
Written by : Kelly Wang
Sep 1, 2008
Tags :
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G could stand for grand, great, good. And "G", a brand
new restaurant at The Grand Hyatt Hotel has all three in
the bag. Located on the 22nd floor, the sleek contemporary
interior– accessorized with monochromatic furniture, is complimented
with an expansive bird's eye view. G's concise
menu boasts one simple concept: quality meat and seafood
are served sizzling hot straight from the oven. After a
refreshing start with the Hokkaido Crab Cake (100RMB), we
moved on to the Live Fish "market finds" (168RMB), which
proved the superiority of fresh local fish to their imported frozen
counterparts. A few drizzles of lemon juice highlighted
the freshness of the snapper and performed harmoniously
with the matching parsley. We were then surprised by and
pleased with the buttery morels accompanying the Imported
Pork Chop (152RMB) grilled over fragrant apple wood. The
quality continued into the hearty Ratatouille and Asparagus
(both 38 ... ... |
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The Cantonese simply can't say no to chicken
Food+Drink (Guangzhou) / Dining
Written by : Kelly Wang
Sep 1, 2008
Tags :
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It's a known fact that Cantonese people love to eat
chicken. So it came as no surprise when we saw You
Ji Hui- a restaurant that decided to dedicate its whole
menu to chicken dishes. What intrigued us was that
You Ji Hui offered 3 levels of spiciness for their signature
dish – Braised Chicken (烧鸡公88RMB for 1.5
kg): normal, extreme and suicidal. We managed to
keep our sanity in check and ordered the entry level
of spiciness, and it was fiery enough! Cooked with
Hunan dried chilies and heaps of ginger, the well-flavored
chicken was addictively spicy while leaving a
tingling sensation long after. The Beer Chicken (啤酒
鸡 38RMB/half) was another enticing treat which had
a sweet and sour sauce followed by a matching taste
of beer. We were impressed with the properly cooked
scrambled egg (茶子油炒蛋 23RMB) fried with cha zi
you, a special oil from Hunan that gave the runny egg
an earthy touch. It might take a couple more spicy
mea ... ... |
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A treat for the eyes…only
Food+Drink (Guangzhou) / Dining
Written by : Kelly Wang
Sep 1, 2008
Tags :
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For those who love Japanese cuisine but don't wish
to spend an arm and a leg, Japanese buffet seems
to be the perfect solution. That's what Zhibaki was
trying to attract customers with- unlimited orders from
the elaborate a la carte menu for a set price (lunch
98RMB, dinner 128RMB/168RMB). But soon our grin
faded at seeing the 2 hour limitation, and the fact
that a good number of items weren't included in the
lunch buffet brought a frown. While served in beautiful
presentations, the food was far from authentic.
The Japanese Smoked Beef only deserved the title for
its Japanese-style sesame sauce which was too overpowering.
The Braised Beef with XO Sauce was mildly
spicy, which tickled our palates, but lacked depth
of flavor. We didn't enjoy the under par Taro & Shrimp
Rolls nor the Mushroom & Beef Rolls. There was only
one dish that stood out: Ox Tongue with Cream, for its
rich taste and proper texture. But that simply ... ... |
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Husband and Wife Cake
Food+Drink (Guangzhou) / Creme de Canton
Written by : Woody Lai
Sep 1, 2008
Tags :
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In Guangdong, you'll find no multi-tiered white wedding
cakes celebrating the loving union between a husband and
wife. No tiny figurines of a bride and groom, either. Here,
such a sweet union exists without such exigencies, in the form of
simple pastries inspired by stories of love's triumphs.
Wife Cake (or Sweetheart Cake 老婆饼: Lao Po Bing) and
Husband Cake (老公饼: Lao Gong Bing) are among the most
popular traditional Chinese pastries in Guangdong. Don't be surprised
if you find several variations on the traditional recipe
Wife Cake
What's in it: Winter Melon, Coconut, Butter, Sugar
Legend: The origins of the Wife Cake involves the tale of a couple
living in a small village in imperial China. And while they lacked
material wealth, they had no shortage of love for each other. Then
tragedy struck, with the outbreak of a mysterious disease causing the
husband's father to become fatally ill. The couple spent all of their
money on treatm ... ... |
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