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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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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
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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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The season of crabs
Food+Drink (Guangzhou) / Dining
Written by : Kelly Wang
Aug 1, 2008
Tags :
crabs
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A single crab costs 460RMB? Yes, and it's well worth every
fen. This is not your average mud crab. It's called Huang
You crab (黄油蟹 mud crab with roe), and it's in season from
late June till the end of August every year. Much like hairy
crabs, Huang You crabs are loved for their creamy roe, and
they have golden roe all over their bodies even down to the
joints, which certainly is a rarity. That's the main reason why
Huang You crabs are so highly sought after. Cheng Long
Hang is a reputable Huang You crab and hairy crab supplier
with branches all over the South China region, but little
do people know that the Dongshan outlet steams live crabs
for those who crave an absolute fresh taste. The store is only
a small grocery with a few fish tanks where the crabs are
kept, but their loyal customers simply don't mind savoring
hundreds of yuan worth of crustaceans around two shabby
tables. Delicate crabs such as Huang You are best steamed
with p ... ... |
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A true hidden gem
Food+Drink (Guangzhou) / Dining
Written by : Kelly Wang
Aug 1, 2008
Tags :
hidden gem
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Xiong Di Chuan is a typical izakaya (a type of
Japanese eatery) that offers an intimate atmosphere,
homely settings and definitely impressive
food. The raw squid (18RMB) was a knockout side
dish, with fresh slippery strips perfectly matched with
the characteristic sweetness of mashed turnip. With
our expectations well exceeded, the tempura anago
(70RMB) continued to wow us with its flawless crispy
batter and juicy sea eel, as did the accompanying
vegetable tempura. The deep fried beef (110RMB)
was cooked spot on and left the rare A4 Japanese
beef with a crunchy coating. It was a heart throbbing
treat. The BBQ pork ramen (45RMB), despite its unconvincing
appearance: clear broth, sprigs of green
onions and a few slices of streaky pork, turned out
to be a delightful surprise. We savored every drop of
the broth which had a well-balanced flavor from pork
and bonito, but we didn't forget the al dente noodles
that did not give in to t ... ... |
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Nepali Delights
Food+Drink (Guangzhou) / Dining
Written by : Kelly Wang
Aug 1, 2008
Tags :
Delights ;Bar
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My first visit to Kohinoor was nearly a year ago, and I
was shocked to find it closed on my second. But Kohinoor
wasn't gone for long and reopened across the street. It
underwent a considerable facelift, from a dimly lit venue
to a bright space with an ocean-blue ceiling and ethnic
décor topped with a subtle Chinese influence. As much
as Kohinoor claimed to be an Indian restaurant, its best
efforts rested in the much understated Nepali selection
on the menu, with items like Sukuti Sadenko (30RMB),
a robust appetizer featuring salty shredded yak marinated
with chilies and lemon juice. Kohinoor also won
points for making a curd-like yogurt that added to the
richness of most dishes. However, the Indian side of
the menu was quite disappointing, as dishes such as
Chana Masala (25RMB), Dal Makhani (20RMB) and
Dal Fry (20RMB) turned out to be uninspiring, due to
the repetitive use of chili powder, ground cumin and garam
masala. That ... ... |
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Soothing comfort food
Food+Drink (Guangzhou) / Dining
Written by : Kelly Wang
Aug 1, 2008
Tags :
Soothing ;food
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Wai Po Cai Guan (grandma's restaurant) offers not
only a comforting name, but also a variety of homestyle
dishes that are native to Nanxiong, a city in
northeastern Guangdong. Given Nanxiong's proximity
to Hunan, chili is often used in cooking, while
pickled vegetables are very popular. Just when we
wondered if the flavors would be altogether indistinguishable,
the difference in texture provided the
answer. The pickled bamboo shoots in the duck
stew (酸笋焖鸭 38RMB) were exquisitely tender,
while the pickled taro shoots (芋禾炒花肉 25RMB)
which were fried with streaky pork, were crunchy,
mildly spicy and definitely inspiring. Their signature
eggplant dish (南亩擂茄子 15RMB) was a whole
eggplant served in a set of mortar and pestle, as
we needed to mash the tasty goodness for the
flavor to come through. The soothing taste of the
eggplant was complimented with a ginger and
green onion sauce. Finally, we concluded our
meal with home-made rice win ... ... |
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Korean Cuisine Yongsusan
Food+Drink (Guangzhou) / Dining
Written by : Kelly Wang
Jun 5, 2008
Tags :
Korean food
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| Yongsusan is a high end restaurant chain in South Korea, serving the finest cuisine to personalities and celebrities from both home and abroad. Its first Chinese branch is established on the same standards, with six resident chefs from their Korean restaurants, imported bronze dining utensils, and even a factory on the outskirts of Guangzhou for that all-too-important Kimchi. Yongsusan offers mainly set meals (lunch from 128RMB and dinner from 380RMB) along with a selected a la carte menu, while the tastes are kept light and mild for a healthy dining theme.
The Steamed Pork & Kimchi (138RMB) is one of our recomm endations; tasty fried pork belly and pickled turnip wrapped in boiled cabbage. The Grilled Beef (12 8RMB) is a hearty treat, with Australian beef pan fried and then kept in rich beef juice which truly reflects those long-lived Korean cooking traditions. To accentuate a pure dining experience, Yongsusan uses a lot of natural
wood, bamboo planks and rough rocks t ... ... |
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