Hot Pot at Da Hong Pao

Pic from Da Hong Pao (sorry)

In its simplest form, all you need for hot pot (or steamboat, or Chinese fondue) is stock, or even water, and whatever ingredients you want to (and are able to) cook quickly in soup. It was always something I'd had at home - after all, you can spend less, and buy better ingredients. However, being in Hong Kong, where you can nary do a u-turn in your own apartment, having friends over for hotpot is quite a challenge, let alone having the space to prep everything and spread it all out.

Ta Pantry - A Private Kitchen That's Worth It

Petite fours on tableware in Esther Sham's signature pink

After whining continuously about the private kitchen scene in Hong Kong (and how really, people shouldn't get so excited about them - they shouldn't be differentiated from regular restaurants), I figured I should be a good sport and write about a private kitchen that is worth your trouble (and cash).

Ta Pantry was opened by Esther Sham, who, when she first started the private kitchen, was a very good amateur chef. Her old location in Wanchai could only sit one party a night, and it was often full, which also meant she had plenty of chances to perfect her cooking. She also staged at Amber, and took a few months off to stage in France last year. Upon the opening of her new and much larger space in North Point, shared with wine cellar Hip Cellar, we went to check her out again.

Would Your Grandmother Approve? - Ugly American

Entrecote

Having made a place with virtually no kitchen in North Point my home for the past year, I ate out in the area a lot. Don't get me wrong, the area has plenty of good Chinese food, but I have to say I got pretty excited when I heard a grill opened.

Ugly American is helmed by a chef who (as the magazines say) has headed kitchens in such places as Dan Ryan's (awesome!) and Fat Angelo's (not so awesome).

The intro on their Facebook page says:

This is not a restaurant made to impress snobbish critics or high society, but rather one where chefs go to eat.

North Point Markets - Clay Pot Indian and Tung Po

Tandoori Chicken at Clay Pot

We in Hong Kong have recently been talking a lot about heritage and 'collective nostalgia'. In the world of food, that's meant age-old recipes, classic restaurants and possibly above all, dai pai dong. The Wiki link on dai pai dong gives a pretty good overview of what it's all about. They're called "dai pai" (lit. big sign) because, back in the day, they graduated from illegal hawkering to getting a proper licence (a "big sign" that they would display in the stall). Fast forward to 2010, and most of these have disappeared. Even the ones near Graham Street market in Central, which have probably had more press than all the others combined, have temporarily closed for refurbishment - after which they'll probably look like botoxed concrete. No doubt an idea from that bright bunch we call our government. Anyway, I digress (again). What I wanted to get to was, apart from dai pai dongs on the street, many DPDs had, at some stage in the past 30 years, been moved into what we call "Civic Centres". These are municipal buildings that often include a wet market, municipal offices, theatres, a public library (sometimes) and a cooked food centre. The wet market and cooked food centre components were moved into such buildings for better/easier sanitary (and possibly administrative) control. Prior to their moves, they were street markets, and - you guessed it - dai pai dongs. However, as more of these buildings were built, there were simply more spaces for eateries, hence this common, but less-talked-about proliferation of market restaurants. There are tons, and I've blogged about one of the most buzzed about of late, ABC Kitchen, so here are two more - one petite and relatively unknown (Clay Pot Indian), and the other, a market superstar (Tung Po), both in North Point.

Fettucine, Chinese style - Yat Woon Min

Pork cartilage braised in soy and grapefruit/yuzu sauce on wide noodles

The title says it all. These al dente ribbons are about 2cm wide and go awesomely with a range of rich sauces/toppings, from the classic zhajiang mian (spicy mince, or what I call Chinese spag bol) to pork cartilage cooked in yuzu sauce (think yuzu marmalade). For offal fans, there's plenty of that too. If you're looking for comfort food, this is it. In case you think it's a bit "dry" (us Cantonese often like our noodles in soup), they're always served with a bowl of slightly milky-coloured, peppery pork soup - more like a light consommé, though it's not to everyone's taste.