Posts in Blog
Lan Fong Yuen - More than Great Milk Tea

I have written before about Lan Fong Yuen, the food stall in Hong Kong where pantyhose milk tea was supposedly invented. Sure, it's crowded, gets a lot of tourists, and makes you wait just to snuggle next to strangers. But I love that they still make their milk tea the old-fashioned way, by straining it through stocking-like nets. I also love that everyone can watch. Though the tea guy usually moves so fast that I haven't been able to get a better photo than the one I took in 2006.

At least I can console myself with some nice food close-ups. The pork chop bun up top is one of Lan Fong Yuen's specialties. Pork chop buns (a burger with a fried pork cutlet) originated in Macau, but in the past few decades have become standard cha chaan teng fare in Hong Kong. I still like the Macanese version better, since the bread is a crusty Portuguese roll instead of a sesame bun. But the pork matters most. If I'm in the mood for something fried, juicy, and porky, the wrong bread will not deter me.

Have you ever tried Hong Kong-style French toast? This is another greasy comfort food favorite. Forget whole grain or rye or other healthy brown breads. This one is puffy Chinese white bread dipped in an egg wash, pan-fried, and smothered with butter, peanut butter, or sweetened condensed milk. Lan Fong Yuen's is rich, but tame in comparison.

Read More
BlogDiana KuanHong Kong, RestaurantsComment
Pairing Wine with Chinese Food - Thoughts?

Whenever I buy a new bottle of wine to try, I instinctively think "Okay, anything but Chinese for dinner." But really, why can't my favorite alcohol and (one of) my favorite cuisines just play nice? In China and many parts of Asia, the de-facto alcohols are rice wines, beer, and for the modern high-roller, whiskey. Drinking grape wine with Chinese food is much more complicated, because of the food's possible spices, smoked flavors, and sometimes pesky cilantro. Lately, however, the food media has been stepping up to the challenge.

Some brief insights:

Eric Asimov's recent column for The New York Times focuses on "Asian genres". Although most of the word count is devoted to Indian food, the same theories can apply to Chinese. "Sparkling wine often complements spicy food for the same reason that beer often works: the bubbles scrub and refresh the palate. Gewürztraminer is often recommended with spicy Asian cuisines, but I much prefer riesling, especially if it has some sweetness."

Read More
BlogDiana KuanDrinks Comments
Ming Court - Michelin-Starred Dim Sum in Hong Kong

Mongkok in Kowloon is more known for its markets and red-light district than restaurants. So earning a Michelin star was a huge achievement for the 4-year-old Ming Court in Langham Place Hotel. Sure, there was some controvery last year when the first Hong Kong Michelin guide came out, over how Michelin ignored more Chinese-oriented, low-end restaurants with fabulous food.

But really, we all know that Michelin always skewers high end, no matter which country, and has certain standards for service and cleanliness. It won't give a star to my favorite dai pai dong, which doesn't fit with the Michelin image. For great local picks I'll turn to HK guides or my family, but there's no denying a Michelin rating is great international press for a restaurant.

Ming Court's lunch and dinner menus vary from very traditional (braised sea cucumber) to nouveau Cantonese (fried lobster with cheese, plus abalone sauce and angel hair pasta). Their dim sum, however, consists of classic dim sum dishes with a twist. My favorites of the morning were pan-fried buns stuffed not with pork but minced mushrooms (first photo.) They were as fluffy as you'd expect dim sum buns to be, with a perfectly crispy, golden brown bottom studded with white sesame. I also had a nice dish of fried crullers wrapped into cheong fun (wide rice noodles), usually two separate dishes, with soy sauce and vinegar poured on top. The standard har gow, siu mai, and regular cheong fun are also available

Read More
BlogDiana KuanHong Kong, Restaurants Comments
Chinese Food Chat: Robyn Eckhardt of Eating Asia

Southeast Asia is a food lover's playground, and no food blog captures the region better than Eating Asia. Robyn Eckhardt and her husband Dave Hagerman have spent the past 4 years hopping around Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, and other spots, blogging and freelancing for publications such as The South China Morning Post and Time Out Kuala Kumpur. From banh mi snackdowns to portraits of Penang's cooks and street vendors, Eating Asia's posts reveal a intense passion for both the food and the people behind the food. And the photos will leave anyone starving for more.

How did you become interested in blogging about the cuisines of Asia?

First came an interest in writing about the cuisines of Asia and, following logically from that, a desire to write well about the cuisines of Asia. I wanted to become a better writer but I needed a prod to practice. The blog gave me a reason to sit down in front of the computer on a regular basis and write (the photographer had a similar impetus to blog). What was your perception of Chinese food before you first visited China?

Oh goodness, I grew up in suburban Detroit in the 60s/70s, so you can probably imagine what my perception of Chinese food was! My family often picked up Chinese carryout on Sundays -- egg foo yung (I still don't know exactly what it was), chicken chop suey, fried rice, chicken peanuts, bland and mushy mixed vegetables. In uni (still in Michigan) my roommate introduced me to crab rangoon and my now-husband introduced me to guotie with chili oil, but that's as far as it went.

Read More
BlogDiana KuanChinese Food Chat, Global Chinese, Interview Comments
White Port, the Underrated Apéritif

One of the reasons I love visiting Macau is for the inexpensive wine. Yes, the foodis wonderful, but wine is the only thing I get to tote back to mainland China and enjoy weeks (okay, days) later.

The former Portuguese colony used to have no import taxes on Portuguese wines. Even now the import taxes are so low that bottles of good Portuguese wines start at about 5 USD, much cheaper than French, Italian, even Chilean. (I have a tip on a bar that serves 75 cent glasses of reds and whites, and $1.25 glasses of port. I'll report back in a later entry.) According to a well-traveled local friend, Macau has the least expensive Ports anywhere in the world, including Portugal, since the wine producers want to keep the market in Asia open. True enough, it's common to see Hong Kongers and China-residing expats hauling home suitcases of Portuguese wine.

On this trip I decided to bring back white Port. Rather than drinking it as a dessert wine like red Port, you chill it and drink it as an aperatif. It's richer, more mouth-filling than a fino or amontillado sherry. (My Ramos Pinto dry white has a nice hint of peach.) Besides, on chilly winter evenings before dinner, you need something heavier in your belly to keep warm. Especially after a long day in front of the computer.

Read More
BlogDiana KuanDrinks, Macau, Wine Comment