Shoot First Eat Later

Chinese New Year dinner at Gloria Maris restaurant

The Chinese population in the Philippines is very small so Chinese New Year is not a public holiday. We usually celebrate it simply by having dinner with family in a Chinese restaurant. This year my cousin Bobby chose Gloria Maris in Greenhills as the venue for our family reunion. Gloria Maris is one of the biggest Chinese restaurants in Manila. As expected the whole restaurant was fully booked for the night.

ground floor

reservation list for the ground floor

We occupied two tables on the 2nd floor. We were there early so the place was still empty. I enjoyed the peace and quiet which lasted for all of 20 minutes.

stitched photo

reservation list for the 2nd floor

Most Chinese restaurants serve peanuts and they come in all shapes and flavors. Some have the skin on, some glisten with oil and salt while some have loads of garlic. These peanuts were dry roasted and didn’t have any visible salt. They were one of the best peanuts I’ve ever eaten. I could taste the peanuts’ natural sweetness and flavor.

peanuts

Despite the restaurant’s full capacity, the service was surprisingly good. We never had to wait for the food. Overall the food was satisfactory considering the kitchen had to cook for at least 100 tables all at the same time. There wasn’t really anything outstanding. I was just happy everything was edible and nothing to complain about.

assorted cold cuts

steamed shrimp

noodles

Peking duck

mashed taro w/ golden mushroom

wintermelon soup

braised mushrooms

minced duck in lettuce cups

lapu lapu w/ tauso

Tauso or crispy soy bean is a slightly salty and nutty topping usually used on steamed fish. It’s a favorite way of serving fresh fish in Chinese restaurants in Manila. The crispy soy bean adds a delicious flavor and texture to the smooth and delicate fish. This product comes from Taiwan. If you can find this in your local Asian store I suggest you try it. Simply add a few spoonfuls to your steamed fish fillet and you’ll find yourself with an empty jar in no time at all.

tauso or fried crispy soy bean

masachi or mochi
(glutinous rice balls stuffed w/ a black sesame filling)

ube or purple jam jelly

almond jelly w/ lychee

In the middle of dinner 2 dragons swooped down on us and created a racket. Well human dragons anyway. Notice the dragons being fed red packets of lucky money. The dragons are supposed to bring good luck to the establishment and to the people who feed them the red packets.

Gloria Maris
Greenhills Shopping Center,
Ortigas Avenue, San Juan
telephone: 722-5508 to 10, 721-3504

Roasted Broccoli

I read a lot of food blogs and magazines and I would always copy the recipes that I want to try. 80% of the recipes are desserts and the rest are meat or pasta dishes. I save them on my computer or on my iphone. I will probably cook only 1 out 100 of those recipes. And it will usually take a long time before I do. Unless it’s a really interesting recipe or something I really want to eat.

When I saw this recipe on a blog I knew I had to try it. Right away. There’s a lot of veggies I don’t eat but broccoli is one of my favorites. However, I don’t eat it much anymore since I got tired of eating it steamed, sauteed or with beef. Roasted broccoli seemed the answer to my broccoli woes.

Wow-o-wow this really is the best broccoli I’ve ever eaten. It’s crunchy and dry but moist from the olive oil. It’s far from the wet, mushy broccoli that is usually served. The lemon, olive oil and parmesan give it a zing that transforms the plain broccoli into an exciting dish. I can’t describe how good it is. But I can tell you I finished the whole plate of broccoli pictured here. This goes well with steak or salmon.

1. Start with good evoo, the best salt you have and freshly ground black pepper. Add some or a lot of garlic.

2. Add some pine nuts, parmesan cheese and a lemon.

3. Pour some olive oil on the broccoli. I didn’t follow the recipe exactly. Just add enough to coat the broccoli. Season with salt & pepper. Add in the garlic.

4. Bake in a oven or even a toaster oven until the tips are lightly brown. You can cook it longer if you want the broccoli softer. I like it a bit hard and crisp. When cooked add some more olive oil if needed. I usually don’t add more. Toss in the pine nuts, parmesan cheese, lemon juice & zest. Add more or less of the ingredients to suite your taste. I like it with lots of lemon juice.

Roasted Broccoli (adapted from Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics)
2 pounds broccoli
4 garlic cloves, minced
extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon pine nuts, toasted
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

2. Place the broccoli florets on a sheet pan large enough to hold them in a single layer. Toss the garlic on the broccoli and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with the salt and pepper. Roast for 20 to 25 minutes, until crisp-tender and the tips of some of the florets are browned.

3. Remove the broccoli from the oven and immediately toss with olive oil, the lemon zest, lemon juice, pine nuts and Parmesan.

Variations:

Use manchego or sharp cheddar.
Instead of pine nuts try sliced almonds.
For an Asian twist, add some soy sauce, sesame oil, sesame seeds instead of cheese. (this is really good too! don’t leave out the lemon juice)
For an extra kick, add 1/4 to 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes.
For a super garlicky version, add crunchy chili garlic oil.

My kind of doctor

I love this Doctor!

Read this interview with a Chinese doctor about nutrition and exercise:

Q: Doctor, I’ve heard that cardiovascular exercise can prolong life. Is this true?

A: Your heart only good for so many beats, and that’s it…don’t waste on exercise. Everything wear out eventually. Speeding up heart not make you live longer; it like saying you extend life of car by driving faster. Want to live longer? Take nap.

Q: Should I cut down on meat and eat more fruits and vegetables?

A: You must grasp logistical efficiency. What does cow eat? Hay and corn. And what are these? Vegetables. So steak is nothing more than efficient mechanism of delivering vegetables to your system. Need grain? Eat chicken. Beef also good source of field grass (green leafy vegetable). And pork chop can give you 100% of recommended daily allowance of vegetable product.

Q: Should I reduce my alcohol intake?

A: No, not at all. Wine made from fruit. Brandy is distilled wine, that mean they take water out of fruity bit so you get even more of goodness that way. Beer also made of grain. Bottom up!

Q: How can I calculate my body/fat ratio?

A: Well, if you have body and you have fat, your ratio one to one. If you have two bodies, your ratio two to one, etc.

Q: What are some of the advantages of participating in a regular exercise program?

A: Can’t think of single one, sorry. My philosophy is: No pain…good!

Q: Aren’t fried foods bad for you?

A: YOU NOT LISTENING! Food are fried these day in vegetable oil. In fact, they permeated by it. How could getting more vegetable be bad for you?!?

Q: Will sit-ups help prevent me from getting a little soft around the middle?

A: Definitely not! When you exercise muscle, it get bigger. You should only be doing sit-up if you want bigger stomach.

Q: Is chocolate bad for me?

A: Are you crazy?!? HEL-LO-O!! Cocoa bean! Another vegetable! It best feel-good food around!

Q: Is swimming good for your figure?

A: If swimming good for your figure, explain whale to me..

Q: Is getting in shape important for my lifestyle?

A: Hey! ‘Round’ a shape!

Well, I hope this has cleared up any misconceptions you may have had about food and diets.

And remember:

Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways – Chardonnay in one hand – chocolate in the other – body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming “WOO-HOO, what a ride!!”

AND……

For those of you who watch what you eat, here’s the final word on nutrition and health. It’s a relief to know the truth after all those conflicting nutritional studies.

1. The Japanese eat very little fat
And suffer fewer heart attacks than us.

2. The Mexicans eat a lot of fat
And suffer fewer heart attacks than us.

3. The Chinese drink very little red wine
And suffer fewer heart attacks than us.

4. The Italians drink a lot of red wine
And suffer fewer heart attacks than us.

5. The Germans drink a lot of beer and eat lots of sausages and fats
And suffer fewer heart attacks than us.

CONCLUSION:
Eat and drink what you like.
Speaking English is apparently what kills you.

Tiger Wood’s press conference video February 19, 2010

Watch CBS News Videos Online

How to install love

INSTALLING LOVE

Tech Support: Yes, … how can I help you?

Customer: Well, after much consideration, I’ve decided to install Love. Can you guide me though the process?

Tech Support: Yes. I can help you. Are you ready to proceed?

Customer: Well, I’m not very technical, but I think I’m ready. What do I do first?

Tech Support: The first step is to open your Heart. Have you located your Heart?
Customer: Yes, but there are several other programs running now. Is it okay to install Love while they are running?

Tech Support: What programs are running?

Customer: Let’s see, I have Past Hurt, Low Self-Esteem, Grudge, and Resentment running right now.

Tech Support: No problem, Love will gradually erase Past Hurt from your current operating system. It may remain in your permanent memory but it will no longer disrupt other programs. Love will eventually override Low Self-Esteem with a module of its own called High Self-Esteem. However, you have to completely turn off Grudge and Resentment. Those programs prevent Love from being properly installed. Can you turn those off?

Customer: I don’t know how to turn them off. Can you tell me how?

Tech Support: With pleasure. Go to your start menu and invoke Forgiveness. Do this as many times as necessary until Grudge and Resentment have been completely erased.

Customer: Okay, done! Love has started installing itself. Is that normal?

Tech Support: Yes, but remember that you have only the base program. You need to begin connecting to other Hearts in order to get the upgrades.

Customer: Oops! I have an error message already. It says, “Error – Program not run on external components.” What should I do?

Tech Support: Don’t worry. It means that the Love program is set up to run on Internal Hearts, but has not yet been run on your Heart. In non-technical terms, it simply means you have to Love yourself before you can Love others.

Customer: So, what should I do?

Tech Support: Pull down Self-Acceptance; then click on the following files: Forgive-Self; Realize Your Worth; and Acknowledge your Limitations.
Customer: Okay, done.

Tech Support: Now, copy them to the “My Heart” directory. The system will overwrite any conflicting files and begin patching faulty programming. Also, you need to delete Verbose Self-Criticism from all directories and empty your Recycle Bin to make sure it is completely gone and never comes back.

Customer: Got it. Hey! My heart is filling up with new files. Smile is playing on my monitor and Peace and Contentment are copying themselves all over My Heart. Is this normal?

Tech Support: Sometimes. For others it takes awhile, but eventually everything gets it at the proper time. So Love is installed and running. One more thing before we hang up. Love is Free ware. Be sure to give it and its various modules to everyone you meet. They will in turn share it with others and return some cool modules back to you.

Pak Loh Chiu Chow restaurant

I love Chiu Chow food but it’s very hard to find a good restaurant in Hong Kong that serves Chiu Chow cuisine. Majority serve Cantonese cuisine which is fantastic but sometimes I want a change. Pak Loh Chiu Chow restaurant has been open since 1967. All these years and I didn’t know about it. The first time we ate at Pak Loh was in 2008 at their branch at Elements mall.

They opened their 2nd branch at K11 mall which is so near our place. I’m so happy!

The interior designer of the restaurant did an interesting job with the place. It was really unique. Curved glass walls were used as room dividers with curtains for privacy.

These silver balls were the main focal point in the restaurant. They were used everywhere.

Instead of the usual carpet, mosaic tiles were used.

Not enough? There’s more.

The silver balls reminded me of those used in the movie Twister. Remember the spheres that were released into the tornado?

You can tell I was mesmerized.

Yep they were ALL over the place. Too much of a good thing?

Chiu Chow restaurants typically serve tiny cups of extremely strong and bitter tie guan yin tea before and after your meal. It’s supposed to be good for your health.

tie guan yin tea

We also had a pot of regular strength tie guan yin tea.

This is the only Chinese restaurant in Hong Kong that I’ve eaten at that served cashews instead of peanuts.

cashews w/ fried silverfish

We ordered a set meal for 4. These represent some of the more popular Chiu Chow dishes.

cold crab Chiu Chow style

The crab meat was very sweet and fine. It was served with a vinegar dip for contrast.

Next was a rich, concentrated soup made with those green veggies, chicken feet and pork.

The soup was devoid of fat and was just delicious.

The fried balls were my favorite. I couldn’t tell which was shrimp or crab. Both were chunky and crunchy. It had a sweet honey-like dipping sauce.

deep fried prawn & crab meat balls

other end of the plate

This fish is served with mayonnaise. You won’t find that in any Cantonese restaurant. It’s a very simple but scrumptious dish.

pan fried pomfret in soy bean sauce

stewed vegetables w/ ham

dim sum menu

set menu for 12 pax

Good food, nice restaurant, excellent service. I can’t wait to try their dim sum and my favorite chicken w/ chinjew sauce.

Pak Loh Chiu Chow restaurant
Shop 313, K11 mall
18 Hanoi Road, Tsim Sha Tsui
telephone: +852 2723 6828

Yu Joy Hot Pot at K11 Mall

K-11 is another new mall that opened last Novemeber 2009 in the Tsim Sha Tsui area. This was my favorite shopping spot when I was a kid. The stores then were Bargain Center, Bang Bang, Apple Jeans and several mom and pop toy stores. After a few decades and a whole block flattened to the ground a modern, artsy mall takes its place in the shopping district of TST.

K11 by night

One of my favorite bread stores, La Creation is basement 1 right across Jason’s Marketplace.

Both the exterior and interior of the mall had plenty of lcd and led panels integrated in its design.

K11 calls itself an art mall due to the numerous art installations all over the floor area and walls.

Some were even hanging art works.

We had Chinese hot pot at Yu Joy. It was similar to the Japanese shabu shabu at Gyu Jin at iSQUARE.

One of the main differences between Chinese hot pot and Japanese shabu shabu is the dipping sauce. For the Chinese hot pot a lot of importance is placed on the sauce. You can choose from a wide array of ingredients to mix in a bowl and topped with a light soy mixture. Whether you like it hot & spicy, garlicky or even sour it’s your choice. I loved the tom yum sauce which I tried for the first time. It was sour and mild and very addicting.

sauce fixins

I loved all the crunchy garlic on the fried tofu.

typhoon style fried beancurd HK$48

salted fish fried rice

I know that congee base for a hot pot looks really weird. When I first tried it I thought so too. But as the flavors from the meat, fish and other ingredients melded with the congee it was really very good. I found myself scooping the soft rice. It ran out pretty quick and soon we were just left with soup stock.

congee w/ conpoy soup base HK$68

Although the beef wasn’t wagyu or Kobe, it was very good and hearty. It was very tender when cooked in the broth.

US fatty beef HK$118

The balls were yummy and not the frozen kind. In Manila all you get are frozen, mass produced balls.

4 kinds of homemade meat balls HK$88

sea bream

pea shoots HK$38

Look there’s no more rice in the soup base.

deep fried bean curd sheet HK$35

They gave us free papaya for dessert. I discovered papaya tasted even better with a generous squeeze of lemon.

papaya w/ lemon

Yu Joy is a joy to eat in (sorry couldn’t help myself). The restaurant had a fabulous exhaust system because I never felt the steam blur my vision nor did I smell like food when we left. The ingredients were very fresh and the menu selections were extensive. I want to go back to try the foie gras dumplings.

Yu Joy menu

Yu Joy Hot Pot

Shop 1 Level 2,

K11, 18 Hanoi Rd, (CLOSED)

Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon

telephone: +852 2801 6188

Shop 1028C, 1/F,
Elements, 1 Austin Road West,
Tsim Sha Tsui

Harbourside – Desserts

If you’ve been reading this blog in the correct sequence you will know that I featured Harbourside’s appetizers and main course earlier. Harbourside restaurant has the best desserts for a buffet that I’ve tried. Not that I’ve tried all! I usually try 2 or 3 desserts and always find them to be excellent.

waffle cups

I was already too so I just had a small scoop of apricot & summer berries ice cream.

Haagen Dazs ice cream
summer berries, mango sorbet, chocolate & apricot ice cream

candies

The kitchen must have several dozen elves making so many, many varieties of dessert.

white chocolate dome

fresh fruit log cake

pistachio cake

chestnut cake

marble cheesecake

mango cream cake

fruits

berries tart

tiramisu

raspberry cream cake

napoleon

strawberry cake

green tea mousse cake

I also tried these cookies. They were hard and chewy and strangely good. It had a strong spice flavor.

zimtsterne (German Christmas cookies)

gingerbread

pannettone

chocolate pudding w/ vanilla sauce

low sugar’ almond cream

mince pies

warm Christmas pudding

stollen

fondue station

Yes it’s unbelievable that I only had ice cream and cookies for dessert. But after all that food there wasn’t really any space left in my tummy. My friend told me that the regular dinner buffet of Harbourside really looks like this. Well except for the Christmas desserts. If you love good food, don’t mind a buffet then you must eat at Harbourside at least once in your trip to Hong Kong. Be it lunch or dinner you will not regret the experience.

Harbourside links:
Appetizers
Main Course

Christmas Eve Dinner Buffet HK$888

Sunday Champagne Brunch
Every Sunday 11:30 am to 3:00 pm
HK$638.00 per adult (with free-flowing champagne, wine & beer, etc.)
HK$538.00 per adult (with non-alcoholic beverages only)
HK$318.00 per child under 12 years old

Daily Dinner Buffet
6:30 pm – 10:00 pm
HK$588.00 per adult
HK$388.00 per child under 12 years old

Lunch Buffet
Monday – Friday Lunch Buffet
12:00 noon – 2:30pm
HK$268.00 per adult
HK$178.00 per child under 12 years old

Saturday Lunch Buffet
12:00 noon – 2:30pm
HK$288.00 per adult
HK$188.00 per child under 12 years old

InterContinental Hong Kong

18 Salisbury Road
Kowloon Hong Kong
telephone: +852 2721 1211

Harbourside – Main Course

Did yesterday’s post on Harbourside’s appetizers whet your appetite? If not this should do it. Here’s part 2 featuring the main course dishes.

lobsters

crab

snails

prawns

peking duck

They have something for everybody. They were several kinds of meat and fish dishes all superbly prepared.

surf & turf

These tasted like a lighter lobster thermidor.

baked boston lobster w/ truffle egg white & mousseline sauce

smoked duck breast in orange zest & gravy

glazed chestnuts & honey glazed ha

The lamb chops at the 8:30 seating didn’t look as yummy as this. There were smaller and a bit well done. Nevertheless it was still good.

grilled baby lamb chops w/ herb

roasted new potato

seafood shell pasta w/ lobster sauce

pan fried cod fish w/ mirin sauce

steamed garoupa w/ ginger & scallion in soya bouillon

pan-fried seabass w/ herb crust, roasted celery root

pan-fried barramundi w/ basil lemon butter sauce

Japanese steamed egg w/ lobster & sea urchin

wok-fried “coral & gui-hua” clam w/ sugar peas

fried rice wrapped w/ lotus leaf

sauteed seasonal vegetables w/ garlic

I’m not kidding when I tell you my knees weakened and I dropped my camera when I saw the foie gras. Thank goodness for the camera strap around my neck. I think I ate enough foie gras to make the price of the buffet worth it. I forgot the words “diet and cholesterol” and while murmuring “lipitor and diet tomorrow.” The foie gras was cooked upon order. They were so good it made me teary eyed.

foie gras

I put some diced apple compote and the rich brown sauce on my foie gras. I skipped the corn. Corn and foie gras? ugghhh

foie gras condiments

roast turkey & roast beef

chicken makini

papadum

4 kinds of pizza- roasted duck pizza, margarita pizza,
pepperoni pizza, cajun seafood pizza

Harbourside links:
Appetizers
Dessert

Christmas Eve Dinner Buffet HK$888

Daily Dinner Buffet
6:30 pm – 10:00 pm
HK$588.00 per adult
HK$388.00 per child under 12 years old

Lunch Buffet
Monday – Friday Lunch Buffet
12:00 noon – 2:30pm
HK$268.00 per adult
HK$178.00 per child under 12 years old

Saturday Lunch Buffet
12:00 noon – 2:30pm
HK$288.00 per adult
HK$188.00 per child under 12 years old

InterContinental Hong Kong

18 Salisbury Road
Kowloon Hong Kong
telephone: +852 2721 1211

Christmas Eve Dinner at Harbourside, Intercon Hong Kong

Happy Chinese New Year and Happy Valentine’s everyone!!!

This is a very special post for me. Why? As a policy Intercon Hong Kong doesn’t allow anybody to take pictures of their food. I explained it was for my blog and the manager said he will forward my request to the PR department. I quickly scribbled my blog’s address on a scrap of paper and waited. I thought there was no chance anymore. A few days later a really friendly lady from their PR department called me up to say I can take pictures. Yehey!

The hotel’s PR department was kind enough to allow me to take pictures before the guests arrive. It was a special dinner and to accommodate all the guests they had two seatings for dinner – 6:00 and 8:00 pm. I went there at 5:15 to take pictures. The timing was on my side. The bright sunlight streaming through the restaurant’s huge glass wall lighted up the food beautifully and naturally. I really love how these pictures came out. I never had so many successful ‘depth of field’ pictures before. It took me half an hour to take all these shots. You can bet my arm was sore after that. It was a joy to take pictures without people getting food and ruining the presentation. It also helped that there wasn’t anyone behind me glaring and wishing I would hurry up.

Harbourside is the hotel’s coffee shop. They serve international buffet from breakfast to dinner.

From their site:
Perched directly at the harbour’s edge, Harbourside at InterContinental Hong Kong offers all-day dining in a casual alfresco setting. The accent is on innovative selections of international dishes and traditional favourites, ranging from salads, soups, pizza and pastas to Asian specialties. In addition, there is a special “ihealth” menu with delicious and nutritious preventative health dishes. Harbourside also showcases Hong Kong’s most elaborate buffets, with chefs presenting a tempting array of Western and Asian dishes, a roast carving station with prime cuts of beef, action stations and decadent home-made desserts. It is definitely one of Hong Kong’s most popular venues from morning till late at night.

The tables were decorated with festive hats, noisemakers and Bristish Christmas crackers.

I took so many pictures I decided to split this post into 3 parts. I want everyone to see all the glorious food Harbourside had to offer. This post is all about the appetizers. Main course and dessert to follow.

salad greens

You can also call this a seafood lovers buffet. The choices for fresh seafood was endless.

3 kinds of lobsters: Boston lobster, Australian yabbies and slipper lobster

scallops & shrimp

I forgot to eat this!

chocolate chip foie gras

salmon roe w/ asparagus

veal vitelo tonato

mussels

yabbies in cucumber jelly w/ mango salsa

mixed grilled vegetables

baked miso cod fish w/ Japanese tofu

red crab

Boston lobster

roasted venison fillet w/ cranberry sauce

cheese selection

I ate so much of this delicious cheese.

truffle brie

walnut camembert

Thai lobster salad w/ star fruit & peanuts

Greek salad w/ seared herb tuna

smoked salmon & mackarel

condiments

fuji apple & celery w/ honey yogurt

prosciutto

assorted breads

caesar salad

sesame lavash & grissini

soba noodle

soba condiments

scallop & ark shell

kani

salmon & tuna

sweet shrimp

wasabi

So what did I eat from the appetizer section? I was overwhelmed by the selections so I just ate what I really liked. I didn’t have space in my tummy to try a little of each. I ate the lobsters and lots of brie w/ truffles. The lobster was so tender and fresh. The brie with truffles was to die for. It was the closest to eating truffles I have ever experienced. I ate it with lavash and grissini. I really regret not trying the chocolate chip foie gras.

It’s a good thing I took pictures before the guests arrived. Let me tell you the food at the second seating didn’t look half as good as these. It was mostly a mess and not as appetizing. I don’t blame the chefs. They barely have the space or time to replenish a dish before the impatient crowd descends on the food.

Even those who are not fond of buffets will be amazed with the selection of super fresh seafood, extraordinary main course dishes and delectable desserts. The lunch buffet is more affordable and equally good. But it lacks all the lobsters and other fresh seafood.

Come back tomorrow I will show you the main course. Drooling to be continued.

Harbourside links:
Main Course
Dessert

Christmas Eve Dinner Buffet HK$888

Daily Dinner Buffet
6:30 pm – 10:00 pm
HK$588.00 per adult
HK$388.00 per child under 12 years old

Lunch Buffet
Monday – Friday Lunch Buffet
12:00 noon – 2:30pm
HK$268.00 per adult
HK$178.00 per child under 12 years old

Saturday Lunch Buffet
12:00 noon – 2:30pm
HK$288.00 per adult
HK$188.00 per child under 12 years old

InterContinental Hong Kong

18 Salisbury Road
Kowloon Hong Kong
telephone: +852 2721 1211