I loved having hotpot in Beijing on cold wintry nights and was only used to eating it during winter. I forgot about having steamboat in Singapore all year round in the heat, so having hotpot in Hong Kong was a nice reminder. I am convinced the body adjusts itself accordingly to climates, although I’m having alot more “cooling” drinks here available in my old neighbourhood to balance out my body’s yin yang.
Weekends in Hong Kong are rare and far between, so I made good use of it to eat lots!
The broth for hotpots in Hong Kong are different from what we have in Beijing, in place of the spicy mala broth, there’s satay 沙爹 broth, spicy with a hint of peanut taste which reminds one of the spicy peanut satay sauce just that it lacks the grainy texture of crushed peanuts.
My Hong Kong friends took me to Uncle Fai in Kowloon, great stuff. We ordered excessively and finished the food (as usual) so our bill came up to over 300HKD each rather than the open rice price of range of 41-100HKD.
ShopCA3-5, Tin Yu Plaza,155-181 Castle Peak Road, Sham Shui Po
深水埗青山道155-181號天悅廣場CA3-5號舖
Tel: 3575 9222
We went to one of our friend’s favourite Japanese restaurants in town, Inaniwa Udon-Nabe and we had shabu shabu, great udon, sausages and some amazing Californian wines full of personality.
These cold noodles are AMAZING!!! You can choose to eat it with the sesame based sauce or with the slow cooked egg, either way, it’s really yum!
Someone told me you’ll get into wines once you realise how interesting and different each bottle is. I always made the excuse that there was so much to remember and process, it was impossible to make a connection to them. Then, I realised that associating wines with food, company and memories made it manageable to compartmentalise scent, tastes and specific meals in my head.
French wine producer Christian Moueix, the man who oversees the wine production of Saint-Émilion and Pomerol including the world renown Château Pétrus and Château Trotanoy also invests his time and expertise in Napa Valley.
The Dominus 1994 (99 parker points) we drank was memorable for me because I hadn’t met a wine like it before, fruity, a little spicy and smoky—very easy and smooth drinking.
I was already pleased to be trying the bottle because of the vintage telephone artwork on the bottle and the font. Again so smooth, full of berries, cherries smoky and a hint of mocha. I really liked the Sine Qua non 2008 “The Line”. I was expecting it to be more tannic and have hard edges with its 15.7% alcohol content. It was surprisingly easy to drink.
This 1989 Chateau Palmer was heavier and more tannic with a life of its own. I think it was chef’s favourite.
Thank you M for hosting a fantastic dinner!
Shop 2002, 2/F, Elements, 1 Austin Road West, Tsim Sha Tsui
尖沙咀柯士甸道西1號圓方(Elements)2樓2002號舖
Tel: +852 2196 8989
