It’s been pretty frantic and hectic weeks at work as well as the travel front, so I’ve been lagging behind the blog, whilst trying to plan a wedding and do a million other things at the same time. Every month, I contribute to the Macau Closer magazine with my bite size food column. Here’s a piece covering the recent second edition Slow Food Guide – it’s nothing like Carlo Petrini’s version, but it’s a start at celebrating local and multi generational eateries. So here we go!
This year marks the second edition of the Macau Slow Food guide, which features local diners and plenty of old establishments that have been cooking the same recipes for generations and shopping at the local wet markets and noodle makers for their food suppliers.
While not “Slow Food” in the way it’s practiced by Carlo Petrini in the Italy, the beauty of the way local Macau eateries and diners work is still very much local, with little carbon footprint, the noodle shop carries handmade noodles by the neighbours who make lots of it daily with four generations hard at work over eggs and flour; fresh tofu, variations of it are sold fresh daily and sold out by the end of the day, fresh coconut milk comes in shaved and ground coconut wrung out of cheese cloth bags – not UHT packaged- at the wet market at Red Market and other regular produce of fruits and vegetables come from China across the border as well as farmed chicken eggs.
You don’t find air-flown beef or pork nor exotic European vegetables in these eateries – while not organic or of the best pedigree, the produce is local, real and perishables. You’ll hardly find any of those long lasting ever green GMO foods in the local eateries. It’s cheap and cheerful with a short shelf life. In fact, the animals are transported across the Chinese border and slaughtered in the abattoir in Macau upon passing the government inspection.
The 100 eateries in the 2014 guide listings features charming old establishments that have been passed on for generations. This includes Lai Kei Ice cream that has been around since the 1960s, its décor steeped in time in that era still serving wafer thin biscuits sandwiched ice cream “bricks”, packaged in beautiful vintage designed boxes. The ice cream is made fresh daily with red bean, the Cantonese popsicle – that most of us in South East Asia grew up on being the popular choice.
There’s Tomato by St Paul Ruins serving the local Macanese since the early 1990s, shopping at the wet market. Dish highlights include the 10 hour slow cooked curry beef brisket with over 32 ingredients served with a Macau-style bread bun and fried bacalhau.
Water crab is a popular dish here in Macau and Wong Kung Sio Kung has been serving the dish for over 30 years where he also handmakes bamboo rolled noodles.
The 2014 Macau Slow Food guide is available for free at entry points into Macau (Zhuhai border, Macau Ferry terminals) and eateries and restaurants featured in the guide.
Wong Kung Sio Kung
Sui Han Mei Street, No.308-310A G/F Macau. Pg 26 on the Slow Food Guide
Tomato
Calçada da Rocha, No.4, Macau pg 82 of the Slow Food Guide
Lai Kei Ice Cream
G/F 12 Avenida do Conselherio Ferreira de Almeida R/C Ferreira de Almeida Pg 166 of the Slow Food Guide
