Teczcape-An Escape to Food

There are a few cheap and good food near my house (walking distance). I am considered lucky. $2.50 fishball noodles and $2.50 wonton noodles. Yum yum yum...

Perfect texture in the noodles - al-dente. Yes, al-dente Chinese egg noodles, why not? And the noodles in just the right amount of sauce. Too much of the sauce would have drown the noodles soggy and overpowered the base taste of the noodles. I do love green chili at the side of my noodles...it adds just that little oomph as you slurp the noodles and bite on the green chili.

$2.50 wonton noodles at Jalan Batu, near Tanjong Rhu, Singapore

What is the main difference between Singapore wonton noodles and Hong Kong wonton noodles ?

Green chili, of course. Or it's just me, maybe. I like my wonton noodles (dry version) with green chili. And you can never find green chili in HK's wonton noodles. I am not trying to bring limelight to green chili; and give credit or disgrace to what makes or breaks a good plate of wonton noodles.

But if it is noodles SOUP, it is another different story.


YES. I truly think the major difference in Singapore's and Hong Kong's wonton noodle soup lies in the broth. I don't know how Hong Kong does its broth - but the unami flavor in Hong Kong wonton noodle soup has much more depth compared to the Singapore counterpart. Typically, it is also quite common to see white chives sprinkled as garnish in the Hong Kong version; vs Singapore's scallions/spring onions garnish.

The little details do make the difference.

Personally, I prefer Sui Kow (there is addition of shrimps, chestnuts and black fungus in this Chinese dumplng) to Wonton (which has relatively more meat than Sui Kow) . Don't ask me why I am talking about Wonton Noodles if I like Sui Kow.

Tag: wonton noodles

Typhoon Shelter Crab - 避風塘炒蟹

Fried crab with fried garlic, mixed with scallion, red chili and black beans

The famous dish typhoon shelter-style fried crab (避風塘炒蟹 Bi Feng Tang Chao Xie), is served in a lot of Chinese restaurants in Hong Kong. This dish is believed to be originated from typhoon shelters, invented almost 30 years ago on a sampam.

While Singapore Chilli Crab hails a symbolic gravy, Typhoon Shelter Crab pins it on fried garlic and black bean. The supposedly secret is that the minced garlic will be soaked in black bean sauce overnight and gives the intense flavor when fried with the crabs.

Want more of typhoon shelter crab, you can refer to this review.

The Hee Kee Fried Crab Expert in Wan Chai, Hong Kong, is marketed as the authentic original. However, we had our share at somewhere not as famous, located in Jordon District, Hong Kong.

Jia Duo Li Eatery, Jordan District, Hong Kong. Near and opposite Australian Diary Company

and I'm glad it was not disappointing (or maybe we were famished?!)

Tag: typhoon shelter crab, Hong Kong eating

Chinese Tea + Preserved Plums/Fruits...may not be a traditional tea culture in Taiwan but it is definitely a tea culture that has evolved for some time now.

喝茶配梅子, at Mount Alishan, Taiwan

Since the Skinny Gourmet is holding a tea party at her place, I thought of sharing my insights of tea-drinking in Taiwan. You can find tea houses over Taiwan where it has become a lifestyle, an enjoyment to taste tea. Snacks are introduced in tea drinking just like how biscotti pairs off with a dose of java or wine and cheese tasting.

You need snacks...sweet snacks particularly, to reduce the acidity and tannins of pure coffee or tea consumption. Drinking tea or coffee on its own may be too strong (acidic) for some. Well, that's for some. While other individuals (like myself) are accustomed (addicted) and are able to down tea or coffee without any accompaniments.

See that first photo? Tea in a plunger. Not new but definitely modern. I'm more used to seeing and using a coffee plunger. Anyway, I was expecting high mountain tea of Alishan served in a traditional porcelain spout teapot! -_-

But if served in a teapot, there is a likelihood of getting a tea bag and not tea leaves. I was trying to pacify myself. Oh well, life cannot be too perfect. I rather have good quality tea leaves and sip the tea.

Preserved plums and fruits are quite common in Taiwan. Nibble a few of these plums when drinking tea or after a meal. I was really expecting a few. Too bad the staff was not too helpful (I think he did not know) in telling me the quantity when I asked.

And so, the plums came, in ramekins quantity!

You know, guys are not at all fascinated by preserved plums no matter how excited I can be over the variety. Why no excitement? Maybe you guys can tell me...too metro-sexual? preggie snacks? Tell me, tell me! ^0^

I had to finish two ramekins of preserved plums all by myself, in a single sitting. It's a lot!


Preserved kumquats - 金桔


Another variety of preserved fruit - I forgot the name/variety!

The tea was perfect for afternoon drinking. We asked for three refills of water in the plunger, and had to "doggie-bag" the leftover preserved fruits and plums !


阿里山日出二店, 阿里山日出有大美火鍋店 (Rihchu Store)
嘉義縣阿里山鄉中正村32號
Alishan Village, #32
Around Alishan Tourist/Visitor Information Area
Jiayi, Taiwan

Tag: tea drinking, taiwan eating

I'm not bluffing you! Your eyes are not bluffing you!

A REAL family meal - chicken, and its "eggs" in the form of tarts

Portuguese Egg Tarts from KFC! You think I'm gung-ho enough so free to smuggle Portuguese Egg Tarts from Macau into KFC, place them side-by-side a bucket of fried chicken and take that picture? I must be having too much time to spare and too many heads to roll.

Do they look authentic ?

Well, there you have it. Portuguese egg tarts in Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), Taiwan :D

This egg tart even comes with mochi beneath the egg custard. Can you see it?

KFC, Taiwan offers the classic Portuguese egg tart and other creative tarts such as the one with mochi in it(above). To verify my words, hop over to Taiwan KFC menu and take a look!

And there is a KFC opposite where I am staying :) ....I will go back for egg tarts more so than KFC fried chicken.

So what is there in your country's KFC or Mcdonalds that is really local and only available there? Curious! Curious! I wanna know!

It is not surprising, really. For example, new ideas for McDonalds come anywhere (source: Fortune article, May 2008 issue). You can now have McKroket in The Netherlands, Maharaja Burger in India, Croque McDo in France and a Bulgogi Burger in South Korea. They may make it back to the United States someday, if it makes business sense.

Tag: egg tarts, portuguese egg tarts, kentucky fried chicken, taiwan eating

Noodling in Noodledom Hong Kong...

Noodling in noodle-dom, taken at Maks Noodles ~ Jardine Bazaar location

In Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations (Hong Kong), he speaks "...taste, texture and dedication to a century-old craft......resulting in the perfect noodle..." after visiting one of the oldest and most traditional noodle maker of bamboo noodles. I could not agree more. You should watch this episode. I tried searching Youtube using keywords "Anthony Bourdain No Reservations Hong Kong" but it was futile. Thanks to my reader, Vince, for leading me to this video. I did not use the keyword "Sem Reservas" and would not have known!

OUCH! The noodle maker bounces on the bamboo using his body weight to flatten the noodle dough. "Bouncing" is critical and imparts gentle yet firm forces on the dough so that the finished noodles are crisp but not fragile.

Bamboo-noodle art happens at ~ 2min-mark in the video. You MUST watch this! (Courtesy: Youtube contributor)

And of course, some of the the best Wonton Noodles in Hong Kong have just this perfect texture.

Maks Noodles use duck eggs which impart a different flavor to the noodles. This flavor is particularly upped a notch when paired with saltwater shrimp/prawn dumplings.


Wonton noodles - flavorful broth with top quality wonton skin, wonton fillings and special textured noodles. What could be better. Well, Maks Noodles makes the mark :)

Maks Noodles
44 Jardine Bazzar, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong - Causeway Bay MTR
Other locations (including but not limited)
G/F, 77 Wellington St. Central - Central MTR Exit D1 & D2

Other review on Maks Noodles @ Precious Pea

You can also try Mak Man Kee. However, on our return trip to Mak Man Kee this time, we found the standard has dropped drastically. Beats me.

Tag: hong kong eating, wonton noodles

仙草冰 (xian cao bing) - grass jelly served on crushed ice, Taiwan

What has that got to do with Weekend Herb Blogging? You have to check out this week's host at A Scientist in the Kitchen.

Grass Jelly is made from a herb plant known as Mesona Chinensis. Mesona is a genus in the mint family of Lamiaceae. Did you know that? I didn't know that. :O

All this while, I have assumed that grass jelly is some kind of artificial jello, cubed and mixed in water and syrup - consumed as a refreshing drink. Probably, that is part of the deception because in Singapore, grass jelly is typically served like that - cubed/in thin strips, and in a form of a drink known as Chin Chow (hokkien dialect pronunciation) . In Taiwan, this herb can be set as a huge piece of gelatin (picture above) served as grass jelly ~ a cooling dessert. Doesn't this look and sound good on a hot summer day? :D

The end products of this herb are typically tea or grass jelly. In Chinese medicine, this herb is noted for its cooling(yin) properties - helps to reduce "heatiness" in the body and prevent the occurrence of heat stroke. Therefore, 仙草 (literally meaning - immortal grass) is also known as 涼粉草 (literally meaning ~ cooling grass).

How it is made...
The aged and slightly fermented grass or leaves of this mint family (specifically, mesona chinensis) are boiled in a water bath containing potassium carbonate. The resultant mixture is then cooled into a gelatinous consistency.

Color and taste...
Typically black in appearance, some associate this jelly to taste slightly bitter (medicinal?).

Due to similarities in colors and textures, many people tend to confuse grass jelly with another black herbal jelly sometimes known as Tortoise Jelly, 龟苓膏 pronounced Gui Ling Gao. Though both are known to be good for nourishing yin and reducing the "heat" in the body, they are made totally from different components altogether. As recorded in the traditional Chinese books, tortoise jelly is primarily made from Platysternon Megalephalum and Rhizoma Smilacis Glabrae . I'm going to omit the details here since it involves me writing about a non-herb, and neither a plant nor vegetable. Read more about herbal jelly where Black Food is touted to be good.

Tag: desserts, jelly, grass jelly

Taken at The Fish Market, Palo Alto

Dungeness Crab season usually runs from November till June in the West Coast, United States. Here are a few places you can have these crabs in San Francisco, Bay Area and along the Coast (Monterey, CA)

Fishermen's Grotto #9
Fishermen's Wharf , San Francisco
-->Hear about our revenge.

The Fish Market
3150 El Camino Real
Palo Alto, CA 94306
Other locations available (refer to website)

Phil's Fish Market and Eatery
7600 Sandholtd Rd.
Moss Landing, CA 95039
--> The cioppino is really really good! Delicious!

If you are interested in crabs mountain, Vegas got it!

Taken at Paradise Garden Buffet, Flamingo Las Vegas

At home, you can have your own steamed crabs or make Singapore Chilli Crabs - Cheat Sheet #1, Singapore Chilli Crabs - Cheat Sheet #2

What type of crabs do you like? Mud, Sri Lanka, Soft-Shelled, Alaskan King, Snow...etc ? Your preferred way of how it is cooked?

Tag: seafood, dungeness crab

Weekend set lunch
Some restaurants/eateries offer lunch and dinner set-meal promotions during the weekend. Some do so during the weekdays (usually to boost the otherwise poor business); some do so everyday. It depends on the business strategy of the restaurant owners.

Do set-meals spell trouble - mass-produced poor quality food? Most of the times, maybe? It depends.

We ordered two sets - which explains why you see some dishes with "double" portions on a plate. In all, two persons get to eat whatever you see on the plate collage (click collage to feast!)

The spread is quite extensive. There are dim sum items, sushi sashimi and other Chinese food fare. Here goes...at NT328 (~USD10.70) per person:

Super-value or reasonable? You tell me

Quality of food: Not really consistent in all the dishes. Mostly forgettable, except for the prawns. It is delicious and won me over.

Steamed prawns with garlic - I like the addition of glass or cellophane noodles to soak the gravy and essence.

Which do you prefer - set meal or a la carte ? What makes your decision - price, selection, value...or mood? :D

新阿杜香港風味茶樓
文心路一段538-1號 (大業路口)
Hong Kong New A-Do Tea House
Wen Xin Road Section 1, 538-1
Taichung City, Taiwan

Tag: set meal, taiwan eating

Share Any Photo
The locals in Hong Kong enjoy flipping and reading the newspapers especially during dim-sum breakfast and (I guess) as long as they are not rushed over giving up their seats. Maybe that is the only time they can slow down and enjoy their food and tea :)


What I look for in a Perfect Char Siew Bao ~ Cantonese barbecue pork buns:
- served steaming warm...you are at the risk of scalding your hunger-searching fingers when you attempt to touch it
- slightly cracked top in each bun
- soft fluffy "pau" dough, almost sponge cake-like texture
- generous char siew fillings w.r.t the dough (in other words, it cannot be too much dough and nothing inside the "pau" )
- warm moist juicy tasty char siew fillings with right proportions of meat vs "pork fats"
- "pau" fillings should not look too dangerously and artificially red

Luk Yu Tea House
24-26 Stanley Street, Hong Kong
Nearest MTR: Central Station

Other Char Siew- and Bun- related recipes but not Char Siew Bun:
BBQ Pork Pastry ~ 叉烧酥 ~ Char Siew Sou
Braised Pork Belly Bun

Tag: dim sum, yum cha

It was so sweet for Mochachocolatarita to invite us to join the Chinese take-out party. I was on the verge of declining the "invite" because I have not been cooking lately. I am truly the one on the Chinese take-out diet. Buying Chinese take-outs, and having them delivered to my home!! I asked shamelessly, if I could take part with real Chinese take-outs and this sweet girl said "Go for it...". There I am, shamelessly not cooking, and submitting my entry to Mochachocolatarita's Chinese take-out party.

Package that shows what's inside...

Most of them deliver FREE (minimum order: 2 boxes) and cost ~NT70 (~USD 2.30 based on 9,May 2008 conversion rate) per person per set. Cheap ?

In Taiwan, Chinese take-outs or more commonly known as 便當** (pronounced Bian Dang), literally meaning convenience-meal, are quite similar to the Chinese take-out rice-plate in the United States. It is hard to find Cantonese Chow Mien/Fried Noodles or Fried Rice here where I am staying. Even if there is...99% chance of finding something not authentic. DOH! So I rather choose what they do better - 便當饭盒 . The "contents" of the meal is somewhat similar to the economic rice/economy rice in Singapore...that is rice with meat+ vegetables.


A very typical Taiwanese rice-set. Mostly preserved/braised/stewed food in a wooden box


台中车头便当
台中市西區中港路一段172號(中港路與大仁街口近英才路)
Taichung Kang Road, Section 1,, # 172
Taichung City, Taiwan

They do it differently here when you asked for delivery. Over the phone, you usually order one main dish (typically meat/fish) - can be braised pork ribs, grilled chicken chop, kung pao chicken etc., and they will pair it (for you) with 2-3 different sides of (really small portions of) vegetables (eg. green leafy, long beans, cabbage, corn kernels, bamboo shoots, onions, preserved vegetables etc). In other words, you get a choice of meat but not the vegetables.

~Less than USD3 per person (lunch and/or dinner)
~FREE delivery to your door step

Why not?

Really a savior on lazy days when I don't even feel like stepping into the kitchen except to open the fridge and get a drink or a ready-snack. Oh, the evil of convenience...I'm falling prey to. But Jeff Bezos, Founder, CEO of Amazon.com did say...most, if not all consumers, enjoy convenience, selection, and low prices. Then, what will stop me in this vicious cycle of Chinese take-out diet? Selection, I guess. I don't know how healthy or unhealthy it can get if I do this continuously.

Time to get back to cooking soon.

** I checked Google translation:
Bento (english) --> 盒饭
便當 --> Lunch
ekiben (english) --> 铁路便当

Why is it that I always get the impression that Bento is 便當 ??

Anyway, happy weekend!

Tag: taiwan eating

We heard this roasted goose restaurant suffered drastically in business during the bird flu epidemic few years back. That was when they started offering seafood items in their menu.

I rather have my prawns done this way.

However, this is not the main highlight. The following is...

One plate...


after another....


then it was finally enough!

Succulent, juicy, tender roasted goose...


No beer drinking in the day, we had fresh kiwi juice instead

Do you like roast goose or roast duck ? I cannot tell the difference unless there is a vast difference in terms of meat texture and "smell". Sometimes, one tastes more gamey than the other. Well, I just like to enjoy a good roast. :)

阿秋大肥鵝
朝富路77路 ( 朝富路、市政北七路口)
77 ChaoFu Road (junction of ChaoFu Road and ShiZhengBeiQi Road)
Taichung City, Taiwan


Tag: taiwan eating

Shaoxing Wine 紹興酒, taken at Puli 埔里 - Nantou county 南投 , Taiwan

I guess most of you, who cook, keep a bottle of cooking wine at home or your kitchen pantry, either it's (colorless) rice wine or (mellow yellow) Shaoxing wine, even dry sherry. Drizzle over while a fish steams, or make a dish such as Drunken Prawns or Shrimps. Season or marinate meat such as pork in cooking wine- sometimes touted as a way to "rid the fowl smell" in pork and additionally bring out the good natural flavor of pork. I even substituted white wine with Shaoxing wine to make my linguine vongole (Chinese-style) which does not taste any worse than that cooked in dry white wine such as Pinot Grigio.

Shaoxing wine (a grade of yellow liquor) is named after a famous wine making city of the same name in China. This type of alcoholic beverage is brewed directly from grains such as rice, millet, or wheat and is not distilled. These wines are traditionally pasteurized, aged, and filtered before being final bottled for sale. Taiwan also produces many types of Shaoxing 紹興酒 rice wine, and Puli locates one of Taiwan nationally owned Shaoxing Wine factory. Puli is famous for its four 'W's - water, wine, women and weather. This post is about wine, not women. Sorry guys. :P


Taiwan Chinese Sausage 香腸 (literally meaning, fragrant sausage) is famous, ya? This variety of sausage is emulsified and much sweeter in taste.


Guess what? This is a Chinese sausage marinated with lots of Shaoxing wine- Shaoxing Fragrant Sausage - 紹興香腸!

Well, this is what you get in a "Shaoxing" Wine Town in Puli. Everything has Shaoxing wine in them. Ice-cream, mochi, and even eggs!



This is Shaoxing wine aroma egg. Comes in vacuum-packed like this -


Looks harmless and just like a typical hard-boiled egg BUT BUT BUT oh my, this is so strong in alcohol taste. The entire yolk has been infused with alcohol (Shaoxing wine, what else?!) flavor. So strong that we did not really enjoy it. The sausages were much much better!


Recipes with cooking wine as ingredient (as seasoning or marinade) :
White pepper braised noodles
Stuffed mushrooms
Steamed cod fish rolls
Pan fried fish fillet in soy sauce and ginger
Warm fusili salad with wine-steamed shrimps


Tag: taiwan eating, cooking wine, shaoxing wine