smooth (tofu) operator

Ah, tofu. So versatile. Humble tofu, you take on the flavours of your neighbours with much gusto and much skill, making you the perfect ingredient for a damn good dish. You’re perfect stuffed with fish paste and fried, steamed with prawns and a smattering of fried garlic and spring onions, and miso soup would be lonely without your presence. Pockmarked Aunty Ma would have been a nobody without you. And yet you excel not only in your savoury incarnations, but in sweet delights.

Behold: the Tofu Fa (豆腐花). Silken tofu in a clear sweet soup.

A bit of exploring around the streets of Sham Shui Po today led us to this famed little shop specialising in tofu. Kung Wo Soybean Factory is one of the oldest companies in Hong Kong, having been established over a 100 years ago – in 1893, on Canton Road in Mong Kok. They’ve gotta be doing something right. And I shall testify for that – the 豆腐花 I had was seriously the best I’ve ever had – impossibly silky, melt in your mouth goodness. Smooth and fresh, with no hint of the bitterness that some tofu desserts still retain despite the copious amounts of sugar some vendors add to the soup. The clear soup was not too sweet, but sweet enough so that I, a promising future diabetic, didn’t need to help myself to spoonfuls of the yellow sugar laid out on the table in tubs. Perfectly warmed, though a cold version would have been excellent on a hot summer’s day. And at only $6HKD a pop, who can complain? Such a small price to pay for such deliciousness. Are you getting the hint yet, London?

Charming little place, but again – eat and go – grab a bag of the fried tofu ‘lumps’, or several blocks of fresh, silky tofu for dinner. The possibilities are endless. Apparently they do a mean soy bean milk as well, and their freshly pan-fried tofu with fish paste (diligently made to order) is to die for. There is a limit to how much tofu one can have in a day, though…

公和荳品廠 | Kung Wo Soybean Factory
118 Pei Ho St, Sham Shui Po
Tel: 2386 6871
Open daily 7am-9pm
MTR station: Sham Shui Po (Pei Ho St exit)

my perfect valentine

Forget the chocolates. Save the roses. And please, don’t ever try to give me yet another fuzzy wuzzy teddy or stuffed puppy holding a bright red heart declaring your undying love. I used to be quite into V-day, but rapidly over the years the cynic in me has grown to shun the whole idea (I still make cards though, and buy little gifts for the boyf, except they’re more tongue-in-cheek than mushy and cheesier than brie). I think though, if I had to choose to be inundated with the fluffy, pastel-toned throes of Valentine excess, I’d choose these heart shaped macarons from my now-favourite place, Antique Patisserie.

I’d only seen heart-shaped macs over at La Durée, but to me, LD’s version is rather ugly after you get over the initial delight at seeing an unconventionally shaped macaron. I really don’t like the piping they did to make the heart – it would have been so much nicer as a smooth heart-shaped dome. Which was what Antique did! Sure, some of the hearts were a little bit wonky, but generally it failed not in making me squeal with glee. Seeing as Yuki is halfway away across the world, I got one delectable rose flavoured, heart-shaped macaron for myself (and threw in an Earl Grey one for good measure – theirs are perfect!). My family also enjoyed a very rich, gooey, chocolate mousse cake (the ‘moussy sacher’, an interpretation of a decadant Viennese chocolate cake, sacher torte) covered with the most beautiful and perfect dark chocolate glaze ever. A good Valentine’s day, spent with two of the people I love most :)

Antique Patisserie
Shop 309-310, The Lee Gardens, 33 Hysan Avenue, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
Tel: 2907 2908

chinese new year eats

The ‘Tray of Togetherness’ (全盒) – one of the many sources of my non-stop snacking

Today is already the 6th day of the Year of the Rat, so there’s obviously been lots and lots of eating going on. I haven’t been able to celebrate CNY with my family for three years because of uni, but thankfully I had the time to come back this time! So many things I’ve forgotten about – all the noise, the jubilous new year songs (which become rather irritating after the first day), red red everywhere, and of course, the sheer amount of food that is consumed. I have something of a bottomless stomach, but lately the eating has caught up to me. I am stuffed to the brim, every single day. Click under the cut for more about the fooooood.

australia dairy company

The Australia Dairy Company is a must-go destination for any discerning foodie in Hong Kong, and thus forever has throngs of people winding outside its doors, anxious to get in and enjoy their famed scrambled eggs and steamed milk puddings. And dear god, do the waiters work fast to get everyone in and out as quickly as possible! If you think Wong Kei (in London) is bad, ADC can be positively frightening. With that said, they’re not rude per se, just super efficient and if you just so happen to get in their way for a second too long, heads will roll.

This picture doesn’t show how hectic and crowded it was at all.

The whole shebang is an adventure in itself. You can just feel their adrenaline, and the noise from the shouting and the constant flow of people in the cramped aisles just adds to the chaos. It’s pretty much a guilt-trip if you end up taking way too long eating your grub, so don’t come here with visions of long, relaxing munching and slow sips of tea. It’s eat-and-go, but I’ll be damned if I didn’t think this is possibly one of the best meals to have in the city.

Mmmm. Eggy innards.

Look at the menu and there’s actually quite a lot of different foods – noodles, various sandwiches and drinks. But aficionados and long-time customers go for ADC’s most famous dish – scrambled eggs. Served alongside pieces of toast for breakfast, and in between slices of pillow-soft bread in the afternoon, this humble food has somehow managed to impress the picky Hong Kong public. There’s even a Facebook group dedicated to declaring undying love for their scrambled eggs, which currently has 5,661 5,688 members (including yours truly).

Scrambled eggs are probably the simplest thing you could ever make, but it truly takes skill to transform something any old Joe could make, blindfolded, into something so wonderfully tasty that makes people want to come back for more. ADC’s scrambled eggs are the lightest, fluffiest eggs I’ve ever had the pleasure of eating, and they are oh-so-moist. Not too salty, perfectly seasoned and the thick, soft white bread it’s served in creates a match made in heaven. How can I live with paltry, rubbery scrambled eggs again? Poetry should be written about their eggs. Really.

Australia Dairy Company 澳洲牛奶公司
47-49 Parkes Street, Jordan, Hong Kong
Tel: 2730-1356

a little tea heaven

The next best thing after discovering a really fabulous place to eat/drink is to have someone else show you one of their favourite destinations. So on Thursday, a certain Ms Wong took me to the Sunsing Teahouse, located on the 32nd floor of the Soundwill Plaza in Causeway Bay. It’s a clean, quiet and sophisticated (yet unintimidating) teahouse overlooking the Times Square area, and from the moment you walk in you will feel calm, serene, and oh-so-far removed from the noise and chaos down on street level. Just the way a perfect tea house should make you feel.

It’s also clearly a haven for tea connoisseurs and lovers alike; on our visit there was a large group of Japanese women who stayed for hours, participating in what looked like a lesson on tea given by one of the group. The group pictured on the far left, we assumed, were true-blue tea fanatics congregating to enjoy several precious teas. The room is filled with quality teas, including rare aged puehr, gorgeous tea ware, and tea literature.

Each table has its own wooden water tray (with a discreet tube that draws the excess water away into a wooden bucket under the table), glass tea ware and china cups, and a black ceramic (?) kettle with an electric heating device to heat the water. A complimentary plate of Macanese treats were presented, which included phoenix egg rolls filled with dried pork floss and sesame seeds, wrapped with nori, and mini almond cakes (which I polished off with relish).

I took the liberty to order our first pot of tea – osmanthus oolong, one of my favourites and a tea that will always cheer me up with its uplifting, peachy aroma and clean taste. Being somewhat intimidated by the fiddly tea ware, I let Angie take over in the tea-pouring business. But to make things short, Sunsing’s website has a rather charming little tutorial on how to properly prepare and drink your tea. The tea was lovely as expected, and once we’d gotten all we could out of the leaves, we ordered a pot of west lake dragon well tea. All vibrant green leaves, the tea had a strong, very earthy, almost roasted rice-like aroma, so it was a good tea to follow after the gentle and floral osmanthus oolong.

The teahouse doubles as a shop, and virtually any kind of tea or teaware you can think of is available. From clay teapots for brewing that perfect oolong, to traditional, classy gaiwans. To my delight, they also sold the little double-walled glass teacups that I’ve always been meaning to buy from Jing Teas back in London. Each are handmade (in Taiwan) and unique. These little cups are not only delicate and beautiful (a real work of art), but extremely practical – the double wall is designed so that you don’t burn your fingers on the cup. At only $15HKD (£1) per glass, it was a steal considering the £2.50 price tag from Jing. And I have to thank Angie for sneakily paying for them as well as all our tea!

Teas start from $30HKD per pot (though note there is a minimum charge of $30 per person) and can go up to over $150 for the more expensive, rare teas. Unfortunately there’s a time limit on how long you can stay – two hours, though we found that was just enough for us – by the end of it, we were totally ‘tea-ed out’ and full to the brim. The service was, of course, impeccable.

Conclusion: A brilliant place, and a good one to go to if you’d like to learn more about teas.

Sunsing Tea House (新星茶莊)
38 Soundwill Plaza, 32/F, Shop 3201
Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
Tel: 2832 2889
www.sunsingtea.com