Taking down big bird

Being a self-confessed "foodie" - or maybe that's too presumptuous of me - I must admit that I'd never heard of the term "turducken" until earlier this year.  I thought it was some foreign, exotic dish at first, until it was explained to be that this was the combination of turkey, duck and chicken.  I was mortified as the image of three birds, one stuffed into another, surfaced in my mind.  Surely this is something created by the same dumb Americans that dreamed up shows like "Man vs. Food", who enjoy watching others - or taking part in - gorging themselves on ridiculous amounts of food.

Succulent turkey and runny cheese

It's that time of the year again, and some of us gathered at the Dyson residence for another feast.  Grandma Dyson had recently returned from a prolonged absence, and we were all happy to see her once again take charge of the kitchen.

Of course I didn't put in any effort in the preparation and cooking... although I suppose I could have shown up earlier to help prep the salads or something.  Next time...  I showed up a little bit before the turkey was brought out, just in time for Dyson 1000 to start clamoring for the big bird as she got hungry.  She waited by the table, arm stretched with a spoon in hand, wondering when she was gonna get her turkey...

Finally Grandma Dyson came to carve the turkey, displaying her expert knife skills.  This was a pretty big bird, which had been immersed in salt water to prep, then injected with collagen by Dr. Elf.  The result?  An amazing turkey.  I only had a couple of slices of the breast, and that had to be the most succulent turkey breast ever.  The gravy was heavenly, as was the onion confit made from more than a dozen onions.  The sweet potatoes, both red and purple, were also lovely.

There was also plenty of kalbi, cooked in a new contraption freshly imported from Korea which apparently announces when things are not being done correctly...  

I was pretty disciplined and didn't eat too much of the savory bits.  I was saving stomach space for what was to come later.  I also went back to my "detox" program and didn't drink any wine...

When it was time for dessert, I took small slices of the pumpkin pie as well as the pecan pie.  The color of the pumpkin pie was dark and brown from the molasses.  Very yummy. The pecan pie had barely enough filling to "glue" all the pieces of pecan together.  The pecans were well-roasted, and I could taste the Scotch that was used.  Of course, the best thing about these pies was the crust... unbelievably yummy.  The number that was quoted as the butter content percentage was staggering...

Much later on in the evening, when most guests have already departed, I broke out the bag that I had carried back from Paris.  Tonight was always going to be the night we indulge in the cheese from Andruoet.  

Cabri Ariégois - this was always going to be the one I looked forward to the most, and I think Froggie felt the same way.  It was so ripe that the top caved in, and it was a lot more runny than what we were used to having at Caprice.  Absolutely awesome.  Nothing better than raw milk goat cheese.

Vacherin-Mont d'Or - this was also lovely... viscous, runny and creamy.  I think everyone really enjoyed it.  I know I loved licking it off my fingers...

Next came the 30-month Comté.  This had warmed up a little over the last few hours and began to "sweat".  But still pretty nice... Salt crystals have formed but there was still some sweetness here.

Finally we get to the Epoisses from Gaugry.  It was definitely ripe enough, and was already pretty elastic and stretchy.  Flavors were really strong here, and there was no escape from that ammonia.

This was a good way to conclude our annual feast.  Now what am I going to do with all that leftover cheese?

Shake, baby, shake!

Four days into my detox program, I got a call from the Resident Froggie to go drinking.  Whisky was the topic of the day, and curiously we started the evening at Bourbon.  It supposedly has some of the best barbecued meats in town, and looking at my neighbor's hunk of beef short ribs - which he repeated offered to let me taste but I declined - the claim probably wasn't an outrageous one.

Instead I settled for some deep-fried onion rings and a shot of single malt Scotch whose name I don't recall.  I asked for the whisky to be served on the rocks, having been told they have those perfectly round ice spheres.  Unfortunately the experience wasn't all that it was cracked up to be... no pun intended.  The minute the bartender poured the whisky over the ice sphere I heard a loud crack... The sudden temperature change was apparently too much for the ice to handle, and as the sphere melted it was clearly uneven and jagged.  Not what I expected at all.

I wanted to introduce Froggie to b.a.r. Executive, not only for the selection of whisky but also for the entertainment value.  Turned out to be a good choice...

We sat down at the bar in front of a range of delicious-looking Japanese fruits, and decided to start with a cocktail.  I asked for mine to be made with perssimmon, and Hidome-san proceeded to mix in some cranberry juice and Charleston Follies.  Very viscous as far as drinks go, but interesting.  Froggie had hers made from Gros Colman grapes which were hand-peeled by the lovely assistant.

While Froggie continued on her path for peaty whiskies, I asked for a double of Nikka Taketsuru 21 years (ニッカ竹鶴２１年) on the rocks.  The nice, big chunk of ice was well-made and nicely carved, and melted very evenly in the glass.  The whisky was very Japanese in style - sweet, lots of vanilla in the nose, and not much peat.  A refreshing change from all the Islays I tend to drink...

There was a chunk of musk melon (マスクメロン) sitting in front of us, and I made the remark that it was staring at us like the eye of Sauron...and had to be disposed of.  So once again we asked for a cocktail - this time with Bacardi, Monin Miel, lime juice and Midori.  The ripe sweetness of the melon, plus the fragrance of Midori, made for a delicious drink.

Not yet satiated, we chose another victim to sacrifice itself for our pleasure.  This time it was one of a pair of giant Niigata pears (新潟梨) which were hiding behind the melon.  Already buzzing, I made an inappropriate comment about stuffing them into an oversized bra...before having one taken away and dealt with.  The lovely assistant patiently peeled it, then proceeded to work the flesh over a grater to extract the juice by hand.  The resulting nectar - shaken as usual in the Cobbler Shaker with Bacardi - was sweet and lovely.  The alcohol was hardly detectable.

I think Froggie was really impressed with the place.  The care and attention to detail taken by the Japanese assistant while working on the fruits was consistent with what we expect from an establishment like this.  Hidome-san's skills in ice-cube chopping with a cleaver - and of course his skills with the cocktail shakers - were fascinating to watch for a newcomer.  It's a shame that once again I didn't ask for persmission to do some filming...

I was feeling generous at the end of the evening, and treated Hidome-san and his assistant to one of Pierre Hermé's white truffle macarons.  I think they were pretty happy...

Go stuff yourself...

It was supposed to be a quiet and uneventful evening - a welcome respite in a week packed with dinners and drinking sessions - but it was not to be.  I'm stuffed.  Again.  So how did I get here?

A couple of days ago I received an email from someone at WOM Guide (Fergus and Samanta are really nice people), informing me that I had won the weekly competition for submitting reviews.  I think I posted a few of them in a row.  Anyway, the prize was a free meal worth up to $500 - compliments of WOM - and the requirement was to dine somewhere within a week and post a review.  So...I promptly decided to go somewhere and stuff myself...at someone else's expense.

So after pondering about how I would spend WOM's money on a solo dining experience, I decided to pay Union J a visit.  This place has been around for a while, and a couple of my friends are friends with the chefs.  But somehow I have never found myself stepping into the space, until now.

I was gonna make a simple meal out of it, not wanting to eat too much, but ultimately I got suckered into getting the 3-course set dinner.  That would already be more than enough for me, except that I really wanted to try one of the side dishes...so yes, I ended up having 3 and a half courses.

I started with crispy boneless chicken wings: ginger caramel, shrimp stuffing, citrus slaw.  The smell of ginger, caramelized sugar and Asian spices like lemongrass hit me as soon as the plate arrived.  It was obviously gonna be a fusion dish...with that pink sauce at the bottom reminding me of a very, very weak Thai red curry.  The portion was pretty big, actually.  But I thought the ginger caramel was just too sweet, almost like having molasses on top.

Red wine beef cheek: cooked overnight, celery root purée is one of the chef's recomended dishes, according to the menu.  It came looking like a well-charred hamburger patty, which yielded to the knife as if it were butter.  It was that soft.  There was enough fat (oops!) collagen, but the texture of the meat itself - plus the slow-cooking process - produced something that just about melted in my mouth.  There's a little bit of cracked black pepper on the outside, which was nice.  The celery purée was pretty nice, and there were some cooked celery stalks topped with a "salsa" of carrot, onion and pancetta.  Slurp...  I can see why they keep recommending this dish.

I couldn't resist ordering some duck fat fries, even though I knew I could never finish them.  These were good, even though I normally don't like fat fries.  The steak sauce that came with it was also interesting, tasting of sour plum and Asian spices like star anise.

Finally there was the cheese cake: blueberry snow, candied grapefruit.  The nice manager who recommended it to me didn't know what I meant by New York cheesecake, which I guess is tough for people who haven't spent much (or any) time in the States.  All she could say was that it was creamy.  Well, that it was.  The flavor was what I wanted out of my cheesecake.  But the consistency was like parfait - it melted under the temperature of my mouth.  I prefer my cheesecake to be solid and packed - a chunk of which I can toss around inside my mouth with my tongue, needing some pressure to work it over before it finally gives way and starts thinning.  But nevermind...as long as it's rich enough.  And the blueberry "snow" was interesting.

I do have to mention the excellent service I got, which was a pleasant surprise.  I stumbled in as a solo diner without a reservation, and I was led to a table by the window, away from the rest of the crowd in the dining room that was half full.  As I waited for my food to arrive, the manager brought me two magazines so I had something to do other than twiddling my thumbs.  And my waiter seemed to understand that I wanted to pace myself a little, not wanting to just stuff myself with food and leave in a hurry.  For once in a Hong Kong restaurant, the waiter did not feel the need to swoop in and clear the dishes mere seconds after I put down my cutlery.  Kudos to the management.

Unfortunately for me, there was simply too much food for one person...and my usual double espresso remedy didn't do much good tonight.  That's it!  I'm rejoining a gym and hitting it hard...

Inter-continental lunch party

My friend hosted yet another luncheon at her place today.  I arrived a little late and the food was already laid out, both on the coffee table in the living room and the dining table.  The male elf commented that there seemed to be two "continents", then observed that there were actually three - Asia (Thai), Europe (French) and North America (American) - in terms of cuisine.  As for me, I preferred to think of the divide as being hot/cold dishes, as well as in terms of people - those who stopped eating after a while and just chatted, and those who hung around the dining table and just kept on eating...

I pretty much ignored the nice bowl of carrot and celery sticks, and immediately turned my attention to the huge bowl of pork rinds.  At first glance I thought it was a big bowl of curly fries, but I was thrilled to discover otherwise.  I couldn't believe that hostess' helper made these!  Totally awesome! Yes, I loooooooove deep-fried pork rinds...and not just as a condiment for Thai soup noodles, either!  I pretty much ignored the yummy dips and just snacked on these all afternoon...

There was also the shrimp and vegetable wrap in Vietnamese rice paper, which was always good, but I was more interested in the winged bean salad.  I've never had winged bean before, and this was made with minced pork, peanuts and shrimp.  Very yummy.  Wish I had room for more...

Turning my attention to the more European section, I snacked on some saucisson, homemade duck rillette spread over Robuchon baguette, and took bits from a whole torchon of duck foie gras.  All very good stuff...and I love rillette!

Now for some Americano!  There was a big pot of mac'n'cheese, with that yummy layer of cheese on top.  I had jokingly asked the hostess to prepare some Kraft Macaroni & Cheese from the box for me, since I ate tons of that stuff (and loved it) in college.  No such luck.  She gave me a box and asked me to step into the kitchen and make it myself...  In any case, it wasn't even macaroni!  They were conchiglie, but it didn't matter.  Cheese and carbs...does it get any better?

Apparently so.  There were also huge plates of fried chicken.  Now, I've eaten plenty of fried chicken over the years, but this was just...wow!  I took a drumstick, and that was very, very nice.  I remember telling the hostess that I would help her clean up the white meat, so I picked up a big piece thinking it was the chicken breast.  Nope.  Turned out to be the carcass with the pointy rear end sticking out.  I bit down on the butt, and really enjoyed all the skin and fatty bits.  This is when I was told by the male elf that "This is good.  It's local ass, not frozen."  At which point I replied "Yes, this is a really nice piece of ass."  And it was!  Unfortunately, the piece of ass was male...and no, I did not eat the testicle.

There were two platters of cheese from two different suppliers.  The Saint Felicien was really nice, as usual, and I nearly dropped my fork when I saw the male elf try to quenelle it... The Beaufort was pretty nice, like a young Gruyère or Comté.

...and we were treated to a seemingly endless series of sweets.  First up were the berry tarts.  The crusts were soooo brown and yummy.  And I really enjoyed putting the tart in my mouth, applying gradual pressure with my tongue and the sides of my mouth, and feeling the juices of the berries being squeezed out and dripping onto my tongue.

Our gracious hostess always remembers to make batches of canelés for my benefit.  This time there was a batch of chocolate-flavored canelés in addition to the classic type.  I think I still prefer the classics...

Next we saw two pithiviers galettes des rois being rolled out - one with pistachio and the other with cherries, both of course with frangipane.  Both were incredibly yummy and put the commercially available versions to shame.

Finally there was the stack of financiers.  I was never told the exact butter content, but rumor has it the number is somewhere around 30%... The recipe comes from Ducasse.  I allowed myself just one of these, as the sizes are pretty big.

I brought a few bottles of wine, but we ended up going through only two bottles of white, thanks to the white sangria provided by the hostess.  The 2001 Pride Viognier was definitely over the hill, and I suspected as much before popping the cork.  Nose was ripe, with toasty oak and honey.  Color was a golden hue like honey, and the freshness that Viognier should have in its youth is long gone.  Oh well...

2006 Taille aux Loups Montlouis-sur-Loire Sec "Rémus" - nose of lemon, toasty oak and minerals with a little ripe, sweet nose.  Much better than the Pride Viognier but a very different wine from the one I tasted back in 2008.

Before I left, the hostess brought out a few jars of homemade fruit vodkas.  I only managed to take a shot of the sour cherry vodka, which was very nice and smooth.  I'll have to try the lemon and yuzu varieties next time...

I was stuffed beyond belief, a little buzzed from the alcohol, and dying for a nap.  Guess what?  I only had 2 hours till my dinner with my newly adopted family...

Dakota (sub)Prime - the incredible shrinking beef

My colleagues and I passed our licensing exam for our SFC license this morning, which came as a relief to all of us.  We decided to celebrate by doing lunch at a slightly better place than our usual noodle shop or cha chaan teng (茶餐廳), and ended up at Dakota Prime.

I haven't been here for more than 6 months, ever since my last experience with the shrinking Reuben.  I guess one of the reasons why I went back today was to see whether things have changed...whether the shrinking process has been reversed.

Nope!  Instead of ordering my usual Reuben today, I tried out their beef and wagyu burger.  I had seen the size of this when my friend ordered it earlier in the year, and this one was definitely 3 sizes smaller - the patty used to be 1/2 lb but now looks more like 1/3 lb... And they overcooked my order for medium rare. My friends ordered the flat iron steak, which has now become 8 oz instead of 10 oz at the beginning of the year.

OK, I admit that I've left the trading desk for over a year so I no longer follow every single economic number that's published, but did I really miss the fact that we in Hong Kong have gone through a 20-25% inflation during 2009?!

The incredible shrinking sandwich

I met up with a couple of friends for lunch today because I wanted to introduce them to the Reuben sandwich at Dakota Prime. We all had the Reuben at Main St. Deli a few weeks ago, and I wanted them to be able to compare the very different styles between the two.

I haven't been back since the very public spat between the owner and the former chef came out, and I've been worried that things would be changing for the worse. There have been comments that the portions have shrunk since then, which would be a real pity since their lunch was always a very good deal.

We all ordered the Reuben, and lo and behold the thing did get smaller. I was pretty shocked when I saw it. There was a noticeable difference between what's on my plate today and what I had a couple of months ago. So the rumors are true...

Fortunately they still use the same thick-cut corned beef, which is succulent with lots of flavor. But they burnt the cheese and the sauce tasted a bit funny today... which made the whole experience slightly less enjoyable. But it's still a pretty decent Reuben.

They were apparently doing a 10% off promotion, so we got a little break. But I must say that the lunch here is no longer as good of a deal as it used to be...

Simple meals for a Saturday

We are a few days away from making our second trip to France, so we have been trying to keep our meals simple, although not necessarily healthy for me...

For lunch today I finally visited Main St. Deli at the Langham Hotel. I've known about this establishment for some time, but just haven't gotten around to coming over. I'm glad I had a chance to meet up with some good friends here and relax.

I HAD to order the Reuben, just to see how it measures up against the other places around town, although there are easily more than 10 things I would want to try... I do have to say that this was definitely an unconventional Reuben. Normally one would find corned beef, sauerkraut and melted Swiss cheese between the rye bread. Here at Main St. Deli, you also get pastrami and turkey next to the corned beef, all in traditional thin cuts. The combination of three different types of deli meats was certainly interesting, and made for a pretty big sandwich. I have to say, though, that I still dream about the juicy corned beef in the Reuben at Dakota Prime...

What was even more interesting was the choice of fries. I picked sweet potato fries instead of giant wedges or curly fries, and I think that was definitely the right choice! The thin strips were bright orange-red, and the texture reminded me of the deep-fried burdock (牛蒡) chips that I love so much in Taiwan. All served with a thousand island dressing, which I spread over the Reuben as well.

I am of course very full after a whole big Reuben, but how can I pass up dessert at a place like this?! I wanted a slice of New York-style cheesecake, which is just as big as the ones I used to have at places like Carnegie Deli. It's indeed very dense and creamy, and pretty darned good. I only wish it were a little bit more moist and not as powdery, but I'm not gonna complain too much. The giant slice of chocolate cake was just as rich and yummy...a dream for any chocoholics.

For dinner it was back to Cipriani for some simple Italian. We are all detoxing after last night, so I decided not to bring along any wines. That felt a little weird...

I had the rucola and shaved parmesan salad, which was simple and beautiful. Nothing more than just fresh arugula, cherry tomatoes and really flavorful Parmigiano-Reggiano.

A small plate of pappardelle alla sarda comes next. Again nothing fancy, just some flat pasta in a simple Sardinian meat sauce made from minced pork sausage. Yummy.

Hell bent on not ordering anything that I have had before at Cipriani, I pass up my usual vanilla ceam cake, and go for a small bowl of wild berries instead. Actually this is nothing more than small, blueberry-sized strawberries that grow in the wild, but interesting nonetheless.

Having satiated my appetite without the usual feeling of having my stomach pushed up against my lungs, I go home happy and feeling good...and sober!

Reuben heaven

I went back to Dakota Prime today for lunch along with a friend. I had already tried the lunch set on my last visit, so I was looking to try out something else. One of my friends had highly recommended the Reuben sandwich there, so I was debating between that and the 1/2 pound Prime & Kobe steak burger. Since my friend ended up ordering the burger, I figured I should give the Reuben a try.

We were shocked when the food arrived. The burger was HUGE... a very big patty on a gigantic bun. Not that the Reuben was much smaller, but it was cut in half so the visual impact wasn't the same.

But what an awesome Reuben it was! The rye bread was sliced reasonably thin, and the corned beef came in thick cuts. This has got to be the best corned beef I've had in a long time. It was moist and juicy, with delicious bits of fat on the edges that gave so much flavor to the meat. It was a little bit like eating jamon iberico, in terms of how important the fat was... I was in heaven.

Perhaps it was the richness of the fat, but I found myself unable to finish the sandwich and only took in about 3/4 of it. I was tempted to doggy-bag the remainder, but realized that I have a wine dinner tonight and probably wouldn't get around to finishing it until tomorrow. Oh well.

Good thing that the restaurant gave us a complimentary scoop of lemon sorbet, as it certainly helped with my digestion...

First piece of steak in the Year of the Ox

Another Friday Lunch Club gathering - the first for the Year of the Ox. Appropriately a steakhouse was chosen as the venue, and we visited Dakota Prime for the first time. I had heard a lot of good things about this place, both from friends as well as some reviews on the internet, so I was pretty eager to try it for myself.

The 3-course set lunch was a real bargain, and I decided (for once) to go the cheap route and did not upgrade to a better cut of beef. All my research told me that the meat was good even with the cheap cuts...

I started with the mini lump crab cake crayfish remoulade. It is indeed very mini, but I thought it was pretty well done. It was mostly crab meat, and you can really taste it. There was a good amount of seasoning so the natural sweetness isn't as prominent. The capsicum purée around the crab cake provided the sweetness to balance the savory flavors of the crab. A good start to the meal.

The grilled USDA Prime flat iron steak - at 10oz a pretty decent size for lunch - was as good as other netizens claimed. Even though it's not a fillet, strip or ribeye, it's still marbled enough to be classified as USDA Prime. I asked for medium rare, and what I got was slightly more done than I wanted, but it was still very juicy and tender. In fact with every cut made by my Laguiole knife, more jus came running out of the steak... Surprisingly it was the center of the steak that was more done than the edges. But honestly, I'm not going to complain given the price that I'm paying here. The roasted potatoes were very good, as was the side of sautéed onions, tomato and red peppers. The tiny sauce pan came with (what else?) some sauce that seemed to be based on tomatoes and peppers, which was a lighter alternative to the classic Béarnaise.

I actually finished the steak without feeling stuffed, which was quite a surprise. Maybe all the eating I've done in the last 2 months has stretched my stomach? I was actually pretty eager to dig into the Anjou pear poached in red wine and raspberry sauce. Someone remarked that the pear slices - dyed red on the outer edge while the inner edge remained a little white - resembled slices of char siu (叉燒)... Well...they kinda do. Anyway the pear was delicious, with a bit of orange flavor on top of the obvious raspberry. It was gone in no time.

It was a really good lunch, and one that was extremely good value for money. I was completely satiated, not stuffed to the point of discomfort, and no "food coma" ensued - much to my amazement. I would definitely return very soon to try out the other cuts of beef, as well as the burger...drool...