A few of my favorite places

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So... a little shameless self-promotion here. A few weeks ago I was asked whether I would be willing to share some of my restaurant recommendations with the readers of the South China Morning Post. I know Andrew has been doing this column for a while, and I was once told that it's among the more popular columns at the paper. Naturally, there has been a pretty big list of places sourced from people with diverse backgrounds, and I was flattered to be asked to add to the pool.

As I wanted to take my time to get my list right, I chose to submit my text to Andrew rather than speaking over the phone in a "real" interview. I've read enough of these over the years to kinda know what Andrew's looking for.

As with any published piece, it goes through the hands of sub(-editor)s, who end up mangling your text and, inevitably, some things end up lost in translation. So I'm superimposing my original text onto the published piece here (subscription required). Oh, and they managed to get my name wrong in the introductory paragraphs...

Article begins below:

Being disrespectful

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So… the Arrogant Prick is at it again, living up to his moniker.  Yours truly showed up in the South China Morning Post again, in the Food and Wine gazette today.  As a blogger, providing a counterpoint to an argument.  And I'm not exactly shy when it comes to giving people a piece of my mind…

A couple of weeks ago, I was contacted to provide the "blogger's perspective" for an article about "dining etiquette", in particular complaints about dining experiences.  This is a subject that's close to my heart, and so I readily agreed to answer the questions posed to me.  My answers were condensed, edited and appeared in print today.  You can read the full article here.  I'm reposting my section here:

I am not Big Spender

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I woke up this morning to a link posted on my Facebook timeline.  The link, of course, was to the "Big Spender" column published in the Hong Kong edition of Apple Daily (蘋果日報).  I had been interviewed a couple of weeks ago by the paper about my life as a foodie/blogger, and have been dreading the publication of this interview.

I was mostly worried about how I would come off to the general public, who don't know me and don't read my blog.  I have been described by various people as "arrogant" as well as a host of other terms, and while I usually shrugged those comments off as long as they were private, things were different this time.  People do read this paper, and this is a rather public scrutiny.  And the last thing I wanted was to show up in a column called "Big Spender" and make people think I am one.

I was asked permission to have the interview article written in first person form, since the bulk of the text consisted of answers to a few questions.  I reluctantly agreed to the request, knowing that anything written by the reporter would appear as if the words came straight from my mouth.  Well, I guess the end result isn't as bad as I feared, although there were still a couple of points I did not and would not have made.

TEDx: my 16 minutes of fame

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I first found out about TED over a year ago, when a friend visiting from Europe raved about the organization and its enlightening talks, and encouraged me to download the app on my iPhone so I could watch some of the talks.  Well... I didn't check out TED for a long time, although it was always in the back of my mind and I kinda got a sense of what it was about.  And no, we're not talking about the Hollywood movie focusing on a certain teddy bear with an attitude...

I was pretty surprised when I was contacted by one of the organizers of TEDxVictoriaHarbour late last year.  Apparently I was found to be interesting and worthy enough to be a speaker at a TEDx event.  To be honest, I was kinda scratching my head a little, because I had always thought that speakers at these events were people with inspirational messages, who had vision or who were trying to do some good, change the world...etc.  I'm just a guy who likes to travel and eat.  What inspirational message could I possibly deliver?!

My dear friend the troll

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The following piece written by my dear friend Susan for the South China Morning Post (original article here) pretty much sums up the problems with OpenRice… and I have stopped contributing some time ago.  And yes, I Love Lubutin is also a dear friend of mine.

Be wise to the not-so-subtle art of trolling
 SIGNATURE DISH
Susan Jung (foodandwine@scmp.com)
Feb 16, 2012

For a while there a few weeks ago, a certain poster on openrice.com was receiving an unusually large amount of feedback for her restaurant reviews. People were actually opening accounts just so they could post responses - often rude, sexist and vituperative - on the reviews by I Love Lubutin (ILL).

She was, arguably, provocative. Writing in grammatically incorrect English that was littered with misspellings and direct translations from Cantonese, she wrote as much about shopping for expensive clothing and shoes, her efforts to stay slim, and her "sweet sweet boyfriend", as she did about food. Each of her 13 reviews contained comments about whether the restaurant provided a stool for her designer handbag.

The foodie interview

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The South China Morning Post launched a new format this week, with a gazette-style section on food and wine every Thursday.  To launch the first issue, my friend Susan Jung went around town to sample dim sum at some of the city's best places for it.  I was fortunate enough to join her for 3 of those meals.

They also created a new column named "Ask the Foodie", and the editors apparently requested for Susan to interview me... Pretty shocking, eh?  I never thought there were too many people out there who'd heard of this lil' ol' blog...

Bashing Michelin

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Back in December I, along with a few fellow bloggers, journalists and chefs were interviewed for a TV program focused on the Michelin Guide for Hong Kong and Macau.  As some of you are aware, I do have a thing or two to say about this publication, and not all of them flattering. 

Over the last two weekends, Quest For Stars aired on LiTV, which is carried by nowTV here in Hong Kong.  Siren Films, the producer of the show, has now uploaded the two episodes in 6 segments.

Do I need my decoder ring?

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While at dinner last night, Amy told me that she used one of my quotes for an article in the Scene Asia blog of the Wall Street Journal.  The subject of the article was cryptic menus and diner's perception of them, and Froggie was also quoted.

How dishes are written on a menu has a large impact on the likelihood of those dishes being ordered by diners.  In addition to telling us which ingredients are used in the dish, it should also give information regarding the method of cooking/preparation.  This helps the diner form an mental image of the dish, which will either appeal to the diner or not.

In general, I don't like cryptic menus where I have difficulty forming an accurate image of the dish in my mind.  It's one thing if I'm at a restaurant whose menu I know well, or if I'm in an adventurous mood and just want the chef to surprise me.  Sometimes I walk into a restaurant and give the chef free rein, like placing yourself in the chef's good hands with omakase in Japanese restaurants.

Most of the time, however, I'm browsing through a menu and trying to see which handful of items jump out from a page among a few dozen.  I need all the help I can get to determine which dishes I'll be most happy spending my money on.  The restaurant won't be doing me any favors by withholding information.  If I order something and it comes out completely different from what I expected, and I happen not to like the dish... well it's gonna affect my desire to come back and spend more money.

The exception for me would be restaurants where they are very creative, and often these would be the guys doing molecular gastronomy.  The chefs at these restaurants are trying to surprise diners with their creativity, by breaking with tradition and playing on texture, cooking method, flavors...etc.  Here I'm happy even not to see a menu at the start of the meal, and just see what playful dishes can come out from the kitchen.  El Bulli, Tapas Molecular Bar, Krug Room and BO Innovation are all places I'd go back to despite cryptic menus, although one can argue that they all serve set meals where diners don't have a choice of dishes.

My other pet peeve is actually menus which are overly descriptive.  Years ago on my one and only visit to Saint Pierre in Singapore, one of the things which turned me off completely was the menu.  When each dish was written with three lines of text, it became difficult at times to figure out which was the principal ingredient...  I don't think it's necessary to know every single little spice the chef used to flavor the broth.  I'm a food lover, not a food geek who's trying to de-construct each dish.  I haven't gone back to the restaurant since that visit more than 6 years ago...

Third time, but still no charm

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Rubberman released the third edition of its dining guide for Hong Kong and Macau yesterday.  For the third year in a row, foodies around town collectively uttered a series of "WTF..." following the guide's publication.  It looks like these guys still have a long way to go before getting it right, in my not-so-humble opinion.

When the second edition came out last year, I already noted that the pendulum had swung the other way, from not enough "local" places to being a little too "local".  In fact Michelin was going a little too down-market, by awarding stars to places like Din Tai Feng (鼎泰豐) and Tim Ho Wan (添好運).  The resulting world-wide brouhaha about "the cheapest Michelin star" just became a little ridiculous...

Things got worse this year.  Both establishments mentioned above have one additional outlet each with a star, and now places like Ho Hung Kee (何洪記) and even a curry joint called Hin Ho Curry (恆河咖喱屋) received stars.  Now don't get me wrong... I looove Din Tai Feng, as my recent posts would attest.  I'm also a big fan of Ho Hung Kee and its cousins Tasty Congee as my neighborhood restaurants.  But these are casual restaurants where one goes for a quick meal, not what people would associate with Michelin stars.  Frankly, if I were Frédéric from Petrus, Uwe from Mandarin Grill or Chef Law from Fook Lam Moon (福臨門), I'd be a little upset that I got ranked in the same category as these guys...  I feel that the rubberman has "cheapened" the value of a star with this move.

I know that the official definition from rubberman of a one-star restaurant is "a very good restaurant in its category", so if a place is the best damn congee shop in town, then technically it qualifies for a star.  But think about it... do boulangeries like Eric Kayser, crêperies like La Crêperie de Josselin, or hot dog joints like Gray's Papaya have stars?  They are all "very good" in their respective categories, but I don't see no stars for them in the Paris and New York guides...

My other gripe concerns the issue of originals and branches.  Last year I bitched about Morton's in Hong Kong getting a star while its US siblings - where you would think the steaks are fresher and of better quality - did not.  Thankfully Morton's disappeared from the list this year, but now we've got Mist.  While I enjoyed my bowl of ramen (ラーメン) at the branch in Hong Kong, I immediately questioned the rationale behind Hong Kong getting a star while the original in Tokyo's posh Omotesando Hills (表参道ヒルズ) - with the presence of founder Yasuji Morizumi (森住康二) - was not deemed worthy.  Are they saying that the Hong Kong chef does ramen better than his Tokyo counterpart?  As anyone who knows anything about the Japanese obsession with quality will tell you, this is a highly unlikely scenario.

Anyway... enough ranting.  Here's the article from today's South China Morning Post where I offered my opinion on the 2011 guide...  Unfortunately the news desk has chosen to edit out a good portion of Susan's original copy, so I didn't really get my point across in the article.  And I sound arrogant by opining on a restaurant's quality based on a single visit, and snobbish by pooh-poohing noodle shops and curry places.  Oh well...

Full article can be found here.  Requires subscription.

Guide's picks panned as 'random'

Susan Jung
Dec 03, 2010


The Michelin guide scores European restaurants pretty accurately, some outspoken Hong Kong foodies say - but its assessments of Asian restaurants?

Puzzling.

Some places got undeserved stars from the latest Hong Kong and Macau edition, local food lovers grouse. Meanwhile it excluded other fine eateries, not even deeming them worthy of the Bib Gourmand category (good food at good value, with a three-course meal priced at HK$300 or less).

"I've said this, for three years in a row, that I agree with the European and Western choices more, but I continue to disagree with the Asian selection," said Peter Chang, who writes the well-regarded Diary of a Growing Boy blog.

"[One-star] places like Tim Ho Wan, Ho Hung Kee and Din Tai Fung I would never expect to be on Michelin's list - maybe on Bib Gourmand, but I don't think they deserve stars. I think they've gone overboard - the pendulum has swung the other way."

When the city's first Michelin guide appeared, he recalled, food enthusiasts complained traditional Hong Kong restaurants got too little exposure.

"But now they're giving places like Tim Ho Wan and Din Tai Fung stars, and even worse, a noodle and congee shop [Ho Hung Kee] and a curry place [Hin Ho Curry]," Chang said.

He does like one of the restaurants that topped the list - the newly anointed three-star Sun Tung Lok - where he has eaten dim sum.

"If that one little sampling of dim sum was any indication," he said, "it beats Lung King Heen", which has had three stars since the first guide in 2008.

However, Josh Tse, better known as the food blogger Chaxiubao, called Sun Tung Lok "decent, but I don't think it deserves three stars. On a scale of one to 10, I'd give the food seven.

"For just food, it's safe to say many Chinese restaurants are better, like Fook Lam Moon [whose two branches received one star each] and Yung Kee [one star]. And for service and setting, Sun Tung Lok is not three-star, especially when compared with [its peers] Caprice or Lung King Heen."

Tse thinks it's "scandalous" that Spring Moon, a Chinese restaurant, and the French restaurant Gaddi's — both at the Peninsula hotel — have been excluded in each year's guide.

"There are a lot of us who want to know why. There must be some secret that only Michelin and the Peninsula know. It's anyone's guess," he said. "I've given up trying to understand what to make of the list. It's so random."

Introducing the Pig

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My friend Amy at the Wall Street Journal was doing something on bloggers in Asia, and asked us to name one dish that we would recommend above others.  It took me all of 15 seconds to come up with my choice...

So I sent over a couple of pictures, a description of the Kimberley Pig, and the link to the video I posted on YouTube where one can hear the crackling sound as the cleaver goes through - what else? - the crackling.

You can see the full list from Asian bloggers here.

Jamón, Jamón

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I love it.  Yes I do.  Truly.  Jamón ibérico is hands down my favorite ham in the world.  There's nothing else quite like the ham that comes from the black-hoofed (pata negra) Spanish pigs which feed on acorns (bellota).  When I visited my friends Brian and Cow in Tokyo recently, I joked about their daughter's jamons since her thighs were amazingly plump.  They understood completely...

Courtesy of Brian

So I got an email from Susan, asking me if she could interview me on how I felt about jamón ibérico.  She asked: "Do you like it?  Do you eat it?..."  And here was my one-sentence reply:

"love it love it love it can't get enuf and definitely don't eat enuf"

Out came today's South China Morning Post, and my email reply became the opening line for her article...  I'm reposting part of the article here, while the full text is available here (requires subscription). 

Spanish jamon is the pork of the town

FOOD
Susan Jung
Sep 09, 2010

I love it, love it, love it; I can't get enough," says Peter Chang. The Diary of a Growing Boy food blogger isn't raving about some illicit substance, but something that's becoming much easier to acquire in Hong Kong - Spanish ham. Not just any Spanish ham, mind you, but jamon Iberico de bellota (acorn), made from pure-bred Iberian pata nega (black-hoofed) pigs that were raised free-range in oak forests.

Before tasting jamon Iberico de bellota, Chang's benchmark for fine ham was prosciutto di Parma. "I still eat it, but it's nowhere near the same," he says. "Parma is softer and pale pink. Jamon Iberico is firmer and chewier because it's dried longer; the colour is darker and prettier, and, as for the taste, it's all about the fat. It's almost liquid, it melts in the mouth and coats the meat. The fat coating makes the meat so much better."

All that fat would seem like a cardiologist's nightmare. But Oliver Win, managing director for Olivier Pacific, which supplies jamon to Estudio Iberico, a jamon and tapas bar in Great Food Hall, says it is healthy fat. "With this type of jamon, there's [fat] marbling in the muscle. The Iberian breed of pigs, fed on a diet of acorns, means a high amount of oleic acid. It's about 67 per cent similar to olive oil."
...
Win's company sells about 14,000 legs of jamon a year to restaurants, hotels and private clubs, with sales divided almost equally between jamon from Cinco Jotas, a company that's been in business since 1879, and the far less-expensive jamon Serrano.

"Spain is the centre of gastronomy and it revolves around jamon," Win proclaims. "I love the whole idea of the purity of the Iberian breed - the diet, range and the oleic acid. It's a speciality animal from Spain - Iberian pigs are black pigs and you can tell Iberian jamon from the marbling. The leg is elongated and narrow; Serrano is rounder and shorter. Only a small percentage of pure Iberico jamon is available, with some, it's a crossbreed, and they aren't all fed solely on acorns. Only a few producers have enough money to manage the selection process."
...
"The Pata Negra House concept is that we buy jamons made in limited quantity the old-fashioned way," says Saint-Raymond. "We buy jamon from different areas of Spain, from different suppliers. We have a wide range of Iberico ham - 10 to 12 types.

"Jamon is not as famous as French jambon," the Frenchman adds. "But it has a specific taste that's not found in other types of ham. The Iberico breed is only grown in Spain and Portugal. The pigs are raised in the forest and eat acorns and grass. The acorns give the fat oleic acid, which gives the jamon a long-lasting flavour."

Not all jamon is created equal. "Basic Spanish jamon is jamon Serrano, made from Duroc, a special breed of white pig, and it's aged for 20-plus months," says Saint-Raymond. "It's still good quality pork but it doesn't have a special acorn diet. The jamon from the white pig has a plainer flavour, it's not as long lasting on the palate and the fat isn't as healthy.

"Some Spanish ham can be aged for more than 50 months. We have two legs that are 50-plus months. It's of limited quantity. You have to start with a bigger pig. With drying and time, the weight is reduced so if it's starting off small, it will be too dry. With ageing, it becomes more intense, with more flavour. It's like wine - more flavours develop."

However, Win feels that too much emphasis is placed on ageing.

"I'm fed up with everyone talking about age," Win says. "At Cinco Jotas, they stop ageing it when it's right. In Spain, they don't talk about ageing; the important thing is the feed. It makes sense that the bigger the leg, the longer it's aged. A Duroc pig is fed on formula and can weigh more than 200kg; Iberico, fed only on acorns, weighs about 180kg."

...
Although it would seem to make economic sense for producers to increase the number of pure-bred Iberian pigs and let them range freely to feed on acorns, they can't, says Saint-Raymond. "There's not enough land. For top-quality Iberico, there's a limit by law - each pig must have one hectare of forest. And the area of forest isn't growing."

Win says one reason the sliced jamon is so expensive is that there's only a 40 per cent yield on each leg. But the remainder isn't wasted. "The bone is used for soup, the fat is used to fry omelettes and scraps are used for croquetas and scrambled eggs."

Richard Ekkebus, culinary director at The Landmark Mandarin Oriental in Central, used to serve jamon in traditional thin slices at the hotel's outlets such as Amber and the Mo Bar. But it's so popular he prefers to serve it in other ways.

...
"We still love the product but we use it in a less obvious way - like a salty element in the dish. We grate it with a microblade, and love to use the bone as the Chinese would with Yunnan ham in soups, where it adds flavour but it's not obvious. We sometimes sweat vegetables with it, and the trimmings - not the skin, because it's bitter, but the dried parts - we'll infuse them into sauces.

...
Ekkebus' favourite jamon is the Joselito brand, available at the Bon Bon Bon shop in Central.

Chang doesn't have a favourite - although he'd jump at the chance to sample a few more.

"When I was in Spain four years ago, I went to Jamonisimo in Barcelona and bought three of the top-end jamons, the ones based on the source. I also bought regular jamon Iberico without a premium rating. Unfortunately, I didn't taste them side by side, so I couldn't tell you which one I like best. But I'd definitely like to taste more."
______________________________

From Spain

I still remember my visit to Jamonísimo.  The place is literally a temple of worship for jamón lovers.  I didn't even hesitate before buying 300g each of the 3 "reserves" - Salamanca, Andalucia and Extremadura.  I would have bought more, except that they needed to be sliced by hand and it simply took too long and too much effort.  Each pack of 100g consisted of about 20 slices of 5g each, all sliced by hand with a long and thin blade.  The lady kinda got a little tired in the middle of slicing, and when the owner walked in he decided to take off his jacket and relieve his staff.  I knew I was in good hands.

My friends and I actually contemplated buying a whole leg, but realized we would have to buy a jamonera...  The combination would be a little too much in itself, not to mention that we were heading to El Bulli and didn't want the hassle.  I did take home an additional 1kg block of "regular" jamón ibérico, which helped satisfy my cravings for a while.

I drink Sherry with my jamón, and switch between drier versions (González Byass Del Duque, an amontillado muy viejo) and the sweeter styles (González Byass Metusalem, an oloroso dulce muy viejo).  I'm sure I could just as easily pair the jamón with something simpler like Tio Pepe, but... I am who I am.

The SCMP survey on "world's best restaurants"

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Last week I wrote about my take on the 2010 edition of the San Pelligrino "World's 50 Best Restaurants".  There has of course been lots of discussions around the world, including among my friends.  My friend Susan decided to do a survey locally, and the result was published in the South China Morning Post today.  I was privileged to be included in the polling group.  I have reposted the first part of it here, including my "top 5".  Original article is available here (requires subscription to scmp.com).

HK food experts name their favourite restaurants

We invited local food experts to name their best restaurants. Some of the choices were surprising

Susan Jung Updated on May 06, 2010

Every year around this time, food lovers get into heated, but ultimately futile, discussions following the release of the annual San Pellegrino World's 50 Best Restaurants list, published by Restaurant Magazine. This year, Francophiles were upset that the top restaurant in France, Le Chateaubriand, came in at number 11. Four of the top 10 spots were restaurants in Spain, but the famed El Bulli was toppled from first place - which it had held for the past four years - by Noma, a small restaurant in Denmark (foodies in that country were ecstatic). To get an idea of what the results would have been if the panellists consisted only of Hong Kong voters, we took a poll of local food lovers - seasoned restaurateurs, food bloggers and gourmands who travel the world in search of good restaurants - to pick the places they consider "best", using the same parameters as the San Pellegrino guide (see The rules of voting below).Actually I've been doing my own "global top 10" for the last couple of years, and updated it about a year ago. With the additional rules Susan imposed, it was easy to take out the ones which didn't qualify and instantly come up with my "top 5". My list and comments are certain to draw criticism from many corners. But it is my strong belief that despite all the passion Hong Kong has for food, there are way too many great restaurants in this great wide world of ours. Had I traveled more extensively in the last 12 months, there may not even have been any Hong Kong restaurants on my list. Any trip to Tokyo or New York and it's sayonara Hong Kong! But that's good news for us living in Hong Kong, because it means there's always room for improvement! Much to my surprise, I found there was little consensus. It was obvious from the choices which countries the voters had travelled to recently - one of the rules is they had to have visited the restaurant in the past 18 months. But even with the pick of local restaurants, where I expected quite a lot of overlap, there was just one repeat nominee - Fook Lam Moon, the upmarket Chinese restaurant known as the "tycoon's canteen" - and both voters chose the Wan Chai branch (which is considered to have the better food). And while voters could choose up to three restaurants in Hong Kong, only one did so. Food blogger Peter Chang says: "I just don't think [local] restaurants are as good as those I found elsewhere. It's not the service, it's the food - some of them can be hit and miss. Fook Lam Moon is consistent - whether or not you're a regular. If you're not a regular there, you won't know about the special, off-menu items but it's still good. "For me, being the best has to do with creativity - the food has to be good, but what impresses me is when they have new dishes and new ways of doing things. All my top picks are creative - they experiment; they serve the tried and true, but they also serve dishes with the 'wow' factor. A lot of Chinese restaurants don't have that." One of the rules is that panellists could vote for no more than three in our "region" of Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan - but Judy Yu was the only panellist to pick the maximum number. Food stylist Vivian Herijanto, who has a diploma in culinary arts from the Institute for Culinary Education in New York, says she picked only one local place - Robuchon a Galera, the Michelin three-star restaurant by multi-starred French chef Joel Robuchon, at the Hotel Lisboa in Macau. "Chinese restaurants don't give you the `experience' or ambience and aren't as accommodating. The really expensive places have good service but if you go anywhere else, the service isn't great and they're too noisy." Two Chinese restaurants Herijanto likes for food and service are One Harbour Road at the Grand Hyatt, and the Four Season's Lung King Heen, which controversially was awarded three stars in the Hong Kong Michelin guide (many local gourmands say the food is not on par with the ambience). "Lung King Heen isn't like other Michelin three-star places I've been to," she says. "The view is great and the ambience is really nice for a Chinese restaurant. But you can't compare it to the Alain Ducasse Plaza Athenee, which is gorgeous. But that's in Paris and this is Hong Kong - and it's hard to compare non-Western with Western." I've been one of the "official" panellists for the San Pellegrino guide since 2006, when Restaurant Magazine expanded the voting pool to include people from outside Europe. As for my picks: I didn't travel as much in the past year - only to Istanbul and France, bypassing my usual favourite restaurants in Paris and going straight to the southwest, where I cooked at a friend's house or ate only at inexpensive places. Of the five top places based on where I've eaten over the past 18 months, three of them are also on the lists of our panel here - Robuchon a Galera in Macau, The Chairman in Central and Fook Lam Moon. But I have two of my own, both in Turkey - Seasons restaurant at the Four Seasons Istanbul at Sultanahmet ( tel: +90 212 402 30 00) and Muzedechanga (tel: +90 212 323 09 01). Peter Chang, food blogger (chi-he-wan-le.blogspot.com) Restaurant de l'Hotel de Ville, 1 Rue d'Yverdon, Crissier, Switzerland, tel: +41 21 634 05 05 "My four-hour lunch at Philippe Rochat's restaurant was simply mind-blowing. Everything was so nicely done, with lots of Asian elements which worked really well." Michael Mina, 335 Powell Street, San Francisco, United States +1 415 397 9222 "My solo dining experience here was absolutely perfect, with a great wine-pairing to boot. Every dish was superbly executed, and the service - from knowledgeable staff - was incredibly refreshing. Pierre Gagnaire, 6 rue Balzac, Paris, France, tel: +33 1 58 36 12 50 "I've always loved Pierre Gagnaire's ability to blend Asian elements into his cuisine and make things work. Dessert at Pierre Gagnaire is truly an affair, and the wine list has plenty of real bargains." Caprice, Four Seasons, 8 Finance Street, Central, Hong Kong,tel: 3196 8888 "Hands down, the best French restaurant in Hong Kong. The creativity is apparent, although the cuisine is more traditional, and the cheese selection is second to none." Fook Lam Moon, 35-45 Johnston Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong, tel: 2866 0663 "Food here is consistently good, from made-to-order dim sum items to one of the best roast suckling pigs, as well as many off-menu items known to the regulars."

My foodie resolutions for 2010

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My friend Susan called me a couple of weeks ago to ask me about my new year's resolution in terms of food.  She was doing an article for the South China Morning Post and wanted to get my thoughts.  I hadn't specifically made it a point to come up with resolutions for 2010, but I guess there have always been a few things in the back of my mind.  So here we go... the following paragraphs are lifted from the article published on December 31, 2009:  original article can be found here (requires subscription to SCMP.com)

Peter Chang
Financial professional and Diary of a Growing Boy food blogger (chi-he-wan-le.blogspot.com)
"I want to go back to Tokyo for a foodie trip and try some of the places that are in the Tokyo Michelin Guide - Japanese and fusion restaurants. People talk about a sushi place called Sukiyabashi Jiro, which has three stars. I also want to try some tempura places. On my last trip, I had an amazing tempura meal at a restaurant nobody talks about and I figure if it's that good at a place no one knows, how much better will it be at a place people say is the best. I'll also try some of the more creative kaiseki places that people on [food blog] Chowhound write about.

"For other food destinations, it depends on work, I'm sure I'll be travelling to Europe and the US, but those trips are pretty busy.

"My wine-tasting group might be taking another trip this year - this year [2009] we went to Bordeaux so in 2010 we might go to Burgundy and the south of France. These trips are focused on wine but, of course, there will be some nice meals at the vineyards we visit, plus one or two meals at [Michelin] starred restaurants. Then I'll make some detours to eat at other places when we leave Beaune or Lyon - I'd like to try Troisgros [in Roanne].

"I'd also like to learn to cook in the new year - I'm not a good cook and I want to learn more. I just bought a place in Taipei and I'll be fitting out the new kitchen. I want to buy a temperature-controlled steamer, and I'm hoping friends can teach me to cook sous-vide. That's my goal for 2010 - to get some good kitchen equipment and learn to cook sous-vide."

OK, I'm not sure that I actually said "I'm not a good cook" to Susan...that may be her interpretation since she thinks that all I cook at home are instant noodles.  Of course I don't cook as well as she does, being a professional chef and all... But I haven't had any complaints so far from the select few friends who have had my cooking.

So the big things this year will be Japan and France, both probably in the second half of the year.  Let's see what happens!

A little press coverage

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I woke up to a little surprised today.  A friend informed me that there was a write-up about my blog in the South China Morning Post.  I didn't know anything about it, so I ran down to  buy a copy of the paper.  Sure enough, there was a little blurb in the Sunday Magazine.

Susan is a friend and has been following my blog after stumbling upon it some time back.  She decided to tell her readers about it, but forgot to give me a heads up...  Well, I thanked her for the spotlight she put on the blog.

The text is reproduced here.


Sunday January 18 2009

Peechy keen Susan Jung Some food blogs make you want to get into the kitchen and cook, others make you want to go out and eat. Diary of a Growing Boy (chi-he-wan-le.blogspot.com) is firmly in the second category - and best of all, 'Peech' blogs primarily from Hong Kong, so we're not salivating about restaurants in cities we haven't yet visited. His postings are prolific and detailed: not just a few lines but paragraph after paragraph of his analysis about dishes he's tasted. Most of the former banker's posts (he's now a headhunter) are about high-end restaurants and he writes with enthusiasm and knowledge about Asian and western cuisines. He's also passionate about wine: many of his meals are organised by members of a wine club he belongs to and are tailored to complement the wines. Peech is well-travelled: he often goes to Taipei (where he was born) as well as the United States, Europe and both familiar and 'off the beaten path' parts of Asia (including Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan).