Farewell, my favorite sandwich

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Tonight I am mourning the passing of Dan Yiu (姚有福) - who many of us knew as 福哥 - the former proprietor of my beloved Yue Hing (裕興). He was diagnosed with lung cancer just around 3 years ago, and I was sad to hear the news that he finally lost the battle and is no longer with us.

My first visit to this street stall was back in 2010, pretty much right after I saw my friend KC's post about their sandwich. This became my favorite place for breakfast sandwich in no time, and that was during the days when my life was a little more leisurely and no one batted an eyelid when I strolled in to work past 9:30. Just before what I thought would be a permanent departure from Hong Kong, I made sure to have one last breakfast there before leaving.  It was that important to me.

91 do re mi

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Earlier this year I saw an opportunity to acquire two bottles of wine from auction that would make an interesting pair. 1991 was the last year that Joseph Phelps made an Eisele Vineyard bottling, following the sale of the vineyard to the Bart and Daphne Araujo. Similarly, Araujo made its first wine in 1991, so this was the only year when a comparison between the two wines could be made. There were magnums of both wines on offer at auction, and I made sure to place the winning bid for both lots. I was, however, somewhat surprised that the price of the Phelps was nearly double that of the Araujo. Clearly I had overpaid for the Phelps...

When I took delivery of the wines, though, I was shocked to see that the Phelps was actually a double magnum. That explained the pricing, and I felt a lot better. But I was now faced with a unforseen problem: how would I go about organizing a tasting for these? I had initially planned to grab a couple of friends to pop the two magnums, but now with a DMAG, I clearly needed more participants. And with more people, more wines were needed. It would no longer be just the two Eisele Vineyard wines.

Thankfully I do know a few lovers of Californian wines, and we rounded up a big enough group for a horizontal of 1991 Napa cabs. A friend who often hosts wine tastings made arrangements with Beefbar, and chef Andrea Spagoni put together a selection of dishes for us.

Tuna, avocado crunchy taco - tasty, but I probably should have asked for a substitute instead of tuna.

Pata negra ham: 48 month Simon Martin bellota

Cucarachas in the basement

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At a dinner a few weeks ago, both DaRC and Sankala seemed unimpressed with the Shunde (順德) specialties delivered by the restaurant.  This prompted DaRC to suggest that we come to Yixin Restaurant (益新美食館) for some of the same dishes - which is how we ended up in a private room in the basement tonight.

My first visits to what used to be Yaik Sang Restaurant (益新飯店) when I first arrived in the mid-90s, back when it was in Lee Theatre Plaza. I visited a couple of times when it briefly relocated to Happy Valley, and I did go with Tigger when it was rebranded in its current form... but it has been more than a decade since my last visit. That's how long since I last had their lemon chicken. So I requested that DaRC add it to our menu tonight.

Roasted gold coin chicken (吊燒金錢雞) - really, really happy to start off with this classic item. I have been missing my favorite "cholesterol sandwich" for years, and although I now have a new favorite, I'm still on the look out for other versions that make me happy. There's something about the combination of a slice of charsiu (叉燒), a slice of chicken liver (鳳肝), and that essential slice of cured pork lard (冰肉) - roasted together on a skewer - that can transform into magic in the mouth.

These slices are large in surface area but relatively thin, so they are kinda impossible to devour in one or two bites - which is usually the way I'd like to do it. I'm glad they didn't skimp on the lard, as it had almost equal proportion to the other two ingredients. Very, very fatty... and pretty satisfying. But not quite up to the level of this near my home.

Moon cake 2021: lighting the domes

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Another Mid-Autumn Festival has come to pass while the global pandemic continues, and another year where mom doesn't get her delivery of moon cakes from me. That means another year of me not terribly interested in buying these treats. Between gifts received at work and Sankala's whimsical purchases, I still managed to get a decent variety this season.

The theme from Dang Wen Li by Dominique Ansel this year was Fly Me to New York. Once again the packaging was very eye-catching, with paper cutouts of New York landmarks circling maple trees with autumn leaves. The words "Mid-Autumn in New York", along with the color of the leaves, reminded me of the movie from 20 years ago.

The best thing, though? The dome lights up!

Mini Earl Grey tea custard mooncake (伯爵茶奶黃月餅), from Dang Wen Li by Dominique Ansel - this was what they did last year, and I was very happy to taste these again. Very fine and smooth filling, which was fragrant and lovely with the bergamot oil. The flavors were just right.

Mini egg custard mooncake (奶黃月餅), from Dang Wen Li by Dominique Ansel - the "new" flavor this year was the standard stuff, and really wasn't anything special.

When Sankala found out about this box of Gudetama moon cakes - Gudetama八月十五的月光 - from Twinkle Baker Décor, she wasted no time in placing an order. She actually didn't care about the moon cakes... she just wanted to keep the stuffed Gudetama.

And guess what? This one lights up, too! And projects twinkle, twinkle little stars all around!

Tieguanyin moon cake (鐵觀音茶味月餅), from Twinkle Baker Décor - the paste was thick and dense, with some iron buddha (鐵觀音) flavors. But somehow the filling was more similar to red bean paste.

Earl Grey moon cake (伯爵茶味月餅), from Twinkle Baker Décor - the paste was softer, more loose. The bergamot from Earl Grey was more fragrant. Not as refined as the one from Dang Wen Li but surpassed my expectations.

My favorite egg custard moon cake from last year was from Pâtisserie La Lune (望月), and they put out a Kumamon edition that was kinda cute.

Lava custard mooncake (流心奶黃月餅) Kumamon Limited Edition, from Pâtisserie La Lune (望月) - I failed. The instruction calls for heating these in a rice cooker for 30 minutes, but I decided to pop it out after "only" 20 minutes. The result? The filling didn't get the "molten lava" stage.

Each year I make it a point to buy some traditional moon cakes from Dashijie, epecially when I can get the ones made with lard...

Old style lard yellow lotus paste mooncakes with olive seeds and triple egg yolks (古法豬油三黃欖仁黃蓮蓉月餅), from Dashijie (大師姊) - this was really, really good. The lotus paste was very fine and smooth, and the lard was definitely noticeable and added that wonderful fragrance to it all. The addition of Chinese black olive kernels meant the overall flavor of the lotus paste wasn't as sweet, which appeals to some. The yolks were more fluffy and oozed a little oil after heating. My favorite from the "traditional" bunch.

White lotus seed paste mooncake with double yolk (雙黃白蓮蓉月餅), from Four Seasons Hong Kong - this was clearly a notch below the ones from Dashijie. The lotus seed paste was decent but just not outstanding. The oil oozing from the yolk after heating ended up dripping on my shirt...

Sankala was walking past Happy Cake Shop (快樂餅店), an old school bakery with a history of more than 40 years, when she saw that they were selling moon cakes individually. She decided to get me one, but for some reason she misunderstood my simple instruction... which resulted in her making a second trip to get me the one that I really wanted.

Tangerine peel and red bean paste mooncake with double yolk (雙黃陳皮豆沙月餅), from Happy Cake Shop (快樂餅店) - this was on the rough side, and the red bean paste definitely wasn't as smooth as could have been. But the little chunks of tangerine peel - which I doubt have been aged enough to qualify as 陳皮 - were nice and fragrant.

Tangerine peel and red bean paste mooncake (陳皮豆沙月餅), from Happy Cake Shop (快樂餅店) - much, much happier with the "pure" version without any distraction from yolks.

Mao Shan Wang durian moon cake (貓山王榴槤冰皮月餅), from DKing (帝一榴) - very, very strong durian flavors. Loved it. So did CC.

What the fuck am I doing here?

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"So what the fuck are you doing here??"

Those were the words coming out of the mouth of Antimo Maria Merone - the chef of Estro - as he sat and chatted with us after service finished this evening. I had just finished telling him that I normally don't visit new restaurants within the first 3 to 6 months - something that is well-known among my friends - because usually either the kitchen or the front-of-house (or sometimes both) aren't ready. On the rare occasions that I have chosen to make exceptions - such as this group gathering or this restaurant review - I have come away disappointed or worse, wasted my hard-earned money.

In response to the question, I pointed in the direction of Hairy Legs. After all, Hairy Legs and I had agreed months ago to come see Antimo together once the restaurant is open. I was simply accompanying my friend.  And no, I never worried for a second that Antimo and his team wouldn't be ready.

I kinda wish the dinner had happened 2 months ago, because I would have worn something completely different to dinner. I would have been twinning with Hairy Legs and there would be not one but two assholes looking like zebras at the table. That photo op would have been phenomenal. But an incident on social media around 2 months ago changed my mind about dressing up like a zebra, so I chose to play second fiddle and - for one night only - ceded the title of biggest asshole to my friend seated next to me.