Ice Cream Gallery

Summer has not officially arrived yet; however, the tempeature keeps going up each day.  Ice cream is a great way to cure the hotness outside.  If you are an aventurer, the ice creams I am going to introduce to you today will be your "cup of ice cream"=)

I went to Las Vegas during the Memorial Day weekend, and saw a big banner of Lobster Ice Cream at Lobster Me, located inside the Planet Hollywood hotel.  It caught my eyes immediately; unfortunately, we were so stuffed from our very romantic anniversary dinner at Eiffel Tower restaurant at the Paris hotel, so we didn't get a chance to try it.  That even better for adding me an extra reason to go back to Vegas this year=).

The same night, I read an article about an ice cream shop in Hong Kong.  They even take your taste buds farther - Except for their signature French lobster ice cream, they also offer the following unique favors:

French bacon and egg, black/white truffle, foie gras, Japanese sake and black sesame...Check out what the locals said about this ice cream place here.  Since we are going to Macau and Hong Kong this November, even though it might be a little too cold to have ice cream; I still want to put this place on my TO-DO LIST while I am in Hong Kong this winter.

(all pictures are from Yelp.com and OpenRice.com)
 

Chinese Style Egg Waffles (aka Eggette)

Few months ago, I saw this Chinese style egg waffles pan from one of my friend's facebook's wall.  Except for cool, I didn't think of purchase it at all.  Until I went to the mall last weekend, and saw the pan in "real person" at Williams-Sonoma, I was so excited and kept asking Mr. G if he remembers that's what we had in my hometown (Macau).  He said yes, they are pretty good.  I said yes, they are and I SO miss this street food.  I so wanted to buy it.  However, after looking at the price tag, I put it down and told myself not worth it, it's quite too much (about $50.00 usd).  After I got home, I tried to look for it from Amazon and ebay, but NO LUCK!  After 3 day deep consideration, I finally went to the store and purchased it today.

I of course could not wait to get home to try it out.  Luckily, I have all the ingredients at home.  So after having a quick dinner, I immediately tried out my new toy.  I guess the 50 dollars I spent not just for the pan, it's also for all my fond memory I have about my childhood and the place I love.

If you never heard of this famous Chinese (especially in Hong Kong and Macau areas) snack, here is a little introduction of eggette:

An eggette is a kind of spherical pancake or ball waffle popular in the Cantonese-speaking regions of China, including Hong Kong and Macau. The food item is also referred to as an egg puff, egg waffle, bubble waffle or by its Cantonese name,gai daan jai (鷄蛋仔),^[1] and is made from eggs, sugar, flour, and light evaporated milk.^[2] They are best served hot, and often eaten plain. They can also be served with fruit and flavors such as strawberry, coconut or chocolate.^[2] They are sometimes referred to as "Hong Kong cakes" in Chinatowns across America, especially in New York.


For more information, please go to here.

So I used the recipe on the back of the pan, the ingredients are pretty simple, and you can get everything from the store.  Williams-Sonoma also sell the mix in a box for $10.00 at the store and online, but to be honest with you, I don't think you need to spend that 10 extra dollars to get the mix if you can find everything from the pantry.


Ingredients:
4 large yolks
3/4 cup milk (I used a little bits of buttermilk to substitute the milk for a fluffier texture)
About 1 tbs vanilla extra
6 tbs unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups cake flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
Pinch of grated nutmeg
Pinch of salt
6 egg whites, beaten to medium peaks
Vegetable oil for cooking


Direction:

In another mixing bowl, mix the egg yolk, milk, vanilla, melted butter (put in a microwave for 25 sec) and sugar and whisk until they combined.

In a third mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, nutmeg and salt.

Whisk the wet ingredient into the dry ingredient until well combined and no lumps remain

Add 1/3 of the beaten egg whites t the batter and stir until lightened.
Gently fold in the remaining whites in 2 additions.

The batter is well combined and ready to pour on the heated pan.

Preheat both sides of the egg waffle pan on separate burners over
medium heat until hot.

Grease both sides with vegetable oil to prevent sticking.

Pour 3/4 cup batter on the hot and greased pan.

Cooked on each side for about 1.5 mins over med. heat

One batch makes about 6 eggettes.

They are good just as is.  Or you could add fresh fruits, powder sugar and jam.
(Source:  Serving suggestion from Williams-Sonoma)

Next time, I will do different flavors (like matcha green tea, chocolate or seaweed, stay tuned.)

Pies...and more from McDonald's (around the world)

I am sure you had McDonald's warm baked apple pie before, right?  The pie is a nice design like their many other products.  The pie is very "portable" and convenient, especially you are driving when you are trying to grab a bite (Just be aware of the hotness from the filling). 

McDonald's is one of the biggest fast food chains in the world (Subway Sandwich is #1).  McDonald's creates some special items to please the locals in other countries, even in different states in the US.  I remember we had curry potato pie and taro pie at our McDonald's in Macau.  And here are some interesting pies I found online through multiple websites.  So next time when you travel outside the states, don't forget to stop by their McDonald's.  You will be surprised about what you find there.

* Original pictures are found on the Google's imagine.

Chocolate and orange pie - Europe

Taro and pineapple pies from Taiwan McDonald's

Haupia pie - Hawaii

Blue berry pie - special edition in certain states in the US

Green tea Mcflurry - Hong Kong

Different flavors Sundaes from Hong Kong McDonald's

Green tea and redbeans Sundae from Hong Kong McDonald's

Egg and ham pie - China



Banana deep fried pie - special edition in certain states in the US

Sweet corn pie - Thailand McDonald's

Kee Wah Chinese Bakery, Rowland Heights, CA

I stopped by Kee Wah Bakery to get some mooncakes for celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival last month.  Of course, I didn't take home with only one item, beside a case of mooncakes, I also got some Chinese pastries.  By saying Chinese pastries, they are not quite "Chinese".  However, I am sure you won't see them from any American bakeries.  A lot of the pastries sold here are crossover with Asian and Western styles (aka fusion).

Except for these fusion pastries, they also offer traditional Chinese pastries.  I tried to take couple pictures inside the shop; I immediately got caught by the staff and asked me not to take pictures ;(

Here are some background information about this bakery from Wikipedia:


Kee Wah Bakery is a chain of bakery stores in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and in the Los Angeles area and the San Francisco area of the United States (California). Kee Wah was originally founded in Hong Kong in 1938 by Mr. Wong Yip Wing (1911–1999). The company is well known in Hong Kong and overseas for its signature products ― Chinese Bridal Cakes and mooncakes ― though a wide range of Chinese and Western delicacies is equally popular.  
They have few different locations through out California.  If you would like to stop by to get some yummy Chinese pastries, or fusion pastries, click here for their locations.

A case of lotus paste mooncakes ($28.00usd)

Mooncake=)

Assorted baked treats - coconut cream bun on the right bottom
Char siu buns in the middle
Curry empanada on the top
Pineapple bun at the top right corner

A box of assorted baked goodies

I also picked up few Portuguese egg tarts for my in-laws to try.
 Of course, these tarts can't compare to the ones I had in Macau.

Inside the char siu bun

Models Eat...and Bake Too - Petite Amanda Patisserie (Hong Kong)

Last month, I shared with everyone how a movie and two wonderful ladies have changed my life (click here to find out who have inspired me).  Today, I am going to share another inspiring story with you about how a model has turned to become a baker and the owner of a French patisserie in Hong Kong.

Amanda Strang, my favorite model has just opened her first patisserie in IFC, Hong Kong.  I am so excited to hear that her "baby" is finally out after all these years of her hard works.  Most American might not know who she is.  She is a successful model and a TV food show host in Hong Kong.  I fell in love with Amanda when I first saw her face.  She is always cute and classy and reminds me of a mixed (Taiwanese and French) version of Aurdry Hepburn.

Let me give you a little background about Amanda -

Amanda had lived in French, India and Taiwan most of her life when she was a kid.  She went to Boston for college.  After graduating from college, she visited Hong Kong for fun and got discovered by a modeling agency.  She immediately started her modeling career and got very successful in Asia (especially in Hong Kong).  However, her passion towards food and French pastry had stopped her to think about taking a break from her successful modeling career and enroll at Le Cordon Bleu to prusuit her dream of opening her own store.  She has interned at Caprice and Ladurée as well as with Jacques Genin for NON-PAID for couple years.  After years of preparation, her first patisserie has just opened in August 2011.  If you want to know more about what made her decided to give up her catwalk career and turned to baking and making desserts (click here for a recent interview).  She also has a blog to share her recipes and her journey in French, if you are interested, click here.

I have not had chance to check out her patisserie yet, so I could not tell you what my verdict is.  But I could share some pictures I found from various websites with you.  So you could check out her patisserie if you have chance, and let me know how it is.

*Note:  to see what other people think about her pastisserie, click here.

Petite Amanda. Open Monday - Friday 8 a.m. 8 p.m.; Saturday - Sunday 10 a.m.-8 p.m.
Shop 2096, International Finance Centre Mall 2, Central, +852 2234 7222 (just next by Starbucks)

The design and colors of her patisserie matches Amanda's classy and clean-cut style.

 Amanda's Verrine ($70.00 HKD), made of maple syrup jelly, orange compote,
whipped cream and sweet crumble topping
[Note:  you could keep the the exclusive Le Creuset ramekin it's serve in.]

The Delice Aux Abricots is a cute-as-a-button dome of white chocolate mousse with an apricot compote filling and a crushed biscuit bottom.

They also made various French breads daily - Pain au Levain

Their signature triangled cake box

One of the desserts at the store

This is Amanda's signature dessert.  A quote from her - 

"Ah! That has to be my chocolate cake. I make it with three layers of different textures so they all contrast and meld together with different flavour infusions in a really satisfying way."

Amanda is introducing her deserts to her customers.  

A lot of reviewers said that she is SUPER nice and thoughtful.  She asked about what they like and suggested them what kinds of desserts they should get.

I somehow feel a strong connection between Amanda and myself.  Of course, I am not talking about our faces or bodies (she is out of my league).  I feel that we both have the passion towards food and food industry and pursuing our dreams are not easy, but we did at least try.  

I  know her new journey has just began, and I truly wish that her new career will become as successful as her modeling career.  And please keep introducing great French pastries to everyone in the world.

Cupcake Voyage Art Exhibition (July 2010, Hong Kong)

There was a Cupcake Voyage Art Exhibition in Hong Kong around this time last year.  Of course, Mrs. G was so bumped that she missed it.  Hong Kong is the neighbor city of her very own home town, Macau.  O well, but summer time in Hong Kong and Macau is very humid and hot.  I don't see there is any reason for me to go back during the summer time (sorry, cupcakes, you are not the reason to drag me back home!)

I was looking at the cupcake exhinition pictures on flickr.  Here are some of my favorite ones and would like to share with you all:

A cupcake garden

 Pinic themed cupcakes

 Pop culture themed cupcakes

Girly themed cupcake

dim sum themed cupcakes