かんぽの宿 彦根

這一頓懷石料理, 是在琵琶湖畔的溫泉旅館吃到的。這次說不上是一個豪華的懷石料理, 餐廳裡沒有特別的裝潢或名貴的食器, 但絕對吃得到琵琶湖一帶獨有的河鮮及近江牛, 所以感覺仍然滿足和豐盛。

先付　(左):
鰻和風サラダ　野菜色々　ドレッシング

前菜　上段(右):
もずく酢、ごり踊煮、小鮎甘露煮、小鯛小袖寿司、姫栄螺、水無月羊羹

前菜　下段:
近江牛タタキ　橙酢

煮物椀:
鱧葛打ち　順才　敦菜　木ノ芽

向付:
鯛　鮪　海老湯洗い

焚含:
鯟含煮　小芋　茄子　隠元　かもじ葱　木ノ芽

メイン:
近江牛しゃぶしゃぶ　野菜色々

お食事:
近江米　蜆赤味噌仕立て　香の物三種盛

かんぽの宿　彦根, 滋賀県彦根市松原町3759

髮菜蠔豉粥

煮給我媽吃的。

髮菜蠔豉粥

Tsarskaya oyster

A little treat for myself for October - fresh Tsarskaya oysters, the Gold Medal winning oyster of the year 2009.

Tried many different kinds of oysters before, to name a few, like Kumamoto, Fine de Claire, Irish Rock and Gigas. Among all I like Tsarskaya the best.

Tsarskaya is from Cancale, Brittany of France where the environment for oyster production is perfect, and originally it was imported to France from Russia. From October it enters its best season.

Tsarskaya may not be as meaty as some of its counterparts but it has a delicate texture - crispy and yet soft. It is well-balanced on the saltiness and iodine flavour of the sea. Intriguingly, at the same time it tastes sweet and carries a cucumber-like, mild aftertaste.

Although the oysters were delivered from the far away Brittany, they were still fresh when they were on my tongue. Delicious.

798 Unit & Co.

Had a nice dinner with Mr. Lee before he goes to UK again.

The spacey interior of the gastropub. Nice place to meet a friend.

Chocolate Martini
Carried the smell of chocolate and orange. I do not really like the scent of orange but this cocktail was nice.

Clams in cream sauce and herbs, and garlic toast
The clams were fresh and had seawater taste, and the amount was quite generous. Nice dish.

Chilled cucumber soup with avocado and coriander yogurt, served with cumin tiger prawn skewer
It looks too illuminous with the flash light! The combination of cucumber soup and yogurt are refreshing and light, and as a soup / appetizer it did it's job of raising appetite right. However the prawn was tasteless despite the heavy layer of cumin cover.

Ravioli of fire-roasted tomato and basil fava beans, smoked capsicum and mascapone cream
It's a vegetarian choice. The mascapone cheese sauce was a bit thick, but overall the ravioli was a fab. Each of the ingredients are with strong and different characteristics. When they come together in one dish as this ravioli, they get along so well. I especially love the roasted heirloom tomatoes. Sweet and juicy and got some taste of roasting.
Sure I will order this dish again when I visit this gastropub next time.

798 Unit & Co., Shop 1203, Food Forum, Times Square, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong

利久庵

在利久庵吃的一頓午餐。

這是我點的醬油漬吞拿魚定食。

前菜 (由上至下) 有沙律、煮蓮藕及甘筍, 及漬物。

茶碗蒸。
蒸得夠輕夠滑, 是合格的水準。

湯烏冬。

醬油漬吞拿魚丼。
吞拿魚經過醬油醃漬後變得軟滑, 跟鮮吃相比又是另一番味道, 仍帶吞拿魚赤身本來的微酸, 又多了醬油的酒香和鹹味。

蒜香燒牛舌
牛舌很薄, 完全沒有味道, 早知如此就不會點道菜。

黑芝麻雪糕。

利久庵, 尖沙咀棉登徑17-23號地舖1號

Caramelized potatoes

Caramelized potatoes

Belgos East

We went to eat mussels in a nothing-to-do afternoon.

My glass of white wine, Crane Lake Sauvignon Blanc 2006.

The fries and bread. The little pots are chicken liver spread (brown) and butter (yellow).
I love thick fries so let fredda finish most of the bread, which was crunchy on the crust and soft inside.

Fresh steamed mussels in provencale style.
The sauce was cooked with tomato, olives, garlic and thyme, with hefty amount of white wine. It was so tasty that I drank the sauce like soup! The mussels were soft and fat as it was the best season.

The whole pot of mussels in provencale style.

Fresh steamed mussels in Marienere style.
The sauce was a white wine cream, which is one of the most traditional sauce for cooking mussels in Belgium. The sauce contained juice of mussels, so it was sweet and carried the taste of seawater. We greedily dipped our remaining bread in this cream sauce!

The big black pot of mussels in Marienere style.

Belgos East, Oxford House, Taikoo Place, Quarry Bay, Hong Kong

小墨魚 baby cuttlefish

剛剛釣到上岸的小墨魚。

新鮮的小墨魚其實不用劏, 連外皮亦不用撕去, 用水洗乾淨就好。
就這樣清蒸, 原隻放入口就可以。因為夠新鮮, 小墨魚的墨囊帶海水味及鮮味, 可一併吃下。
醬汁方面, 我蘸了點在九龍城新三陽南貨買的極品蝦子醬油作綴。

Gravlax with orange salad

Normally I do not eat raw salmon, but Gravlax is an exception.

Gravlax is a signature dish in Northern European cuisine. It refers to fresh salmon preserved in the traditional method, using heavy salt, sugar and dill to cover the salmon, and then bury it in dry sand to ferment and cure for some time.

Gravlax with orange salad
(orange is not visible in this pic!!! LOL~)

I just learnt how to make Gravlax last week. It's easy. This method helps to remove the moisture in salmon, and thus the taste of fat and oil inside the fish become prominent. The texture also changed. It becomes more delicate and soft. The dill, sugar and grated orange and lemon peels make the Gravlax tastes clean and refreshing.

Fettuccine and mushrooms in cream sauce

I cooked the mushrooms with a bit of oil only, in a way like roasting the mushrooms on the pan. And I consider this is the best way to cook mushrooms (if, on pans) because it can effectively enhance the unique fragrance of the mushrooms.

Fettuccine and mushrooms in cream sauce

In the cream sauce, I added flakes of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and a dash of butter. I also intentionally made the sauce thicker so that sauce can stick to, and cover the pasta and mushrooms thoroughly.