Richmond Candy Finds

I took a wonderous trip down to Richmond a while back and just remembered about these candies I had purchased from "Candy Land". This store is located on the 2nd flour of Yaohan and has the widest array of sweets you've ever seen. I didn't have all the money in the world (darn) or I would have probably bought everything in the store. Some of the candies are priced pretty high, and for good reason. You can only find some of them in little shops like "Candy Land" otherwise you'd have to travel to China to get your hands on things like...

Adzuki Bean Flavoured Kit Kats!!! (They also had the strawberry + almond flavour, but my sister's allergic to nuts) I was actually hoping to find their green tea, melon or passionfruit flavours... but you can't be too picky about these things. I never knew about the crazy world of kit kats before that day, for more info/exciting flavours to try check out the wikipedia webpage on kit kats and be amazed!

Knowing me and my money saving abilities, you can probably guess that I went for some candies that were on sale. This box of various chocolate goodies was originally priced at $2.99, but today I found it marked for $1.99 ... Wahoo!

Inside the box were little triangular packets of chocolate. The banana shaped/flavoured ones were amazing and did not taste artificial at all. The strawberry ones were 2nd only to the banana ones. There were also "smarties" and the chocolate "jimmie-like" candies which weren't anything to rave about. There were 11 packet in all; 2 each of the "jimmies", strawberries and bananas... and 5 stupid packs of the "smarties". Oh well, next time maybe I'll buy one big box of the banana ones :)

Ratatouille

What kind of foodie would I be if I didn't go to watch the movie about a rat who cooks? Well, I went to go see the animated, pixar creation about cooking, paris and rats. I quite enjoyed the film... you may think that since it's animated, it's only for kids. But this movie was packed full of children and adults alike. It garnered a ton of laughs, using Patton Oswawlt as the voice of the main character was a good choice. He sounded sincere when he needed too and laugh-out-loud funny at other times.

One of my favourite scenes is when Remy (the rat) is fixing the Gusteau soup that Linguini ruined... and especially when Remy is spotted and he drops the spices into the pot.

A true foodie will find this movie adorable. The title itself captures the essence of the entire movie. Ratatouille: its about Paris, cooking and a rat. Go see it for yourself...

Richmond Night Market!! 2007 (Part 2)

Alrighty, here we are at the Night Market... see the sign? :) This year wasn't as packed as last year, maybe because we came a bit early... but still, some of the stalls weren't being occupied by vendors? Last year, I think every stall was full and there were people elbowing each other to get through... well, not literally elbowing but you know what I mean.

Being early to the Night Market has it's perks, you can actually find good parking! If you want to park in the RNM lot, you'll have to fork over $5.50, and if you choose to park in a lot adjacent to the night market it'll cost you $5. But if you're crafty like my family (and a handful of others) you'll park on the road side. Sure it's a bit of a longer walk to the RNM but hey, it's free! You can save your hard-earned $5 on something like a pair of shoes, stuffies or food... which I believe it more worth it.

There was a lot of walking, but we didn't mind. That's the whole RNM experience. Walking around, as if you're in chinatown... except that all the awesome stores are in one concentrated location and you don't have to drive all the way to downtown Vancouver.

I wasn't too intrigued by the electronics vendors (mainly because they were really pricey, and I don't have an Ipod to "trick out"). But me and my sister were eager to hit all the stationary and stuffed animal stalls. We bought quite a couple pens, pencils, eraser and other accessories. They are pretty cheap, but you have to really shop around for the best deals. You also have to know what you're looking for, and be able to spot the cheapo products from the genuine thing.

I don't usually buy clothes at the NM (because you can't really try them on, unless you want to change infront of watchful eyes), but I actually managed to find this really nice top that fit me. I was just walking by this clothing stall and it caught my eye... it was just the right color, style and size and there was only 1 left. It was originally marked for $12, but my mom managed to haggle it down to $10 (yes, she is amazing!).

But of course, since this is a food blog you know that I couldn't post about the Richmond Night Market and not about it's wonderful treats. It took me a while to find what I wanted... usually I get the taiyaki, but this year they jacked up the price! I was appauled, usually they cost $0.50 each but this year they were $1!! I was saddened, because I was really craving something hot and sweet. The NM has a lot of food that's cold and sweet, or hot and savoury... but not hot and sweet. If I had the time/energy/money I would probably open up a stall at the NM that sold all of the tasty South-east Asian goodies... nonya kuehs, tong sui, bulut hitam, pulut inti, etc.

My sister ordered her usual mango bubble tea, while my other sister ate 2 skewers (one chicken and one beef). My mom ordered her sharkfin soup and then tried one of the red bean pancakes (which I admit was actually pretty good, but for $1 a piece I wouldn't buy one). My dad got fresh sugar cane juice, and let me tell you... it tastes nothing like the juice boxes. But I was still in search for my perfect dessert to end off the perfect night.

And then this stall caught my eye. After seeing their sign, I was hooked... the drinks reminded me of chendol... one of my favourite desserts from Singapore. And although not hot, it was deliciously sweet.

Much more tasty than my now sad looking attempt at making chendol. This vietnamese dessert had just the right coconutiness. The only thing they could have improved on was making the shaved ice more fine. There were small ice chunks that I had to chew up and thus it interrupted the flow of the dessert. Taste-wise it was awesome. It had pandan jelly, red bean, white beans, mung bean paste and tapioca cubes... YUMMERS!

I hope that the Richmond Night Market returns for 2008... it would be a sad break in tradition if they couldn't continue it. Apparently, it's because they can't rent out the location anymore... even if they had to change locations to keep it running I would definitely go. Please stay :)

Richmond Night Market!! 2007 (Part 1)

My family makes it a tradition to go to the Richmond Night Market, at least 2 times during the course of the summer. After hearing that this may be it's final year we had to make an effort to go. On Friday we drove down as usual around 5pm... to beat the heavy traffic going into Richmond. And as always, since the RNM isn't fully up-and-running until 7pm, we had dinner at the Richmond Hon's.

Whenever we go to Hon's I always order their wonton soup with thin egg-noodles... you may say, "Why such a boring meal?". But Hon's is known for their wonton and for their noodles; if you have not tried wonton at Hon's, then you have not tried wonton!

My sister loves udon and will eat it plain if she gets the chance (me, I'm not a huge fan... to doughy for my liking). She ordered the udon noodles with soup and fishballs.

My mom and dad ordered the roasted duck on egg noodles, and I may have helped myself to a nibble... tehehe. My other sister isn't a huge fan of egg/soup noodles, so we order some wat than hor for her to eat.

So, there's our Richmond Hon's dining experience in a nutshell... and it's basically the same everytime we go to Hon's. We usually dine at the coquitlam location, but Richmond is just as good (although they seem to give smaller portions). Anywho, I will continue writing about the Night Market in my next post. Stay tuned...

Backyard Picnic-ing

Wahoo! Summer is really here. Enough of that crazy snow (although it did snow in Kamloops just last week!) and on with the summer sun. And nothing says summer like a good old-fashioned picnic. Since my parents were out working, me and my sisters decided to have a picnic in our grand backyard... okay, it's not so grand but we love it :P

We played some frisbee, some uno and had a ton of fun blowing bubbles. I think my dog actually had the most fun on the picnic... prancing around "his" territory and trying to catch the bubbles.

And of course a picnic is nothing without picnic food...

Your traditional pasta salad... my sisters' favourite

Egg salad sandwich on a white bun, chicken sandwich with basil mayo on 12-grain bread

I also packed some nutritious cantaloupe, as well as skewers consisting of cubed cheese, grapes and pepperoni. Hanging out in the sun was fun, but too much of it and you feel all icky. After the picnic, we headed inside for some time in the shade...

Corn-doggies

Alright, so they're not the most nutritious lunch in the world... but corn dogs are super tasty and bring back a wave of childhood, fair-ground memories. They also solve that age old question "What to do with extra hot-dogs, since they's sold ten to a pack when buns are sold eight to a pack?" <-- corn-dog 'em of course!

I got the recipe off of allrecipes.com, the reviews were right on the ball. I omitted the bacon fat (because I didn't have any) and used chicken dogs instead of pork dogs... still the recipe was a success. These corn dogs turned out nice and fluffy, with the perfect sweetness and a wonderfully moist texture. After dipping in the hotdogs I had quite a bit of batter left over, so I ended up making a couple hush-puppies. These also turned out fantastic, and I couldn't resist gobbling up a handful.

My sisters hadn't eaten corn dogs in a long time, and the Pogo brand ones sold in the grocery stores are quite pricey. Seriously, it is better, cheaper, more fun and tastier to make your own corn dogs than to spend your money on them (and at $7 for a package of 10, they aren't too cheap). My sisters approved of this recipe, so I think it's safe to say that kids will love you if you prepare these corn dogs. I love mine with mustard, and my sisters had their's with ketchup... but any way you dress them up, they're delicious!

You're so precious... Honey (cake)!

The cake I used for the finale of my Wilton course is actually this cute little cake. I was looking for a simple cake that wouldn't use up too many eggs or a ton of sugar... yes, I'm a certified cheap-o. I found a recipe for Honey Cake in my cookbook (Edith Adams Omnibus) and thought it'd be perfect. Just a heads up, this cake is very simple and delicious on it's own; but if you are wanting to frost the cake, you will have to double the recipe in order to make enough cake for 2 layers!

Honey Cake (Yield: single layer, 8-inch round cake)

Ingredients:

- 1/2 cup butter

- 1/3 cup brown sugar

- 1/2 cup honey

- 1 egg

- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, sifted

- 1/2 tsp baking soda

- 1 tsp salt

- 1 tsp baking powder

- 1/2 tsp each cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves

- 7/8 cups milk

- 1 cup raisins (optional)

Method:

1. Cream shortening and brown sugar. Add in honey and egg.

2. Sift flour, soda, salt, baking powder and spices together.

3. Add flour mixture to creamed mixture, alternately with the milk.

4. Add in raisins and pour batter into a prepared 8-inch round pan.

5. Bake for 1 hr at 350F.

This cake turned out more like a dry-ish bread, rather than a moist cake. The flavour slightly resembles traditional gingerbread, all it lacks is the molasses. My sisters actually really liked this cake. I thought they might, which is why I omitted the raisins... I use to hate raisins when I was younger, but have grown accustom to them. Maybe they'll grow fond of the shrively grape remnants as they age? We'll see...

Ma Lai Koh x2

This is my second attempt at making ma lai koh... this time I used all-purpose flour instead of cake flour. The cake came out a bit more dense than when I used cake flour the last time I made it. I ran out of my pretty, pink, cupcake liners but these white ones have their own aesthetic. This'll be one of my shorter blogs... c'est fini!

Wilton Cake Decorating: Course 1, FINALE

Well, Course 1 of my Wilton Cake Decorating is over :( I feel somewhat saddened, but also very accomplished. I've gained some new skills in the art of cake decorating and I'm very proud of myself.

Here, I'm showing off my beautiful sweetpeas... aren't they adorable?

Finally, after 4 classes we have reached the stage of completing the Wilton Rose!

Here's me, posing with my beautiful cake

The course was a lot of fun... I'm hoping to sign up for Course 2, but I think I'll give it a break (at least for now). I want to relax and enjoy the free-time I do have, since I'm picking up a ton of extra working hours at KFC! That's not to say that I won't be decorating cakes at home... I know my family is getting sick of having to eat up all the cakes I make, but hey... what's better to become sick from the flu or a cake?!? :P

Pizza Casserole Take 2

I decided to prepare my pizza casserole again for dinner (see my previous post for the recipe). This time I stuck to the original recipe and didn't half it. Good thing too... my family devoured both casseroles and only about 2 pieces were left! But this time I decided to prepare some herbed bread sticks to go with the casserole, and boy were they tasty.

There are numerous breadstick recipes on the internet and to find just one is quite hard. I prefer the breadsticks that are on the soft side, because the crunchy ones (to me) take away from the soft "al-dente"-ness of the pasta. So here's my recipe for soft herbed breadsticks.

Soft Herbed Breadsticks (Yields 2 dozen)

Ingredients:

- 1 pk regular or quick-acting yeast
- 1 c warm water (105 to115 degree)
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 1/4 c All-purpose flour
- 2 tsp each dried rosemary (crushed) and dried thyme
- 1 tsp each dried oregano leaves and dried basil
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- Cornmeal
- 1 Egg white
- 2 tb Cold water
- Poppy or sesame seeds (optional)

Method:
1. Dissolve yeast in warm water in large bowl. Stir in sugar, salt, rosemary, thyme, oregano, basil, 2 cups of the flour and the oil. Beat until smooth.
2. Stir in enough remaining flour to make dough easy to handle (dough will be soft).
3. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface. Knead about 5 minutes until smooth and elastic.
4. Place dough in greased medium bowl and turn greased side up. Cover and let rise in warm place 1-1/2 to 2 hours or until double. (Longer rising gives typical French bread texture.)
5. Grease large cookie sheet and sprinkle with cornmeal. Divide dough into 24 equal parts.
6. Roll and shape each part into rope, about 9 inches long, sprinkling with flour if dough is too sticky. Place on cookie sheet.
7. Mix egg white and 2 tablespoons cold water. Brush over breadsticks. Sprinkle with poppy seed.
8. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Bake about 20 minutes or until crust is deep golden brown and crisp. Immediately remove from cookie sheets. Store loosely covered.

My family thought that the breadsticks were very flavorful and went well with the casserole dish. I loved these breadsticks and may have gone overboard with the thyme (after all, it's my favorite herb!)

H-mart

Me: [to parents] "You have both been to H-mart on occassions, but I have yet to see this Korean Supermarket. That's it... we're going!"

Parents: "Okay!"

And so it was... I went with my parents (dragging my two sisters along) to H-mart, to see if it was as great a supermarket as my beloved T&T. The long drive to Langley was tedious, but I was excited to see a new store. The only korean store I shop at is Hannam (in Guildford) and it's almost too small to be called a supermarket. But when I stepped into H-mart I was amazed at the size. I think it was actually larger than T&T! And the selection of foods there was very impressive. They had a very well stocked produce section, which had very reasonable prices (even cheaper than Save-on/Safeway). Their freezer section was enormous and had a wide variety of frozen meats, buns and desserts. They even sold mochi in bulk! Which was awesome... my sister just loves mochi. I think it's the chewiness that gets to her :P and at $0.55 a piece I had to buy at least six. To me the best part of the store was the bakery... I've always had a passion for baking and am always drawn to the bakery section of every supermarket. H-mart's had a various buns which I had not seen before, and I've seen plenty! (at City Fresh, T&T and Henglong) Anywho... here are the pics of H-mart's bakery goodies

Sorry for the crap-tasticness of the photo... I couldn't get a good angle :(

Here's a better pic! This is one of H-mart's chestnut buns... shaped like a chestnut, how ingenious :P

And here's the filling inside the chestnut bun

After wandering through the bakery section, I saw a women carrying a bag of what looked like large, brown frisbees... that couldn't be right??! So I walked towards the direction she was leaving from and found this...

Couldn't help myself! So I bought a bag... as $2.50 for a bag of approx. 30 pieces of this yummy rice snack, how could I not? I loves this machine, and the operator was just as loveable... He was such a cute man with much enthusiasm for his work. As I snapped this picture...

... he exlaimed "I am KOREAN!" It just made my day

You must take a trip down to H-mart, if not to purchase a butt-load of awesome Korean treats then to see this cute Korean man and his Magic Rice Machine!

Lor Bak Koh... almost

I wanted to use up the remaining 2/3rds of my acorn squash (left-over from my japanese-inspired dinner) but was having a hard time deciding what to prepare. Then I remembered a while back, when my family went out for dim-sum at Neptune in Richmond (see post here) we ordered this pan-fried pumpkin cake. Noting that my acorn squash and pumpkin are from the same "squash" family I decided that this would be the recipe I would whip up. You can find the recipe at Jo's Deli & Bakery... this site has some really great recipes for Southeast Asian favorites. Couldn't find any dried shrimp in the house (Note to self: I must go out and get some for future recipes) so I just increased the amount of lap cheong in the recipe. After steaming, cutting and frying this dim-sum treat I ate it with some of Yeo's Sweet Chili Sauce. If you have not tried this chili yet, you must... it goes with everything: char siew bao, zongzi, ham sui kok and all the dim-sum treats!!! Sorry, about the tangent... sometimes I get off track. My pan-fried acorn squash cake was very tasty and had a perfect texture. Soft on the inside and crisp on the outside, truly the only way all "Lor Bak Koh" are meant to be eaten!

Curry and Pasta for Dinner

The other day, I was up for preparing dinner again. After the indian-inspired one, I thought I'd go for something a bit more simple. I've never tried making curry before, as it is usually my dad who cooks that (yeah, my dad cooks!), but for some reason this time I felt brave :P I wasn't too sure if my sisters would enjoy the curry so I also made them a simple pasta dish.

Actually, the reason I made the curry was to finish up the jalapeno peppers I had left-over from my Reshami Kabob recipe... and I did. The curry recipe I used can be found at Simply Recipes, the only alteration I made was to substitute half of the chicken called for in the recipe with potatoes... my family loves potatoes in curry, and too much chicken can be erm... chicken-y?!

The simple recipe for my sister's pasta was made using a can of condensed cream of mushroom soup.

Mushroom Chicken Pasta

Ingredients:

-3 cups of cooked pasta, any shape (NOTE: rice can be substituted)

- 1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup

- 1/2 can milk

- 2 chicken breasts, cooked & cubed

- salt & pepper

- 3/4 cup frozen vegetables (I used the corn, carrot, pea & beans mix)

Method:

1. Place the soup, milk and veggies in a non-stick skillet/fry pan. Cook over medium heat, until the vegetables are cooked.

2. Add in the cooked chicken, and salt & pepper to taste. Continue to cook until the mixture is heated through.

3. Place 1 cup of pasta on a plate and spoon over the mushroom-chicken sauce.

Once more, the dish I prepared for my sisters was not enjoyed by them as much as the dish that I had assumed they wouldn't enjoy! They dove after the curry and it was literally devoured within 20 minutes. The pasta was eaten as well, but we still had some left-over. I must learn to give my sisters more credit... must keep telling myself, they can handle spicy foods :P

Family Outings: Luxe

Rating ***1/2 out of *****

Yeah for dim sum! Just this past weekend my family decided to try out a new dim sum restaurant that recently opened up in Langley.

Order from either their menu or simply pick a dish you like as it is brought to your table...

Before I get to the food... let's take in the aesthetics of this new dining location, shall we?

Such a cute condiments dish... they even give you a tiny spoon to dish out the sauce. How thoughtful!

The place settings, tea cups and tea pots were all themed beautifully. The rippling effect on all the dishes, and the decision to have everything in white was very elegant.

Finally, on to the food... We started with their char siew puff pastry rolls. The flakiness was perfect with the savouriness.

Their beef tripe was very good. The texture was perfect and the sauce was not too over-powering.

We also ordered another type of beef tripe... this one was more marinated, but the sauce was still perfect (not too salty, but very flavourful)

We never go to dim sum without trying the phuong thao... these ones were more spicy than the ones from Neptune. I actually enjoyed these better!

Luxe claypot chicken rice is a must... the portion is quite large and only came around $6.50, not bad considering they give you lots of chicken, veggies and one whole lap cheong!

And for dessert... Mango Pudding. Good, but not as good as my mom's :P

Sure it just looks like a plain old bao, but this was one of my favourite dishes. IT was filled with lotus paste and salted egg yolk... I love anything with salted egg yolk

All-in-all, Luxe's Restaurant was a very enjoyable dining experience. The waiters were friendly and catered to our needs, the host was very knowledgeable and seemed genuinely pleased to greet us. The food was delicious and the atmosphere was very inviting and serene. If you do find yourself somewhere in Langley, I recommend Luxe... for dim sum or just for a dinner outing. Two-thumbs up!