...Kirin Restaurant (Richmond, BC)

Last week we went to Vancouver for a short trip and as usual, we made a point to schedule our days around which restaurants we wanted to try.  We heard that Kirin Restaurant (which has multiple locations) gets quite busy and when we tried to get a table for dim sum last February we were turned away.  So this time we reserved a table weeks in advance for dim sum and were comfortably seated at a table next to the window.

At Kirin the server takes down your order and brings you the baskets of food, so those who want the experience of ordering from the roving carts may feel slightly disappointed.  However, the food more than makes up for it.  All the dim sum we had ranged from good to amazing; our favourites out of the savoury dishes were the shrimp dumplings (har gow), sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaf (nor mai tai), and BBQ pork puffs (char siu soh). 

Shrimp dumplings (har gow)

Sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaf

BBQ pork puffs

We found the pork and chive fried rolls to be unique, but I'm not keen on deep fried dim sum so it wasn't my favourite.  The pork dumplings (siu mai) was good but not overly special in comparison to what we have in Calgary.

Pork and chive fried rolls

Pork dumplings (siu mai)

The noodle wrapped donut roll was a little disappointing, in that the texture was chewier and harder than what you would expect a fresh Chinese donut to taste.

Chinese donut wrapped with noodle served with peanut and hoisin sauce

Our little S loves any dish with noodles so we ordered a scallop e-fu noodle stir fry.  The dish was surprisingly free of the gratuitous oil that usually accompanies a stir fry noodle dish which was perfect for our toddler.  The adults enjoyed the tender scallops, bean sprouts and the flavour of the chives.

A dim sum classic are the egg tarts which were very good here at Kirin.

Egg tarts

We had done some research ahead of time and knew we would be getting two things for sure; the durian mochi and the thousand layer cake.  Both lived up to our expectations.  The durian mochi was pillowy soft with a cold, sweet durian center that was not overly powerful.  Most people dislike the scent but I found it to be subtle and not at all offensive.  

The thousand layer cake, as the name suggests layers a sponge with a sweet egg yolk custard and coconut mixture.  It comes nice and hot and the portion is large enough to share.

Overall a great experience and we would recommend Kirin to anyone looking to try dim sum in Vancouver or Richmond.

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5 Stir Fry Recipes for Busy Nights

Stir fry recipes are all about throwing your ingredients into one pan or wok and cooking them up in under 15 minutes and serving it hot over rice or noodles.  Here are five of our stir fry recipes that will be ready in no time on those busy nights.

Thai Basil Chicken Stir Fry
What makes this stir fry so delicious is the aromatic Thai basil which enhances the chicken and savoury fish sauce.  With the addition of fresh squeezed lime juice, this dish is a Thai favourite of ours.  Recipe here.

Chinese Beef and Pickled Cabbage Stir Fry

This stir fry is particularly appetizing with the sweet and sour pickled cabbage and gives the dish a slightly crunchy texture along with the beef and onions. Recipe here.

BBQ Pork Egg Foo Young

While this dish isn't technically a stir fry, it is still as easy to make and requires just one pan or wok.  These little omelettes full of Chinese BBQ meats and fried veggies are so easy delicious over rice and if you can't get Chinese BBQ pork, any meat can be mixed into the eggs to make this dish.  Recipe here.

Mapo Tofu:
Mapo tofu is fantastic on top of rice and the spicy flavour of the chili oil and XO sauce can be addicting.  This is one is for all the tofu lovers out there!  Recipe here.

Black Pepper  Beef Stir Fry
This popular dish is a classic Chinese dish often served in restaurants on a sizzling cast iron plate.  The aromas of the cilantro infused beef and mushrooms are just as good as it tastes.  Recipe here.

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...Chinese Tea Leaf Eggs

Chinese tea leaf eggs are a favourite snack of mine, and I am fortunate enough to have Darrin's grandmother make them for us on a weekly basis.  Tea leaf eggs are hard boiled eggs that are cracked left to simmer in a combination of tea, soy sauce and spices.  Besides the beautiful marbling effect you get on the surface of the egg, the savoury flavour is deliciously addicting.  There are variations of this recipe, but this one is as told to us by our Popo (Cantonese for maternal grandmother).

Ingredients

-6 eggs

-1:4 ratio soy sauce to water (eggs should be submerged by 1")

-3 tbsp Chinese tea leaves (she uses Guanyin tea)
-3 crushed black cardamom
-2 tbsp sugar

Method:

1. Bring the water with soy sauce, Chinese tea leaves, black cardamom and sugar to a boil in a large pot.

2.  Add the eggs and gently boil for approximately 8 minutes.  Then using a slotted spoon and remove each egg and gently crack them using the back of a spoon.

3.  Return the eggs to the cooking liquid and simmer gently for another 15 minutes.  Turn off the heat and let the liquid and eggs cool to room temperature.

4.  Refrigerate overnight to allow the eggs to marinate.  When you are ready to eat them, simply remove them from the liquid, peel them and enjoy.  The eggs will keep in the liquid for up to 3-4 days but it is better to consume them in a timely manner.

Chinese tea eggs- shell on

Peeled Chinese tea egg

Enjoy!

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...Stir Fried E-Fu Noodles

E-fu noodles or yi mien, are traditionally eaten in Cantonese households during birthday celebrations. These "longevity" noodles are made with wheat flour and eggs and have a wonderfully springy -spongy texture due to the soda water that is used to make them.  E-fu noodles are easy to prepare and cooked in a myriad of ways. This recipe is a simple vegetarian base upon which you can add your choice of protein or other favorite ingredients.  Not only is it a quick favourite for us, cut into shorter strands, our 13 month old also loves them.

Ingredients: (Yields 3-4 servings)

-1 package of e-fu noodles

-6 carrots, julienned 

-5 stalks green onion, julienned

-5 tbsp soy sauce

-3 tbsp oyster sauce

-Other ingredients you might wish to add: bean sprouts, shiitake mushrooms, ham, garlic chive, shrimp. 

Method:

1. Follow instructions on the noodle package to rehydrate them. We boil our noodles for 3 minutes until tender and then rinse them under cold water in a colander. 

2. In a large fry pan, stir fry your vegetables and protein in vegetable/canola oil over medium high heat until cooked. 

3. Add the rinsed noodles to the pan.  Once the water has cooked off, you may need to add a few more tablespoons of oil to prevent the noodles from clumping. 

4.  Add the soy sauce and oyster sauce and stir fry for another minute or two until the noodles and vegetables are coated evenly with sauce.

Enjoy!

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...San Francisco Foodie Travels

We ♥ SF

Hog Island Oyster Co. aka Seafood Mecca

It's been rather quiet lately here on the blog, reason being we took a 10 day vacation to San Francisco.  We went mainly to see the sights, indulge in the food and meet up with some family who currently reside in California.  The weather was rather chilly, cooler than Calgary at the time, but we managed to have an amazing time even with baby in tow.  Most of the time Baby S resided in her stroller without too much fuss while we pushed her up and down the infamous hilly streets.  We did a lot of walking but it felt great and we didn't have to feel guilty about the extra calories that were ingested in the holiday spirit.  If you are ever thinking about staying at the Ritz Carlton in Union Square, we would definitely recommend it.  Our suite was newly renovated, the staff extremely attentive and they give you a ride back to the airport in one of their spacious Suburbans for which they charge a flat rate, equivalent to riding a taxi. Baby S had the free children's breakfast, (which could pass for an adult breakfast) and was given a cute lunch bag with a bib, bath essentials and a teddy bear.  All the extras and service made up for the cost of staying at the Ritz; it was definitely a highlight of our trip.

In-room dining at the Ritz- salmon and polenta

Some other highlights include our side trip to Half Moon Bay, Alcatraz, shopping Union Square and of course the amazing fresh food.  Despite having to limit our options to family friendly restaurants, we could not find fault in any of the food we had in San Francisco- even the Asian Box we had in the basement of Macy's was more than decent.  We will be posting several reviews on our food experiences so stay tuned for those.

Farm Table- Daily Toast

Asian Box (Macy's)

Buena Vista Cafe- Crab Legs

Hog Island Oyster Co. - Seafood Soup

PPQ Dungeness Isalnd- Vietnamese Crab

Pressed Juicery- Green juice

Sotto Mare- Sand dabs

Yin Du Wonton Noodle- Wonton noodles

Half Moon Bay- chilly but beautiful

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...Egg Tofu with Minced Pork and Mushrooms

This steamed Chinese dish utilizes egg tofu that comes in tubes and can be found in Chinese groceries.  The egg tofu is silky smooth and pairs wonderfully with the minced pork and mushrooms. If you are a fan of soft tofu, then you will definitely love the flavour and texture of the egg tofu in this recipe.

Ingredients  (Yields ~20 - 25 tofu rounds)
-1 tube of egg tofu
-1/2 lb ground pork
-6 dried Chinese mushrooms (soaked overnight)
-2-3 stalks of green onion
-1 tbsp soy sauce
-1 tbsp Chinese five spice powder
-1 tbsp Sugar
-1.5 tsp cornstarch
-1 tsp sesame oil
-1 tsp Chinese cooking wine
-1/2 tsp white pepper powder
-1/2 cup chicken broth

Method:

1. Soak dried Chinese mushrooms overnight so they are ready to use the day you plan to make this dish.  

2.  Dice three mushrooms, 2 stalks of green onion and mix with the ground pork.  Marinate the mixture with soy sauce, five spice powder, sugar, cornstarch, cooking wine, white pepper and sesame oil for at least an hour.

3.  Cut the egg tofu into 1" rounds or to your taste, and arrange on a plate that will fit into your steamer.  Spoon a bit (about a tablespoon) of the pork mixture onto the egg tofu rounds.  

4.  Cut the remaining mushrooms in half and arrange around the egg tofu rounds.  Roughly chop the remaining stalk of green onion and arrange around the egg tofu rounds.

5.  Pour in the chicken broth around the egg tofu rounds.

6.  Steam the dish until the pork is fully cooked, approximately 20 - 30 minutes.  Remove the rounds, mushrooms and green onions onto a plate for presentation if necessary.

Enjoy!

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...BBQ Pork Egg Foo Young

Egg foo young is a dish that you commonly see on the menu of westernized Chinese restaurants. These little omelettes full of Chinese BBQ meats and fried veggies are so easy to make and delicious that the best versions I've had have actually been made at home. If you can't get out to your local Chinese BBQ restaurant,  any meat can be mixed into the eggs to make this dish.  

Ingredients: (serves 4-6)
- 8 eggs 
- 1.5 cups of diced char sui (sweet glazed BBQ pork)
- 1 onion diced
- 2 cups of sliced Chinese yellow chive (mung bean sprouts could also be used)
- sweet honey glaze that comes with your BBQ pork

Chinese yellow chive

Method:
1. In a non stick pan fry the onion and yellow chives until soft then set aside to cool

2. Beat the 8 eggs then add the cooled onions, chive and diced pork. Season with salt and pepper

3. In the same non stick pan ladle 1/2 cup of the egg and pork mixture and fry until golden brown on both sides to make little half moon shaped omelettes 

4. Serve over white rice and with the sweet BBQ pork glaze

Enjoy!

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...Red Bean Glutinous Rice Balls (Mochi)

This dessert has many variations in Asian cuisine; the Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese all have their own versions.  The one that you can find in Hong Kong style pastry shops contain either sweetened red bean or peanut, with a sprinkling of shredded coconut.  The flavours of the coconut and red bean are reminiscent of the hot red bean soup dessert served at the end of meals in a Chinese restaurant (if you receive fortune cookies, ask the server for the real Chinese dessert); only at room temperature, making it a perfect treat for the warmer months of summer.

Ingredients: (Yield ~24 balls)

-3/4 cup red beans (or buy the ready to use paste)

-Rock sugar, to taste

-4 tablespoons vegetable oil

-1 bag of glutinous rice flour (400 g)

-1 cup of sugar

-1 can of coconut milk (400 mL)

-1/2 cup of milk 

-1 cup of shredded fine coconut (we used unsweetened)

Method

1. Soak the red beans overnight in water.  Add the drained beans to boiling water and cook until soft on medium-low heat.  This can take up to 1.5 hours depending on how long you pre-soak the beans.  Add more water to the pot as needed as it evaporate.  Halfway through the cooking process, add as much rock sugar to the water as you like to sweeten the beans.

2. Once the beans are soft, drain the water.  Depending on if you like whole beans or a paste, you can use a processor to blend it.  We blended our beans and then added vegetable oil to make the beans into a paste.

3.  Mix together the glutinous rice flour and sugar in a large bowl.  Then gradually add the coconut milk and cows milk while stirring the mixture.  The texture should be stiffer than pancake batter, but we've seen people who like to make their mochi extra soft and add even more milk.

4. Put the mixture onto a shallow greased dish and steam for about 45 minutes to an hour or until you can no longer taste uncooked flour.  You can split the mixture into two batches for steaming if your dish is not big enough.

Uncooked mochi

Cooked mochi

5. Once the mochi is cool enough to be handled you can start making the balls.  Take about a golf ball size of mochi and flatten it into a round disc (not too thin).  Place the red bean paste in the centre and fold the edges to seal it in.  Roll in your hands to make a uniform ball and then place into the coconut to coat.  

*Hint:  If you mochi is not sticky enough use a tiny bit of vegetable oil to help the coconut stick.  Conversely, if your mochi is too sticky to handle, use gloves or make sure your hands are wet when you handle it so it doesn't stick to your hands.

Enjoy!

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