Comments on Eating in a box: Foodblogger Event: Fortune Chinese Seafood Restaur...

@ajanhelendam well to be fair, I've only been back...

2010-01-29T09:30:04.947-06:00

@ajanhelendam well to be fair, I've only been back to see my family in Taiwan a handful of times over many decades so it's probably no surprise that I miss a culinary trend out there. Something I should rectify. Course I'm visiting Taiwan and not HK so regionally we're eating different foods. Not a single Dim Sum did I attend in Taiwan (for that matter not one did I attend on my two visits to HK, what a missed opportunity)

Very good analysis and commentary obviously you know your stuff. Don't forget that the various dim sum items are also an a composite of dishes that are found across China. For instance the baos are very popular in eastern central china (Shan Dong) area where my father grew up. But I think you hit nail on the head, areas like Singapore, HK are full of western influences in food. For instance my (brief as there's lots more) investigation into Singapore bento showed that many foods evolved from the Singaporeans cooking for the British working with their many worldly ingredients. I suspect the same should be said of HK. But none of that should be a surprise as they are port cities and would naturally get cultural influences regardless.

Traditional, authentic? these are terms that are nomilizations and can also be considered time relative. Where is the cut off date for such labels, dunno, I suppose my bias comes from what my father taught me about the Chinese cuisine from stories from his childhood and time as a chef. But you're right, new ingredients get incorporated all the time.Heck my own blog is about innovations on recipes and techniques that I find. I suppose at some point from the standpoint of primative man one could say traditional is meaningless :)

The take away that everyone reading should get is that I try really hard not to judge here on this blog. I may have opinions which I try very hard to indicate.(not for me, not what i'm use to) All of these places are very kind to open it their restaurants and invite me to try their food. I am not a food critic, that's not my job. And by no means should anyone consider me an expert on anything, I like to be a jack of all trades but it comes at the price of being master at none. My day job is not food, and everything I've learned/know is from my family, growing up in my family restaurant, curiosity and inner geek wish to take apart and understand all of the things around me. That and my personal hero Alton Brown.

As to reliable places to get goodies, lemme know when you find one. Hopefully they have my goodies too. I think that's why I've been mining my family for cooking demos as I've been visiting them recently. If I can't find a place to buy my favorites, I better learn how to make them or suffer never having them. The Chinatown complex seems to grow every month with something new, I need to check out that bakery and tofu place.

Oh if does anyone know where I can get taro flavored chew candies? They kind of have a starburst consistency but they are taro flavored. I had some at my friends wedding and have never been able to find some.

Thanks for visiting @ajanhelendam and for the thoughtful post, probably one of the best ones to date. :)

Honey walnut shrimp seems to been started in HK fr...

2010-01-29T00:10:58.167-06:00

Honey walnut shrimp seems to been started in HK from what I've been able to discern. The first time I've had this was ~15 yrs ago, and being the only HK style dish I know that uses mayo, I was intrigued, so I asked all the Chinese and HK people I knew about it to figure out if it was something American like crab rangoon or "authentic". My HK parents had never seen it before, but my HK classmates had and apparently it was very popular at the time. I'm kind of surprised you only encountered it recently.

I'm guessing the bbq pork in the crossiant is suppose to be char siu soh which is a HK dim sum dish.

Sure, sweet and sour you find in a buffet is likely the Americanized version, but sweet and sour can be authentic too, like honey, rice vinegar and soy sauce.

Then again Dan tats on the otherhand are for the most part just an adapted version of the western egg tart. Pineapple buns or melonpan (Japanese variation, who's name consists of 2 foreign words melon from english and pan from portuguese) are also western at the core when you consider the techniques involved. Historically, there have been baked flatbreads, but leavened breads all seem to be either steamed or fried in Chinese cuisine. BTW, those breads are named for their resemblance to the skin of a pineapple (bo loh bao) or melon. I normally get pineapple buns sans the custard and I haven't seen it served with custard at HK restaurants yet; however, I do see the custard variations at bakeries and grocery stores such as MT.

On a side note, I wish they had cocktail buns(gai mei bao) reliably in Austin.

BTW, what makes something traditional or authentic, ingredients or technique/execution? Stuff like egg tarts and pineapple & cocktail buns have only been served as dim sum since about the 50s according to wikipedia. Besides they commonly use butter which is a not common Chinese ingredient. Though it's conceivable they used lard originally, we're talking about HK, which is pretty much fusion considering how the region developed in the first place.

Great seeing you both last night it was great fun!...

2009-10-08T14:08:34.780-05:00

Great seeing you both last night it was great fun! maybe it's time to do another jellyfish salad in my bento :)

Thanks for dropping by!

Great review of the tasting event! It was nice to ...

2009-10-08T12:29:57.209-05:00

Great review of the tasting event! It was nice to meet you last night.

Great seeing u last nite! Love all the food shots ...

2009-10-08T10:02:22.315-05:00

Great seeing u last nite! Love all the food shots & descriptions in the post..especially from a foodie w/ loads of dim sum knowledge!