I’ve had some pretty good food in my time but rarely do my exploits extend to multi-course fine dining. Whilst I was in Taiwan I had the pleasure of experiencing some excellent haute cuisine curtsey of some very generous friends. One place in particular which stood out was Louis XIV, located in Taipei’s Da-an district, which serves exceptional French provencal cuisine. Here’s some pics to whet your appetite.
I’m a committed carnivore and very few days in my life have gone by without some sort of meat consumption taking place. I’m also someone who dabbles in the art of cooking (with mixed results). Yesterday evening I invited some friend over for dinner but there was a catch – one of them was a vegetarian. Meat and fish were out so it was time to learn something new…
One of my favorite shops is MUJI – the Japanese “no-brand” brand which sells a wide variety of household and consumer goods distinguished by its emphasis on minimalist design and environmentally friendly manufacturing.
As any long-term readers will know I absolutely love dim sum. It’s the food of Chinese gods and southern China is the best place to sample it. On Sunday morning our hosts for the weekend took us to the famous Jumbo Floating Restaurant located in Aberdeen Harbor.
I spent last weekend in Hong Kong and had a chance to visit Aberdeen Harbor again which is on the south-western side of the island. As with so many places in Hong Kong it’s a dense mix of high-rise apartments packed closely against the shore.
Last weekend I took a trip to Foshan (佛山), a relatively affluent city of around 5 million inhabitants near Guangzhou. As you might imagine from a typical Chinese city there’s not much to write home about architecturally – the same generic mass produces factory boxes adjacent to tasteless villas for the super rich built on once picturesque countryside.
Yes this is another post featuring a big Buddha but this time it’s in a city you’ve probably never heard of. Ningbo is a seaport city of around 2 million people facing the East China sea, not far from Shanghai. The city is primarily oriented around trade and while it isn’t particularly famous it did have one interesting brush with history when during World War II the Japan bombed the city with fleas carrying the bubonic plague. From this (and many other atrocities) you can get an idea why China still has such a deep hatred for their easterly neighbors. I visited for a little over a day at the end of my previous trip around Jiangnan province and was pleasantly surprised to find clean and modern city, quite different from…
During my trip to South Korea I spent four days on the picturesque island of Jeju (제주도) which is a famous holiday destination throughout Asia as it operates a “no visa” policy meaning Chinese can freely visit also. It’s quite a big island with over half a million inhabitants and a culture and language that are distinct from those of mainland Korea. Whilst I spent two of those days in the Lift Asia conference I did manage to squeeze in a little sight seeing. Jeju island was created entirely from volcanic eruptions approximately 2 million years ago and is dominated by Halla-san: an inactive volcano 1,950 metres high and the highest mountain in South Korea. I didn’t have time to climb the main peak but instead I…
Last Friday after work I went out for a friends birthday at a Sichuanese restaurant called “Ba Guo Shu Feng” in Shenzhen. Situated in a rather up-market shopping mall the interior was very nicely done with traditional decoration and ornate lanterns hanging from wooden panelled walls. As you might expect all the dishes were very spicy. We tried eggplant, beef with vegetables, dumplings, noodles and a sort of salad (top right) which turned out to be one of the hottest things I’d ever had! All the food was pretty good and beautifully presented although a strong stomach is needed for all the chillies. During the evening the restaurant also had a performance of “Bian Lian” (meaning “face-changing”) which is an ancient Chinese dramatic art…
Last weekend I learnt how to cook Chinese dumplings. For those who might not be familiar with these tiny parcels of deliciousness a dumpling consists of minced meat and chopped vegetables wrapped into a piece of dough and then boiled, fried or steamed. There are also sweet varieties but I made the traditional type and for your entertainment filmed a short video of the process: Pretty simple but somehow I don’t think Jamie Oliver has anything to worry about! Ingredients needed: Minced pork (about 1:1 ratio with vegetables) Spring onion & cabbage finely chopped Soy sauce & rice wine (or vinegar) Dumpling pancakes (some people make their own but it was too much hassle for me) Instructions: Mix together the minced pork and chopped…