A tale of three cities

Earlier this month I took a weeklong trip to China. I visited its three most prosperous cities: Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong. The trip was eye-opening as both Beijing and Shanghai have changed immensely since I visited almost a decade ago. I could feel the booming Chinese economy while I was there.

Striking architecture: future CCTV Tower in Beijing, construction has resumed after a serious fire last year

In Beijing, huge plots of land downtown have been transformed into glistening shopping malls and office towers. I reckoned none of the buildings on the street where I stayed was more than ten years old. Keep in mind Beijing is an ancient city, then you recognize the scale of the changes. These can be good or bad, depending on your perspective. The question lingering in my mind: what sacrifices ordinary citizens had to make for them to happen?

Not interested in international brands that filled downtown to the brim, I ventured out to find remnants of old Beijing. My find? A century-old pastry shop dated back to the Qing Dynasty called Daoxiangcun (稻香村;  roughly translated into “Village of Fragrant Rice”). I liked it so much that I went there multiple times during my stay, and brought some of its products back to the US as gifts.

Daoxiangcun started as a single store but has now grown into hundreds of outlets across China. There are tens of outlets in Beijing alone. It sells all kinds of sweet and salty, probably bad-for-you snacks. Most of them are uniquely Chinese, but there are also many Western items. It allows you to buy only one piece of an item so I got to try MANY things.

Some sweets I tried: traditional pastries with fillings of adzuki bean paste, mung bean paste, red date paste, black sesame seed paste, osmanthus paste, pineapple paste; walnut and honey cakes; wafers with peanut paste; fried dough in twists (mahua). Savories: ready-t0-eat shredded tofu sheets, marinated tofu nuggets and mock meat.

Daoxiangcun treats VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Almost everything tasted great and was good value. I knew I wouldn’t go wrong as many locals buy Daoxiangcun products for themselves or as gifts. The cost of living in Beijing is surprisingly high (many categories are on par with Hong Kong), so Daoxiangcun is a relative bargain.

I spent two days in Shanghai with my parents. My dad was kind enough to suggest going to a vegetarian restaurant for dinner because both my mom and I are vegetarians. I found Jichancao (吉祥草; roughly translated into “Auspicious Grass”) on Dianping, China’s version of Yelp.

Jichancao’s storefront

Located in the leafy former French Concession, Jichancao has a modern, Zen-style décor with a small Buddhist bookstore appended to it. We ordered savory dishes (pumpkin stew, braised tofu, etc.), Northern dim-sums (steamed dumplings, Chinese flatbread/shaobing), noodles, and sweet rice dumplings to round out the meal. Overall the food was delicious in a Shanghainese way (greasy with a hint of sweetness). The meal was not expensive either given Shanghai’s living standards.

Braised tofu with tomatoes, mushrooms, napa cabbage, Chinese celery

(From left) Pumpkin stew, sweet rice dumplings, Chinese flatbread with diced dill fillings

The most elaborate meal I had during my trip was in Hong Kong. My mom managed to book a table at the talk-of-the-town Amy’s House (愛美素食坊), a vegetarian “private kitchen” in a residential building that serves only one table during each meal period. We had lunch there, and chef Amy presented eight courses typical of a Cantonese dinner banquet. Completely self-taught and now in her late 50s or even 60s, Amy created an innovative feast of different flavors and textures from appetizers to desserts.

The best course was the coral seaweed salad appetizer with shredded carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, and guavas. Then there were imitations of Cantonese classics such as pan-fried shark’s fin, steamed chicken, and braised pork belly. Amy gave each dish a poetic name and asked us to guess its ingredients before putting it onto the table. The entire experience was like a show.

Best in show: coral seaweed salad with wasabi soy sauce

More appetizers: spring rolls and fried Chinese squash

Pan-fried imitation shark’s fin topped with braised pumpkin and snow peas

Imitation steamed chicken (tofu sheets) topped with bok choy, minced ginger and spring onions

No doubt Amy is a masterful cook given the complexity of each dish, but the cooking sometimes masked the original flavors of the ingredients. I found the imitation braised beef taste too much like real beef too. Don’t get me wrong: the meal was wonderful, and I appreciated that my mom arranged it for me.

Back in the US, I felt even more grateful to be living in the Bay Area. Although Amy bought her ingredients fresh from the market daily, the quality of the produce here seems better.

Like the last time I was in Hong Kong, I enjoyed eating at home with my family the most though. Too bad I only had time to do this once on the trip.

To my family and friends, happy 2011 wherever you are!

The state of vegetarian food in Hong Kong

Forgive me. I know I went to Asia in July and it’s the end of August. But I must share my thoughts on my hometown’s vegetarian food. This will be the last post on my Asia trip, I promise!

As I mentioned in a previous post, I returned to Asia as a vegetarian for the first time on this trip. I felt that Hong Kong’s Chinese vegetarian food continues to be superior, but options are lacking in other cuisines.

When people think of Hong Kong’s vegetarian food, they most likely have mom-and-pop Chinese vegetarian restaurants in mind. Scattered across the city, these restaurants are low-to-mid market, often have a Buddhist bent, and the average customer is middle-aged or above. Their menu consists of a predictable range of Cantonese dim-sums and dishes.

So it was refreshing when my parents brought me to Gaia Veggie Shop, a modern vegetarian restaurant in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong’s busiest shopping district. Unlike the traditional vegetarian restaurants we went frequently when I lived in Hong Kong, Gaia has many interesting items such as sushi on its pan-Asian menu. The restaurant was completely full with eaters of all ages when we went on a Sunday night. A promising sign on what’s to come.

We ordered a couple of Chinese dishes as well as Japanese sushi hand rolls. The cone-shaped hand rolls filled with tempura, julienned bell peppers and daikons were outstanding. The Chinese dishes were decent though a bit too heavily seasoned. I liked the Shanghainese veggie dumplings in a clear broth the most.

Japanese sushi hand roll at Gaia

Excellent Shanghainese veggie dumplings in soup

Classic Cantonese dish: braised bitter melon with mock meat

Dad and I also went to one of the old-school Chinese vegetarian restaurants for lunch. Tong Fong Siu Kee Yuen (roughly translated as The East’s Little Garden of Respect) has been around for decades but little has changed since I left Hong Kong.

We ordered a fried tofu skin appetizer, vegetable curry clay pot, and noodles topped with a vegetable medley. Many office workers were there for a quick lunch so all dishes came under 10 minutes (talk about Hong Kong-style efficiency!). The food was good and affordable. Few restaurants in the U.S. could deliver better value than this.

Crispy fried tofu skin appetizer served with Chinese vinegar

Generous portion of noodles topped with vegetable medley

Steaming hot but non-spicy vegetable curry in a clay pot

But Hong Kong probably falls short in Western and other ethnic vegetarian food. I didn’t have enough time to explore, but I had not come across a single non-Chinese vegetarian eatery in Hong Kong. I only ate at one fine dining restaurant during my stay in Hong Kong, but I think it’s fair to say that chefs are not yet used to accommodating vegetarians.

Remember my family celebrated Dad’s birthday at a fancy restaurant? It’s a high-end restaurant in a private club with white tablecloths and formal service. Unfortunately there’s no vegetarian entree on the menu, and the chef was unwilling to make special arrangements, even though we had called in advance.

In the end I got two vegetarian appetizers, creamed asparagus soup and artichoke tempura, the latter of which became my entree. While the dishes had great presentations and I don’t want to sound snobbish, the food I had at restaurants of similar caliber in San Francisco was better. I wondered if it’s the cooking or quality of ingredients that was to blame.

Elegantly presented creamed asparagus soup

My entree: artichoke tempura, with a side of truffled mashed potatoes

Another observation I had was there’s NO vegetarian option for lunch or dinner at local fast-food chains. I certainly didn’t expect McDonald’s or KFC to have vegetarian dishes, but given that these Hong Kong-style fast food places serve mostly Chinese food, it’s surprising that they don’t offer anything vegetarian.

I later perused Openrice, Hong Kong’s equivalent to Yelp, and found many innovative vegetarian restaurants I didn’t get to try. As vegetarianism becomes more mainstream, I hope to see more diversity in vegetarian options the next time I visit Hong Kong. Just look at Taiwan and Singapore, which do a much better job.

Homecoming for Dad’s birthday

One main reason that I chose to visit Hong Kong in early July, even though it’s the hottest and probably most uncomfortable time to be in Hong Kong, was because I wanted to be with my Dad on his birthday.

Dad’s birthday this year was a landmark birthday according to Chinese customs (I won’t say how old he is!). So our family took it a little bit more seriously.

Since Dad loves eating out, the three of us - Dad, Mom, and I – went to a fancy restaurant on his birthday. But we also had a special dinner at home a few days earlier, and invited my two grandmas and two young cousins to come.

Spread for Dad’s birthday dinner at home

Between the two meals, the home-cooked dinner was more memorable to me. Part of it was I hadn’t eaten at home for nearly 3 years; more important, getting the extended family together is not an easy feat.

We put out an impressive spread. I wasn’t involved in the cooking, and the meal wasn’t all-vegetarian.  Dad likes seafood, and the only two vegetarians at the table were Mom and I. We had steamed fish, slow-braised sea cucumbers with shiitake mushrooms and dried scallops, and sliced abalone stir-fried with vegetables. Both sea cucumbers and abalone are considered luxury ingredients in Cantonese cooking.

But there were many vegetarian dishes too. They included stir-fried Chinese broccoli, braised tofu and brown mushrooms, a stir-fry medley of mung bean sprouts and several other ingredients, and ready-to-eat mock meat (wheat gluten) one of my Grandmas bought from a Chinese vegetarian restaurant. For soup, essential in a Cantonese meal, we had a clear vegetable soup that had simmered for hours.

I thoroughly enjoyed the dinner because of the familiar, comforting flavors I had missed since I lived on my own in the US. Also the intimate chatter over the table. It amazed me how the simple joys of family life, once seemed so remote, resurfaced as if I had never left.

Californian cherries and Chinese birthday buns as desserts

To round up the dinner, we ate cherries imported from California (!) and steamed Chinese birthday buns with egg yolk and lotus seed filling, accompanied by hot tea. I later bought a cheesecake, Dad's favorite, as the birthday cake for our restaurant dinner.

Blueberry cheesecake for Dad’s birthday

Behind Dad’s unassuming demeanor, he loves Mom and me and is committed to our family’s well-being fervently. I know it's a small gesture, but I’m glad that I could spend Dad’s birthday with him. I hope it won’t be long before we see each other again.

My best friend in weight control

Fire-roasted tomato soup with rainbow chards, black-eyed peas, and Tofurky vegetarian sausages

Almost all of the food media I’ve read recently had a feature on soups. This is hardly surprising since eating soups is a great way to stay warm during the winter. How can I offer a fresh take on a much-written topic? 

While I am not on a diet to lose weight, I’ve found soups to be very effective in making me feel full with relatively few calories. Obviously I’m not a dietician, but I feel confident to share my experience because I’ve read a lot and tried different things to maintain my weight successfully.

The high water content of soups is key. I drink a lot of water at work not only because doctors tell us to do so, but it also helps me stave off hunger, especially on a drowsy afternoon. I am able to resist junk food most of the time because of this. The same applies to soups, and thank god, they are a lot more flavorful.

The other point about soups is more subtle. I strongly believe we eat with our eyes – figuratively, not literally of course. I am intrigued by the findings by Prof. Brian Wanshik, bestselling author of Mindless Eating and founder of Cornell’s Food and Brand Lab. His research reveals that we respond to visual cues when eating, so we subconsciously eat more if we have a bigger plate, for instance.

Soups “trick” us in believing that we’ve had a lot of food by their sheer volume. Whereas the ingredients in one serving of soup may take up a small plate only. When I eat soup at home, I deliberately use smaller bowls so I can have multiple helpings to reinforce this “illusion.” You think it’s BS? It works.

Then there are practical reasons for having soups. I cook soups over weekends to use up ingredients in my fridge. Soups are forgiving so less-than-perfect ingredients do not affect the outcome noticeably. Even when a recipe calls for broth, I just use water without losing much flavor.

As always, my soups are easy to put together, usually in less than an hour. I don’t have a blender so pureed soups are out of my league. Because I often work after I return home now, I haven’t tackled time-consuming soups as much as I want.

Easy miso-soup with spinach,  tofu, and enoki mushrooms topped with nori seaweeds

Two things the more weight-conscious of you probably know already: soups made with a lot of cream, potatoes, etc. probably won’t help you with your weight. Same if you eat a lot of bread with your soup, as I tend to do.

Losing weight is hard.

Not exactly a diet recipe but good for a cold night: rice noodles with mixed vegetables in spicy broth

Enjoy the three soups I bring you today at least: fire-roasted tomato soup with rainbow chard, black-eyed peas, and Tofurky vegetarian sausages (probably my most favorite fake meat); miso soup with spinach, tofu, and enoki mushrooms; and rice noodles with mixed vegetables in spicy broth.

In the mood of Chinese New Year

Last Sunday was the first day of the Chinese New Year of Tiger. Since I didn’t have to work, I felt the urge to celebrate by trekking up to San Francisco.

Chinese New Year was a big deal when I grew up in Hong Kong. But since I came to the US, it gradually felt off my radar because the last few cities I lived didn’t have a sizable Chinese population or a decent Chinatown, so there was no large-scale celebration.

Cantonese opera-singing outside of Chinatown on New Year’s Day

Maybe because I hadn’t taken Chinese New Year seriously for such a long time, I really looked forward to it this year. I thought much about the trip to San Francisco during the week leading up to the New Year.

So what did I end up doing in San Francisco? The first place I went was San Bao Temple, a Buddhist temple of Taiwanese origin. I wanted to follow my family’s custom of visiting a temple at the beginning of the New Year to ask for blessings from the gods.

After a ceremony to dedicate our offerings to the Buddha, the temple served a vegetarian lunch for the congregation. Even before I became a vegetarian, I liked to start the New Year with a vegetarian meal. The idea is to avoid any killing.

The temple serves amazing Chinese vegetarian food. The main dish for the day was lo-han vegetarian medley (consisting of napa cabbage, bean curd sheets, black moss seaweed, mushrooms, etc.), served along several stir-fries, brown rice, and soup.

I then moved on to Chinatown to get my dose of unhealthy festive food. I gleefully threw my New Year resolution to eat healthier out of the window, at least for the day.

As if I were on a high, I picked up deep-fried dough balls coated with sesame seeds, steamed buns filled with lotus seed and custard pastes, a glutinous rice ball dessert, and a couple of Hong Kong-style bakery items.

(From top left, clockwise) Dim-sums, Hong Kong-style buns, and deep-fried dough balls coated with sesame seeds

Glutinous rice ball dessert with coconut filling

I enjoyed these treats by sitting on the grass in the nearby Washington Square in North Beach, people-watching at the same time. Talk about low-cost entertainment!

Before I headed back to San Mateo, I couldn’t resist and bought a round cake of nian gao (glutinous rice cake) to savor at home later. The cake was tinted red to signify good luck. I hoped the color didn’t come from artificial coloring.

But I craved nian gao so much that this was hardly a concern. The last time I had it was EIGHT years ago. When I bit into the warm, pillowy, coconut milk-flavored slices of nian gao after heating them up at home, memories from Chinese New Year in Hong Kong rushed back to me. All the food. All the people. All the noise.

Unhealthy festive food: deep-fried dough balls and nian gao

I went so far as eating almost nian gao only the following day. Was it nostalgia or homesickness? Now I have to think of ways to lose the pounds I’ve gained from all the carbs…

Wishing you an auspicious Year of the Tiger!

A non-traditional Thanksgiving

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! By the time you read this, you may have had enough of Thanksgiving (or more likely, Thanksgiving food). But let me assure you that I didn't have a traditional Thanksgiving. I didn't eat.

Well, not really. I didn't eat anything that suggests Thanksgiving. The week started promising as I planned to cook a multi-course Thanksgiving meal for myself. I had been collecting recipes and was ready to tackle time-consuming recipes because I could spend hours in the kitchen on a holiday. I was really excited.

Then I found out that I needed to take a one-day trip to Canada on Thanksgiving Day. The days leading up to Thanksgiving were also very hectic, so I barely had time for grocery shopping, let alone planning for my feast.

Because of a string of unforeseen events, it was almost 10 pm when I got home on Thanksgiving. Cooking was out of the question. Fortunately I had bought some yummy Taiwanese bread (more on it in the future) in Vancouver and devoured them while I was waiting at the airport. Definitely not what I expected my Thanksgiving meal to be.

I made up for the disappointment on the following day. Still not in the mood for complicated cooking, I decided to have Chinese-style hot pot (like fondue) for dinner. Hearty and warming, it was perfect for a chilly night when I could hear the wind blowing outside.

I made a broth using ginger, leeks, shittake mushrooms, napa cabbage, carrots, and bean sprouts. Then I added tofu, mung bean vermicelli, and an assortment of vegetarian meatballs and fish cakes that I bought from Layonna, a Taiwanese vegetarian food store in Oakland, into the boiling broth. In 30 minutes I had the meal ready to serve, all simmering in one pot.

Simmering hot pot on the stove

I dipped the food in tamari, chili sauce, and sha-cha (Taiwanese barbecue) sauce. The vegetarian meatballs and fish cakes didn't taste like the real deal, but imitated their texture very well (fibrous for the beef, spongy for the fish cake, for instance). The hot pot was 100% vegan but the broth was intensely flavorful, and I drank it as a soup.

(Not the neatest picture but I got to eat!) Hot pot soup served with condiments

So this was how I celebrated Thanksgiving. No turkey, stuffing, or pumpkin pie, but a meal I am thankful for nonetheless. That I could get these Asian ingredients for the hot pot so easily in the Bay area is a blessing by itself.

Dessert soups to warm your soul

As the weather gets cooler, what can be more comforting than snuggling into your sheets with a cup of hot cocoa in your hands? But sometimes I need something more.

During the winter months, I am always struggling to stay warm at night because I don't want to turn on the heat, which makes my skin super-dry. When wearing multiple layers or drinking hot tea doesn't help, there's one last resort: Chinese dessert soups, served warm of course.

They work because they are more substantial than beverages. They contain chewy or chunky ingredients, or are thicker in texture. I think they are the perfect sweet before bed. Although they are filling, they won't leave you feeling stuffed the same way cakes or pastries do. But people also enjoy them during dim-sum lunches or throughout the day.

Like all soups, dessert soups can take a long time to prepare from scratch. But after making so many Western desserts, I felt it's time for me to tackle something uniquely Chinese like this.

Based on what I found in the farmers' market and Oakland's Chinatown, I ended up with two dessert soups common in Cantonese cooking: taro and yam soup with glutinous rice dumplings and black sesame soup.

 Taro and yam soup with glutinous rice dumplings

Both were easy to prepare: no more than 30 minutes from start to finish. I cooked peeled chunks of taro and yam in boiling water with a piece of ginger until the vegetables were soft, then sweetened the soup with Chinese rock sugar. I made the dumplings by mixing glutinous rice flour and water, divided and rolled the dough into balls, then cooked them in the soup.

For the sesame soup, I stirred pre-ground black sesame seeds into boiling water and thickened the mixture with glutinous rice flour. I used agave nectar to sweeten the soup.

Black sesame soup

I used minimal amounts of sugar in the soups to give them just a hint of sweetness. The taro and yam tasted sweet naturally, and I didn't want the sweetness to mask the nutty flavor of the black sesame seeds.

Seriously, these hearty soups warmed my soul from the inside out, and I was good for the night. Bonus point: unlike most desserts, they at least have some nutritional value. Now if I had a food processor or mortar and pestle, I could experiment with other dessert soup classics such as ground peanut and almond soups. Time to add this to my Christmas wish-list...

Trio of dishes from across China

I can take a culinary tour of Chinese dishes whenever I want in the Bay area because Asian ingredients are much more accessible here. Not Americanized Chinese dishes, but dishes I regularly ate when growing up in Hong Kong.

All three dishes I am featuring today are simple to prepare as always (otherwise I wouldn't have attempted them!). They hail from different parts of China and should satisfy different palates.

Braised Shredded Tofu with Bok-Choy (Shanghai)

For years every Sunday, my family and I visited one of two Shanghainese vegetarian restaurants in turn for lunch or dinner. We often ordered this Shanghainese staple - shredded tofu braised with bok-choy and sliced mushrooms in a light broth. It served as a counterpoint to more strongly flavored dishes my dad liked to order, and it went particularly well with steamed rice.

I can find shredded tofu at any Chinese supermarket in the Bay area so I decided to recreate the dish at home. Simply heat some sliced ginger in oil, throw in all the ingredients, and add some water to bring to boil. Then season with salt, tamari, a bit of rice vinegar, and it's ready to serve. Typical of Shanghainese food, the slight vinegary taste of this dish whets your appetite.

Braised Shredded Tofu with Bok-Choy

Stir-fried Vegetarian Cuttlefish with Sweet Peppers (Canton)

Although the recipe is from a Taiwanese vegetarian cookbook, I assume the dish is Cantonese as I've encountered the original, non-vegetarian version of it many times in Cantonese restaurants. I was quite surprised to find vegetarian cuttlefish at the Marina supermarket in San Mateo. There's a large enough Chinese population in San Mateo to create demand for it.

This dish is supposedly to be spicy. I started with heating some Thai chilies in oil, then I stir-fried the sliced cuttlefish (boiled), sweet peppers, and some leftover enoki mushrooms on high heat. I finished it by seasoning with salt and soy sauce.

Stir-fried Vegetarian Cuttlefish with Sweet Peppers

The vegetarian cuttlefish did not taste like the real deal, but nonetheless it had a convincing fishy flavor and spongy texture reminiscent of fish balls. Definitely an interesting try!

Ma-Po Tofu (Sichuan)

Before you roll your eyes and brush this off as nothing special, listen to this: I've only real, numbing hot Ma-Po Tofu ONCE in the US. And I had it at a nondescript, hole-in-the-wall Chinese take-out place in Washington, DC.

Sichuan-style Ma-Po Tofu requires the use of Sichuan peppercorns and other specialty chilies in the sauce. My limited pantry didn't have them, so I made up the heat with Thai chilies. I sauteed sliced red peppers, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, and potatoes in oil heated with ginger and the chilies, added soft tofu cubes, then I doused the mixture with spicy bean paste thinned with tamari and water.

(Unauthentic) Ma-Po Tofu

The end-product burst with tongue-tingling flavors and served up a variety of textures (silky from the tofu, chunky from the peppers, starchy from the potatoes). This was probably still far from the authentic Sichuan dish, but I was more than happy with it.

Bay area mooncake showdown

Writing this blog often has given me many excuses to eat more sweets than I should. Case in point: my mooncake tastings for the Mid Autumn Festival.

As I mentioned in my last post, I am pretty impressed by the caliber of Asian bakeries in Oakland. I had been waiting in earnest for their mooncakes to come out because mooncakes, of all Chinese baked goods, often showcase the best of a baker's skills. I know little about how mooncakes are made, but the vast majority of mooncakes I had before tasted flatly sweet or had too much oil in them, and it's really hard to run into a really good one. (Note: I am referring to Cantonese-style mooncakes that are round-shaped, have a thin, golden-brown baked shell, and usually filled with sweet lotus seed paste, but there are many other variations.)

For my test, I tasted mooncakes from 5 bakeries in the Bay area: Sheng Kee in San Mateo, Napoleon Super Bakery, Big Dish (actually more like a restaurant than bakery), Ruby King, and Delicieuse Princesse in Oakland's Chinatown. I don't like the egg yolk that is traditionally part of the mooncake filling, so the ones I picked were all egg yolk-free. Partly because of this, they were cheaper ranging from $2 for a mini mooncake to $4.5 for a regular-sized one. Each mooncake had a different flavor - the fillings range from lotus seed paste, red (adzuki) bean paste, purple yam, coconut, to black sesame paste.

Here's the verdict:

BEST - Delicieuse Princesse's coconut mooncake ($4.5). Although it is also the most expensive, you get your money's worth because you can SEE the shredded coconut filling and actually TASTE it. The filling has texture and is not blended with disproportionate amounts of sugar and oil. I may be partial to anything that contains coconut, but Delicieuse Princesse's pastries rarely miss the mark. My only complaint: the shell was a bit dry.

Ruby King's red bean paste mooncake and Delicieuse Princesse's coconut mooncake

SECOND PLACE - Ruby King's red bean paste ($3.25) and lotus seed paste ($3.75) mooncakes. With their moist, shiny outer shell and sweet, dense filling, they are what you expect from a decent mooncake. Bonus point to Ruby King for incorporating walnut pieces into the filling to provide some contrast.

Ruby King Bakery in Oakland's Chinatown

ABOVE AVERAGE - Big Dish's black sesame paste mooncake ($3.25) and Sheng Kee's date paste and tea-infused chestnut paste mooncakes ($2 each for a mini version). Both bakeries should be applauded for their unconventional flavors. But Big Dish's is too greasy, while Sheng Kee's don't taste fresh enough. Given Sheng Kee is one of the largest Asian bakery chains in the Bay area, it probably mass produced its mooncake months before. You can't hide this from a discerning palate though. When you think about it, $2 for a mini-mooncake is quite pricey too.

(Clockwise from top left) Sheng Kee's date paste mooncake, tea-infused chestnut paste mooncake, and two bonus treats: slice of Swiss roll and sponge cake sandwich

LOSER - Napoleon Super Bakery's purple yam mooncake ($3). This is surprising because its pastries are normally quite good. The problem with this mooncake is that the filling hardly tastes of yam; instead I feel like I am putting a lump of sugar and grease into my mouth. I hope it didn't add coloring to the filling! Other than purple yam, Napoleon has many other interesting flavors including kumquat and mango, but I didn't get to try them.

Big Dish's black sesame paste mooncake and Napoleon Super Bakery's purple yam mooncake, and a fish-shaped pastry to symbolize abundance

Well, now you know how many mooncakes I ate during this Mid Autumn Festival...

My favorite bakeries (Asian edition)

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you know I'm addicted to all sorts of baked goods. One category of baked goods I had missed since living in the US was Hong Kong-style pastries - until I moved to the Bay area.

By Hong Kong-style pastries I don't mean dim-sums like steamed buns, but oven-baked breads and cakes with a unique Asian flair. Hong Kong-style pastries tend to be softer, lighter, and the sweet treats are less sugary than their Western counterparts. They often have Asian fillings such as coconut, red bean, or taro paste. You'll know better what I'm talking about with the picture below.

So imagine how psyched I was when I discovered DOZENS of Hong Kong-style bakeries in San Francisco's and Oakland's Chinatowns. It's almost like finding a spring in the middle of a desert (okay I am exaggerating, but consider this: whenever I visited New York from Washington, DC, I always took a trip to Chinatown to satisfy my craving for these pastries).

After quite a bit of testing, I want to share two of my favorite Asian bakeries, both in Oakland - Wonder Food Bakery and Delicieuse Princesse Bakery. There are a couple ones I like in San Francisco too, but because the San Francisco Chinatown is more tourist-centric, they are often pricier.

A Hong Kong native would feel instantly comfortable as soon as he steps into Wonder Food Bakery. All the old favorites - cocktail buns (soft buns filled with coconut paste), pineapple buns (buns with a crusty sugary topping that resembles a pineapple's exterior), paper-lined sponge cakes, egg custard tarts, etc. are in ample supply. Also available are fancier buns with fillings, mooncakes, traditional Chinese pastries (such as flaky pastry filled with winter melon paste), cookies, and many more. Prices are at the lower end compared to other Asian bakeries, making its pastries a great bargain.

(Clockwise from top left) Wonder Food Bakery's pineapple bun with red bean paste filling, paper-lined sponge cake, cocktail bun, pineapple bun with custard filling, shredded coconut bun, and egg custard tart

I like its pineapple bun (with or without filling) the most. The bun is sturdy enough to keep the "pineapple" topping in place. The size of the bun and amount of topping are well-balanced. The bun is soft but still chewy. The topping is crusty but not too dry.

Just from its name, Delicieuse Princesse Bakery sounds more up-market, and it is. Located on the periphery of Oakland's Chinatown, it's a Chinese-Vietnamese bakery with some European influence thrown into the mix. It makes most standard Hong Kong-style pastries, though in a slightly more sophisticated way. Think twisted coconut or red bean paste buns rather than the usual round ones. It also sells French and Vietnamese pastries like croissants and bánh mì.

Cakes are probably its strongest suit. A while back I bought an angel food cake from it to make my British summer pudding, then I got a chestnut cake for a farewell party for a co-worker. Both cakes hit all the right notes of a great Asian cake - light, spongy, and slightly sweet. As is the case with most Asian layered cakes, the chestnut cake was coated with fresh whipped cream instead of buttercream. I'd love to try Princesse's other layered cakes with flavors ranging from durian to tres leches.

Delicieuse Princesse Bakery exterior

Note: A big thank you to my friends who forwarded different versions of "100 (Chinese) Vegetarian Dishes" to me recently. I am still going through the recipes and there are tons of great ideas! I promise I will feature some of them in a future post.

Simple faux oyster sauce from home

Oyster sauce - thick, black-brown, savory with a hint of sweetness - is a must-have in Chinese cooking. Made from oyster extract, it's off-limits for vegetarians. Although vegetarian oyster sauce is now widely available, I am reluctant to stock it because of the artificial ingredients and preservatives usually added to it. Fortunately, after some experimentation, I've discovered an easy substitute with an eerily similar flavor that I can make at home.

I am embarrassed to call it out here because it's so simple: just mix tamari/soy sauce and molasses together!

Molasses's flavor is intense so you want to use it judiciously; otherwise the sauce will end up too sweet. Not many recipes feature molasses, so it's a great way to use up any leftover molasses from the all the gingerbread baking in the winter months.

Hearty bok-choy, tofu, mushroom stir-fry

The dish that features my faux oyster sauce today is a straightforward stir-fry of bok-choy, sliced tofu, carrots, shiitake mushrooms, and dried kombu. After heating all ingredients in oil laced with ginger for a couple of minutes, I seasoned the dish with a sauce made from my oyster sauce, toasted sesame oil, water, and a little bit of cornstarch. Like other stir-fries it's a homey, hearty dish, best served with a bowl of steamed rice.

As a dessert fanatic, I cannot resist sneaking in a treat I made recently to round up this post. These date-nut squares are from (again and again) Isa's Vegan with a Vengeance, my stand-by vegan cookbook. Made by layering chopped boiled dates and walnuts on a shortbread crust, these squares are rich, sweet, crunchy, and salty at the same time. They also contain no added sugar since the dates provide the sweetness. If not because I last made a coconut dessert, adding shredded coconut to the topping would be an interesting variation to try.

Sweet, crunchy, buttery date-nut squares

Eggplant three ways

I love eggplant. In all ways imaginable. I like its chunkiness when grilled in large pieces and eaten as part of a sandwich, but also its silky mouthfeel after it's cooked long enough in a stew. So imagine my excitement when I saw a plethora of eggplants - Chinese, Indian, Japanese, as well as more obscure varieties such as Thai and Vietnamese - in farmers' markets during the last few weeks. I wonder if it's because the Bay area has a large Asian population, I rarely saw American eggplants, but it's my least favorite variety anyway.

Today I will share with you three dishes I made recently in which eggplant played a starring role. The first was Italian - pasta shells tossed with diced eggplant and sweet peppers in a quick tomato sauce made by simmering ripe tomatoes until they broke apart, then garnished with chopped parsley. My inspiration came from a similar recipe in Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Suppers. What I liked most about the dish was the pasta shells scooping up the tomato sauce, which exploded inside your mouth when you bit into the shells. Very hearty for the occasional chilly summer might in the Bay area.

Pasta shells with eggplant, sweet peppers, and tomatoes

The second dish was my long-time favorite - Chinese-style braised eggplant with tofu and whatever greens you have on hand. I used spinach in this version. Simply stir-fry minced garlic, ginger, shallots/green onions, and red pepper flakes if you like it hot with eggplant and tofu, then braise the mixture in a sauce made from tamari, toasted sesame oil, molasses/brown sugar, and water. Finish by tossing in the spinach until it starts to wilt. Add some chopped fresh basil for an additional layer of flavor. I've discovered that this sauce mixture (if you use molasses) can make up for Chinese oyster sauce, which is commonly used in Chinese cooking but most commercial versions contain artificial ingredients I want to avoid.

Chinese-style braised eggplant with tofu and spinach, served with brown rice

The last dish was an eggplant masala (aka curry, I just want to use a fancy word). It was really easy to put together and the perfect one-pot meal. I first heated some chopped onions, ginger, and masala powder I picked up from an Indian grocery store in oil, then stirred chopped eggplant, okra, yellow squash, and tomatoes into the mixture, added some water, and let it simmer for 15-20 minutes. I piled the masala mixture onto two slices of a Vietnamese bánh mì (baguette that's lighter and crispier than its French counterpart), topped with green onions, and served them with a cob of cooked sweet corn. Talk about an amalgam of cultures here!

Eggplant masala on Vietnamese bánh mì with sweet corn

PS: Remember to salt your eggplant before cooking. People told me that salting removes the bitter taste of eggplant, although I've never had a bitter eggplant. The salted eggplant absorbs flavors more readily and tastes more superior.

My summer food adventures

I'm going easy with my post today. A melange of food-related pictures I took in recent weeks for you to ward off that mid-week slump. Hold on for just a couple more days for the weekend!

SF's Civic Center farmers' market with the City Hall as backdrop

This farmers' market in San Francisco's Civic Center is my favorite in the city. You can find a wide variety of produce - Asian, organic, heirloom - at very affordable prices. You get a real flavor of San Francisco's diversity because the clientele really come in all stripes. I think it's much better than the more famous but ridiculously overpriced Ferry Plaza farmers' market.

Ultimate instant gratification: cheap Cantonese, vegetarian dim-sums from SF's Chinatown (I need to take better food pictures!)

Staying true to my Hong Kong upbringing, I crave Cantonese dim-sums every now and then. They are not what I can make at home easily, so I am thrilled to find a great place in San Francisco's Chinatown for them: Good Mong Kok Bakery. You know it's good when you see Chinese housewives squeezing into the small store and coming out with boxes of their freshly made dim-sums. Be prepared to be decisive AND aggressive when getting what you want though as neither the counter-lady nor other customers will hesitate to yell at you if you are in their way. These are good, cheap dim-sums indeed. Ten pieces including vegetarian steamed buns, dumplings, scallion flatbread, sesame ball, pastries, all for under $6, transported me to carb heaven instantly.

Focaccia topped with black olives and peppers, served with marinated pepper salad and tortilla chips

There's a gentleman who sells homemade focaccia and other Italian breads and pastries at the Millbrae farmers' market in the Peninsula. He often sells out pretty early, but I got to snatch a piece topped with black olives and sliced peppers last weekend. I warmed it up in the oven and ate it along with homemade marinated pepper salad and lime-flavored tortilla chips from my favorite brand, FoodShouldTasteGood. The focaccia was chewy and fragrant (and without cheese!), and a good value at $4 apiece that's good for two big meals.

Low-fat banana bread for breakfast to satisfy my sweet tooth

Finally, something more healthful, but not quite. I had to use up a bunch of almost rotten bananas so I made banana bread by adapting the Blueberry-Banana Bread recipe from the blog Fat Free Vegan. I left out the blueberries, but followed the recipe by using mostly applesauce in place of oil to make it lower in fat. It satisfied my sweet tooth as I try to stay away from desserts during the week, and was still incredibly moist and yummy.

20-minute sesame noodles

Well, maybe it took me 30 minutes. Nonetheless, sesame noodles take a solid spot in my repertoire of simple meals that I keep making over and over again, especially when I am pressed for time like this week. In the version I am sharing with you today, I first cooked some Vietnamese rice noodles and sugar snap peas in boiling water, grated a carrot, then tossed everything with a sauce made from tahini (ground sesame paste), warm water, minced ginger, and a bit of tamari. I served the noodles alongside canned mock meat that I bought from a Chinese grocery store in Oakland's Chinatown. The mock meat was imported from Taiwan. I know I said before that I would eat local as much as possible, but I've yet to find a convenient place to buy freshly-made, quality Chinese-style mock meat in the Bay area. (Lucky Creation Vegetarian Restaurant in San Francisco's Chinatown is another place that does it well). In case you're wondering, Chinese-style mock meat is usually made with wheat gluten and have a chewy texture, and can have different tastes depending on how it is prepared. I got vegetarian ham and abalone this time.

Sesame noodles served with Chinese-style mock meat

You can easily create your own version of sesame noodles, or more broadly, Asian noodle salad, by experimenting with different kinds of noodles (buckwheat and soba are my favorites), veggies, and ingredients in the sauce. Say substitute tahini with peanut butter or toasted sesame oil, or toss in some cubed tofu or avocado. I like my noodles to be a bit spicy, so I often add some red pepper flakes when I make the sauce or at the very end. Garnish with chopped green onions, mint, cilantro, or lemon/lime wedges. You can serve the noodles warm or cold, and because they hold together well and the flavors actually get better if they have time to develop, these noodles are ideal to take to the office for lunch.

These two recipes from Vegetarian Times and food blog Cookthink should be good starting points for you to get creative!