Beijing Bound

Dear Readers,

I am currently at the Taoyuan International Airport in Taiwan about to board the plane to Beijing. I might not have a lot of blogging capabilities there for awhile so please wait patiently and many wonderful posts about the awesome food that is Beijing will be posted in about two months.

Until then,
Annie

Toronto: The Best Chinese Restaurants in Mississauga (by Kunal)

Just wanted to give a shout out to Kunal, a member of our Chu Crew who recently wrote a piece for BlogTO about the best Chinese restaurants in Mississauga!

Check it out here:
http://www.blogto.com/toronto/the_best_chinese_restaurants_in_mississauga/

Taiwan: Traditional Hakka Cuisine in Bei Pu (北埔)

Although the majority of Taiwan's population is comprised of the Han Chinese (myself being one of them!), there is also a very large Hakka population, with the majority living in and around Miaoli, Hsinchu and Kaosiung Counties. One of the most well preserved centers of Hakka culture can be found in Beipu, which is an old town located in the foothills of Hsinchu. (yeah, foothills. I know it's a strange archaic term but I don't really know how else to describe it!)

Beipu Old Town

The Hakka people have tried, and been successful in recent times in reviving and establishing a distinct culture for themselves, which of course, includes food! And the food in this town is probably going to be much better than what you would find elsewhere in Taiwan (more authentic, obviously).

On the first day I arrived in Taiwan (at 5am!) my parents and I, along with two of my aunts, my uncle and a cousin of mine (Angela) decided to take a day trip to explore the old town. We made our first stop at a traditional little Hakka restaurant and ordered a ton of things. Most notably, you will find one of the most famous dishes of Hakka cuisine: Ban tiao  (板條). Pictured below, this is essentially a flat rice noodle cut from long sheets of rice noodle paper and can be either served in soup, tossed with some soy sauce, onions, garlic and scallions, and usually pork, or it can fried, with similar items, in addition to some bean sprouts. 

Dry Ban Tiao 

Fried Ban Tiao

Some side dishes

Fried egg

However, and perhaps even better than the ban tiao is the lei tea (擂茶) that is unique (and probably more complicated!) to any other tea you'll find on the island. The word "lei" literally means "to grind", and refers to the process of combining peanuts, sesame seeds, and tea leaves into a fine paste, then combining that paste with a matcha-like tea powder made from a bunch of different herbs and teas. 
Let me tell ya, "grind" was an understatement! 

Lei tea "before"

After seeing a lovely display outside a tea house, we decided to go in for their "DIY" experience.

Lei tea display

Snacks that they served with the Lei Tea

This "DIY" experience basically means that we (myself and some of my family members) spent 30 minutes using the biggest mortar and pestle that I have ever used to grind this stuff into an edible sticky paste. The point? To enjoy the fruits of our labour, I guess. It was very delicious, and quite healthy too!

Me with the the paste after about 10 minutes

My dad with the paste at about 20 minutes

Angela adds the tea powder

Lei tea

So, there you have it! A Hakka experience. So for those of you who are always asking me about the "other cultures" in Taiwan, this is a fulfilled request. Stay tuned for much more!

Note: I have only been back for 5 days and have eaten at over 10 restaurants. Oh boy.

Toronto: St. Lawrence Market

National Geographic Magazine recently ranked St. Lawrence Market as the #1 market in the world. With that kind of prestige, and a prod from Mari, it was high time that I paid it a visit!

Mari and I spent some time buying gifts, mustard, and random gadgets tools for the kitchen. I was also happy to see some MichaelsDolce jams on the shelf. Michael is a chef turned jam entrepreneur from Ottawa who makes some delicious flavour combinations. Then, we just tore the place apart by essentially ordering and eating everything in our path.

MichaelsDolce jams

First stop: The Carousel, home of the famous Peameal Bacon sandwich. This sandwich was made even more famous when Emeril featured it on his show. It was just simple and comforting, and very delicious. Straight up meat in a bun.

Peameal Bacon Sandwich

The Carousel Bakery

Second stop: The fresh pasta place. We ordered some spinach and cheese ravioli with a mixed vegetable tomato sauce. Fresh pasta, at its absolute freshest is oh-so satisfying.

Pasta

Third stop: Buster’s Sea Cove. At the fish and chips stop, we ordered some clam chowder and some seafood chicken gumbo. Was very cute that both were served with goldfish crackers. The clam chowder was pretty good but I was kind of saddened by the gumbo. I mean, nothing was wrong with it, but anyone from New Orleans would have probably been horribly disappointed. There wasn’t even any roux in it!

Mari and food

Gumbo and Chowder

Then we took a break (to look at more food) before venturing downstairs for dessert.

Proscuitto rolls

Fourth stop: Coffee. We got a latte and cappuccino.

God knows when you don't tip

Fifth stop: Crepe it up! For some French crepes. We ordered a “Paris” which was banana and Nutella. It was also Thursday, so they feature a few crepes for only $3, including this one. Pretty sweet deal!

Final stop: The bakery. From Dufflet cakes to marcarons, cupcakes, to Portugese egg tarts, they seriously had everything. We decided to get four macarons (steeply priced at $2.65 each) and a mini blueberry cheesecake. The macarons were: lavender blueberry, salted caramel, crème brulée  and margarita. They were all good, albeit a bit small. And the cheesecake was pretty good.

Macarons and cheesecake

Dessert

So that’s basically it. We were quite full but felt like we had done that market some justice. When I get back to Toronto, I’ll definitely come back for some meats and cheeses! 

Food Spotlight: Brett Skidmore and Pizza

Brett Skidmore is a good friend and former co-worker who helped spur much of the motivation for the development of my blog posts whilst in Ottawa.

I promised that I would do a spotlight on him one day for my blog, and one afternoon over beers, I managed to jot down a few lines on a napkin. This was literally in May 2011, and now, one year later, I have found the napkin and am going to attempt to convey a little snapshot of Brett to you. Although Brett is a big fan of food, he has chosen to speak about pizza in Ottawa.

A: Wait, how long have you lived here (in Ottawa)?
B: six years.

A: So Brett, would you consider yourself an expert on pizza?
B: I think I would. I mean, I would say I'm a fan of the product. Yes, I would say...that I am up-to-date with the goings-on in the department.

A: And what is your criteria for good pizza?
B: First and foremost, there must be a good crust to sauce ratio.
You must be first, able to enjoy the toppings. Second, not to be consumed by the sauce, and third, not to be consumed by the crust. It's all about a balance.

A: That's it?
B: What do you mean, "that's it?!" (laughs). I don't think cheese is as important as toppings are. And toppings are up to personal preference, of course.

A: What is the best place that you've ever been to for pizza in Ottawa?
B: Pavarazzi's (coincidentally, we used to often order from them at said workplace before Brett started working there, little to knowledge).
First of all, they have, as previously mentioned, a good sauce to crust ratio. And, they're a family run place so it's pretty good. Every pizza is made to order, and using their own recipe. BUT, it's different because it's in squares.

A: What about the worst?
B: Well, I mean, it's pretty hard to screw up pizza (chuckles wholeheartedly). But if I had to pick,  I would say Pizza Pizza. They're like, the Wal-Mart of pizza.

A: Say, didn't you JUST return from a trip to Italy?
B: Yes. I tried many pizza and pasta places. But I would have to say, the best pizza that I had was definitely in Venice. You can tell it's the place where pizza was invented. So good.

So there it is everyone. My first "Spotlight" actually completed. And I swear, despite this interview, Brett is actually quite an intelligent and eloquent person. Who likes his pizza.

Toronto Restaurant Review: By the Way Café

Kasia and I went for brunch at By the Way Café in the Annex on Friday morning. Although highly rated, and altogether an enjoyable meal, we were slightly underwhelmed.

Eggs Charlottine with Smoked Salmon and Spinach ($10 or $9, depending on menu)

Kasia

Smoked Salmon Natasha ($10)

Kasia and I discovered that we were both the kind of people who gravitate towards a smoked salmon eggs benedict, but because she was getting it, I opted for a smoked salmon omelette (Natasha) with a "hint of vodka"(Yes, I could taste it quite strongly!). I tasted some of Kasia's and I think that her's was better than mine. Although, we both agreed that the "yummy dill sauce" could have been a bit bolder. 

I will admit, that I was a bit confused because By the Way describes themselves as a Middle Eastern Restaurant, but you wouldn't know it from looking at their breakfast menu. In fact, you would have thought it was Eggspectation, with a Mexican flair (huevos rancheros, huevos a la Mexicana etc). Their brunch menu, which we did not get, since I guess that was a weekend-only thing, had similar items, but with more Middle Eastern items. Like hummus. And babaganough. And falafel. So, be warned. 

Positives:

Good potatoes. (I do care about potatoes!)

Excellent meeting location at Bloor and Brunswick.

They know their eggs!

If going to weekend brunch, rather than breakfast like we did, you can find some awesome mediterranean options, I guess!

Negatives:

Too much hype. 

Not very good coffee.

Final Note: 

I might still go back another time but there are so many great brunch places in Toronto left to try that I wouldn't be in such a rush to try this place again.

3/5

A Little Taste of Ecuador: Locro!

After going to Ecuador, I still haven't actually written any blog posts about my wonderful time there, and it's almost been a whole year! I promise that I will do so in the next few days, but just to give you a teaser, here is a photo of some locro, which is one of the most popular dishes in Ecuador. And I made it!

Locro is a potato based soup topped with avocado and either cottage cheese or soft mozzarella, and sometimes plantains or bananas. And some cilantro. And of course, the Ecuadorian ahí, which is an addictively delicious spicy sauce that many Ecuadorian people eat with everything. I will admit, I didn't find it particularly good at the beginning, but the more that I ate it, the more I grew to like it, and even depend on it! 

How I wish I had some ahí with me for this dish! 

My dear friend Pedro (who is a member of the Chu Crew) whom I met in Ecuador last year and spent the last year hanging out with in Canada, has just left to go home to his native Quito. Before leaving, he had promised that he was going to make me this dish but due to an unfortunate incident with a kitchen knife, he had such a big cut on his finger that he was unable to. But, I took up the challenge, and took the potatoes and did it myself! 

I can't say it was as delicious as what I remember it being in Quito or San Raphael, but I think I did a pretty good job! :)