Beat the Heat with Winter Melon Soup

Winter melon soup with seafood on top

Everyone's feeling the heat this summer, and a good way to cool down is by having winter melon soup.

Winter melons are like oval-shaped watermelons, but are far from sweet. The flesh is rather neutral-flavoured, which makes the taste of the soup broth vitally important.

A basic winter melon soup with mushrooms

Having this soup at this time of year helps remove the dampness from our bodies, and counteract heatiness or "yeet hay" (熱氣). If you've been eating too much fried food, lychees, or spicy dishes, winter melon soup will balance things out, ie prevent or lessen the chances of having a sore throat or breakout in pimples.

In fancy Chinese restaurants, the soup is served in the melon itself -- the top is carefully carved open like a pumpkin for Halloween, and then the flesh is scooped out and when the soup is ready, it's placed back into the melon, which is presented in large silverware shaped like the gourd.

The soup is also relatively easy to cook at home. First remove the hard skin of the winter melon and chop the flesh into cubes. Heat up some water in a large pot and when it's boiling, add the winter melon and some clear chicken stock or blanched pork bones.

A carefully carved winter lemon

Other ingredients that can be added include mushrooms, dried scallops, ginger, and barley, and let it simmer for about an hour or so. Towards the end add chopped seafood like shrimp or fish. Some restaurants include fresh crab meat.

Some recipes call for adding egg white and cornstarch to thicken the soup, while others keep the broth relatively clear.

The bowl of winter melon soup I had the other day had mushrooms and bits of pork, and it hit the spot.

Modern Chinese at Toronto's Mimi Chinese

Fantastic Dungeness crab with steamed cheung fun

Toronto has many Chinese restaurants, but how about one where the dishes have a slight twist, making them modern and are served by waiters wearing crisp white shirts and bowties?

That's the concept of Mimi Chinese, where regional dishes are re-interpreted and accessible, making them fun and delicious, and more importantly get the thumbs up from the pickiest of Chinese diners.

Outstanding Iberico char siu here

On the night we went, the clientele was more Chinese, with young people to middle-aged and they had obviously come for the very good dishes that aren't found in most top restaurants in Markham, where many of the Chinese diaspora live.

The hands-down winner of the evening was the Iberico pluma char siu, the pork so tender and flavourful, we all savoured each bite, and the taste was also marinating in the caramelised soybeans.

Another winner was the BC live Dungeness crab steamed with fresh cheung fun. It's definitely the Canadian version of The Chairman's flower crab dish ini Hong Kong. Instead of marinating the crustacean in Shaoxing wine and chicken fat, here the fresh crab's flavour was enhanced by the ginger and scallion sauce.

Beef tenderloin with black pepper sauce

The crab shell was already scraped clean by the kitchen, so all we had to do was focus on the clean flavours complemented by the delicateness of the cheung fun, soaking up the light soy sauce and sweet crab meat.

We also had some outstanding starters, like Chaoshan marinated scallops with a sauce made from ginger and scallion, similar to poached chicken, but with a citrusy soy sauce for brightness. Another was fluffy shrimp toast studded with sesame seeds, and gorgeous chicken wings deboned and stuffed with glutinous rice, mushrooms and bamboo shoots.

The four foot belt noodle was a showstopper. The waiter did his routine of using tongs to lift one end up so high -- it really was one noodle, about two inches wide. Then he placed it down, folding it back and forth and then used a pair of scissors to cut it in half. The noodles had a spicy kick, thanks to the chilli crisp.

Sizzling prawns in hot pot with a spicy kick

Another spicy dish were giant prawns sizzling in a hot claypot, while a Cantonese favourite of beef slices stir-fried with onions and thick rice noodles (gon chau ngau ho) was altered to use wheat noodles instead and strings of scrambled egg. So good and comforting.

The only minor fault was the typhoon shelter asparagus, as the seasonal vegetable was lost in this dish, and the seasoning didn't enhance the asparagus. Nevertheless we finished on a high note with an ode to sizzling platters, this one with beef tenderloin and cooked with a black pepper skillet. The beef was so tender, it was brilliantly executed.

To cleanse our palates, we were given a small scoop of sorbet made from almond jelly. It was a taste we all instantly recognised from our childhoods. Personally I didn't particularly like this flavour growing up, but it was nostalgic for sure.

For dessert we had a refreshing seasonal fruit sorbet featuring slices of snow pear with osmanthus jelly and oolong tea. Another using gai daan jai, or egg waffles with caramelised banana, hawthorn jam and sesame ice cream with maple syrup drizzled on top. A creative way to elevate a simple street snack.

Snow pear with osmanthus jelly and oolong tea

Overall the food and experience at Mimi Chinese was outstanding and we can't wait to see what comes next for this restaurant that has modernised Chinese food in a thoughtful way.

Mimi Chinese

265 Davenport Road

Toronto

416 505 0799

Review: Bun Cha Ca Hoang Yen

Large portions are served at Bun Cha Ca Hoang Yen

When my friend AY calls and says we should meet up for lunch, it means a culinary adventure for me.

He's a walking guide book to food in Vancouver, but not the Michelin Guide restaurants. AY is a bona fide lover of street eats and will go to great distances to find where good food is and then share his discoveries with other foodies... like myself.

The restaurant is know for its Bun Rieu

Today we met up for lunch at Bun Cha Ca Hoang Yen on Victoria Drive near East 33rd Avenue. I managed to find parking on a side street and AY was already in line. The place was absolutely packed for a Sunday.

Diners slowly trickled out and finally we got a table right by the window.

Bun Cha Ca Hoang Yen used to be located a few blocks further south, but moved here almost four years ago. It is known for its crab vermicelli as well as homemade fish balls, so we ordered both with rice noodles and a dish of salt and pepper chicken wings.

Not long after two giant bowls arrived, along with a plate heaped with raw bean sprouts, lime wedges and fresh basil leaves.

Fish cakes and vermicelli in a clear broth with dill

Bun Rieu ($19.95) is described on the menu as "special crab soup with vermicelli". It has a tinge of red, but it's not spice at all; the colouring is from the crab paste mixed with egg, creating fluffy mounds floating on the surface, and underneath are some shrimp, slices of pork, deep-fried tofu puffs, slices of Vietnamese pork sausage, and tomato wedges along with lots of rice noodles and coriander and spring onions.

Meanwhile Bun Cha Ca Dac Biet ($18.95) is fish cakes with rice noodles in soup, featuring a clear broth, with not only fish balls, but also sliced fish cakes, Chinese celery, tomato wedges, lots of dill, and spring onions. The fish balls are not a round ball per se, but somewhat springy in texture.

This dish is the lighter of the two, but both are substantial in terms of portion.

The chicken wings, or Canh Ga Rang Muoi ($17.95), need to be dipped in the lemony pepper sauce to give them flavour, otherwise on their own they were bland, as the batter didn't have much taste.

Chicken wings dipped in a lemony pepper sauce

Somehow over the course of two hours we managed to finish practically all the food!

Needless to say I soon suffered a food coma after I got home...

Bun Cha Ca Hoang Yen, 5155 Victoria Drive, Vancouver, BC. Tel: 604 321 2711 

Chinese Restaurants Riffing Off Each Other

Lobster meat stir-fried with egg white at Lanxuan Restaurant

You know the saying, one is random, two is a coincidence, and three is a trend?

Within five days I have tried two similar dishes in two different Chinese restaurants that may result in the latest trend to eat in Vancouver.

On Friday evening we went to Lanxuan Restaurant in Richmond, where we had some fantastic dishes, such as butterfly deep-fried chicken with glutinous rice underneath, a giant pot of a fish with pumpkin, and a flavourful soup with ingredients such as dates, longan and pork.

The highlight was lobster meat extracted from the shell and stir-fried with egg white. The presentation was even more bougie with tiny bits of gold leaf and shrimp roe on top.

Crab meat stir-fried with egg white at Dynasty

It was fantastic with a splash of Chinese vinegar to enhance the flavour.

Then last night we went to the always high quality Dynasty Seafood Restaurant, where our host managed to get some special dishes like a whole roast duck with tea-smoked quail eggs, deep-fried white bait typhoon shelter style, and freshly made sesame balls with black sesame filling for dessert.

The standout by far was crab meat stir-fried with egg white. It was presented on a massive platter that we couldn't finish. The crab meat was so dense, one can only wonder how many crabs were used in the dish. This was also served with dark vinegar seasoned with ginger.

I can surmise that Lanxuan has had this lobster dish before as it was recommended to us by a regular patron, while Dynasty staff told us the crab dish was new; they probably thought of riffing off of what the former restaurant had done.

A large fish in a hot pot with braised pumpkin

What's next? A combination of crab and lobster? Or with scallops? Geoduck?

WhyteCliff Park a Gem in Howe Sound

Whytecliff Park is a gem of a place... if you're in West Van

Yesterday after a lunch of Vietnamese food to refuel from climbing up the Grouse Grind, we headed further west to Whytecliff Park, a small inlet in Howe Sound that has a beach (a rocky one, not sandy), where people sunbathe, go into the water and snorkel, or check out some sea lions frolicking in the water.

The park opened in 1909 and is apparently home to more than 200 marine animal species. Whytecliff Park is also one of the first Marine Protected Areas in Canada.

The water is relatively clear with marine life

We wandered along the shoreline, and on the east side it juts out to an island that can be accessed during low tide. We happened to be there during low tide and one of the tide pools had two giant purple starfish! 

Then we clambered onto the island and admired the panoramic views of Howe Sound, and could see Gibsons across the water (a 20-minute ferry ride away) on the Sunshine Coast. We managed to spot a sea lion poking his head above the water, and a heron standing on a rock.

The children we were with hand fun looking for tiny crabs that were hidden under barnacle-covered rocks; the crabs would flee to anywhere moist otherwise they would bake in the sun. One even found a live crab far from the shoreline and carefully brought it to the water in the hopes that it would be OK.

What a lovely place to visit! As my cousin who took us here said, one needs to take advantage of beautiful places like this (aside from paying for parking), as Vancouver is so expensive to live in!

Two purple starfish were spotted in a tide pool

It's also quite far -- about an hour away by car, but definitely a memorable visit on a gorgeous sunny day.

Picture of the Day: Steamed Crab and Pork Patty

Steamed pork patty surrounded by crab legs

Tonight we went out for dinner at Golden Paramount Seafood Restaurant in Richmond and had some staple dishes, like winter melon soup, crispy chicken, sweet and sour pork, and steamed fish. They were all very good, perfectly cooked. 

The winter melon soup was perfect for today, which reached a high of 27 degrees.

We also ordered steamed crab -- with pork patty cooked together with the chopped up crab.

One of our friends at the table had seen this combination on a TV cooking show in Hong Kong where a top chef made it, and it looked so delicious that they asked the Golden Paramount manager if this could be done for us.

My picture is of the dish half eaten, but you can see the pork patty has soaked up the sweet juices of the fresh crab meat. 

Will we see this variation in other Chinese restaurants around town? Very high chance. 

Five HK Food Inspectors Charged with Theft

ICAC has charged five food inspectors for theft of food samples

Five Hong Kong health inspectors have been charged with the theft of food samples, from canned abalone to white truffle sauce and crab bisque they had purchased using public money for radiation testing.

The three women and two men aged 28 to 37, have been suspended by the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department. They did not have to enter a plea at West Kowloon Court on Thursday, but Magistrate Li Chi-ho has adjourned the hearing until mid-August for the inspectors to consider their legal options.

They have been charged with a conspiracy to steal, an offence punishable by up to two years in prison when it is the only charge tried at the magistrates' court.

On Wednesday, the Independent Commission Against Corruption said the five inspectors allegedly conspired between May 2022 and March last year to steal food samples bought by the centre for testing.

As part of their job the inspectors were instructed to buy randomly selected food samples at fair and reasonable prices. The ideal food sample size is typically around 1kg, according to the ICAC.

The centre bars inspectors from ordering too much food samples or misappropriating any untested items, and any unused goods to be accounted for and properly disposed of.

In this case, the five inspectors allegedly used public money to buy more than HK$88,000 (US$11,270) from five importers for two radiation tests.

But the centre told ICAC that after testing, the five inspectors took the remaining goods home, instead of keeping records of their disposal.

When investigators when to the inspectors' homes, they found more than 80 unused food samples, including canned abalone, white truffle sauce, crab bisque, Japanese rice and various types of pasta.

What could one do with all those delicious ingredients?