Portugal - Mercado do Bolhao

The ground floor of Mercado do Bolhao in Porto

If something is too good to be true, it probably is. 

Even when you're on holiday.

On the suggestion of a waiter working at the restaurant we ate at last night, we checked out Mercado do Bolhao, about a 15-minute walk from where we are staying.

The "lobster tail" before we tried it

It's a food market place that has a covered courtyard filled with stalls selling fruits, vegetables, meats and seafood, as well as conservas, or tinned seafood, pastries, coffee, sandwiches and chocolate.

At one seafood stall we saw big, red plump lobster tails, which is how it was labelled. They were 5 euros each. 

Really?! Lobster tails for 5 euros only?

My aunt was so excited she wanted to buy one to try.

But when we got our small wooden prongs to poke it, we could see right away it wasn't the juicy meat of the crustacean, but instead some kind of fish cake made to look like lobster tail.

Scam of the day -- at 9.30am.

Lots of colourful fruits for sale

But we didn't let that bother us, and we bought some other food to try, like thinly sliced Iberico pork, small meat pies including wild boar and beef stew, mushrooms on toast, melted cheese, and grilled halloumi, eaten with a loaf of bread and some coffee (to combat jetlag).

We enjoyed ourselves so much, that the couple next to us were jealous the six of us could sample so many things!

The market has washrooms, though there aren't many, and there's even a piano on the third floor inviting visitors to tinkle the ivories.

Mercado do Bolhao was established in 1838, and the current building was built in 1917. What's interesting is that the market has three floors, each floor has a street entrance, as it's located on a hill. The bottom floor is the actual market, second floor has a few open stalls selling handmade jewellery, clothing, bags and ceramics, while the third floor houses three restaurants.

Some of what we ate for brunch

We were so full afterwards we weren't even hungry until around 5pm despite walking so much around Porto!

PM Carney Sheds Light on Unfair Trade Deal

Carney explains why Canada walked away from the trade deal

Tonight in Vancouver there are flashes of light and then the ominous loud crack of thunder can be heard outside as the rain is pouring down tonight. 

It's been a long day that started this morning with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney addressing the nation about why the country walked away from negotiating a trade deal with the United States, and that it's time to buckle up for a trade war.

"We cannot accept what they've offered, and we will not give what they've asked," he said, adding the US 'asked too much and offered too little.'

Carney also revealed the US had issues with Canada's subsidies for French culture, the prevalence of French-language media online and even the federal requirement to have bilingual labels on products sold in Canada.

"It was unacceptable right from the start, but the Americans kept trying and trying and we said no," the prime minister said. "Ultimately it's simple. That was never on the table for Canada and it would not have been acceptable to Canadians."

For the auto industry, the Americans demanded to treat Canadian-made parts unfairly and to exempt some cars and pick-up trucks from US tariffs, but not others without any explanation.

The US also expected to determine Canada's trade deals with other nations.

"The US introduced, in the last hours, efforts to restrict our ability to have other trade deals," Carney said. "Because we believe in free trade, we're the partner of choice, in many respects, for countries around the world, and Americans wanted to restrict that, they had language to restrict that. Unacceptable."

Perhaps he was referring to Canada striking a trade deal with China worth $3 billion, where 49,000 Chinese electric vehicles will be allowed into the country, along with lower tariffs for canola oil, and seafood like lobsters and crabs into the Middle Kingdom.

But anyway -- why would Canada allow the US -- or rather Donald Trump -- decide who it trades with?

As Toronto Star columnist Justin Ling told CBC Radio today, what the US was doing was basically extortion.

Carney also noted that the US sometimes signs trade deals "in pencil," a hint that it is negotiating in bad faith.

Despite the financial hardships that will come -- layoffs and more money flowing out of wallets -- Canadians seem to be more patriotic than ever. The slogan "Elbows Up" continues to resonate across the country, with all politicians, federally and provincially on board.

As British Columbia Premier David Eby said today, "There is no question that there will be economic pain associated with this, there already is," he said. "But it is necessary to stand up to a bully, and if you don't, they'll just keep coming back for more."

Interestingly, Trump hasn't responded at all to the trade deal collapse. Did he think he had it in the bag?

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.

Spot Prawns are Here Again

Plump and juicy spot prawns are here for a limited time

Spot prawn season has begun in Vancouver and prices are wildly all over the place.

These prawns have white dots on their tails, while their carapace (the prawn head exoskeleton) have red and white stripes.

Every year around 2,450 metric tonnes of spot prawns are harvested, and about 65 percent are caught between Vancouver Island and the mainland.

Over 90 percent of the catch are exported to Asia, and we get the rest locally, for about a six-week period.

Last week spot prawns were around $50 a pound at T&T Supermarket, which was quite the sticker shock, and it made us wonder how much restaurants would be charging.

So we were quite relieved to see the price cut almost in half when we went to T&T yesterday, at just under $26/lb. And many other people were buying spot prawns too.

We bought one and a half pounds of the prawns that were wrapped in butcher paper and then placed in a plastic bag. On the way home I could periodically hear their tails batting at the paper.

At home we placed them in a colander with a plate on top and put them in the refrigerator for a couple of hours.

The best way to retain their natural flavour is by poaching the prawns in boiling water seasoned with ginger and scallions to temper the fishy smell.

To prepare the spot prawns, using scissors we clipped off the long antennae, its legs and the bottom edge of the tails before cooking them in the boiling water.

After about a minute or so the prawns are cooked, their bodies curled up.

We also make a dipping sauce with soy sauce, a bit of sweetness (maple syrup or honey), oil and chopped scallions.

Remove the head and the rest of the shell, dip the prawn meat into the sauce and eat! The meat is firm and sweet!

Hong Kong Diaspora Get Together

The Mister Softee ice cream truck's jingle drew in customers

Today was the fifth Hong Kong Fair held at The Shipyards in North Vancouver today. It's become an event that brings together the Hong Kong diaspora, from those who immigrated decades ago, to recent arrivals, all with the common love of the city.

I tried to get there right after my Pilates class via bus and then Seabus. Already there were many people lining up for food, which is what I should have done, but I mistakenly walked into the cultural section first; when I tried to leave, a volunteer warned me I would not be able to get back in after I left! They really need to make this clear when walking to the entrance...

Does this describe a Hongkonger in Vancouver?

So I wandered around the stalls, many of them selling Hong Kong-related trinkets, like crochet versions of egg tarts and pineapple buns, milk tea kits, dog treats, postcards or prints of scenes of the city, tote bags with designs of White Rabbit candy or the old school Airplane game, jewellery, and books.

There was one picture book of Hong Kong that really resonated with me and probably many others -- the hand-drawn illustrations captured the flavour of the city. But instead I bought a 1,000-piece puzzle featuring a city scene of Hong Kong.

I finally left the culture area and tried to find the stall selling seafood congee. Holy Duck Chili Oil teamed up with Eat Fish seafood supplier and Masterchef runner-up chef Dez Lo to make two kinds of congee, seafood (featuring wild BC fish and seafood like jumbo prawns) seasoned with halibut stock, and shimeji mushrooms with vegan XO sauce.

Seafood congee was delicious

The queue was much longer than I thought and in the heat! It snaked along further so I must have waited about 45 minutes so I was very hungry by the time I got to the front. Dez was there, running off her feet, but in good spirits.

The seafood congee was ready to eat so I ate it as I waited for the mushroom one. I also chatted with the owners of Holy Duck Chili Oil, who were also selling their sauces as well as T-shirts. 

Both congee were fantastic -- the seafood one choc full of salted chunks of fish, giant prawns, and octopus, while the mushroom one was full of umami and had lots of mushrooms in it to give it a meatier texture. I later heard they were sold out of congee by 2pm! 

After having stood in line for so long I was not motivated to do that again and looked for the shortest queues. Snackshot had a very short line so I had some curry fish balls. There was a modified Mister Softee ice cream truck playing the same recognisable jingle, serving soft serve sundaes. 

Then I wandered into a large covered area where people were playing mahjong at several tables, and I saw my friends at the UBC Cantonese table. One showed me how to type Cantonese using Jyutping, the romanisation system for Cantonese that was developed in 1993.

Tote bags with nostalgic designs

She showed me how to download an app called Type Duck (打得) and the spelling is not what I'm used to, but it immediately shows different characters with similar sounds so it helps you learn more words. I will try to play around with it more.

It was almost 3pm when I decided to go home... and I was exhausted!

Local Produce Showcased at The Botanist

Precisely presented scallop crudo with black apple and celery

The other day we were invited to dinner at The Botanist, described as a modern Canadian restaurant located in the Fairmont Pacific Rim in downtown Vancouver. 

I have eaten here a handful of times for lunch and really enjoy the atmosphere, as it's not stuffy, but not casual either, the food is always memorable, and service is friendly.

Earthy snails and mushrooms under the basil pasta

We were there to try chef Hector Laguna's latest menu featuring the fresh organic produce of Local Harvest, a farm in Chilliwack.

Dan Oostenbrink and his wife own the farm and their sons help out on this family-run operation. They bought it in 2013, assuming they would need to use pesticides and fertilizers and for the first year they did that. But the following year they brought in a different consultant who advised they use less of their land in the beginning and grow organic produce. 

At first Oostenbrink was skeptical, but recalls when his son harvested a perfectly round cauliflower with no imperfections, he was heartened and encouraged that it was possible. Since then they have expanded to use the 37 acres and use regenerative farming like composting and increased biodiversity to keep the soil fertile.

Steamed sablefish with squash compote

They grow all kinds of herbs, root vegetables, legumes, squashes, cucumbers, tomatoes, garlic, onions, cabbage, bok choy, kale and spinach.

So we were excited to try chef Hector's menu that featured lots of Local Harvest's produce.

A trio of amuse bouche began the meal: an oyster tartare of compressed vegetable roots and citrus topped with some caviar served in an edible oyster shell; chicken wingettes with mojo de ajo and smoked salmon roe; and side striped sope, or thick corn tortilla with vegan XO sauce, shellfish emulsion and salicornia, or sea asparagus.

These amuse bouche were beautifully presented and tasted delicious, but they were messy to pick up, and my fingers were coated in too much sauce.

Very tender wagyu with an onion tart

Nevertheless things picked up immensely with the scallop crudo, slices of the meaty seafood interspersed with slices of black apple, together with celery, ginger and more caviar. It was a delicate presentation that tasted refreshing and light.

The next dish moved from the water to the ground with the earthy tasting grilled Burgundy snails cooked together with foraged mushrooms, and pickled garlic scapes hidden under a sheet of basil-flavoured fresh pasta with madeira jus.

We went back into the water again with steamed sablefish provided by EatFish.ca. the fillet was finished with a red kuri and carnival squash compote, with epazote, a leafy herb, and salsa macha to give it a subtle spicy kick. This dish was artfully presented with an intricate leafy design made of squash.

Creative pear and squash verrine

The final savoury dish was also memorable -- roasted wagyu zabuton, or marbled steak that was cooked to have a very tender taste and texture, with some clarified bone marrow drops. The dish came with a small onion tart and grainy mustard. We savoured each bite of the wagyu.

For dessert, an intriguing finish using kabocha squash to make a light cremeux, which is between a cream and a custard that was accompanied with Anjou pear compote, and intriguingly, candy cap mushroom ice cream! 

The Botanist

1038 Canada Place

Vancouver, BC

V6C 0B9

+1 604 695 5300

North Burnaby's New Shopping Malls

The mall at Gilmore Place is taking shape

Today I visited a friend who lives in Burnaby, which is the land of skyscrapers in Metro Vancouver. There are several towers that are over 60 stories high, many are walking distance to two SkyTrain stations, Gilmore and Brentwood. 

Like the MTR stations in Hong Kong, Gilmore and Brentwood both have shopping malls attached to them. Brentwood has The Amazing Brentwood, a large, partially open-air shopping mall, which has an airy food court offering mostly Asian food, from Japanese and Chinese to Korean, and Persian. 

It also has free-standing restaurants, and tonight I visited Bow & Stern, which is celebrating its first anniversary later this month. It offers mostly seafood dishes, and for Happy Hour (2pm-5pm, and 9pm to closing), freshly shucked oysters are $2 each! 

Meanwhile Gilmore Place is coming together now, with a few shops open like KFC, and Big Way Hot Pot will open, as well as a Thai spa, and Subway too. But my friend is really excited to hear that a T&T supermarket will open within a five-minute walk from her place!

I joked that with this Asian supermarket near here, she will never have to cook, as T&T offers not only uncooked ingredients, but cooked foods as well, including congee, roast meats, and noodles, so she has her "neighbourhood canteen" set up!

With so many people living and working in the area, and located next to the Skytrain station, it's no wonder that T&T has planned to open here, with many Asians living in the area.

However, while I was at tonight's dinner, one of the guests I ate with told me one of her friends lives in one of the nearby towers and said it was a nightmare getting up and down the elevator -- it takes 30 minutes just to get one, and when you have a dog that needs to go to the bathroom, and a wailing child, it can be pretty stressful!

Having a shoebox in the sky here doesn't sound fun at all, if there are only two elevators for so many units...

Picture of the Day: Scallop-flavoured Chips

Pan-fried scallop-flavoured chips, anyone?

This afternoon we had to pick up some groceries at T&T Supermarket, so my relative wandered the snack aisles while I went to stock up on some food we ran out of.

She came back with this bag of Lay's potato chips -- in scallop flavour.

Actually it's pan-fried scallop flavour. So precise.

We came home and she promptly opened the bag for us to try.

Sniffing the contents inside was a sweet seafood kind of aroma.

The thin chip also had a seafood taste, a hint of shrimp crackers, not specifically scallops.

Would we specifically buy this one? No, but it was fun to try!

 

Tokyo: Eating Well in the City

Eating lots of seafood at Andy's Shin Hinomoto in Tokyo

We ate pretty well in Tokyo, but probably not as good as most Japanphiles who specifically head to the Land of the Rising Sun for the marvellous food at cut-rate prices.

Last Thursday we arrived in the evening and by the time we checked into the hotel, it was almost 8pm. Before I went on my trip, my Japanese hairdresser suggested that I try the food at McDonald's because the items would be different than in Vancouver.

McDonald's food in Japan is... different

Even though I hadn't eaten McDonald's in years, that's what we did -- with mixed results.

We tried an ebi filet-o or Filet-O-Shrimp, chicken teriyaki Filet-O, a grape soda, medium fries and two desserts, one that looked like mini churros with a strawberry filling, and strawberry daifuku pie in sakura pink packaging.

The Filet-O-Ebi substituted fish for shrimp with lettuce and mustard and it was not bad, tasting slightly sweet, while the chicken teriyaki burger was smothered in the dark sweet sauce to make the chicken patty palatable. 

Meanwhile the Qoo white grape soda was far from natural juice, but still refreshing, though the fries seemed undercooked, but we ate them anyway. 

Like other McDonald's meals, you wolf down the food, but then don't feel full. For dessert, the chocolate churros, called hitokuchi kuro churros were baked rather than deep-fried, and the strawberry filling was not jam, but artificially flavoured pink. The pie, available for a limited time, had a filling that was part mochi, part strawberry jam which was strange. Nevertheless it was the latter that made the pie taste extremely sweet. I finished off the fries to balance out the saccharine taste.

Meaty king crab served cold

Needless to say, we did a lot of walking afterwards to try to keep the calorie count down.

The next evening we went to an izakaya called Andy's Shin Hinomoto in Yurakucho. It is located under a train overpass, so you can periodically hear trains going by. There are several eateries in each of these moon-shaped deep alcoves that are quite cozy. 

Andy is Andy Lunt, an Englishman from Leicester, who in 1978 married the izakaya's owner's daughter and in 1986 came to Tokyo to help out with the business, and then taking over in 2010.

People can put their bags and umbrellas in little nooks or up above in fishing nets suspended from the ceiling. What a great idea to save space!

Our host had already ordered the king crab and it was boiled, but served cold, and the parts chopped up, but not cracked liked they would be in Chinese restaurants. Instead they were cut open with incisions here and there to help make it easier to extract the sweet meat aided by a skinny long metal tool.

Large plump clams cooked in sake

We were also served a plate of sashimi, long, meaty gyoza, tempura, and wagyu croquettes. The tempura were subpar, same with the croquettes, which were actually three patties of minced beef mixed with mashed potato. However, the highlight was the large clams cooked in sake, and the meat was so plump and juicy.

With beers, highballs and a plum drink, the total came to 26,000 yen for three. Again we walked off the meal by walking to the Imperial Palace, which had strategically placed strong headlights to prevent people from coming too close. 

We walked to a place near the subway station that sells taiyaki, a fish-shaped pastry that has different fillings. We had the custard and red bean one. They were very hot out of the waffle iron, and a good way to keep warm as the temperatures began to drop. 

Tender cuts of beef for yakiniku

Another excellent meal was at Yakinikutoraji Honten, which has several branches, and we ate at the one in Shibuya that had three floors. Our host did the ordering and we didn't mind not knowing what we were eating over a hot charcoal-fired grill.

We started off with thin slices of beef tongue that were delicious and then moved onto other cuts of beef that I was unfamiliar with, but everything was tender, despite not being marbled. Some cooked meats we wrapped in lettuce or shiso leaves, and grilled the odd slices of peppers.

Service was great, as after each round the staff came by to replace the metal wire rack over the charcoal. For dessert I had two scoops of soybean ice cream with a caramel sauce drizzled on top. This meal cost 2,000 yen less than the izakaya!

Our final dinner was at Savoy after our visit to Tokyo Skytree. The pizza place opens at 5.30pm and we didn't know we could make reservations so when we arrived there was luckily a short lineup ahead of us. The first group ahead of us was eight people including four young children; the parents couldn't decide if they wanted to order take away or eat in... Luckily we didn't wait too long, perhaps half an hour or so and we were the next batch of people to go in.

The best seats in the house were near the entrance where the pizza oven was located, with a roaring fire, but we were led to the back kitchen where salads were prepared and dishes were washed. It was kind of strange to have a open view of the back of house, but perhaps they felt they could take advantage of hungry diners eager for any kind of view.

A watery Margherita pizza at Savoy

The pizza menu had changed since my friend last came, with fewer pizzas to choose from. Nevertheless we ordered the classic Margherita and the Blue fin tuna from Yamayuki which looked intriguing. But first we ate an appetiser of octopus with peppers and fennel lightly dressed with oil, vinegar and parsley. Delicious.

We also had some meatballs covered in tomato sauce and some sprinkled melted parmesan cheese that were very tender and total comfort food.

Not long after we finished the meatballs the Margherita pizza arrived. It looked great, with the slightly burnt crust. But when I pulled a slice away to eat, I could see the tomato sauce was quite watery, which dulled the taste of the pizza. I still liked the crust which was airy and held up to the watery filling.

Excellent blue fin tuna pizza

Our waitress thought we were finished after this pizza and began collecting our plates when we told her we were still waiting for the second pizza. Guess they are in a hurry to get the next batch of hungry customers in.

Finally (and giving us a bit of time to digest), the Blue fin tuna pizza came with a side of wasabi and we were not disappointed! This was definitely a memorable pie. Since there's only a few slices of tuna, they were all bunched up in the middle and seared from being in the pizza oven; some bits were still a bit raw. 

The combination of the slight sashimi taste of the tuna combined with cheese was so smooth and sweet, and the roughly chopped spring onions added a bit of crunchy texture. We did not need the wasabi to liven things up. It was already so good.

For dessert we didn't only have one but two tiramisus, very light, almost fluffy light and a hint of the espresso-soaked ladyfingers underneath. We walked out feeling sated and happy to make it to this place. Our total eating time: 45 minutes. 

Calls to End Japanese Seafood Bans in HK

When will Hong Kong finally lift Japanese seafood bans?

Since August 2023, Hong Kong and China have imposed restrictions on Japanese seafood after Tokyo decided to start releasing 1.34 million tonnes of treated waste water that was used to cool down the Fukushima nuclear power plant that was damaged in a 2011 earthquake and subsequent tsunami.

While China has a blanket ban, Hong Kong does not allow seafood from Tokyo, and the prefectures of Fukushima, Chiba, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Gunma, Miyagi, Niigata, Nagano and Saitama.

Daily testing has not found any abnormalities

Hong Kong is the second-largest market for Japanese seafood, behind China, which in 2022 imported US$558.9 million, and Hong Kong (US$484 million).

But despite testing seafood daily, the Hong Kong authorities have not found any abnormalities in the concentration of hazardous elements, such as tritium, caesium-137 and strontium-90.

The seafood bans and the weak yen prompted lots of sushi fans to fly from Hong Kong to Japan to eat their favourite fish -- even in the above mentioned places that were banned.

It also caused several Japanese restaurants in Hong Kong to shut down, unable to import authentic ingredients vital to their business.

Simon Wong Ka-wo, president of the Hong Kong Federation of Restaurants and Related Trades, said a review of the ban was long overdue. 

"People travel to Japan to eat seafood there. That makes a mockery of the import ban," he said.

Hongkongers have gone to Japan to eat seafood

He urged the government to review the ban and resume imports as early as the first quarter of this year.

But government food safety adviser Dr Vicki Fong Lai-ying remained cautious.

"It is fine to keep strict monitoring of safety for better protection of public health," she said.

"There is a high risk that the contaminated and polluted water could be passed to the ocean, which may in turn affect the food chain."

Lawmaker Steven Ho Chun-yin, who is deputy chairman of the Legislative Council's food safety and environmental hygiene panel, agreed, saying the government should not relax the ban until "there is reasonably sufficient reliable information made available that the seafood there is safe to consume".

How much more data is needed? Surely by now -- 14 years later -- there would be evidence of radiation affecting seafood by now. And besides, Japan's own Food Safety Commission has even more stringent radiation standards than Hong Kong.

What gives?

Japan to Gradually Restart Seafood Exports to China

Chinese consumers can start eating Japanese seafood soon

Since August 2023, the Hong Kong government has been testing and reporting the quality of seafood from Japan following the country's decision to release contaminated wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear plant that had a meltdown in 2011.

Water was used to cool the reactors and it could not be contained much longer, so Japan got the approval from the UN atomic agency to release the water into the Pacific Ocean, claiming it was safe. 

China banned all Japanese seafood in Aug 2023

However, China begged to differ and banned all Japanese seafood imports; Hong Kong decided to ban seafood imports from specific areas of Japan -- some were even landlocked areas.

Everyday the Hong Kong government would release a report on the tested seafood products for harmful radiation, including fish, seaweed and sea salt, and they were "all satisfactory".

But now over a year later, China has decided to "gradually resume" importing seafood from Japan.

"China will begin to adjust the relevant measures based on scientific evidence and gradually resume imports of Japanese aquatic products that meet the regulation requirements and standards," a foreign ministry statement said.

Apparently Chinese and Japanese officials have been having "multiple rounds of consultations" on the discharge of wastewater from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station. 

Hong Kong banned some seafood

China said Japan had committed to "fulfilling its obligations under international law, doing its utmost to avoid leaving [a] negative impact on human health and the environment, and conducting continuous evaluations of the impact on the marine environment and marine ecosystems".

However, despite the gradual resumption of Japanese seafood imports, China still "resolutely opposes" Japan's discharge of the waste water from the nuclear plant.

Nevertheless, that didn't stop mainlanders and Hongkongers from going to Japan to eat lots of sushi and sashimi... 

In any event, the Japanese government may be relieved to restart exporting its seafood to China -- in 2022 over US$500 million worth of seafood was exported there.

Review: La Marcha

Seafood paella was the highlight of the dinner at La Marcha

On our last night in San Francisco we had dinner in a hopping Spanish restaurant in Berkeley called La Marcha. It was easy to get a reservation online, but we when we arrived, we were surprised to see the place was packed with diners. It even felt warm inside so we waited outside for our table to be cleared.

Less than 10 minutes later we were seated in the cosy restaurant with high ceilings and exposed brick walls, an impressive-looking bar with two legs of jamon or ham hanging in the corner, while servers were pretty attentive in the dining room, that was busy for the first hour and then slowly diners had their fill and disappeared.

Cauliflower (left) and mushroom croquettes

The menu is quite extensive, with a lot of tapas to choose from, followed by salads, jamon, and some paella. Even though we had four people, we were conservative with the number of dishes we ordered and it was just about right: four tapas and a paella.

Soon after we ordered the tapas began to arrive. First the mushroom and manchego croquettes (US$11) that reminded us of Chinese deep-fried taro puffs at dim sum but better, thanks to the umami of the cheese and mushrooms, finely blended.

We also had the blistered cauliflower with mornay sauce and bits of bacon lardons (US$13) that had a subtle spicy kick. The cauliflower was slightly undercooked, and seasoned with the salty bacon bits. 

Next came grilled octopus with fennel, pollen, sunchoke puree, and garbanzos (US$20). The meaty octopus was tender with a slight char and hint of smokiness. This dish was cleared quite quickly.

White bean stew, pork belly, chorizo, creme fraiche

Our last tapas was white bean stew with morcilla, chorizo, pork belly, and chermoula creme fraiche (US$15), a hearty comfort dish with chunks of meat that would have been better if they were diced to make it easier to share. There was even a slice of black pudding in the bowl.

Next came our paella marinera (US$56), a photogenic colourful dish that was carefully styled by the kitchen. On top of the thick layer of rice were mussels, prawns, and clams, as well as peas and diced peppers along with a sprig of rosemary and half a charred lemon.

We quickly pronounced the paella better than the one we had in Barcelona's Las Ramblas, the touristy food market. The rice here was not dry, though the bottom was a bit burned. Nevertheless the seafood cooked just right and we enjoyed every bite -- even cleaning up the pan.

Although we were full, we wanted to squeeze in dessert. The blackberry cabernet sauvignon sorbet (US$9) looked intriguing and we wanted to try the olive oil citrus cake (US$14) but it was sold out. The waiter suggested the chocolate cake (US$12) so we did. 

Chocolate cake, blackberry sorbet

The wine-coloured sorbet really did have a hint of wine in it, and two large scoops were refreshing. Meanwhile the flourless chocolate cake was so intense in flavour, I kept saying, "Wow" after each bite. The chocolate cake was very smooth in flavour, speckled with cocoa nibs for a bit of crunch, and was paired with a scoop of chocolate mousse! The latter could have been a dessert of its own. 

As we were eating we discovered a crumped US$5 bill under our table and we used that towards paying our bill. A delicious dinner and the bonus of $5 made it a double treat.

La Marcha

2026 San Pablo Avenue

Berkeley, CA

(510) 288 9997

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? 

Army of Cooks Feeding Cruise Ship Passengers

Showing off some cool knife skills

We ate all our meals on the Ruby Princess this past week and I can attest as a cruiser that the novelty fades quickly; the breakfast buffet looks pretty much the same everyday, and in the fine dining restaurant, ingredients are used in different ways. It's best to eat something fresh on the menu -- and asking your waiter for tips on what's good that day.

Nevertheless we have to say running the food outlets on a cruise ship is no easy task. Executive chef Russell Clarke explained that half the staff are related to food and beverage, either cooks or waiters from some 50 different countries.

Pastry chefs busy making cakes for the day

During a culinary presentation in the theatre, Clarke quipped that he spoke Australian, not English, while all the other cooks and waiters spoke at least two or three different languages.

On stage, Clarke quickly made three dishes for the audience of passengers: shrimp cocktail with mango salsa, lamb chops, and pavlova with berries and coulis.

However, we weren't invited to try the dishes -- the pavlova looked rock hard and dense -- but to go to the galley kitchens to take a look. Apparently this is a popular tour and some people raced to the kitchens! In the end there wasn't much to see, except lots of empty work spaces, stainless steel everywhere and only a handful of chefs working at 11am.

Perhaps the cooks were shy, or Clarke wanted the area cleared out, we could only look at a distance though some areas were decorated with creative carvings of vegetables and fruits. Some were constructed to look like mice and birds, but the flowers carved out of the side of a watermelon were most impressive.

A hearty slice of prime rib with potato, beans

We were given a fact sheet on how much food is produced on the ship, and it involves ordering 110-115 tons of food delivered on a single cruise.

Three butchers clean and cut 1,700 fish into portions daily, while five butchers, three assistants and helpers prepare beef and poultry. On a cruise, 1,400lbs of poultry, 1,700lbs of beef, 1,400lbs of pork and pork products (like sausages); 300lbs of veal, and 200lbs of lamb are cooked daily.

While I had a large slice of prime rib that was pretty good on the last night, the lamb rack I had was overcooked. Interestingly the cream of whatever vegetable soup like cauliflower, or lentil, and the Alaska seafood soup were really good. These are made by 13 staff, preparing 550 gallons per day.

Some 1,600lbs of salad are served daily along with 400lbs of shrimp, 13 gallons of mayonnaise, and 1,500 sandwiches. The Caesar salad was consistently good and what I ate the most.

The bread served on board is made fresh daily by 10 bakers, including the bread rolls we ate everyday that had a light crunchy exterior and fluffy interior along with whipped butter. I did not try the pizza nor the croissants. The bakers use some 1,500lbs of flour daily! I saw some dough being proofed when we went through the kitchens.

Breads are made daily on the ship

And there are 13 people working in pastry making desserts, ice creams, cakes and pies. Around 6,000 pieces of pastries are made everyday, along with 100 gallons of ice cream, and 300 cakes and pies. The blueberry crumble with vanilla ice cream was a favourite at our table. The souffle on the first day was more like a steamed cake, but there was baked Alaska (a giant one sliced up, to individual ones that were sloppy). The safest bet was peach melba or ice cream with fresh fruit sauce like pineapple or strawberry.

Every morning I ate fruits -- honeydew, cantaloupe, watermelon and pineapple. Sometimes there was papaya. Towards the end of the trip there was more canned fruit like apricot, peach and pineapple. I ate those anyway, and once had canned figs. Around 6,000lbs of fresh fruit is served daily, while 400lbs of butter are used everyday!

For those who drink coffee, 470 gallons are consumed, 62 gallons of coffee cream, and 400lbs of sugar for the coffee.

After consuming all that food, someone has to clean the dishes. Fifty-seven people wash china, glasses, silver, and pots and pans. Everyday 70,000 dishes are washed, while 21,500 glasses are washed. 

And that's just the passengers. There are also 1,1000 crew who need to eat too!

An Alternative to Fernando's in Macau

Roasted suckling pig was very tender with salad and fries

It turns out not just Hong Kong was quiet for the Easter long weekend, but Macau too. Granted the 10.30am ferry I took this morning was pretty much full, once the vessel arrived an hour later the immigration lines were short.

Hearty octopus salad with onions and coriander

My relatives have lived in Macau for almost five years and used to go to Fernando's to eat, but post-Covid they have found the quality has dropped. So instead of eating at this Hac Sa institution, we went to another place a short distance away called Miramar that serves Portuguese food.

It's located in a somewhat secluded area near the Grand Coloane hotel that used to be the Westin Macau. What's good about Miramar is that there is not only outdoor seating, but indoor as well, and today being muggy and humid it was nice to have some air conditioning while we ate.

The menu is filled with pictures, and we chose a few dishes to try.

The octopus salad features tender slices of octopus, combined with oil and vinegar, onions, lettuce, and coriander. This salad had a greater ratio of octopus than vegetables, which was hearty yet refreshing.

Bacalhau had more potato than cod fish in them

Roast suckling pig is a nice portion for three to share. It comes chopped into pieces with a side of salad and fries. The pork is moist, and practically falls off the bone, the skin is relatively crispy, with a thin layer of fat underneath.

At this point we waited for our last two dishes to arrive, and we were surprised considering the restaurant was not full, but we were told there was only one chef! 

We finally got the order of bacalhau, or codfish cakes. My relatives told me these were slightly bigger than before, but when we tried them we were disappointed, as there was more potato than codfish in it. One of them was also very salty.

Our waiter also told us our grilled sardines would come out soon, but we waited and waited... until we had to chase the waiter again.

Long awaited grilled sardines arrived warm

Finally it arrived, four fish with boiled potatoes and carrots, but was warm and lost its appetising taste. Seafood needs to be served fresh from the kitchen, but this one seemed to have been sitting too long. 

To make up for the long delay in our order, the manager gave us not one, or two desserts, but three to try.

There was a slice of serradura cake, lots of cream with "sawdust" of crumbled biscuit on top; a cup of dark chocolate pudding that tasted decadent, and pineapple upside down cake served warm. All the desserts weren't cloyingly sweet at all, and it was nice to try all three, though we were already so full we couldn't finish them.

It also meant that despite walking along Hac Sa Beach, we didn't have enough room to eat egg tarts from Lord Stow's bakery. Nevertheless I bought half a dozen to take back to Hong Kong!

Serradura cream cake wasn't too sweet

Miramar 

Zona Nordesta da Praia Hac-Sa, Coloane, Macau

(853) 2888 2601

(853) 2888 2623

Hong Kong Can't Compete with Shenzhen

Many restaurants were quiet in Hong Kong this long weekend

This Easter weekend Hong Kong was eerily quiet. 

Over 680,000 people left the city to either go to other countries, or crossed the border into the mainland.

Many who did the latter headed to Shenzhen, the "it city" where options are plentiful but the key word is cheap.

How cheap, you ask?

Cheap food in Shenzhen, though quality not high

An acquaintance just came back from Shenzhen yesterday. He said four adults and three children went out for dinner and the total bill was around HK$600.

What did they eat, you may ask?

A whole grouper cost HK$68. In Hong Kong that same grouper would cost HK$500. Granted he said the Shenzhen fish didn't taste very good, but hey, it was super cheap.

Same goes for half a chicken, HK$68. Even four pieces of KFC in Hong Kong costs HK$89.

How can Hong Kong even compete with prices that are a fraction of those 45 minutes away by train?

It's impossible because rents in Hong Kong are so high, as well as labour and food costs.

It's not about eating good food in Shenzhen, but it's really cheap. And with people in Hong Kong struggling to make money post-pandemic, they love the cheap thrills they can get across the border. 

Is it any wonder restaurants and shops are struggling in Hong Kong these days?