WASHOKU Explorer’s Tonkotsu Ramen Set

Yes, it’s been forever – and what better way to come up with a new post than from the comfort of my own home? Thanks to WASHOKU Explorer, who recently contacted me asking if I wanted to try their DIY tonkotsu ramen set, I was able to do just that.^ Delivered right to my door, all the way from Japan!I’m a big ramen freak, although I usually make a journey out to Ichiran in Causeway Bay whenever I have a craving. Making ramen at home is usually a sad affair (think Seven-Eleven), but WASHOKU’s set comes with all the fanfare to make your ramen bowl pretty legit:Making it was a piece of cake – the only real preparation I needed to do was soaking the dried mushroom. After that, just simple boil + add ingredient procedure!AND here’s the final result…Overall, making and arranging the ramen was pretty fun. Apart from tasting yummy, I was also glad that the ramen wasn’t too salty and didn’t leave me with a thirsty feeling afterwards.

^Hope you like my Star Wars chop sticks, haha!

Never thought I would have such a fancy ramen at home, so a big thank you to WASHOKU Explorer (www.washokuexplorer.com). Check out their site if you want to order a box.

If everything goes smoothly, I’ve got an interesting interview lined up for my next post…

So, stay tuned!

Bakker x

Welcome to the Circus!

Burger Circus is located at 22 Hollywood Rd.

If you’re a Central dweller or LKF crawler, you’re sure to have already walked past – and peeked into – Burger Circus.
Isn’t it cute?!?! In the style of a classic American diner, Burger Circus serves exactly what you’d expect: burgers, milkshakes and fries.
There’s fun details everywhere, from the menu holders to the staff’s old-school aprons and hats. Guests can choose between booth seating, or a spot at the bar.
My friend and I ended up at the bar, and started with two shakes while waiting for our burgers.

The service is friendly and quick, so we didn’t wait for long. But long enough to both agree that the shakes were really good. There’s also some alcoholic milkshakes on the menu, but I’ll have to try that next time…

Topped with whipped cream and maraschino cherries, they were scrumptious and creamy 🙂
The burgers, as you can see, are served in little paper boxes. I would advise to eat the burger using the box as a holder, because they are dripping with fabulous grease. Also, the bread is very fluffy and the whole thing is huge and quite difficult to eat by biting into it (without displacing your jaw, I mean).Of course, to get the right photos, I took mine out of the box. Conclusion? –> Burger Circus is probably not the best place for a first date, unless you’re prepared to get really messy and have bits of food dangling out of your mouth 😀

The menu has quite a few options, including chicken, and tuna burgers. I went for the Whole Show burger: beef patty, fried egg, cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickled beetroot and spicy mayonnaise.

It took a few bites to get into the spicy mayo in the middle, but boy was it worth the wait! A great combination in my opinion and, as a huge fan of beetroot, it was refreshing to see the underrated veggie make an appearance.

Overall the burger was really satisfying and hit the spot. Definitely a fan of the generous amounts of melted cheese oozing out of the bun. YUM.

Compared to a burger (similar price) I tried at Wan Chai’s Butcher Club a couple months ago, I felt like this one was better. And the awesome décor is just the cherry on the top!On the other hand, while the sauce on the Circus Fries was very tasty (onion, cheese, and “circus sauce” reminiscent of “animal style” sauce from In-N-Out), I thought the fries weren’t thin or crispy enough to really blow us away.

After dinner, someone told me I should have tried the onion rings, which are great apparently – so now I’m living in regret.
The whole experience was fun and fast – just like a simple burger joint should be. The convenience of the location, the irresistible design and feel-good burgers will have me back. Oh yeah, and it’s open till midnight EVERY DAY.

Bakker x

p.s. UPDATE (19/02/15) remember my post on the HK Beer Company? Well, Burger Circus stocks 4 of their drafts – so if you’re in Central and want to kill two birds with one stone, check them out! 🙂

Bakker’s Bites – 4th Birthday!

HAPPY 4th BIRTHDAY to Bakker’s Bites! Four years have flown by, and we’re back with our annual bday celebration post 🙂

This year I enlisted the creative genius of one of my best friends, and I’m sure you’ll love the outcome as much as I do! ❤
As always, the bday images will be used for the blog header, and social media graphics for the next year.

But first, let’s take a quick trip down memory lane:
Before showing you Janine’s creations in all their glory, here are links to the previous bday posts:

1st Birthday Shoot post and album
2nd Birthday Shoot post and album
3rd Birthday Illustrations post and album 

You may recognise Janine from BBITES’ 2nd bday shoot. She’s a talented baker, and when she brought an amazing cake to Locofama’s anniversary I knew she would be the perfect person to collaborate with for birthday number four.Janine used a variety of tools to shape and sculpt the amazing edible artworks. Even though they look super real, don’t forget: all of the images you’re about to see are made of fondant (icing), and chocolate cake. Incredible!!!

Please enjoy the final images for BBITES 4th Birthday… *drum roll*

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Thank you so much to Janine for her wonderful work. Should you wish to reach her to commission any cakes, please use this email:

janineclaase @ yahoo.com

Let’s keep biting all the way till next year!

Bakker x

That Dutch Place: The Orange Tree

Last month I went on a homecoming to Holland. It’s been many years since I was last in my birthplace and it was a blast!

Back in Hong Kong, it inspired me to finally visit The Orange Tree restaurant in mid-levels, and you’ll the review a bit further down.Amsterdam and the Hague are lined with beautiful classical buildings. Most are hundreds of years old, yet they are still lived and worked in, and have been for generations. It’s incredibly beautiful, and history is pouring out from every corner!
Here are some of the Dutch foods I had on my hit list for the week…

Stroopwafel: This was a fresh stroopwafel I ate at the market in Hilversum. This delicious Dutch snack is filled with a distinctive tasting caramel, and you can get them fresh (like mine in the photo) or prepackaged at a store. Recipes for the sauce vary from bakery to bakery, but cinnamon and brown sugar are commonly used.

Bitterballen: The quintessential Dutch bar snack. These are deep-fried croquettes with shredded beef and butter/flour filling. Added to that are spices and vegetables – depending on the recipe. Always served with mustard.

Herring: Raw herring with chopped onion. Warning: lots of very thin, short bones. Without less bones, I would have enjoyed it more; the flavour was quite good!

Fries: In my opinion, “Belgian” Fries (thin, long and crispy) are the only way to eat fries. Served in Amsterdam to us with delicious Dutch mayonnaise (sweeter, eggier and richer than US or UK mayonnaises). Mayo is always served with fries in Holland. To say, “patatjes met” (potatoes with) means you want it with mayonnaise. Except you don’t have to finish the sentence because it’s expected.

Poffertjes: Tiny, cute pancakes are basically what these little sweet pieces of heaven are. The place I went to below has been in business since 1837, and they had a beautiful antique oven to prepare with, too. These were incredibly soft, spongy and melty at the same time. Topped with obscene amounts of melting butter and mountains of powdered sugar – I ate the whole plate like there was no tomorrow.

*THE ORANGE TREE REVIEW*

Orange Tree has been around forever, it seems, I’ve walked past it many times but never felt motivated to try. After all, Dutch food isn’t what jumps to mind when you think of dinner out – right?To begin, we ordered the two most Dutch starters we could find. The menu is mostly Continental with a sprinkling of Dutchness around…

The first starter, garnaaltjes, is cocktail sauce baby shrimp. There wasn’t enough crisp and life in the shrimp, perhaps they were frozen before (?!), and it really let this dish down.

The second, bitterballen, were quite nice and enjoyable. However, having tasted phenomenal bitterballen in Holland less than three weeks ago, my standards have been raised and Orange Tree’s weren’t as good. The best ones I tried, had a sumptuous creamy filling speckled with small tears of salty beef.

The main courses, though were great – a perfect lamb shank, and an original beef tartare…The lamb shank was excellent! Nothing innovative here, it’s all about tradition. Classic reduced wine and thyme sauce with a traditional Dutch hutspot (mashed potato+carrot+onion). Each bite of the ultra-tender, flavourful lamb was a treat!After asking what exactly “Orange Tree Style” meant on the menu for its beef tartare, I was intrigued. Instead of the regular fries combo, this tartare was served with salad, pickles, diced onion to add to taste – as well as crispy toasties.

For flavouring, the tartare had tabasco, capers, salt/pepper, and sambal. Sambal is a spicy sauce commonly used in South East Asia, including Indonesia. Holland formerly colonised Indonesia, and the country’s delicious spices and foods eventually made their way back to the Netherlands. The resulting flavour was exciting: spicy,and with a hint of dried seafood (thanks to the sambal). This played into the capers quite nicely.Then, couldn’t resist the poffertjes for dessert, served here with a raspberry sorbet and chocolate mousse. These were a bit “healthier” than the ones I ate in Holland (think less butter / less sugar) – but there’s always butter you add on the side, am I right???!! 😀And now for some gratuitous close-ups.Just above the entrance to the kitchen are some Dutch products for sale…

The overall atmosphere at The Orange Tree is like a neighbourhood restaurant in Europe: cosy and conservative. On our visit, it was fully-booked – and I’m sure the other main dishes on the menu (beef, chicken, duck, pork) are worth trying too. 

THE END!

Bakker x

BBITES Mini-Post #7 x Singapore Swig

If you live in Singapore, this post is (especially) for you!

During my last visit, my brother took the family to a favourite new spot of his: The Good Beer Company – a quirky stall that stocks dozen of imported craft beers and ciders.

Located in the Chinatown hawker centre on Smith Street, there’s no lack of ambience and bustle here. With local food vendors all around, you’ll find a fun mix of people floating around the corner where this beer oasis is located (Unit #02-58).

My favourite was the delicious dessert-in-a-bottle cider: Brothers Toffee & Apple cider. I’ve had flavoured ciders before, but this beat them all. But, that’s just one of many… 

If you’re in the mood for a swig of the craft craze: The Good Beer Company is just a couple of “MRT” stops away 😉Thanks for reading!

Bakker x

Français Facts !

Bonjour et bienvenue! 

In honour of Bastille day (the 14th of July), today’s post is all about fun French food facts!

French terms are thrown around the dining scene all the time, but nobody ever explains what they mean – or where they come from!

Having lived in France before, I’ll take you through some popular French foods: how to pronounce the words properly, as well as some fun facts that could surprise you!

So, on y va (let’s go!)

1. amuse-bouche
Pronunciation: amooz-boosh
Français fact: Ever been to a fancy French restaurant, and they bring out cute little snacks before your meal? They’re complimentary (or so I’d like to think) and are meant to tease your appetite. The words amuse-bouche literally mean amuse-mouth: a way to entice the palette before the main show!

2. baguette
Pronunciation: bag-eht
Français fact: Baguettes are pillars of French family life. This loaf of bread has a characteristic long, thin shape and is eaten at almost every meal. The word baguette can also refer to an orchestra conductor’s baton – but more importantly to Hong Kongers – chop sticks are called baguettes (plural) in French.

3. café au lait
Pronunciation: cafay-olay
Français fact: Coffee with milk is called a latté in Italian, and a café au lait in French. Lait means milk, by the way 😉

4. compote
Pronunciation: kohm-poht (silent ‘e’)
Français fact: If you see a dish on the menu “served with fig compote”, for example, what does that mean? It’s kind of like jam – but not really! Compote is made by slow-cooking fruit with sugar syrup. Spices are often added while the mixture slowly reduces to a sticky, sweet concoction. It’s a popular companion to foie gras and the origin of the word is from compost (like at the farm)… yummy(?!)

5. crème brûlée
Pronunciation: crem-broolay
Français fact: The best crème brûlées are served thin. What do I mean? The bowl it’s served in shouldn’t be deeper than a few centimetres. A bigger surface area, and a shallower depth = a better balance of crispy burnt sugar, and delicious vanilla-flavoured custard. As for the words? They mean burnt cream.

6. croissant
Pronunciation: kruh-sawn
Français fact: Ever noticed this famous French pastry looks like a crescent moon? It’s not by accident: the word croissant has multiple meanings, the most obvious being “crescent” – and trust me when I say, a good one is hard to find! The best have a buttery richness; aren’t chewy; are wonderfully flaky on the outside; and moist on the inside.

7. escargot
Pronunciation: s-car-go
Français fact: Yes, the French eat snails – but only specific varieties are fit for consumption. The most popular way it’s served, is with pesto and garlic. They are a bit rubbery and take a while to break down while chewing, so if you’re faint of heart, beware!

8. foie gras
Pronunciation: fwua grah
Français fact: It sounds fancy, but it means fatty liver. Not as nice in English, I know. While the way foie gras is made has been an animal rights issue for decades (duck and geese are force-fed to make it), it remains a staple on fine dining menus all over the world. My illustration above shows two of the most common ways it’s eaten: cold as a pâté (similar to a block of butter), or hot (fried) in its original form.

9. mille-feuille
Pronunciation: meal-fuy
Français fact: A “thousand layers” is that crispy, flaky dessert where many, many layers of thin puff pastry sheets alternate between layers of cream. It’s often topped with sugar icing and is totally irresistible.

10. petits fours
Pronunciation: puh-tee-foor
Français fact: Petits fours are very similar to amuses-bouches, except that they come at the end of the meal. Petit four means little oven. Is that cute, or what?

11. salade niçoise
Pronunciation: salahd knee swaz
Français fact: Nice (pronounce “niece”) is a wonderful coastal town in south-eastern France, and its culinary style is typically Mediterranean. Salade niçoise has a lot of goodies: tuna, egg, green beans, olives, anchovies, onion, potatoes and tomatoes. A native of Nice is referred to as a niçois (male) or niçoise (female), in the same way someone from the US is called an American. It’s sad that most outside of France don’t know where this salad calls home, so next time you dig in: remember Nice and thank those French foodies for this classic tuna salad.

12. le sniff

Last, but not least, what’s up with that weird custom that goes on in French restaurants? You know, when the waiter pours a little bit of wine into a glass (but only one person on your table – usually the one paying, lol) and waits for you to smell it. The purpose is to make sure you’re satisfied with the quality before serving the whole table. It’s only really acceptable to reject the wine if it’s “corked” (bouchonné), which means the cork has contaminated the wine. This is something you can smell and taste immediately, hence the tradition. How do you know if it’s corked? It smells like cork, and will mess up the wine’s aroma, and flavour.

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Thank you for reading, if you’d like to see more educational posts like this one, please let me know in the comments 🙂 – and one more thing to say before signing out: VIVE LA FRANCE!

Bakker x

FU LU SHOU

Living in Hong Kong is never short of surprises. Last week, I was lucky enough to be invited to a media preview for FU LU SHOU, a new bar-slash-resto perched on a hidden Hollywood Road balcony.After locating 31 Hollywood Road (opposite the Soho escalator), and one old-school lift, we arrived to Fu Lu Shou – which despite being in soft-opening phase – got more than respectably busy during the evening.Apart from its local-inspired drinks (like the rum-based Typhoon No.8 cocktail) and fairly traditional Cantonese fare, Fu Lu Shou‘s main pulls are its cosy balcony and fantastic street-art mural.Canto touches are everywhere, and we dig it! So, get ready as we dig into my favourites of the evening…JOH SUN: What better name for this spicy punch of a cocktail, than Joh Sun, which means ‘good morning’. With tropical notes of ginger, lemongrass, kaffir lime, lemon and chilli, this vodka-based concoction is the stuff of dreams.Next was a series of entrees, all of which charmed us bloggers and writers. In particular, the giant siu mai – which is exactly what it sounds like. The texture and flavours were more intense and delicate than a regular sized dumpling, and we were glad – because this nuclear-looking monstrosity had the potential of falling flat. It didn’t 🙂

Next, we lept into their honey-covered deep fried shrimp. Great combination: simple, sweet and succulent. And a nice change from the stereotypical sweet-and-sour sauce combo.We’ll skip over the main dishes that were sampled, because in our opinion they still need some fine-tuning with intensity of flavouring (fair enough, for a soft-opening phase!), but we will share the awesome deep fried tofu with you.

Every tofu-lover’s fantasy, this perfect bar snack combines the soft and bland, with crispy bursts of garlic, chili and herbs. Encased in a deep fried shell? Bring it on!!!!!!

Bakker x

Dessert Wars: Mott 32

It’s time for round 2 of Dessert Wars! This time we feature Mott 32, the new stylish Chinese culinary complex in the basement of the Standard Chartered bank building.

Mott 32’s grand opening was a madhouse with about two thousand guests in attendance. And, the couple of times I’ve been back to eat, it’s been well patronised.

Before skipping right to the dessert, below is a little sample of what I tried… including their signature Peking Duck, and pork shaomai with a lovely quail egg in the middle!So who are the contenders for this edition’s dessert war?First, a nod to classical Chinese with an osmanthus and goji berry (or wolfberry) jelly called Mott’s Amber, and…

Second, a bit of international departure, with a green tea chocolate-coated disc of soft chocolate mousse.Our winner is: the green tea chocolate mousse! This dessert, served cool, is also topped with sesame nuts – a nice addition to its smooth chocolate and macha flavours.

While jelly-lovers will appreciate the delicate flavours and texture of the amber jelly, it’s a more subdued – and perhaps acquired taste…

For a sure winner, go with the green tea treat.

Bakker x

Beef & Liberty : Guilty Pleasures

It’s a rainy, comfort-food kind of Saturday in Hong Kong, and it’s the perfect time to write up my recent visit to Beef & Liberty, a Wan Chai burger restaurant that is all about guilty pleasures.Beef & Liberty serves grassfed beef raised the old fashioned way – but there’s a lot more decadence on the menu than just the good burgers.There’s only three appetisers to choose from (corn cobbler; fried chicken; and ribs) and it’s a wise move. Instead of offering more appetisers just for variety’s sake, the focus on just three means improved quality. And when we opted for the two meat options, this was certainly the case.The chicken wings packed a punch of crisp and flavour – with a killer batter. My entree favourite, though, was the barbecued pork ribs which had the kind of tenderness and sticky sweet glaze that makes pigging out a pure delight.When it came to burger time, I was attracted to the burgers on the novelty side of things.

First, a green chili cheese burger with jalapeno relish; and second, a vegetarian felafel burger.Between pan fried burger brioches that boast a slightly sweet taste, the beef and felafel were very nicely done in their own right.

The beef was perfectly cooked at medium-rare, and a healthy splash of spice coming through the green chili and jalapeno was a fiery yet refreshing complement.

Meanwhile, boasting a rich and creamy textured filling, the felafel patty was crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. And to tie up the heady middle eastern taste? A side of cooling harissa yoghurt.Last and definitely not least, came our ultra decadent dessert: a REAL-life cookie and cream.While I’ve ‘tried’ this flavour countless times in ice-creams and chocolates, to experience the homemade cream poured over a molten, pan-baked cookie was on another (incredibly sweet-toothed) level.

Think: soft cookie dough with large chunks of melted chocolate chips, topped blended with rich and smooth cream, melting into one another in an explosion of sweetness…If that doesn’t tempt you, I don’t know what will…

Bakker x

 

Dessert Wars: Three Monkeys

Welcome to Volume 1 of Dessert Wars, where I face-off one dessert against another at hot spots around town.

Three Monkeys is my first stop.The cosy Hollywood Road haunt primarily serves yakitori (grilled skewers), as well as spirits and chic cocktails – which makes this spot great not only for dinner but late night snacks as well.After a slew of savoury skewers and a couple of cocktails, it was time to dig into dessert. And the obvious choice for this edition of Dessert Wars was the Warabi-Mochi and Affogato.Both desserts have one thing in common: they are simple and well-known, making it very important to serve it well.

The night’s first contender, the Affogato, was done just right. Made-to-order, it was served at an optimally hot temperature, gently melting the hazelnut-like scoop of gelato within. Any coffee lover’s ideal dessert but still a little creativity here could have spiced things up a great deal (e.g. some kind of added shavings or sprinkles?).The winner for me was the Warabi-Mochi, although my friends both preferred the Affogato. Perhaps it was a matter of preference, or acquired taste, but trust me when I say: anyone who likes mochi will be delighted with this little bowl of heaven.

Made with fern leaf flour (instead of regular mochi which is made with rice flour) warabimochi boasts an incredibly smooth and slippery texture. Biting through, however, the warabimochi retains a richness and elasticity that merges into the various condiments added on top.

These include kinako powder, and matcha powder (green tea) as well as a hearty dollop of sweet red beans in the centre. It’s a Japanese flavour combo that’s classic and well-loved.

Elegant, simple and delicious! A clear winner…Bakker x