BBITES in Kota Kinabalu

HI EVERYONE! I’m finally back with my Malaysia holiday update. If you’re new to the site, yes this is a Hong Kong food blog (most of the time) – but I also love to blog about my travels and exotic overseas food every now and then, as well! 🙂

So, without further ado… let’s get ready to makan! (that means eat in Malaysian.)Kota Kinabalu, affectionately referred to as “KK” is the capital city of Sabah, a geographically diverse area of Eastern Borneo. And when I say geographically diverse, I’m not kidding: in the space of one day, you can go from the beach all the way to freezing cold at over 4000m altitude!After arriving at the ghostly quiet KK Intl. Airport, we picked up some much-needed tourist info and set out to buy supplies for our upcoming climb up Mount Kinabalu.After this strenuous exercise, my companions and I left the supermarket/shopping mall in dire need of some exciting local sights and flavours…Located on the main coastal strip, KK’s fish market is bustling with locals, tourists, vendors and flanked all the while by restaurants that serve up the fresh catch in a variety of styles, very much like Sai Kung in Hong Kong.To accompany our megalodon – I mean snapper – we naturally ordered classic Malaysian sides: nasi goreng (fried rice) and kang kung belacan (water spinach). PRO TIP: eat everything with generous amouts of Malaysian chili sauce: sambal.In Malaysia, it is custom to eat with your right hand (left hand is rude) so each table has some form of wash basin so that patrons can clean up before digging in.

And now, presenting the massive snapper that had so much meat we couldn’t even finish the leftovers for breakfast…Grilled with a spicy marinade, this snapper (and all the fresh seafood caught off of Borneo) was full of flavour with an almost chicken-like robust texture.The following day we woke early to begin the climb to Mount Kinabalu peak – the non-culinary highlight of our trip to Malaysia.While the markets, hotels and city centre of KK are on the coast, it takes a few hours drive to reach the start of Mount Kinabalu’s trail head.

This was by far the longest and most challenging hike I’ve ever done, but porters and local guides (who must accompany climbers by law) can sprint up and down like it’s a piece of cake – sometimes carrying over 40kg!!!!!!!As you go and up down the mountain, porters pass you all the time – since the inn sitting on the mountainside before the final summit has no access roads, and everything must be carried up manually. Truly impressive.Although Laban Rata has no running hot water or heating system, I was the happiest camper imaginable to snuggle into my creaking bunk bed to restore my energy before the 3AM final ascent!Breakfast ^ before climbing to the summit in time for sunrise 🙂 What an amazing feeling being at the top (apart from freezing my butt off!). The climb down after the sun meant that we could now see the gorgeous yet desolate rock formations at the summit – which earlier were covered in darkness.After returning to Laban Rata to celebrate with some bubbly apple juice (bringing up real champagne didn’t strike me as a good idea), we began the long journey back to KK and our final market/food experience.For our last night in KK, we browsed the central market (separate from fish market) and decided on more grilled seafood after trying snacks like satay ayam and kerupuk.Among the highlights were mud crab and squid. Warning: delicious photos ahead.Fatty, tender yet crisp with a melty explosion of flavour, the grilled squid rocked my world with a lightly sweet tomato/chili sauce.

After dinner, a “quick” stop to the local bar, and the rest is history!Thanks for reading and stay tuned for my next post, which will be a 100% certified Hong Kong food story 🙂

Bakker x

Coffee Culture @ Nespresso

It was sometime around the year 2000 when my family purchased its first Nespresso machine. More than a decade and many capsules later, I find myself in Nespresso’s IFC branch last week, learning more about their unique coffee culture.

Left: Nespresso has introduced recycling schemes (including simultaneous delivery of new/collection of used capsules at clients’ homes and collection points at Nespresso branches) to address the disposable, single-use nature of their capsules. Right: A coffee recipe incorporating a Chinese dessert favourite: tapioca.

Nespresso, as its name suggests, is all about Espresso coffees. With the mission of providing easily brewed gourmet coffee to consumers, Nespresso offers a permanent collection of their signature capsules (known as the 16 Grand Crus) as well as seasonal varieties (3 limited edition series per year) which can be enjoyed using a Nespresso machine.

The Grand Crus, this term being borrowed from wine terminology, serve as the basis for subsequent limited edition series, thus forming the core of the Nespresso brand.

The black book pictured above is My Nespresso – Coffee Cuisine, a cookbook featuring recipes created exclusively for, and using Nespresso capsules by some of top Hong Kong’s top chefs.

The cookbook is noteworthy because it is the first of its kind worldwide for the brand but also because its availability illustrates another aspect of Nespresso’s culture. Coffee Cuisine can’t be bought; it is a limited edition book that Nespresso Club Members can request, free of charge, while stocks last. How to become a club member? You guessed it… by buying your very first Nespresso machine.

One of the chefs whose recipes were featured in Coffee Cuisine is Chef Esther Sham. In an email interview, I asked Esther (thanks, Esther! :)) about her personal coffee habits, as well as her creative process in the development of her four Nespresso recipes:

– Coffee French Toastie
– Frozen Coffee Granola Parfait
– Coffee Rice Burger
– Fortissio Lungo Osso Bucco

Bakker’s Bites (BBITES): What was your first reaction when Nespresso approached you for Coffee Cuisine? 

Chef Esther Sham (C.E.S): I was extremely excited as I’m a huge coffee lover, but I hadn’t gotten to cook anything with coffee before. There are some savory and many sweet recipes existing already, but I was deteremined to create something original, therefore it was quite challenging and fun at the same time.

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BBITES: Prior to this, what was your relationship with coffee in your cooking and on a daily basis?

C.E.S.: Coffee is a MUST for me everyday. In fact, the first thing I do in the morning is to turn on my coffee machine… brushing my teeth only comes second. As mentioned in the last question, I had never cooked anything with coffee, however, I have a habit of dipping my bread into my coffee, which led me to create the “Coffee French Toastie”.

BBITES: Has your relationship with coffee changed since your collaboration with Nespresso? 

C.E.S.: I was a coffee drinker (an outsider) before. Now I feel like more like a coffee user (an insider).

Fortissio Lungo – from Nespresso’s Grand Cru collection

BBITES: What qualities in the Fortissio Lungo inspired you to use it in the Osso Bucco recipe?

C.E.S.: Fortissio has a character of dark roasted coffee, which is robust and has a hint of bitterness. Osso Bucco itself is a very strong flavored and textured meat, therefore they make a perfect match as they can compliment each other instead of one overtaking the others’ flavor.

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BBITES: Do you think coffee is better used in sweet or savory recipes? Why? 

C.E.S.: It could be great in both, if handled and chosen correctly. What I have learnt from working with Nespresso this time is, there really is no one kind of coffee for all recipes as each coffee has its own distinctive character. When I was creating the recipes, first I had the big picture of the dish first, then the second thing was to find the perfect capsule for that particular dish. It took many trials before I was able to finalize the recipes.

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BBITES: If it were your last coffee ever, what would you have?

C.E.S.: 100% Kona (long black)

While Coffee Cuisine makes use of the 16 Grand Crus, today – November 12th – marks the official release of Nespresso’s annual Christmas collection: Variations.

This year’s Variations are Macadamia Nut, Hazelnut and Coconut. It was a pleasure to try all three, but I went particularly nuts (pun intended) for the Coconut flavour.

All three are built on the Livanto – Grand Cru, chosen, as I was told, for its smoothness and caramel qualities to match the Macadamia, Hazelnut and Coconut flavours.

I really enjoyed trying all three Variations… from the fun capsule-to-coffee machine process; to watching the gradients of colour in the coffee glide as the espresso settles; to my delight at the nuts’ distinctive aromas wafting from the hot, freshly brewed cups.

Adding milk bumps up the smooth, caramel flavours of the 2012 Variations. If you get round to trying, I recommend drinking some of the espresso pure before adding milk (and sugar, if you have a sweet tooth) for a new experience half way through.

As I mentioned before, Coconut was my favourite, reminding me of Bounty Chocolate bars and coconut macaroons; there’s something exciting and satisfying about recognising a familiar flavour in an unorthodox format.

While my parents are happily using their Nespresso machine overseas (indulging in daily Ristrettos, their preferred Grand Cru), my flat remains Nespresso-less, for the time being.

But if you are, as I am, considering joining the Club in the near future – now is a good time as any: from November 10th to December 31st, buyers can enjoy HK$300 off any machine, including the new space-saving U Machine (pictured below).

So,are you tempted? I know I am…

Bakker x

 

A Sunday in… Wan Chai

I spent this past Sunday with friend and fellow food freak, Natasha. She invited me to go with her to spin class at Fitness First, followed by lunch in the area.

After one of the longest hours of my life, I left spin class doubting whether I would have the guts to come again – but feeling great, nevertheless.

Our first stop was at YuYu Sushi. I’m always up to try out a new sushi/Japanese restaurant, because I think there’s a lot of quality/price variety in Hong Kong since it’s such a popular cuisine out here.

The staff here were friendly and accommodating, allowing us to make small changes to the Lunch Sets without any confusion or complaints.

I ordered a Lunch Set with your typical Sweet Shrimp/Salmon/Yellow Fin/Scallop/Octopus Sushi combo that came with Beef Udon, Miso Soup and Salad sides.

I completely forgot to take a photo of the sushi platter, but no matter – it was really the sides that I was impressed with at YuYu!

Normally, for a Lunch Set in your typical HK Sushi joint, the sides are mediocre. A miso soup will normally be packet-made with a few cubes of tofu and small squares of seaweed floating in it.

At YuYu, I was thrilled to find numerous goodies waiting for me in the miso soup: a tender and fatty chunk of salmon; shitake mushroom; blanched cabbage; enoki mushrooms; tofu; and onion!! Now, that’s more like it!

When the waiter set down my Beef Udon, I was immediately taken aback… Usually, a Beef Udon side dish will be small; this bowl was big enough to be its own meal!

Not only that, the beef was served rare – which many other sushi restaurants neglect to do – which allowed me to enjoy the excellent flavour and texture longer, before the soup slowly cooked the meat.

Natasha ordered a Salmon/Urchin sashimi rice, but opted to change the urchins to more salmon making this, as she proclaimed, “salmon on salmon”. All was fresh on a bed of irresistible Japanese rice.

Although our lunch consisted of large portions, luckily the gym had made us extra hungry, leaving a little room for a sweet treat…

For out last stop, we went to one of Hong Kong’s best cupcake shops: Sift. Although, quite annoyingly, there is no seating area inside Sift (eating on the street is unpleasant in summer weather, so we ended up standing awkwardly inside the shop), the cupcakes definitely made up for it.

There are enough choices to make you dizzy, so in the end I selected a Lemon Cupcake for myself and Natasha got a Coconut Cupcake: two simple, straightforward flavours to test.

Although we ended up splitting them half-and-half to try more, I ended up preferring my choice; and Natasha preferred hers.

Bakker’s Choice: Lemon Cupcake
The cupcake body had a gentle lemon taste with each bite. Despite being moist and buttery, this cupcake was much lighter than the cupcake I tried in the States last summer. Topping the cupcake was a sugary-gritty lemon vanilla buttercream icing. Mildly hardened after setting, this type of icing is my favourite kind. The flavour brought memories back of my Mom’s homemade Lemon Meringue pie… perfection!

Natasha’s Choice: Coconut Cupcake
The icing here had a coconut flavoured cream cheese base: soft and smooth in texture to contrast with the crisp of the decorative and tasty coconut shavings. The sour quality of the cream cheese was paired nicely with its vanilla cake body.

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Although the idea of another spin class this coming Sunday terrifies me a bit, the fact that Wan Chai has these kinds of treats to offer within such short walking distance of one another, is a sign that I should probably keep at it!

I wonder where next Sunday take me…

Bakker x
p.s. check out my latest editorial shoot, for this week’s issue of Oriental Sunday‘s magazine supplement, More Magazine: