the Sushi Monster Marathon

I am now in competition with a fellow sushi monster… if I can claim title to that yet. Sushi monster refers to the number of plates one can polish off at a single sushi seating. The plate quantity I yet have to beat is 22. Maybe I will get there maybe I won’t. I prefer to take my slice of salmon sashimi, chopstick it in half, savour it, before sinking it into a perfect paste of wasabi and soya sauce and then eating it with every little bit of enjoyment. 

Yes this whole process has become a ritual.

My ritual continues with my quest to try pretty much every sushi restaurant in Hong Kong.

First stop: OIE Sushi

There are three chains around Hong Kong. I have been to two, several times, because it is probably the best sushi for the price you pay. You can train to be the next sushi monster for the competitive price of $60 - $150 per head (depending on the number of people you eat with!). 

During one great lunch hour rush I managed to stuff my face with an uni handroll, assorted tempura, freshly sliced salmon sashimi, California Sunshine Roll, fatty tuna sashimi, and hotategai sushi for just a mere HK$50!!! I did share this with 4 other people, however, I left Oie as one satisfied sushi monster.

I have to admit you MUST try this chain out. The service is good especially with the abundance of rice roasted green tea and freshly topped up pickled ginger with your salmon!

OIE Sushi Restaurant Locations

523 – 527 Hennessy Road, Basement, Continental Diamond Plaza, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong

Shop C – F, Ground floor Nice Garden, 513 Queens Road West, Hong Kong

10th Floor, King Wah Centre, 628 Nathan Road, Mong Kok, Kowloon, Hong Kong

a Peek Into My Recipe Book

I have just changed my blog around so it is much easier and nicer to look at! I hope you all like it better! The title image is actually the front cover of my recipe book - the one I have been compiling for several years now and will hopefully pick some of my favourites to post on here.

My aim is to make my blog taste as nice as the foods I post!

the New Found Onion Recipe

Simple dish for a quick Monday night dinner - it's fresh and light and made with my new love for shallots!

Ingredients:

6 - 8 shallots smashed

3 garlic cloves halved & smashed

2 big bunches of broccoli

400g of chickpeas

400g of butter beans

a really good handful of runner beans

a splash of dry white wine

oregano, salt & pepper 

Golden the garlic and shallots in a medium hot pot 'til you can smell the sweetness of the shallots. Then add the broccoli - lower heat and cover to sweat. Add the chickpeas and butter beans - cook for a bit longer and lastly throw in the runner beans with that wine. Cover for about 5 more minutes to absorb flavours and finish by stirring in the oregano, salt and pepper.

Nice with a slice of rye bread.

We’d rather have a bowl of Coco Pops…

This experiment goes out to all those single living coco pop creatures who on days alone-some opt for eating a big bowl of Coco Pops for dinner! At home. Alone.

I ate Coco Pops when I was a kid and it did take some acclimatization to sipping the chocolate turned milk at the very end of those crispy bubble crunches. Now when I moved to Hong Kong, I continued to eat these old school favourites but realized that they were not as tasty as I Had remembered them to be in Ireland. So I gave up eating them very promptly (also due to the large disliking of the replacement of fresh Irish cow-ness to the UHT milk imported from Oz).

So as it goes… same products supposedly same goodness you get no matter where in the world you are. I could start a very large conversation on the varying differences in Coco Pops between here and Ireland, Tomato sauce between the UK and the USA, Coke between here, South Africa and China, Milk between well…. No comparison when the cows actually eat green grass rather than plastic. The list goes on… 

So I will comment on my recent adventure into Coco Pop jungle. The sweet chocolatey smell still appears as you pop the cardboard flap! The crunchy, crispness is also there as I remembered with the soggy ness only creeping in at a low rate compared to other cereal favourites. I could not finish the usual childhood greediness of an 80g bowl, as the sugar standing at 38.7g per every 100g just about made my cheek muscles twitch every so often.

I will admit that I wont be grabbing another dinner with Coco the monkey anytime soon again. But most likely keep his picture in my kitchen for nostalgic purposes and for those random lazy lonely nights in!

I look forward to any comments on other foods that taste different out there!!!

You just have to do what the type tells you to do.

I have realised that food brings on conversations as type brings on a message. The topics just happen - it is almost as food prescribes the topic and as an eater you have to converse in what it feeds you.

Many people are brought up to finish what is on their plate but do not exercise this to a large extent. Nor do they exercise the gratefulness of having the food given to them. Last night I was pleased to find that this appreciation for what is given still does exist within this day - (with choices a plenty - we are allowed to be fussy). But amongst the chicken-cum-veggie green curry dished up in a graphically crafted bunny bowl, the conversation was led by someone who was troubled when a person dished up a meal he didn't like with items that he was so fond of (within the same bunny bowl of course). Of course, he said, I have to eat the food in front of me, this is my up bringing. Like much classic type that can be appreciated for all its flexibility and with standing, a meal cooked from the pure essence of gratefulness carries the same value.

Whilst the green curry went down well with a bottle of McWilliams 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon, compliments went to the chef who was in the corner feeling unappreciated for the effort of every detail he cooked up on his one hob stove.

Like all good type, it is not the maker of the style but how the style can be made - what you can do with those little letters to create something bigger - better.

Kudos to the maker of green curry.

P.s. The wine was by chance but it paired well!