Wineshark HK Restaurant Review - Carrianna Chiu Chow Restaurant 佳寧娜潮州菜

This Chiu Chow restaurant is located very near my office, but frankly I have seldom come here for lunch. Today we chose here for our weekly family dinner, to experience some of the more traditional Chiu Chow dishes. The decor of the restaurant is pretty traditional in style, with a fairly large table which the five of us could sit comfortably for our meal.

To start we had the White Pepper Pig Stomach Pickles Soup ($128). This standard portion is good for five of us, with each having a full bowl. The white pepper note is not as strong as what I would prefer, but at least it was served steaming hot. The pickles are decent in taste, with the pig stomach quite tender on the texture.

Next we had the other traditional dish: Deep-fried Shrimp and Crab Ball ($128). There are four pieces each, and both tasted good. There were plenty of shrimp and crab meat in the ball so you would not feel you were just eating the starch. Seasoned well too. I personally like the crab ball more but my parents prefer the shrimp ones.

Then we had another traditional and commonly seen dish: Assorted Marinated Delicacies ($160), which included goose, pig ear, egg and tofu. The marinated sauce is decent and of proper saltiness. I just think there were not sufficient choices in this dish, and if you would like to have more goose or other things like pork or squid it might be better to order the specific ones.

My mother had particularly requested for two dishes. The first one was Deep-fried Boneless Duck with Taro ($138). Beautifully made, the 'skin' was a deep-fried taro which you found in Cantonese style deep-fried taro dumpling. Underneath is a piece of boneless duck, and in between a paste of taro with some spring onion. It was really tasty and was my favorite in the evening.

The other dish my mother ordered was Chiu Chow Style Sponge Gourd Pancake ($118). This one was also good in taste, with the pastry thin and crispy on the side. The sponge gourd was cut into thin strips and did not have the vegetal notes. On top there was some peanuts scattered which gave extra bite. Adding a bit of fish sauce really brought the dish to another level. Another dish I would recommend.

We also had the Mixed Vegetable in Fish Broth ($108). Nothing fancy, the broth was certainly rich in taste, and the mixed vegetable had absorbed the flavors.

Then we had the Pan-fried Noodle with Sugar and Vinegar ($128), another Chiu Chow specialty. The surface of the noodle was crispy, while the noodle was quite moist. Adding the vinegar and sugar brought a nice combination of flavors which is the signature of this dish. Another of my favorites.

Finally we had some dessert, with me going for Coconut Milk Sago ($42), while my wife and mother decided to have the Green Beans with Ginkgo ($45) and Green Beans with Water Chestnut Cubes ($45). Not too sweet, the dessert had a good bite and it was a nice conclusion to our dinner.

The service overall was decent, and we could see the restaurant is very popular, as essentially all the tables and private rooms were occupied. Considering the location of this restaurant is not exactly 'convenient' and connected to the main shopping or residential area, it had a good patronage. The bill on the night was $1249, which was very reasonable and good value. 

Wineshark Cooking Class - Pork Chop Cafe de Paris

Ingredients (for 4):

• Pork Chop - 4
• Onion finely - 50 g
• Garlic - 50 g
• Celery - 25 g
• Capers - 25 g
• Anchovy - 1 small can
• Thyme - 1/2 tsp
• Oregano - 1/2 tsp
• Paprika - 1/4 tsp
• Maggi - 1/2 tbsp
• Curry powder - 1/2 tsp
• Shallot finely - 50 g
• Worchestershire sauce - 1/2 tbsp
• Horseradish - 1/2 tsp
• Butter - 200 g
• Brandy - 1/2 tsp
• Egg - 2
• Parsley finely - 1/4 tsp

Procedures:

1. Heat the pan with butter, then saute the onion till it turns yellow. Then remove.

2. Mix all the ingredients together, whisk well.

3. Put the pork chop on baking tray, then cover with the paste. Bake in oven pre-heated at 200 deg C.

Wineshark Cooking Class - Pumpkin Soup with Chicken

Ingredients (for 4):

• Pumpkin - 680 g
• Butter - 30 g
• Onion - 180 g
• Chicken stock - 1 litre
• Marjoram - 1 tsp
• Diced chicken - 120 g
• Diced pumpkin - 120 g
• Ground nutmeg - dashes
• Salt - 1 tsp
• White pepper powder - dashes
• Parsley - 1 tsp

Procedures:

1. Peel the pumpkin and remove the seeds. Then cut into cubes.

2. Cut the chicken breast into cubes. Then blanch in boiling water for a short while, adding some salt.

3. Cook some of the pumpkin cubes in boiling water, then take it out after a short while.

4. Shred the onion.

5. Heat the pot with some butter, then add in the shredded onion to cook for a while until softened.

6. Add the pumpkin in, and cook for another short while.

7. Add the chicken stock and let it boil for about 30 minutes.

8. Blend the soup after cooling it down.

9. Add the other ingredients (diced chicken, pumpkin), season with salt, white pepper powder, nutmeg and marjoram. 

10. Serve with some chopped parsley on top for decoration.

Wineshark Cooking Class - Soup Basic Style

Ingredients (for 4):

• Chicken - 1
• Onion - 1
• Carrot - 1
• Celery - 3 stalks
• Black pepper corns - 15 
• Bay leaves - 2

Procedures:

1. Cut the chicken up into the different portions, including wings, thighs, breast and shell. Keep the thighs and breast for other use.

2. Boil the chicken shell and wings together in water. Then remove for a short while.

3. Chop the vegetable into pieces.

4. Put all ingredients in a pot and bring to a boil. Then turn down the heat and let it boil for 2 hours.

5. Filter the soup using a clean cloth.. 

Wineshark HK Restaurant Review - AMMO

This restaurant is located in the heritage site of a explosive compound-turned Asia Society. Its name stands for Asia, Modern, Museum and Original, with a really nice decor featuring a lot of copper elements, and the interior design is contemporary, but looking out the window you would see the dense trees giving an interesting contrast in scenery.

Seated at the window side at a nice designer table and a comfortable sofa seat, we ordered a cocktail to start. I had the Smoky Bulb ($120) while my wife had the Nojito ($85). The salmon-colored cocktail is concocted from Campari, grapefruit juice and gin, while putting in a funny bulb-shaped container, with oak wood smoke adding hints of roasted nuts to the cocktail. There are some spicy chips provided to accompany the drink. Quite innovative, but the portion of the cocktail is simply too small and making me feel a bit cheated.

For starter we had 36 Month Casalba Pata Negra Ham ($198). The ham was nice, rich in flavors with a good balance of fat and flesh, permeating great taste. The portion was quite generous too. A good starter and even though this has nothing to do with the chef's skills.

Then we had two pasta. First was 'Korayaki' Style King Crab Ravioli ($268). Freshly made, the ravioli had a nice filling of king crab meat, offering a good bite on the skin while the inside was fresh and full of flavors. The sauce was prepared similar to lobster bisque with a rich and intense taste, and the small amount of crab roe put on top giving both a nice color and crunchy texture. A nice pasta in all standards.

The second pasta was Carabineros Red Prawn Linguine ($368). The size of the red prawn was truly large, although there was only one for the whole dish. The taste was nice, but compared with the ravioli it was less appealing on appearance or complexity. The linguine was slightly under-cooked for me.

For the main dish we just had one to share. The Acqua Pazza with Japanese Fresh Fish ($288). The staff explained to us that the stock was prepared using the clams and seafood, reduced to intensify the flavors, with some nice fresh fat clams and a fillet of snapper nicely cooked. The sauce was very sweet and full of the essence from the sea, with some small beans-like pasta which I did not know the name. I like this dish the most among all of the ones we ordered.

For dessert I had Caramelized Apple Tart with Madagascar Vanilla Gelato ($98) while my wife had the Matcha Tiramisu ($98). The apple tart was decent, quite beautifully put together, but the tart was in fact a puff pastry which was quite misleading and certainly much simpler to prepare. The slices of apple are very thin and small, with the cinnamon note dominated and there was not much apple characters that I could find. A bit disappointing.

With a bottle of water, the total bill on the night was $1772. Overall the price was on the high side but the environment and decor was certainly worth part of what we are paying for. The location is also rather seclusive and if you want to enjoy some quiet time this might be a good place to visit. 

Wineshark Cooking Class - Deep-fried Sesame Balls 笑口棗

Ingredients (for 4):

• Sugar - 3/4 cup
• Water - 1/2 cup
• Flour - 3 cups
• Baking powder - 1.5 tsp
• Soda powder - 1/4 tsp
• Egg - 1
• Oil - 1.5 tbsp
• Sesame - 1/2 cup

Procedures:

1. Heat the sugar and water together to create the syrup. Cool it down.

2. Sieve the flour, then add baking powder and soda powder. In the middle create a hole and pour in the egg and oil. 

3. Gradually add in the syrup and continue to mix in the flour. 

4. Knead the dough and wrap in a film and let it rest for 15 minutes.

5. Cut the dough in two, then roll and cut into small pieces. Roll into balls.

6. Coat the balls with sesame.

7. Heat the oil at high temperature, then turn to low-medium heat. Put half of the balls in and deep-fry.

8. When the balls turn golden-brown, remove and place on kitchen paper. 

Wineshark Cooking Class - Stir-fried Noodle with Special Soy Sauce 豉油王炒麵

Ingredients (for 4):

• Chinese egg noodle - 270 g
• Bean sprout - 150 g
• Chinese chives - 75 g
• Onion - 1
• Soy sauce - 1 tbsp
• Dark soy sauce - 1.5 tbsp
• Oyster sauce - 1 tbsp
• Sugar - 1/2 tsp
• Salt - 1/2 tsp

Procedures:

1. Put the egg noodle in a pot of boiling water, and cook for about 2 minutes.

2. Remove the noodle, drip dry and mix with 2 tbsp of oil. Scatter well.

3. Mix the soy sauce, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce and sugar.

4. Cut the chives into sections of 6 cm.

5. Cut the onion into shreds.

6. Heat the wok with 2 tbsp of oil, then stir-fry the onion until softened.

7. Add the chives and bean sprout, season with salt. Remove.

8. Put the noodle into the wok and stir-fry.

9. Add the sauce and mix well.

10. Add the vegetable and mix well.