Fai Kee

Fai Kee (馬灣輝記飯店)
馬灣大街村中211及214號地下

Steamed baby pork ribs with shrimp paste (蝦醬蒸排骨), stir-fried eggplant with batter-fried grouper (鹹魚茄子石斑塊). Ma Wan, a distant island away from the hustle-bustle of Hong Kong's center city, was a fishing village before the plan for Hong Kong's new airport back in the 90s mandated the construction of a long suspension bridge that connects it with the center city. That long suspension bridge, now 8th longest in the world, ends at Ma Wan. The fishing village of Ma Wan, then without any meaningful transportation to it, suddenly became very accessible. New residential development sprouted up, including "Park Island", the all high-rise, 32-building residential behemoth that literally introduced a new city into this tiny fishing village. Ma Wan is now a bustling district with all the amenities of a modern metropolis, but some classic gems remain, including Fai Kee, a traditional Cantonese joint serving up home-style cooking at affordable prices. Fai Kee uses liberally salted fish and shrimp paste, two of the condiment staples in Hong Kong's fishing villages of the yesteryear. Fai Kee's shrimp paste, unlike the lame ones that consumers can find at supermarkets all over center city, erupts with intense, almost pungent, flavors of the sea. One could almost imagine the copious amount of shrimp shells and shrimp juices used to render that beautiful, almost provocatively feisty paste. While the imagery of the bucolic fishing village has long been punctuated by the unstoppable locomotion that is economic development, tidbits of the yesteryear endure on.

Rating: 2 stars to the steamed pork ribs with shrimp paste.

Flavor Tang

Flavor Tang
Beijing Capital International Airport Terminal 3
Beijing, China

Braised yellow croaker in dried whole red chili and soy sauce.

Morning snack near the Sinnonhyeon bus station

Food stall next to the Sinnonhyeon bus station
Seoul, South Korea

Freshly scrambled eggs, melted cheese and ketchup, between two slices of warm, fluffy toast. What more can one ask for in a rainy morning at 8am?

A random walk in 810 Yeoksamdong, Gangnam Style

Jjinmandu (Korean steamed dumplings), seonji haejangguk (coagulated ox blood, in soup), nakji bokkeum (chopped octopus with sausages and bean sprouts), sundae (stew with beef intestines and blood sausage), naengmyeon (cold noodles with slices of radish and pear).

[caption id="attachment_2026" align="alignnone" width="529"] Jjinmandu (Korean steamed dumplings).[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2027" align="alignnone" width="529"] Seonji haejangguk (coagulated ox blood, in soup).[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2028" align="alignnone" width="529"] Nakji bokkeum (chopped octopus with sausages and bean sprouts).[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2029" align="alignnone" width="529"] Sundae (stew with beef intestines and blood sausage).[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2030" align="alignnone" width="529"] Naengmyeon (cold noodles with slices of radish and pear).[/caption]

A random walk down the streets of Guiyang

Batons of deep-fried eggplant with fried fermented soya beans; an assortment of preserved meats; and vegetables braised in red chili peppers, at Yi Ding Xuan (壹鼎軒). Changwang noodles (腸旺面), with fried pork belly cubes and marinated egg. Glutinous rice with soya beans and brown sugar (黃粑).

The changwang noodles, a staple food in Guiyang, can be found on every street in the city. The basic ingredients are pig intestines, pig blood, chili oil, and egg noodles. To make the egg noodles, fresh farm eggs and water are mixed with high-gluten flour to yield a malleable dough, which is then pressed, folded and then hand-cut into shreds of noodles. To properly cook the noodles, the starch is blanched and shocked in a cold water bath. Just before serving, the noodles return to hot soup with chili oil, blanched intestine pieces and cooked blood curds. Optional pieces of fried pork belly cubes and soy sauce-marinated egg typically enter the fray to contribute sizzle. The resulting bowl of noodles was a symphony of harmony, with the freshness of the piggy bits fully accentuated by the chili oils, while the pork belly cubes and egg provided added colors and textures to the concoction. The noodles got bite but was not overly chewy, and despite the masculine strength of the chili oil, the egg in the noodles shone through. Local folks typically drop a healthy dose of black vinegar into the soup to enliven the palate even further. I have been told there are better joints for these types of noodles, though I have also been told that everyone in Guiyang has their favorite noodle joint, and that no one restaurant stands out objectively above the rest. In any case, at less than 1 USD a bowl, including all the options, this is definitely the best thing money can buy in this part of China.

Rating: 3 stars to the changwang noodles.

[caption id="attachment_2020" align="alignnone" width="529"] Batons of deep-fried eggplant with fried fermented soya beans.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2021" align="alignnone" width="529"] An assortment of preserved meats (臘肉).[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2022" align="alignnone" width="529"] Vegetables braised in red chili peppers.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2023" align="alignnone" width="529"] Changwang noodles (腸旺面), with fried pork belly cubes and marinated egg.[/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="529"] Glutinous rice with soya beans and brown sugar (黃粑).[/caption]

Zhe Jiang Heen

Zhe Jiang Heen
2/F & 3/F, Kiu Fu Commercial Building
300-306 Lockhart Road, Wan Chai
Hong Kong

Chinese pickled cucumbers in chili vinegar, smoked eggs, pig's feet with rice wine, sweet peas, spring onion bread, xiao long bao, pan-fried dumplings, deep fried dumplings with red beans and yellow sugar. Smoked eggs effused with a pinch of bacon-y sweetness. The yolks were cooked to perfection: just firm enough at the crust, and runny at the center. The colors of the yolk revealed the egg's freshness, which came to the fore as the freshness of the runny yolk infiltrated the palate. The rest of the meal was good, though nowhere near the spectacle that was the egg.

Rating: 2 stars to the smoked eggs.