Sunday, November 05, 2006

Part III - Sweet Endings

Okay, I'm finally down to the last part of my HK eating 'journey'. What would be better than to end it off with desserts?

You simply cannot go to Hongkong and leave without eating Tong Shui (meaning sweet soups). Okay, to me HK means Dim Dum, Siu Ngor and Tong Shui *grin*. In HK, people like to have a bowl of Tong Shui, which can be made from sesame seeds, walnuts, almonds, egg, milk to fruits like mangoes or papaya (paw paw). There is the belief that eating Tong Shui is beneficial to health, eg walnuts are supposed to be good for the brains, while black sesame seeds nourish the kidneys, or simply to achieve a ‘cooling effect’ for the body.

Let me walk you though my 'sweet notes'.

This Tong Shui shop is on my list each time I visit HK. It may not have a fanciful menu like the one next door, but the earnest shop owners produces some top notch conforting sweet soups.

This is Chilled Steamed Egg Custard. Sometimes this type of custards can have a overwhelming ‘eggy’ taste, but this does not. Instead it is very fragrant and smooth.

The following is a new addition to the menu. Interesting dollop of black in the middle of a white ‘ocean’.

This is one Tong Shui which impressed me the most this time. It is actually Chilled Steamed Milk Custard with Black Sesame Paste(cream). Yes, that black spot is Black Sesame Paste. What amazes me is the way they managed to keep the sesame paste in liquid form while the surrounding milk custard is solid. Digging my spoon into it resulted in an ‘avalanche’ effect:

We returned to the shop the next day(we loved it too much!), where we had some tropical fruit desserts. The first is Mango with Pomelo & Sago. It is essentially a thick ‘soup’ of mango puree, mango cubes, pearl sago with a dash of pomelo sacs. As you bite into the pomelo, the slight tartness is quickly neutralized by the sweetness of the mangoes. Heavenly!

Mango pudding is commonly available, even in Singapore. Here the pudding is served with a dash of evaporated milk.

It is less sweet than the ones I’ve had before, and the milk added a slight creaminess to the pudding, very refreshing.

On our last night in HK, after dinner, we were circling the Ladies Market area, looking ‘frantically’ for a shop that sells fabulous melt-in-the-mouth Tau Hua (sweet soyabean curd). We could not recall the exact location and hoped to find it based on memory. Alas, Lady Luck did not shine on us. Tired, and a little hungry from all that walking(okay, it’s just an excuse to eat), we were attracted by a dessert shop that ‘boasted’ a must-try durian cream dessert. Arh! Durian! In HK? Must-try!

This is the durian ‘pudding’ which the shop raved about. Durian pulp in a bowl of thinned-down cream, topped with pomelo(again), I think I still prefer the Durian Pengat from Merchant Court Hotel.

Being greedy, I also ordered the durian pastry. It consists of phyllo pastry encasing a filling of sponge cake and durian pulp. This is not bad, though I detect a faint taste of durian essence.

I’m coming to the end of my post, so bear with me. Just a few more pics of what I bought during my ‘peckish’ times.

Pai Pau – soft and fluffy sweet bread rolls from a bakery. A bread addict has to have her ‘fix’ :p

This is called Gai Dan Zai – loosely translated as little eggs. It’s made from a pancake/waffle batter poured into a special pan and cooked.

It’s fun to eat by picking and popping them into the mouth one by one.

Phew! It's another long post, hope you're still awake. It’s been a fun time eating in HK. Till my next craving comes, bye to the good food of HK.

18 comments:

Gracio said...

WOW!!!! Yea I totally agree, gg to HK means eating!! haha! I was telling hubby if he ever gets posted to HK, we shall migrate there instead! But too stressful there la for work, better to go there relax.. :P

Aiyo, all the desserts looks so delish lei!!!!! Now i drooling already, hope tmr at work wont keep thinking about ur posts on these, if not cant concentrate! haha... :P

Haiyo,I've got so much to comment lei,i love tong shui so much that I can take 5bowls of different flavours at one go.mymy!!

I wanna go HK liao, next on my piority travel list. All other destinations can wait liao.. Haha!:P

Gracio said...

And oh, i 4got lei,i was thinking all these while whether U ate bread during ur trip and here u are posting it. haha!

Seems like great minds think alike ya? :) Glad to have u around!! :) HUgz!!

LittleHands said...

Wah! Yr trip so shiok, Angie. Lots of Yum Yum Yum! Where's the Tong Shui and the 'little egg' located? I didn't see the 'little egg' before. It sure looks yummy and cute!

^cherie said...

Angie, i drool till dry liao.. Lol!

Next time i go HK, i will come and bug u for all the shops/restaurants addresses which u have been raving about ok..;)

I SO wanna go HK now.. :P

Anonymous said...

I love dessert! Your mango pudding looks tempting. I often buy those "little eggs" at IMM. I love to munch them whenever I'm doing my groceries.

Unknown said...

Grace,

:D, to be honest I don't think I would like to live in HK, too stressful I think. Even weekday afternoon the streets are full of people walking, can be a bit overwhelming if you're not used to it. Yeah, good to go there to relax and eat :p

Jolene, long time no 'see' *wave wave*. The Tong Shui is in Kowloon, Parkes Street, it's called 'Jiu Ji Tian Pin'(in Chinese). The little eggs are commonly available in the little stalls along the streets, especially the area around the Ladies Market.

Sherie, come and bug me, no prob :p. Then I better go write down the addresses *oops*

D said...

All's well that ends well. Looks like you really had a blast in the Pearl of the Orient =D

Gattina Cheung said...

Angie,
I can't agree with you anymore, for "tong shui" doesn't need to go to the big fancy chain like "XXX Laoi Shan", many little shops their food is more appealing to me!
Oh that black dot in the white ocean is fantastic!!! I want to experiement it, hehee..
Sorry to "see" those durian treats sort of disappoint you, but any sweet made with fruit (esp durian), I think Singapore is much better on that.
Nothing better than you end this post with "little eggs", 101% very HK! I also bought its mould from Chan Zhi Kee last time!
Thank you so much for all these yummy fotos and write-up, every thing so beautiful!

Peony said...

the way u describe those food sure make me wish that I can try all of them now.
btw, out of curiosity, my time now is 9.52pm, r u in s'pore now ? cos your time of posting is 12.22 am ?

Unknown said...

Anne, these 'eggs' are sold at IMM? Hmm..must go search for them when I next go there, thanks for the info!

Yes D, it was indeed a wonderful time of eating :D

Gattina,
I've tried "XXX Laoi Shan", the 1st time I ate I thought it was very good, until I went to the little shops. And yes, would love to hear about your experimentations!
Agree, I shd reserve the 'King of Fruits' for our local makan places instead.
It's my pleasure to be able to help you 're-live' those memories :)

Peony, thanks :). Yup, I'm in S'pore, I posted this around midnight of Saturday, so should be the AM of Sunday morning?

Edith said...

alamak, i have soft spots for tong shui. Nearly all my favourites leh!

now you are giving a valid excuse to go there again.

Peony said...

aiya, like Blogger, my brain also doesn't seem to function properly at times :)

Unknown said...

Edith, :D, excuses excuses.

Peony, realized that Blogger seems to be getting more and more problematic, not sure why also....

LittleHands said...

Angie, I was at IMM today but I couldn't find the "Little Egg'. Hope you don't mind me asking Anne here whereabout is the stall hor :-)

Hi Anne, may I know whereabout is the 'Little Egg' stall in IMM? I walked around the food place also cannot find it. TIA.

Little Corner of Mine said...

Salivating on all the yummy Tong Shui, some I have never seen before even.

Hugbear said...

Angie, my DS saw your post on all the yummy food you tried in HK and he told me to bring him to HK for holiday so that he can EAT. LOL

Anonymous said...

The food looks awesome! I was hoping to see recipes for them .... oh well.... will have to stumble across them elsewhere one day :)

Unknown said...

Ching, yeah, some are really interesting.

LeeLee, Hk is a fantastic place for eating, LOL.

Thanis, unfortunately I don't know how to make any of them...