Cha Xiu Bao

Claypot rice at Kwun Kee: The Proper Balance in Life

《列子 ﹣周穆王》

“周之尹氏大治產，其下趣役者，侵晨昏而弗息。有老役夫，筋力竭矣，而使之彌勤。晝則呻呼而即事，夜則昏憊而熟寐。精神荒散，昔昔夢為國君。居人民之上，總一國之事。游燕宮觀，恣意所欲，其樂無經。覺則復役。人有慰喻其懃者，役夫曰：“人生百年，晝夜各分。吾晝為仆虜，苦則苦矣；夜為人君，其樂無比。可所怨哉？”尹氏心營世事，慮鐘家業，心形俱疲，夜亦昏憊而寐。昔昔夢為人仆，趨走作役，無不為也；數罵杖撻，無不至也。眠中啽囈呻呼，徹旦息焉。尹氏病之，以訪其友。友曰：“若位足榮身，資財有餘，勝人遠矣。夜夢為仆，苦逸之復，數之常也。若欲覺夢兼之，豈可得邪？”尹氏聞其友言，寬其役夫之程，減己思慮之事，疾并少間。”

"Mr. Yin of Chou runs a big business and keeps his servants working all day long unmercifully. There is one old servant in particular whose physical strength has quite left him, yet Mr. Yin makes him work even harder. All day long the old man keeps groaning as he goes about his work, and when night comes he is reeling with fatigue and will sleep like a log. His spirit is then set free to adrift at will, and every night he dreams that he is a king in authority for all people, and controlling the affairs of the whole country. He takes his pleasure in palaces, with indulgence in comfort and joy to his heart's contents. But when he awake, he is the old servant again. To someone who condoles on his hardship the old man replys: 'Human life may last a hundred years, and the whole of it is equally divided into nights and days. In the daytime I am only a slave -- how much I suffer! But by night I am a king, and my happiness is beyond compare. So what do I have to grumble at?'

Now, Mr. Yin's mind is full of worldly cares and racks his brains with towering anxiety for the affairs of his estate. He is overworking himself in both mind and body, and at night he also falls asleep utterly exhausted. Every night, however, he dreams that he is another man's servant, running about on others' menial business; and falls prey only to abuse and ill-treatment. He will whine and groan in his bed, only to find relief until morning came. This state of things at last costs him serious illness, and Mr Yin seeks the advice of a friend about the affliction. 'Your station in life,' his friend said, 'is glorious and your wealth is inexhaustible. You have well passed others in these respects, so it is natural for you to see yourself in dreams as a slave, for where can you find a person so lucky that he finds pleasure in both reality and in dream?' On hearing what his friend said, Mr Yin lightens his servant's toil, and allows his own mental worry to abate. In this way, pains of both parties begins to decrease in proportion."  "Lieh Tzu -- Book III Dreams"

The black magic of binchotan bread roulade: Because once you go black, you'll never go back!

Black man: "Baby, once you go black, you'll never go back"

Japanese woman: "O rly?"

Black man: Ya, rly!"

I know my blog is notorious for its off-color humor at times. But still, don't get me wrong, I'm talking about the binchotan-flavored bread roulade they're selling at Le Creation de Gute. 

Ya, the Black is adorable, as validated by this Canton-pop MV from 20 years back!

The Good Omen of White Calf

《列子 - 說符》

"宋人有好行仁義者，三世不懈。家無故黑牛生白犢，以問孔子。孔子曰：“此吉祥也，以薦上帝。”居一年，其父無故而盲，其牛又復生白犢。其父又復令其子問孔子。其子曰：“前問之而失明，又何問乎？”父曰：“聖人之言先迕後合。其事未究，姑復問之。”其子又復問孔子。孔子曰：“吉祥也。”復教以祭。其子歸致命。其父曰：“行孔子之言也。”居一年，其子又無故而盲。其後楚攻宋，圍其城。民易子而食之，析骸而炊之；丁壯者皆乘城而戰，死者大半。此人以父子有疾，皆免。及圍解而疾俱復。" 

"A family in the state of Song which had been unremitting in its virtuous deed for three generations is confronted by a black cow belonging to the family giving birth to a white calf without any reason. The family sends the son to consult Confucius, who thinks it is a good omen and advises sacrificing the white calf. As a result the father turns blind a year later for no reason at all. When the cow gave birth to another white calf, the father instructed his son to consult Confucius for once more. Confucius again considers this an auspice and calls for the calf to be sacrificed. Following this, the son too loses his eyesight for no obvious reason the year ensued.

Years later, the city of Song is besieged by the army from Chu. Inhabitants of the city start to exchange their children and eat them to survive, while all able-bodied men of the city are called to its defense. Being invalid and useless in battle, both father and son were spared from the fighting -- both were saved by blindness. And when the siege was over, they regained their eyesight."        "Lieh Tzu, Book VIII, Explaining Signs"

Speaking of the devil, the french toast of Lok Yuen, stuffed with satay beef filling and drenched in generous, buttery sweetened condensed milk is, needless to say, a favorable sign by itself.

Lok Yuen
Shop 1, 3/F, Kowloon City Municipal Services Building, Ngu Tsin Wai Road, Kowloon City, Kowloon

Tel: 2382 3367

Hours: 0630-1700 hrs. (Mon-Sat)

Cash only



 
 

Some more buns to kick start Twenty Ten

28.12.2009

In a coverage with CNN about Michelin Hong Kong 2010 awarding a star to Tin Ho Wan and my take on that a while ago. As you can see from the short clip, there isn't much left at the mercy of the editor. The reporter wonders loud if I have gotten a copy of the Michelin Guide to do a footage of me walking in the dim sum joint with.  

You know the answer to that already. I don't need one here in Hong Kong and most importantly, nobody walks into a shelter home with the Red Guide on hand -- it's so oxymoron personified. Think delivering a thanksgiving meal for the homeless. Check out the clip and you'll see it's that overmuch.

1.1.2010

SCMP did a story about foodies' resolution for 2010 and here's what I churned up for the piece:

"I want to go to Kyoto in Japan to eat at some of the restaurants that are in the Michelin guide, but not only at expensive places as the exchange rate for the yen is high. I'll go for seven or eight days and try new restaurants for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I won't eat only at Japanese places - the Japanese make good French and Italian so I don't want to limit myself.

"In Hong Kong, there are some new restaurants I want to try. I'm excited about the Hyatt Regency reopening; I think it's open now but the grand opening is at the end of January. I'm excited about eating at Hugo's again [it was at the Hyatt Regency before it closed] - it's old-fashioned but I loved the Caesar salad and the beef tartare. I also want to try the French Window[in the IFC Mall] and St George at Hullett House [in Tsim Sha Tsui].

"For my cooking plans, I want to try recipes from classic Chinese cooking books, especially the recipes of a diehard foodie from the Qing dynasty named Yuan Mei. They're labour intensive and difficult - some of the dishes take a whole day to prepare and I'm not sure if I have the skills, but I want to try them anyway."

4.1.2010

The volume of my 'Dining in Hong Kong' collection on Flickr just passed 300 sets. Wow, there's over 300 photo albums to induce your drool with -- probably one of the hugest collection about Hong Kong food you can find on the net -- isn't that great for gawking while at work?