Cha Xiu Bao

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival: "May We Last Forever"

[Painting by Liu Danzhian]

Bright moon, when did you appear?
Lifting my wine, I ask the dark night sky.
Tonight in the palace of heaven
what year is it, I wonder?

I pray to ride the wind and fly home there,
Only to hide in the jade and crystal mansion,
As I could not bear the cold up high.
So I dance and play in your showers,
this human world — how can it compare with yours?

Circling red chambers,
Leaning the curtained door,
You shine on the sleepless.
Surely you bear us no ill will —
why then must you be so round at times when we are parted!

People can be sorrow or joy, close together or far apart,
The moon may be dim or bright, full or null.
Things are like this since time immemorial.
I only hope we two may last forever,
So that we may share the moon's beauty even though we are a thousand miles apart.

        ~ Shui Diao Ge Tou (水調歌頭) by Su Dongpo (1037 - 1101); gorgeous Chinese calligraphy of the poem can be found here.

Though it's one of the most beautiful poems ever written in history, it's one meant for singing instead of reading, especially ever since the 80's, thanks to the everlasting adaptation "May We Last Forever" by Teresa Tang]

Wish you all a Happy Mooncake Festival!

Swimming sushi 「骨泳がし」

   

Now it's true that the shadow of cruelty did occur to me fractionally as I watched the clip but it was soon overtaken by something else -- I beg your PETA self plays second fiddle for the time being for discussion sake -- if you are like me, someone who has always asked nothing but the freshest ever made available, you are likely to be moved just the same as I do by the lofty craftsmanship of the sushi master pulled off so that what put back into the tank is not a bloody mess of grossness, as you and I or any low-tier sushi cook would have that ends but a fish that can still swims sinuously with two third of its flesh gone.

Bear in mind that, as much as it's beyond the wildest imagination of we outsiders, it is the code of practice for a sushi trainee in Japan to get his qualification after mellowing out five years of apprenticeship (I remember it's a perfect ten in the past), in which it's customary that the first year involves nothing more than cleaning and dish-washing chores. The Japanese believes patience is the ultimate test for one's respect for his profession, and out of the culmination of this respect, one can have his spirit of professionalism be manufactured, one can truly reap the soul of a professional "職人魂­‚" he has sown. They even have a saying that goes, "you need to stand on top of a stone for three years before you move forward."

Once you understand this thing about devotion of the chef in trying his best to please his diners -- as in this case, to prove to his clientèle that he's eating the freshest fish ever from a master with the best skill in his trade -- the sunlight of why this is happening(only in Japan) shall shed on you easily. What to us merely cutting and rolling behind a sushi bar are to them a lifetime pursuit of pure excellence with endless toll to entail. Everything behind the sushi bar is in itself a universe to these people! What is the perfect stance? What types of knife for a particular kind of fish? Which cut is the best this one and where to cut it first? 

And so I tell myself, this is a heavenly art of sushi. This is something I wanna try next time I am in Japan, a sushi soaked with all the wisdom, skills, passion and ethos of a true master.

[Note: The sushi chef attributed the idea to the manga "Hochonin Ajihei" he read in childhood. Hochonin Ajihei is probably the first manga in Japan that tells the stories of professional chefs. The more accurate translation for the stunt is 'sushi swimming in bones'. Thanks goes to Horace Mui for sharing the link!]

A Spree for Sake, and some more

Just added a bevy of links to my Wine & Tea blogroll to the right. Though they are either in Japanese or Chinese, I hope you can at least get a grain of rice from the paddies of sake so that you could enjoy more. 

1) The Sakemakers Association (in Japanese): What IS the best nomenclature for these people in English? Sake-merlier or Sake-lier? Anyways, the third link down is the recommendation of their favorite sakes. Can't help but noticing Yeast No. 9 is the most popular fungi among sake breweries these days. The third last link enlists the contacts of some reputable wineshops region by region, an indispensable gift from sakemakers to sakesuckers.

2) Sake Service Institute (in Japanese) : A handy glossary in English for just about everything you need to know about sake can be downloaded here. While the definition part is deep and boring somehow, the food pairing part "料理との相性" is anything but.

3) Sake Talk (in Japanese): Most up-to-the-minute price inspection on pretty much all the sakes in market, and sweet jesus, Zagat-like survey of popular sakes in striking details, as typical as a Japanese can ever deliver. The best guide to start the hows and whys at your local bottle shop and sushi joint.

4)  Sake Database 日本酒ガイド (in Japanese): An all-about search engine for sake, with comprehensive ratings by readers as well.

5) The Forest of Sake (in Chinese): A blog of sake from Hong Kong.

6) Dreamfis (in Chinese): Sake reviews by someone from Taiwan.

& totally unrelated to the above:

BBR is starting to blog about wine too? It sounds very in rhyme for a kickstart. On the other side of the Atlantic, we have Mondosapore, a hearty blog on wines of Italy by Sr. Terrance Hughes, perfect read before someone's Emilia-Romagna visit this fall.

Good Buns, I Like

If Hardee's think that they can win me over to their buns with just two racy commercials [flat buns here and patty melts here; both NSFW by Hong Kong standard], they are so dead wrong! They simply have to try HARDER.

Speaking of which, why is that I keep thinking of my friend Karen after watching these ads? Because she runs a zesty burger joint too, I suppose?

Killer legs

If you ask me like, ten years ago which supermodel has the most amazing legs I'd swear it loud without the slightest hesitation Carla Bruni. Man, what a pair of "don't-get-me-started" legs that is!

Moving on to now, my pick would be Raquel Zimmermann. I tell you, insanely long and SVELTE; gracing the catwalk like a wafting Lamborghini on highway, hers are the 'Hannibal Lecter' twins whenever you are talking about killer legs. I got transfixed every time I saw the ad campaign of her wearing a super mini in the subway. I could easily break my neck and have myself ran over by the stampeding commuters in one of the fastest-paced subways of the world gawking a poster like this but I just couldn't care less.

But it all changed this morning after 1 click.

Photo Caption Contest #1 & a bit more

{Oops, photo deleted, game over}

Entries for this photo, courtesy of Apple Daily Hong Kong, will be accepted through next Friday, August 24.

If you haven't read this article about dropped doughnut and a whole lot more, you totally should!

Also, check out here; and knowing that the magazine that polls the best 50 restaurants of the world every year is a publication from the same country...  ... ... My eye! They can see now!

 

The Importance of Being Earnest

From The Importance of Being Earnest, we have:

Act One
ALGERNON:     Well, I'm hungry.
JACK:             I never knew when you weren't. 

Act Two
MISS PRISM:    £762 for eating! There can be little good in any young man who eats so much, and so often.

Act Three
JACK:              How can you sit there, calmly eating muffins when we are in this horrible trouble, I can't make out. You seem to me to be perfectly heartless.
ALGERNON:     Well, I can't eat muffins in an agitated manner. The butter would probably get on my cuffs. One should always eat muffins quite calmly. It is the only way to eat them.
JACK:             I say it's  perfectly heartless your eating muffins at all, under the circumstances.
ALGERNON:      When I am in trouble, eating is the only thing that consoles me. Indeed, when I am in really trouble, as any who knows me intimately will tell you, I refuse everything except food and drink. At the present moment I am eating muffins because I am unhappy. Besides, I am particularly fond of muffins.

Act Four
CECILY:            They have been eating muffins. That looks like repentance.

And from The New York Times, we have this.

Lao Tzu in a bottle!

How very NICE.

Must give it to the Japanese again for they're the true maestro when it comes to packaging their game. Look at this wine: by itself it's just a bottle of junmai ginjo sake. What appeals to me is its eminent, eye-catching name: 上善若水, or "the highest goodness is like water" in English; apparently from a passage in the almighty Tao Te Ching [accurate translation by Stan Rosenthal's can be found here].

What a mood for sake -- if that doesn't set itself miles and miles apart from the rest of the pack, I don't know what does. Period. 

And here's some other sakes that grows on me just as much as the aforesaid over the years:

國士無雙 (The ™Unrivaled Statesman)
From The Biography of Marquess of Huaiyin, The Historical Records:「諸將易得耳，至如信者，國士無雙。」"Generals are easy to come by but an incomparable statesman like (Han) Xin isn't."

一夜雫 (One-night Rain)
"雫" is a verb in Japanese that means to rain, not as much as pouring cats and dogs but more likely a misty shower to echo a melancholy aura.

南國美人 (Beauty of South Country)
It might, allow me to be wild and indulge myself a little, come either from a poem by Cao Zhi 「南國有佳人，容華若桃李。」or Li Bai's: 「美人出南國，灼灼芙蓉姿。」"A beauty from South Country, as radiant as the cotton rose."

醉心ƒ (An Intoxicated Heart)
Spot-on appellation for an arresting sake.

大雪乃蔵 (The Treasure of Heavy Snow)
From Hokkaido Prefecture named after Daisetuzan 大雪山 (lit. Big Snow Mountain).

雪咲 (The Smile of Snow or Snow in Full Blossom)
The last character 咲, pronounced "misaki" in Japanese could either be used to describe "a maiden's smile" or "the blooming flowers" (routinely of sakura in particular, I am told).

五大天空 (Five Great Heavens -- pronounced "godaiten kuu," of Hiroshima Prefecture)
Its label, in fine Chinese calligraphy akin to the one here, is a striking sight to behold; equally striking when you try it: 62% of the rice is milled away before brewing, making this sake one of the most refined there is.

松竹梅 (Pine Tree, Bamboo and Plum -- pronounced "sho chiku bai" in Japanese)
Three must-have plants for any garden in Japan to resonate the Zen in mind.

菊姫 (Dame of Chrysanthemum)
An explicit and provocative suggestion of the bouquet to expect -- and the alluring aftertaste ensues...

劍人憶 (The Remembrance of a Swordsman)
Look not further for that slashing match in your next wine-food pairing; one heady and muscular choice for sake; perfect wine to wash down sea urchin too.

李白 (Li Bai)
Don't EVEN ask me why, Shelly! The masterpiece from the same wine house is gorgeously titled 月下獨酌 (lit. Drinking Alone By Moonlight)! Drink it alone or not, it's a sake that will bring you to cloud nine for sure!

Tokidoki, we need more onsen just like these!

Who needs an insipid Turkish bath at Hotel Gellert in Hungary when you can plunge into a Japanese onsen like these somewhere in Hakone? This is exactly the kind of hot springs I was moping about... Onsen from Kowakien Yunessun in Hakone, yaaay! Get ready for a splash this summer with their flavors of tonkotsu ramen soup ('tonkotsu' is Japanese for pork bone broth) and -- domo arigato but no thanks, Mr. Roboto -- Japanese curry sauce! Arrh, how we miss those sobering flavors like sake and green tea...

While their merits for your skin are yet to be lab-tested by dermatologists (the chefs claim the broth is highly collagenous and hence should be nutritious to your skin), such eccentric choices of onsen are at least super agreeable to your appetite. You can even look up to the ostentatious but unforgettably prosaic display of the noodles and BBQ pork replica they managed to hang above the giant bowlbathtub when boiling in the elan vital bare-naked to further whet your appetite... [via Yunessun]

Hi, my name is Brown, Charlie Brown

So tired of always being shown with cold shoulders, I have decided to get these business cards from Taberu Me to show all my new acquaintance that not only I'm the linchpin of my organization but I also have with me the touch of gold.

Steeply priced at HKD2.5 apiece, these peanuts can at least thickenclass up my image and show everyone I am business, if not as far as a pressing invitation for newly-met stranger to eat me... [via Gizmodo Japan]