this post is filed under Cuisine - Chinese, Location - Hong Kong
Here is some dim sum at 嘉麟楼 (Spring Moon), the Chinese restaurant inside the Peninsula Hong Kong, with me, Geoff, and my dad. The place is famous for inventing XO sauce, which I admit was very good. I technically wasn't supposed to take pictures of stuff in here, so consider these deep cover arthur hungry SPY PICS. That's right, I put my life on the line for you guys.
deep-fried stuffed taro ball
jellyfish, roast pork, steamed chicken
baked roast pork pastry
steamed shrimp dumplings
duck with couscous wrapped in some big leaf
This meal was great. The taro ball is one of my favorite dim sum items, and they made it great here... crisp and flaky. The roast pork was, I believe, the best roast pork I've ever had. Deliciously fat and tasty. Odd to say that about an item as common as roast pork, but I really think so. Roast pork pastry is another of my favorites and as you can guess thanks to the roast pork was really good here. Shrimp dumplings were standard (which means really good in HK). The duck dish was very interesting... dunno how to describe the stuff other than couscous. A little salty but the mix of textures was good.
mango pudding
fried milk yellow bun
steamed milk yellow bun
People that know me have heard me hype this up forever: there is a good chance that this place has the best mango pudding in the world. No exaggeration. You can also get the mango pudding in the lobby lounge, or get it room service if you're staying at the hotel. I remember the first time I tried it, I was staying there, and we got mango pudding like every day. It's just so damn good, I can't even describe it. The texture is moist, not too rubbery, perfect mango flavor... it's just awesome. If you're EVER in Hong Kong, you must at least go to the Peninsula lobby and try this out. You won't be dissappointed. The buns were also very good. Apparently, this place also invented these buns which are now a fairly known/common item. Translated literally they are "milk yellow buns" which doesn't describe them too well. They're just buns that have a sweet egg-yolky center. These are the best ones I've had. Texture of the buns was great, and the filling is absolutely delicious. Really, if you get a chance, you should go eat a meal at this place so you can try the roast pork, mango pudding, and the buns. But at the very least TRY THE MANGO PUDDING.
Everything looks delicious!
posted by John D. on October 18, 2004 08:00 PM
Wow, Mango Pudding looks wonderful ! The way this restaurant put it is very different from the normal setting of the mango pudding.
posted by James Jaw on August 8, 2005 01:56 PM
The mango pudding alone really makes the visit worth it - and that's not counting the other delicious stuff.
posted by Arthur on August 10, 2005 02:53 PM
wow! all that food looks SO good... you make me hungey >_wow! all that food looks SO good... you make me hungey >_wow! all that food looks SO good... you make me hungey >_wow! all that food looks SO good... you make me hungey >_
posted by 小房 on October 24, 2005 10:27 PM
For a taste of Dim Sum old Hong Kong-style, try either the Luk Yu Tea House or Lin Heung, both in Central.
Foreigners might be put off by the dirty floor, spittoons and what not, but it's an amazing experience.
posted by BWG on November 11, 2005 10:50 PM
I've never heard of people eating jellyfish. I always thought it was poisonous. How was it prepared? Did you try it? If so,how did it taste/did you like it? What part of the jellyfish are we talking about?
posted by Anthony Cantarella on November 13, 2005 07:35 PM
Anthony, Chinese people eat jellyfish all the time. It's a standard cold app. I have no idea how it's prepared though... I've never thought much about it. You should be able to find it at a lot of Chinese restaurants.
posted by Arthur on November 20, 2005 07:37 AM
Hey guys: 'Jellyfish' isn't really jellyfish. My mom has told me that it's actually a kind of vegetable from the sea...kinda like sea kelp or sea weed. (Still, it's probably one of my favorite apps dish!)
posted by Helen on January 13, 2006 12:53 AM
Hmm, Helen, are you sure? This is going to be worth a bit of investigation...
posted by Arthur on January 13, 2006 04:42 AM
What Helen said I heard before also. My mum also told me that Jellyfish is one kind of seaweed. Normally, Chinese people use a lot of water to rinse the jellyfish for several time and make a crispy texture of it. After that, they will mix sesame oil with it, and serve it chilled. It's one of my favourite starter in Chinese cuisine~
posted by Selina on April 23, 2006 12:25 PM
Apparently XO Sauce was in reality invented by another well known lady in Hong Kong, 始創人韓培珠. She and her husband belongs to the entertainment industry and already started showing her XO Sauce to many actor friends, WELL BEFORE 1986 which is when Spring Moon restaurant said it invented XO sauce.
The central ingredients between the two are similar enough so its hard to prove which was the original. In fact it could be another person? :)
Anyway famous food critic Choi Larn agrees with this somehow, and agrees that it is food plagiarism where other people profited from her instead. Such a link could be found here:
http://big5.southcn.com/gate/big5/www.southcn.com/travel/food/cell/200307090336.htm
You can buy this version XO sauce in some shops in Hong Kong. The name is Tin Oi Tin XO sauce!
posted by Omotesando on August 19, 2006 11:03 AM
Turning off comments on this post. For some reason it's drawing a ton of spam attacks.
posted by Arthur on September 5, 2006 05:55 PM