Egg Custard

I've been dreaming about egg custards since my trip last year to Macau. They are made from a mixture of eggs & sugar and baked in flaky pastry shells. Egg custards originated from Portugal, but that version is a lot more dense and sweeter than the ones I love from Macau. My cousins brought me to the most famous bakery in Macau that is known for their outstanding egg custards. Just look at their inventory of fresh baked goods!



The egg custards I had from Macau arrived to my table piping hot. The custard was so smooth, a perfect contrast to the slightly crunchy and flaky pastry cup that it delicately sat in.


There are also other flavors than the plain version; the bakery I went to had swallow's nest, which is a Chinese delicacy. Eating swallow's nest is supposed to be good for your skin. It was good, but I still prefer the plain version better.


It was so piping hot out of the oven that the custard was flowing like lava!

Wedding Wednesdays: Traditional Greek Eats

Surprisingly, I didn't eat as much as I had expected on our honeymoon in Greece. With all the exploring and airport delays, we didn't have much time. We typically had big breakfasts, light afternoon snacks and traditionally late Greek dinners. The late dinners totally ruined my normal diet - I basically went to bed with a full stomach.

You really can't go wrong in Greece with food. We went to some random restaurants in Greece, and didn't have any inedible food. There may be some unmemorable dishes, but we had some generally good food. You name it, we had it in Greece:

• Souvlaki - Almost always served with french fries. I had a perfectly done Chicken Souvlaki in Santorini; it wasn't overcooked and was quite tasty.
  

• Gyro - I've never had a gyro with french fries inside before. It is always served with french fries inside if you ask for everything in Greece. The one I had in Mykonos (where everything is expensive) was tasty and surprisingly reasonably priced.

• Greek Yogurt - I will never go back to the yogurt in the States! Greek yogurt is thicker, tangy and so rich in milk taste. I simply drizzled it with honey and loved every spoon of it for breakfast. I'll leave out descriptions on its fat content.
  

• Stuffed Vine Leaves - I've always had it cold with mushy rice inside, but had a warm version in Athens served with a yogurt dill sauce which I loved loved loved! The rice wasn't mushy at all, and it was wonderfully fragrant with the use of dill.

• Eggplant Dip - They really love their eggplant. This one I had in Athens was tasty but was very garlicky though.
  

• Spinach Pie - Very fragrant with the use of herbs. I only wished the crust was thicker.

• Taramosalata (carp roe dip) - It wasn't overly salty like the one I had from Snack in NYC. I really enjoyed this one I had in Santorini.

Surprisingly, a lot of seafood is frozen (vs. fresh) in Greece. Most restaurants would note the items that have been frozen on their menu; they're mostly octopus and prawns. This is probably because it's rather hot in Greece. If you're dining by the water though, you can have their fresh catches.

All in all, I didn't have one bad meal in Greece. My husband said though that there was no difference between Greek food in Greece vs. that in the States. I haven't had enough Greek food in the States to attest to that, but from what I've had so far in the States, I can agree.

Shrimp Dumplings

I had some delicious shrimp dumplings at 敬賓 in Chinatown NYC (sorry I don't have its name in English). Doesn't this make your mouth water?

It was pan fried for a crispy exterior. Your mouth simply waters when you hit the flavorful, warm shrimp and chives filling. It was so delicious that I tried to replicate it at home.

My version didn't look all that bad, did it? I made a batch of at least a dozen, and my husband finished them all within a week!

I followed one of Ming Tsai's recipes for these dumplings, but had to make some changes because I found the filling to be (surprisingly) flavorless. His recipe needed more chives and soy sauce. I'll share it with you when I can get to my cooking book in one of my husband's moving boxes.

Wagamama (Round II)

My husband (I was going to say fiance!) and I stopped by the Prudential Center before he moved out of Boston and we were quite surprised to find a new Wagamama there. I'd rather go to this location vs. their Faneuil one. This new location has so much more room, better lighting, and was closer to his apartment (and Anthropologie!).

I ordered my favorite Seafood Ramen again. I simply love the combination of seafood in there: shrimp, salmon, baramundi and squid. It is tasty and quite a value compared to other places that charge a similar price for soup noodles.



My husband ordered the Ebi Kare Lomen, which is a spicy soup noodle with lemongrass, coconut milk, shrimp and chicken. It was average; I felt the soup needed some more cooking time for the flavors to blend - it had that soup made from powder texture.



You may come out of the place smelling like food (they have an open kitchen), but I would go back any time to try out other items on their menu.

Wedding Wednesdays: Look What I Had at My Shower!

My sister throw me a surprise bridal shower the week before our wedding (thanks sis!). She totally read my mind in terms of sweets - look at the goodies she got from Payard! There were financiers, madeleines, and other yummy French baked goods.

Those were the left overs. She also got a box of macarons from the Macaron Cafe. Sorry, I ate them all before I could take a photo of them. They were good!!! I was surprised I didn't hunt down macarons from the Macaron Cafe in my macaron search. I'll write a review some time in the future.

Egg Rolls

I'm not talking about the Egg Rolls that you order in most Chinese American Restaurants. I'm talking about those really made out of eggs. They're made into rolls, and thus the name egg roll. Egg rolls are sweet and crumble like cookies when you bite into them.

My favorite by far is the Duck Shing Ho brand from Hong Kong. They offer two kinds of flavors: original and coconut. The coconut is the one to try. The aroma is incredible and not overpowering.

Duck Shing Ho's egg rolls are rich, delicate, perfectly crunchy and airy at the same time. They export out of Hong Kong, but I have yet to see them in the States. Can you see the goodness I'm talking about?

Wedding Wednesdays: DIY for the Flower Girls

I was inspired by Martha Stewart's DIY for a floral headpiece I saw in a magazine when I thought about starting this project. Although her project was much more simple (she just strung together fresh hyacinth), I do want to thank Martha for the inspiration!


I had a vision when I started the project, but had no idea on exactly what to do. I bought some supplies I thought I needed, and used some I had already. I used the basic sewing skills I already had and made the rules as I went along because some ideas worked while others didn't. After making several prototypes, I am now pretty happy with the results. Here are the steps:

Supplies

silk flowers (six bunches should do; make sure the petals are at most 1.5in wide)
stretch magic bead & jewelry cord (5 meters, 1 mm.)
beads & pearls (various sizes)
ribbon
crazy glue or glue gun
thread & needle
scissors


Steps

I brought home the silk flowers in bunches like below and plucked out the petals.






They were very one dimensional, so I sewed each petal to make it less flat. Working on the petal's back, I pinched the petal in the middle and sew one spot together.





Pull the thread tight and tie a knot in the back to make the shape stay. Below is what it should look like after. You may need to repeat the steps on the same petal; it depends on if you did it right on the first try. Using the same thread (without cutting it, so they're all sewed together), repeat the same steps with the next 3-4 petals.




After 3-4 petals, this is what you should end up with. Cut off the thread after the last knot (double knot to be safe) and you're done with one flower.



I made a whole bunch of these enough for a headpiece and 2 bracelets.

Then comes the easy part. All you have to do now is figure out a design you like with the beads and pearls, string them on, and sew the petal onto the cord. Tie a knot where it ends, and crazy glue them to secure them.