Hong Kong style Bortscht

Black Pepper Steak on an Iron Plate

In the Mood for Love

Goldfinch

Wee Ling and I done messed up last month when I was in Hong Kong.

I purposely scheduled a 5 hour layover between Singapore and Shanghai where I sought to rectify this.

And I did.

Downstairs at Mido Cafe

and the famous baked spare rib rice. It was every bit as delicious as I thought it would be. Maybe because I had just gotten off a 3 hour flight, but it was still appreciated.

So I made some. For the recipe see their website. I stole it from them anyways. I don’t have any profound insights, but it tastes really good on some homemade bicuits (not pictured here)

Almost immediately after getting there I run into Jenn and we make our way into the new space. I do like it a lot more than the old Mao, especially since it’s a 15 RMB cab ride, instead of 40, but it also seems a lot more cozy but the sound system and A/V technology is all carried over from the old place.

I know that opinions on the China English blogosphere are fairly mixed about QSBS, but the great rhythm section, the electronic backing and Fu Han’s amazing stage presence made for an especially rocking show. The crowd was REALLY into it – lots of jumping and dancing, stage diving and a lot more energetic than I’ve seen at most Chinese rock shows. A lot of people were really excited to see Queen Sea Big Shark and it showed.

Here’s some photos from that night – I am really thinking about that Micro 4/3rds since with my wide angle Ricoh, I couldn’t get close enough to catch some Fu Han action (she’s amazing on stage).

Here’s video from the Wuhan Stop of this tour (for their new album ‘Waves’)

but the main inspiration was to go to the somewhat-local lianhua supermarket and buy my duck legs. my local lianhua is terrible and cityshop is expensive AND doesn’t carry poultry beyond chicken. but at the larger, somewhat more foreigner friendly one down the road – lots of poultry to be had.

following on a combination of the beijing hao chi recipe linked above and the recipe culled from anthony bourdain’s les halles cookbook that i won’t bother replicating here – but let’s just say it involved duck, various types of citrus, some leftover red wine from the last time galbraith was here to watch “fargo”, various herbs and some oven time.

photos after the jump

here’s the duck legs post pan-searing

here’s the sauce preparation. red wine. orange slices. rosemary. shiitake mushrooms.

in the oven

and here served with homemade parmesan mushroom risotto.

here’s the best part – duck legs at lianhua? 7.5 rmb for two!

it’s a phat sh for beijing!

beijing hao chi

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saw this on shanghaiist - apparently these guys are going to ride around china on bicycles and take photos along the way. the photo blog up til now has been pretty awesome – and the trip sounds pretty amazing. i plan to be following online as they go. and to be honest, i’m pretty jealous.

(also starring my sony cybershot dsc t-9 which has recently been on the disabled list for almost 2 years, but is being pressed back into service)

here is my front door, where i can pick from about 30 pairs of shoes. as today is a work day, i pick up my falling-apart-9 year old pair of ballys and head out the door.

more after the jump

front hallway – i’ve never seen my neighbors, but the ones at 1601 (directly straight ahead) make chinese medicine every so often. it makes the entire hallway smell like death.

into the elevator and down 16 floors

and out my front door. it’s raining today, so the gray mist is heavy in the air and i have my uniqlo umbrella.

making a left turn out my door, we see the one piece of community property in my complex. a kid’s playground. and we can see how rainy it is today.

walking through my complex you pass the big water fountain and look out my complex’s large front gate.

out the front gate and turning right onto xinchang road. usually this road is super crowded with the wet market, the breakfast food stalls, bike and people traffic heading both ways and car traffic going from north to south. for me, it’s a five minute exercise in trying not to get hit. this morning, mike jones’ “back then” kicks in, it’s a little odd to go with houston hip hop when surrounded by soy milk and bullfrogs, but i go with it.

halfway done with xinchang road

now a left turn onto beijing road. there’s my bus stop.

and there’s a bus! actually i don’t get on the 21, because its overcrowded and there’s a 15 bus right behind it. i get on that instead.

now on bus 15 heading west on beijing road.

and we’ve reached my stop. north shaanxi road. have to hustle here not to get run over by the people anxious to get off behind me.

a look to my right back east down beijing road, as i backtrack half a block to north shaanxi road

here at the street corner. north shaanxi road and beijing road, looking south on shaanxi.

now walking south on shaanxi, the sidewalk is narrow here. made narrower by everyone’s umbrellas. (-ella -ella -ellla, eh, eh, eh)

here we are reaching plaza 66, where my office is located.

across the street, then a right turn up the driveway

and then into the lobby. don’t be distressed by the line to get into the elevator, this is about the 5th one i’ve seen in 1.5 years of working in this building.

and up to my floor and i’m at work. door to door about 25 minutes. commute soundtrack for this morning:

mike jones – back then
radiohead – paranoid android
stereophonics – i wouldn’t believe your radio
john cafferty – hearts on fire (um, it’s on my running playlist)
outkast – skew it on the bar-b
the replacements – sixteen blue