Saturday, 7 May 2011

Pork & Mustard Green


~ Pork with a bit of fat
~ Sour mustard green in brine
~ Red bean curd (aka nam yee) - one cube
~ Splash of water

Vary the quantities of the ingredients according to the number of people you are serving.

Fold everything together in a pan.

Simmer for 30 minutes.


Black Bean Spare Ribs / 豉汁排骨

~ Spare ribs - in mouth sized pieces
~ Dried black bean
~ Ginger
~ Garlic
~ Red chilli (optional)
~ Salt  
~ Sugar
~ Dark soya sauce
~ Cornflour - two teaspoons
~ Oil

Make sure the dried black bean; ginger; garlic and red chilli are finely chopped.

Bind the finely chopped ingredients together with the spare ribs; salt; sugar and dark soya sauce.

Add the cornflour, and lastly, the oil.

For optimum flavour, marinade overnight (this step is optional).

Place in a suitable dish and steam for 30 minutes.


Chinese Dried Pork / 豬肉乾

~ Pork mince - 500 grams
~ Dark soya sauce - one tablespoon
~ Oyster sauce - two tablespoons
~ Light soya sauce - two tablespoons
~ White sugar - 140 grams
~ Chinese Rosehip wine - one tablespoon

Mix everything together really well.

Flatten onto a sheet of buttered greaseproof paper and place on a wire rack.

Let it marinade overnight.

Dry it out a bit.

Make sure there is another tray underneath when you place in oven.

Oven 180/190 degrees - cook for less than eight minutes.

Let it cool down before cutting and eating.

Store in refrigerator.



Chinese Dried Pork


Sunday, 1 May 2011

SkinFood since 1957

SKINFOOD
Beauty Food for Urban Sweety

Headquartered in Seoul - South Korea, the SkinFood village currently comprises of 204 stores throughout Asia.

Websites: For a glimpse of their original cute 'village' layout: http://www.skinfood.sg/beta/index.html 

For their new, more corporate looking English language layout: http://eng.theskinfood.com/

I discovered SkinFood during a holiday in Hong Kong in February 2008.

This company was founded by J.M. Cho and offers a complete range of skin, body, hair and makeup products based entirely on food based ingredients - food cosmetics. Their main goal is "to protect your skin for 14 years, not just for 14 days".

I visited a SkinFood store again during a return visit to Hong Kong in October/November 2009.

On both occasions, I was like a child in a sweet shop - armed with my credit card in one hand and a basket filled to the brim with goodies in the other.


 
SkinFood bag


2011 products
 
Some of the products purchased in 2009


Société Detaille 1905

Maison Detaille

Address: 10, rue Saint-Lazare, 75009 Paris, France
Telephone number: +33 1 48 78 68 50
Website: www.detaille.com

I discovered Detaille during a holiday in Paris in September 2006.

This famous little store was opened in 1905 by the Countess de Presle. Being a high speed driver of a windshield-less car, she suffered from dry skin and decided to discuss the matter with her chemist friend, Marcellin Berthelot. He then created a hydrating lotion called Baume Automobile, the very first product in their high-quality range entitled the Préparations de Beauté. They are still sold in exquisite bottles and still uses extremely elegant packaging.

Next time I return to Paris, I will definitely be visiting Detaille again to purchase more of their beautiful products.

UPDATE: October 2012, I am pleased to discover that Detaille are accepting online orders and payment via credit card.