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I came across this book “1,000 foods to eat before you die: A food lover’s life list” recently. Food occupies this rare intersection of meeting basic survival needs and providing abundant pleasure.

Not so much as bucket list for food, my food recommendation includes: high-tea at Peninsula hotel in Hong Kong, high-tea at Raffles in Singapore, Salmon Sashimi at Vancouver, “eggettes” from the street hawkers, Hong-Kong style milk tea at the civilians’ local cafe, Kobe beef at Alexander’s steak house in Bay Area, freshly baked pineapple bun with butter at local bakery, egg tart freshly baked, ice cream, fresh crabs, Hong-Kong style curry, Thai curry, Hainan chicken rice, sesame paste dessert, walnut paste dessert.   If this gets the mouth waters, this list easily goes on and on.   There are some that bring back the memory lane.

Best and Worst of Waffle    

Waffle is my favorite breakfast choice.  Though almost never had it as my breakfast in my childhood, I had it as snack from the street hawkers where peanut butter, milk and sugar were put on freshly baked waffles. It was just casually delicious.  I like its subtle crunch, its just-there sweetness, its pleasing look with a perfect symmetry and an easy going nature that goes well with peanut butter, or ice cream or fruits or other companions.  There are fries or pastries that are presented in the shape of a mini-waffle, which alone, improve their appeal.  My best and worst waffles were both at a hotel near university campus.  My best experience happened nearby the Harvard campus at Cambridge.  The hotel was upscale where the ingredients were  organic and carefully selected; the restaurant was filled with Harvard students with their families.  It could be the ambiance, it could be the vacation appetite –  the waffle breakfast was absolutely delicious.  Fast forward a couple of years, I arrived at Ann Arbor near University of Michigan, just off a red-eye flight.   Tired with little appetite and much time to kill, I was at this buffet-style breakfast served at the hotel. It could be the sleep deprivation, it could be the lack of diners, and it could be the waffles have been waiting for a diner for days, the waffle tasted so poorly that it was hard to reproduce. Waffle continues to be my favorite choice, though its carbohydrates make it a challenge now.

Egg sandwiches
It is such a simple dish, yet a challenge to make it unforgettable.  The best, in my book, is served in this modest and absolutely cramped cafe with somewhat of an untidy feel.  We followed a tourist guide to land on this Hong-Kong style local cafe.   If the first time was a discovery, the next time was a target reunion as we arrived in an early morning flight.  The bread is so soft, so full of scrambled egg, so fresh and the service is so fast.  My American-born kids remember this place well.

Shanghai Hairy Crab

My childhood memory is terribly limited, but I remember many years ago, that meal of eating Hairy Crab with family and relatives on a rare outing.  Crab is my all-time favorite seafood, but that Hairy Crab and its roe are the best of all crabs.   Fast forward decades later, I was on a business trip and got an official hairy crab treat from my Shanghai host in a decent restaurant, and even in the right month of October.  Sometimes, we romanticized our memory, this hairy crab is the real deal.

Posted in Book Review - English, Dear Diary