Chow Times

RSS Feed Homepage

Articles: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Curried Butternut Squash Soup with Coconut Milk
2012-02-09 18:00:00
Minoo prepared a Curried Butternut Squash Soup with Coconut Milk for the comfort food theme. The colour of the meals at today's kitchen is simply a shade of yellowish orange, just like fall colour. The Curried Butternut Squash Soup with Coconut Milk is gingery and sweet. It can also served as a dessert soup if we leave out the salt out.
More About: Recipe

Simple Butter Chicken
2012-02-08 18:00:00
The Gilmore Park Church Community Kitchen resumed in late January. It's been a month since we last met for the Christmas Potluck. Minoo started the kitchen with 3 recipes. The theme for this kitchen was curry and comfort food.
More About: Recipe , Chicken , Simple

Beijing Day 5: Dinner in Din Tai Fung
2012-02-07 18:00:00
After vising the Summer Palace, Ben brought me to Din Tai Fung for a late lunch or early dinner. It is located in a shopping mall. The restaurant looked empty because it was way past lunch hour and too early for dinner. It is bright and clean.
More About: Travel , Dinner , Beijing

Beijing Day 5: Suzhou Street in Summer Palace
2012-02-06 22:00:00
Ben and I was debating on whether we should visit Suzhou Street or not because it was a long walk from where we were. Suzhou Street is located within the grounds of the Summer Palace . I insisted I want to go there because our entrance ticket included the entrance to Suzhou Street. I did not want to waste the ticket even though we were all tired already from all the walking. Suzhou Street (Suzhou Jie) was a street built by Emperor Qianlong for the members of his court to imagine themselves being in the canal town of Suzhou. This is like his personal playground. The shops here were even filled with products from Suzhou. The shop assistants wearing clothes in the style of the Qing Dynasty warmly welcome customers from all over the world. Suzhou Street (Suzhou Jie) was a street built by Emperor Qianlong for the members of his court to imagined that they were in the canal town of Suzhou. The shops here were even filled with products from Suzhou. The shop assistants wearing clothe...
More About: Travel , Beijing

Beijing Day 5: Summer Palace (Yihe Yuan)
2012-02-06 00:00:00
We had dedicated a whole day in day 5 to visit the Summer Palace . It is situated in the northwest suburb of Beijing . It covers an area of over 290 hectares. The Summer Palace was built around Kunming Lake, West Lake and South Lake. In December 1998, UNESCO declared the Summer Palace as a masterpiece of Chinese landscape garden design. The natural landscape of hills and open water is combined with artificial features such as pavilions, halls, palaces, temples and bridges to form a harmonious ensemble of outstanding aesthetic value. Hence, the Summer Palace is placed on the World Heritage list. The Summer Palace (Yihe Yuan) is the imperial retreat from the stifling summer, date back 800 years. The first emperor of the Jin dynasty, Emperor Wanyan Liang (1115-1234) built the Gold Mountain Palace on Longevity Hill (Wanshou Shan) and succeeding dynasties added new structures and landscaping. But, it was Emperor Qianlong from the Qing Dynasty that shaped the summer palace as the current ...
More About: Travel

Beijing Day 5: Breakfast at Yoshinoya in Oriental Mall
2012-02-03 16:00:00
Day 5. I was truly rested. It seems like I have seen the last of the jet lag and adjusted myself to the day-night cycle. Which is good because I was so worried about wanting to sleep during the day time and being awake like an owl during the night. We started with breakfast in Oriental Mall . We had breakfast there because we planned to use the subway to get to the Summer Palace. Ben told me that there are two subway stations around the Oriental Mall. So you can imagine how long that one building is. I like the Oriental Mall because there are so many things to eat. Moreover it is so clean and modern.
More About: Travel , Breakfast , Beijing

Prata Man on Capstan Way, Richmond
2012-02-01 16:00:00
When we visited Pho Han, we put a long forgotten hole in the wall restaurant, Prata-Man back in the our places to visit. We had visited it when we were new to the city. That was more than 10 years ago. We over heard the server telling a customer at the table next to us that Prata-Man has been in business for more than 20 years.
More About: Malaysian , Richmond

Almond Thins
2012-01-31 16:00:00
Michelle prepared some Almond Thins cookies for the Chinese New Year celebration at the South Arm Cooking Club for Seniors. Michelle called it Monica's Almond Thins. I guessed the recipe is from Monica. The Almond Thins are crispy and quite additive. They are great with a cup of tea.
More About: Recipe , Cookies , Cookie

Pork Lettuce Wrap
2012-01-30 16:00:00
For the main dish, Michelle prepared a Pork Lettuce Wrap for the Chinese New Year celebration at the South Arm Cooking Club for Seniors. You can use ground turkey or chicken for this recipe.
More About: Recipe

Creamy Corn Soup
2012-01-29 16:00:00
Michelle prepared a very simple Creamy Corn Soup for the Chinese New Year celebration at the South Arm Cooking Club for Seniors. The Creamy Corn Soup can be made with ham, cooked chicken, cooked crabmeat, salmon or shrimp.
More About: Recipe

Exotic Fruit Salad
2012-01-28 16:00:00
The South Arm Cooking Club for Seniors celebrated the Chinese New Year with some Asian recipes. Stella, the South Arm senior program coordinator distribute red packets to the participants during the meal. Stella distributed 2 red packets to each participants as double number is auspicious. Michelle Li, the facilitator prepared some Asian recipes for the Chinese New Year celebration.
More About: Recipe , Fruit , Salad

Hong Mi Korean Restaurant on No. 3 Road, Richmond
2012-01-26 16:00:00
Polly and I chanced upon this new Korean Restaurant Hong Mi on our usual meeting. We were looking for a place for lamb hotpot since the weather is cold now and we just drove out from Lido as we were told that they dont serve lamb hotpot during lunch hour. As we pulled out from the mall where Lido is and wanted to go to Aberdeen Mall, we saw that a new Korean restaurant has taken over Kim Ga Nae (also a Korean restaurant) used to be. So, we decided to check it out.
More About: Richmond , Road

Beijing Day 4: Supper at Kung Fu
2012-01-25 16:00:00
After the late hotpot lunch at Hai Di Lou, we went back to the hotel to rest. On the way back, we bought a couple of Ben's favourite pork floss buns for tea time. It's not until close to 8pm that Ben decided to venture out again. He wanted to have a hair cut. We were worried that the salon will be closed at this time but were surprised that they were still opened. The hair cut was pretty cheap here with the price tag of RMB60 (about CAD10) for a hair cut and wash. After the hair cut, we walked a bit looking for a light supper. We ended at one of Ben's favourite fast food chain called Kungfu. It's already past 9pm and the restaurant is about to close. Ben ordered his favourite combo which comes with a double boiled soup. The pork rib soup was pretty tasty with quite a bit of pork ribs in it.
More About: Travel , Beijing

Beijing Day 4: Hot Pot Lunch at Hai Di Loa
2012-01-24 16:00:00
After a few hours of walk in the Forbidden City, we were so tired and hungry. Ben brought me to an area called Huixin for lunch. We had hot pot at Hai Di Loa. As usual we like to have 2 types of soup, plain and spicy. The first thing the server did is asked us to taste the soup first. We tried the the milky one which is the not spicy one. It was very nice, a little herb flavour.
More About: Travel , Lunch , Beijing

Beijing Day 4: Forbidden City
2012-01-23 16:00:00
Ben had planned to bring me to the Forbidden City , also known as Gu Gong on a week day to avoid the crowds during weekend. We went there on a Monday. This is one of my favourite walk along the perimeter of the Forbidden City. The perimeter all, guard towers and the moat makes the stroll a very pleasant one.
More About: Travel , Beijing

Cream Cheese and Lemon Muffins
2012-01-22 16:00:00
It's a double dessert day at the South Arm Cooking Club for Seniors. Michelle also prepared a Cream Cheese and Lemon Muffin s in her mission to use up the cream cheese in stock. I really enjoyed these Cream Cheese and Lemon Muffins. It is moist, lemony and there are chunks of cream cheese in it.
More About: Recipe

Cream Cheese and Greek Yogurt Fruit Dip
2012-01-21 16:00:00
Michelle has a mission to use up some cream cheese in stock. She prepared this Cream Cheese and Greek Yogurt Fruit Dip as dessert for the South Arm Cooking Club for Seniors. This Cream Cheese and Greek Yogurt Fruit Dip is Michelle's family favourite. Her kids will eat the double amount of fruit whenever this dip is served. The dip tastes like caramel and it's very creamy. Greek yogurt or strained yogurt is much higher in protein than regular yogurt. It adds nutrition to recipes that usually call for cream, sour cream or plain yogurt. If you usually use sour cream, try mixing together half sour cream and half low fat Greek yogurt for more protein and calcium.
More About: Recipe

Green Greek Salad
2012-01-20 16:00:00
Michelle prepared a Green Greek Salad for South Arm Cooking Club for Seniors as a side dish. Most Greek salads have heavy oil dressing. For this salad, it has a lighter dressing with lemon juice and vinegar. The use of romaine lettuce adds more nutrition to this Green Greek Salad. Michelle word of wisdom is to use lettuce in darker greens for more nutritional value.
More About: Recipe

Smothered Chicken in Quinoa
2012-01-19 16:00:00
The South Arm Cooking Club for Seniors met again after the Christmas and New Year winter break. Michelle, the program facilitator prepared four recipes for the first meeting in 2012. By the way, Michelle has her own recipe blog by the name Mint Green Apron. Go check out her blog for healthy and delicious recipes. The main dish for week is an easy, one pot meal with almost all the food groups covered. It's called Smothered Chicken in Quinoa .
More About: Recipe

Chinese New Year Food
2012-01-18 16:00:00
With the Chinese New Year around the corner, I would like to introduce some Chinese food traditions from my view point. Different regions might have different practices. From where I came from, i.e. South East Asia, the Chinese New Year celebration starts on Chinese New Year eve. The family will gather for a family union dinner. The dinner will be one of the more lavish one with whole fish, chicken, dried oyster, black moss (fatt choy), mushroom, etc. The name of the dishes are usually of good fortune, happiness, etc. Some of the name of the dishes are Good Deed will Prosper (Yau Yue Tim Hoe Si), Prosperity in Abundance (Foo Kwai Weng Wah), Happiness All Over (Hee Ha Tai Siew), etc.
More About: Food

Beijing Day 3: Dinner at the Dumpling King in Beijing APM
2012-01-17 16:00:00
We did a little shopping after a day at the park and after having lunch before headed back the hotel to rest. There is so much to see and do at the Wangfujing Street. Later on that night, Ben took me out to the Beijing APM Mall to have a late dinner since we already had a late lunch. This one one of Ben favourite restaurants and one he often goes to. The restaurant name is simply called Dumpling King . On one hand we thought it is a Taiwanese restaurant and yet on another hand it could have been a Shanghainese one. Oh, it does not matter. The food was really good. By the time we got there well past 8PM, it was pretty quiet already. Ben said that many Beijing restaurants gets quiet at that time because many people likes to start dinner at 6 or 7PM.
More About: Travel , Dinner

Beijing Day 3: Lunch at Er Mei Restaurant
2012-01-16 16:00:00
It was almost 3 PM by the time we got out of the Bei Hai Park. We were really hungry at that time. There were a number of restaurants around the northern entrance of the Bei Hai Park and so we explored the area to look for a place for a late lunch lunch. I remember coming across a shop which sell roasted chestnut with a very long line. There must be like at least 50 people lining up and the waft of roasted chestnut was so fragrant. As far as I would like to try them, the line was just too long. We settled at the above restaurant called Er Mei Restaurant . Despite it was almost 3 PM, the restaurant was full. So we guess this would be a great place to settle for lunch. We had to wait for 10 minutes for a table. We took it as a good sign.
More About: Travel , Lunch , Beijing

Beijing Day 3: Bei Hai Park
2012-01-15 16:00:00
Note: This post is written by Suanne. Ben's comments are in quotes. After Jing Shan Park , we proceeded to Bei Hai Park to the northeast of the Forbidden City. I remembered we walked through a lane that is lined with stores and shops. The line behind me was a line to buy some Beijing style pastry. We did not get any since we still have a lot of exploration to do in Bei Hai Park and we do want to hold the pastry a long the way.
More About: Travel

Beijing Day 3: Jing Shan Park
2012-01-14 16:00:00
After breakfast at Tai Hing, Ben brought me to Jing Shan Park .  It is located at the north end of the Forbidden City and gives a great view of the palace from above. Ben said he wanted to take me here because he wanted me to have a glimpse of the Forbidden City from above and also this is a great place to experience the culture of the Chinese people.
More About: Travel , Beijing

Beijing Day 3: Breakfast at Tai Hing in Oriental Mall
2012-01-13 16:00:00
As usual we woke up early to have an early head start of the day. It's hard to sleep in. Especially when I am so excited. The strange thing is, I was expecting to feel the jetlag hit me by now. Instead, it did not. Ben brought me to a Hong Kong style cafe in Oriental Plaza for breakfast. There is another Tai Hing also about 5 minutes walk away from the apartment, we went instead to the Oriental Plaza as there are more choices because the Oriental Plaza has a couple of subway stations. Tai Hing is a popular chain restaurant from Hong Kong. It used to be a small siu mei (roast meat) shop in Hong Kong and over the years, it had turned into a chain restaurant with a presence in China. Tai Hing had just opened for breakfast and we were one of the early birds here. Tai Hing is a slightly upscale Hong Kong style cafe. It has a nice and pleasant decor.
More About: Travel , Breakfast , Beijing , Mall

New India Buffet on West Broadway, Vancouver
2012-01-11 16:00:00
Arkensen and Nanzaro had an eye checkup in Vancouver during the winter break. Normally, they have their checkup in January but this time I was given the appointment during winter break. I'm so glad because I dont have to worry about them missing classes for their eyes checkup. Arkensen and Nanzaro wanted to eat at the New India Buffet & Restaurant which is located in the same building where their optometrist is.
More About: Broadway , Indian , West

Kalok Seafood Restaurant in Union Square, Richmond
2012-01-09 16:00:00
Polly and I met up for dim sum. Polly also invited her friend, Di to join us. Di is kind of on vacation here for a month to experience the winter in Vancouver.
More About: Restaurant , Union , Seafood , Richmond , Southern

Palm Sugar Jello (Agar-Agar Gula Melaka)
2012-01-08 16:00:00
I made this Palm Sugar Jello (Agar-agar Gula Melaka) for a Christmas party of Malaysian and Singaporean friends. The theme of food is Malaysian food. The party is on Boxing day and my boys had asked me to go shopping in the morning. I made the Agar-agar Gula Melaka on Christmas day so that I can have time to go shopping and have food to bring for the party. Gula Melaka or palm sugar has a unique fragrance to it that cannot be substituted with other type of sugar. You can find gula Melaka at Golden Summit on Westminster Hwy (across Richmond Public Market). Agar-agar can be found in most Asian groceries store.
More About: Recipe , Dessert

Pho Han on Capstan Way, Richmond
2012-01-06 16:00:00
Pho Han was opened in the summer of 2011, i.e. it had opened for 6 months already. I had noticed of a new Vietnamese restaurant sign on my way to Costco Richmond via Garden City Road many times but I just cant see the restaurant. Apparently, Pho Han is located on Capstan, just around the corner of  the strip mall where Manzo and Prata Man is. It is obscured from view if you travel along Garden City Road.

Chowtimes.com Turns Six
2012-01-05 16:00:00
We cant believe that chowtimes.com is 6 years old already. It's been a wonderful 6 years of sharing our food and travel experiences with our readers and friends. We just want to thank our readers for their continuing support and encouragement. We hope there will be more sharing in the coming year with more good eats, recipes and travel experiences.