[Review] Special chow mein from China Garden in New Addington

 I am not a regular here because I am currently trying to try all the takeaways in UK.

The special chow mein here is actually quite good, the noodles are not that oily and it is colourful with green peas.

With some takeaways, you get a bit bloated after eating half a portion but I was able to finish the whole box and it didn't need any extra sauce.

[Review] Singapore noodles and curry sauce from New China Dragon

I am not a regular here but I enjoy trying out every different Chinese takeaway in UK because I like to see the differences.
Some takeaways use thin noodles and some use thick for the chowmein.
The food at New China Dragon was comforting because the Singapore noodles and curry sauce tasted similar to a Chinese takeaway in the South East.

[Review] M&S Marks and Spencers Aromatic crispy quarter duck & pancakes

I was really glad I got the Marks and Spencers Aromatic crispy quarter duck & pancakes.
Basically you get 6 pancakes, cucumber, spring onions and sauce inside the box.

Getting the duck ready is easy, the duck goes in the over, the cucumber and spring onions need to be chopped and pancakes in the microwave when everything else is done.
It depends how crispy you want the duck so if you want it crispier then leave it in the oven for 25 minutes, otherwise 20 minutes will do.

The duck comes out crispy and aromatic just like the takeaways and the rest complement it deliciously.

Overall, I would really recommend it.

As the duck was good, I tried it again, this time I got the upper half of the duck.

Update October 2020.

You can now get extra Chinese style pancakes at M&S, Slow cooked aromatic duck and the regular aromatic duck with pancakes.

[Review] Lee Kum Kee Oyster Sauce

Lee Kum Kee is famous for its oyster sauce which was made by accident according to their English website.
As well as oyster sauce, they also have many other sauces like soy sauce and concentrated sauces for cooking.

Decades ago they used to have a oyster sauce factory in Sai Kung, Ho Chung next to Asia Television Station (ATV) which it not there now but I was happy to discover a Lee Kum Kee building in Central.

Although I have tried most of their sauces, this is my first post on Lee Kum Kee.
Tried the Vegetarian Stir Fry sauce which is actually a vegetarian version of the regular oyster sauce.
Compared to the regular oyster sauce, it is much sweeter with less unami.
The sauce is just like the regular oyster sauce with the same colour and consistency.

https://uk.lkk.com/

[Review] Tesco Rice Noodles

At Tesco, they have a good range for Chinese food, you can buy the ready made meals or ingredients to cook yourself.

I was quite impressed with the rice vermicelli (rice noodles) which stir fried nicely.

If you are thinking of cooking Singapore noodles, you can buy the plain or they have a curried version where you just add other ingredients like vegetables and meat.

[Review] Four Seasons Cheescon

I had no expectations on these Chinese savory snacks which always taste sweet.
However when I opened the bag, they tasted and smelled like #wotsit so I ate the whole bag in one go by accident.
#fourseascheescon

Dorayakis filled with Sakura flower filling

I do not like Dorayakis or Sakura flowers, but it was interesting that Kee Wah Bakery have a new Dorayaki flavour filled with Sakura flower.

櫻花銅鑼燒  奇華餅家

Sachima

My friend got me these Sachimas from Foshan and they were surprisingly nice.

I have not had much of these before because they looked big and I thought the texture was hard, but surprisingly they are soft.
This particular one was not too sweet so I loved it, some have dessicated coconut on it too.

It is also chewy as well, so I really enjoyed eating it.
There is a distinctive smell with these Chinese pastries but I do not know which ingredient that is.
I find this smell in other Chinese pastries especially the fried ones.

Sachima, also called Shaqima is a common Chinese pastry found in many Chinese-speaking regions. Each regional cuisine has its own slightly different variation of this food, though the appearance of all versions is essentially the same.

October fifth abalone cheese biscuits

A good concept of Chinese biscuits with a hint of western elements however the taste did not match the concept.

The abalone cheese biscuit I had was sweet, there was no cheese taste at all!
The chocolate egg rolls probably taste normal because they are sweet anyway and the seaweed puff seems a good concept too but from the experience of the abalone puff I can imagine the seaweed puff tasting sweet!
 

http://www.octoberfifth.com/

Yangmei Berry

I have always been intrigued by this fruit and did not know what it was until I finally tried it.

It looks like a lychee, so I assumed you had to peel off the shell and eat the berry inside, then later I found out that the whole berry is eaten except for the stone so I decided to get it because there is nothing to peel off.

The taste was unique at first. Then it reminded me of pink grapefruit.
The berry is made up of liquid filled pins similar to a grapefruit but without the white skin protecting it.
In the centre there is a stone.
After trying a few, some were sweet and some were very tart.
The tart ones tasted like grapefruit and the sweet ones like a sweet berry.