[Review] Marks and Spencers Raspberry Yum Yums

I love Yum Yums which are twisted dough coated in icing.
At Marks and Sparks they had Raspberry ones which were fancier than the plains ones.
My instinct was that the plains ones were going to be better but decided to try the raspberry ones which looked like donuts.

According to the label, they were Raspberry Yum Yums filled with raspberry fruit curd with fine raspberry fondant.

Unfortunately, it was too sweet overall and the raspberry curd was disappointing as it tasted and looked like clear raspberry jam.

[Review] Island Delight Jamaican Patties - Lamb & Jerk Chicken

A Jamaican patty is a pastry that contains various fillings and spices baked inside a flaky shell, often tinted golden yellow with an egg yolk mixture or turmeric.
It is made like a turnover, but is more savoury and filled with meat.
(quoted from Wiki)
Normally I get fresh patties from Jamaican shops but you can also find ready made Jamaican patties by Island Delights at the supermarket so I decided to try them.

The Lamb and Chicken were purchased from Sainsburys.

It is best to put them in the over as microwaving it will result in a soft pastry.
As I just couldn't wait, I microwaved it as I wasn't bothered about the soft pastry.

There was a reasonable amount of filling in the middle with a good level of spices in it that wasn't really spicy.
The lamb meat was a bit chewy, not top quality meat but overall worth trying.

The jerk chicken fared much better and the chicken was really tasty.

Attended IFE2022 so I got to sample the Salt Fish which is now my new favourite because the filling is really flavourful but in a fishy way.

Island Delight Jamaican brown stew lamb with rice, mutton curry and jerk chicken.

http://www.island-delight.co.uk/products/

Jack 'n Jill Salted Egg Crisps

Salted Egg is trending at the moment so we are seeing salted egg in everything.
Lots of crisp brands and even fast food chains like KFC and McDonalds have some form of salted egg in their dishes.

Jack 'n Jill has the salted egg crisps too with a difference.

It is different in the sense you have to put the salted egg yolk powder in the bag and shake it.

I liked it that way because I got to taste the crisps without any seasoning and they were just as good as your usual ready salted crisps.

Overall I was really impressed with these crisps because the salted egg flavour and crisps were not sweet like other Chinese brands.

Camellia is not just a garden flower

Earlier this year I discovered Camellia oil because it was awarded 'The Best Natural Cooking Oil' award at Hong Kong LOHAS Award 2019.

Sunplan - Cold Pressed Extra Virgin Camellia Oil is a vegetable oil extracted from Camellia tea seeds which contains all three essential fatty acids like Omega 3, 6 & 9.

Since I have this plant in my garden, I felt compelled to try it because Camellia has always been a pretty flower in the garden.

Camellia Flower tree in my garden now without any flowers because it now past the flowering season.

Before I use any ingredient, I will always smell and taste it so that it can be used accordingly.

I was expecting the oil to have a flowery aroma like the real plant but it didn't which meant you could use the oil for anything like cooking and making cakes.

One of the advantages of Camellia oil is its high smoke point (burning point) which means it is suitable for cooking at high temperatures like frying food.

I used the oil on egg fried rice because egg is the soul of fried rice and it turned out quite well.

It just behaved like normal oil and the fried rice tasted good as you could still taste the egg.

For baking, I happily used the oil in the muffin mixture because it is good for your health and better than using non nutritious oils.

As as well as cooking, it can also be used on hair and skin.

The best thing is that it complies to the FDA which is something I trust.

Sunplan - Cold Pressed Extra Virgin Camellia Oil can be purchased from HKTVmall:
https://www.hktvmall.com/hktv/en/main/DRAGON-MAX-SEAFOOD-COMPANY-LIMITED/s/H6625001/Supermarket/Supermarket/Rice-%26-Cooking-Oil/Cooking-Oil/Others/Cold-Pressed-Extra-Virgin-Camellia-Oil-500ml-gift-set/p/H6625001_S_F00120

Singaporean crisps by F.EAST

F.EAST Flavours of The East are a brand of crisps from Singapore that brings you flavours from the East like Hainan Chicken which is a national dish of Singapore.

There are three flavours in the range:

Hainan Chicken, Singapore Laksa and Egg Prata with Fish curry.

As a crisps and cup noodles addict I had to try them all so I was really lucky to get the set.

Here were my thoughts on all the flavours which can be found at 711 and supermarkets that stock them.

**************************

Hainan Chicken:

They tasted like a mix of chicken and spring onion flavoured crisps with a touch of ginger.

Overall quite nice because it is a flavour that I can relate to.

**************************

Singapore Laksa:

There was a strong coconut smell when this bag of Singapore laksa crisps was opened.

In terms of taste, it was very coconutty and sweet with a slightly spicy aftertaste.

**************************

Egg Prata with Fish curry:

The egg prata with Fish curry was super spicy just like those crisps you get from Indian shops.

It tasted similar to Lay's India's Magic Masala which I previously posted.

**************************

https://www.flavoursoftheeast.com/

Ragged School Museum in London

The Ragged School Museum is a nice place to visit as you get to see how schools were in the Victorian times.
There are clothes at the near the stairs which you can try and there is a tea bar at the basement but there wasn't anyone around to serve drinks.

Lime Caviar and its culinary potential in dishes

Ever since I heard about Lime Caviar I have always wanted to try it.
I literally thought they were pearls made with lime juice using molecular gastronomy.

To my excitement, I finally got to see them at Hofex on the second day.

Lime Caviar comes from Finger Limes native to Australia and there are quite a few different colours available.
The best thing is that Finger Limes are all natural and the beauty is that you will find tiny pearls when you slice it open and squeeze it.

These pearls will burst zesty tangy juice so imagine taking dishes to the next level by garnishing oysters or anything that needs a zesty and colourful finish!

You can now get them in tubs which are quick and convenient to serve by spooning them out and sprinkling them on whatever you fancy.

The good news is that you can now get them in Hong Kong through [Eat The Kiwi].

[Eat The Kiwi] offers a good range of New Zealand groceries.

Also at the booth, I spotted some Deer Milk powder which is said to be rich and creamy.
Deer Milk was apparently on the menu at the worlds 50 best in Macau so I wouldn't mind just drinking a pure shot of deer milk to see how it tastes!!

About [Eat The Kiwi]:
Eat The Kiwi was born out of the success of The Produce Company, a business responsible for sourcing and delivering high quality, fresh food to many of New Zealand’s top restaurants since the 80’s.

In the early days they started exporting to Super Yachts and Luxury Hotels in the Pacific but then as they learnt how to provide small consolidated orders to hard to find locations, they decided on taking Eat the Kiwi to the World by hoisting a New Zealand flag.

They landed in Hong Kong in 2015. For the first two years, their carefully chosen, fresh New Zealand ingredients were only available to top restaurants and hotels, but they soon found out that people were eager to access their naturally good food in their own homes too.

In recent years they have opened Eat the Kiwi Offices in Shanghai and Western Samoa.