Horchata

We had a batch of rice that does not yield good steam rice. So, Ben decided to use it to make Horchata.

Horchata is a Mexican drink made out of rice, milk, vanilla and cinnamon.

Ingredients

• 1 cup uncooked white long grain rice
• 5 cups water
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 2/3 cup sugar

This recipe is from Lola.

As for me, I would prefer to use cinnamon stick instead of cinnamon powder as I do not like the cinnamon powder to float in the Horchata. The drink in the glass is made with cinnamon stick while the drink in the bottles behind the glass is made with cinnamon powder.

Break at Parker Place Foodcourt, Richmond

After lunch at Kung Fu Noodle, Arkensen wanted to get a bubble tea from the Parker Place Foodcourt.

He went to the stall called Break because the menu is most readable.

He had a Coffee Milk Tea at $3.75 and an addition of tapioca for an extra 50cents.

Break offers a loyalty stamp card where your 10th purchase will be free.

You can click on the menu to have a larger view.

Break accepts cash only.

Wine Tasting and Tour at Lulu Island Winery, Richmond

I have always wanted to try icewine.  So, I organized a wine tasting with the group of friends who had dim sum at Neptune Seafood Restaurant recently. I cannot tolerate alcohol at all as my face will flare up just with a few tasting. That’s why I cannot drive if I want to go for any wine tasting. Fortunately, Emily S is a regular drinker and she has no problem with just a few tasting. So, we met up at South Arm Community Center and car pooled to Lulu Island Winery with Emily S as the designated driver.

The above is the Riesling Chardonnay white icewine which comes in 2 sizes. The 200ml bottle is $37.00 while the 375ml bottle is $69.00. The icewine is really sweet and is considered as dessert wine. It is meant to be enjoyed a little at a time. I really like it.

Do you know that icewine is trademarked as a single word in Canada?

The icewines from Lulu Island winery has the VQA stamp which is a guarantee that you’re purchasing 100% BC Wine. BC VQA is an Äppellation of Origin” system that guarantees authenticity of origin and stipulates minimum quality standards for Canadian wines.

Lulu Island Winery is the gold award winner of Öther Icewines” category of the All Canadian Wine Championships 2011. We were told that only BC and Ontario produce icewine due to the some specific requirements. White icewine needs at least 24 hours of temperature of 8 degrees Celsius below zero before the grapes can be harvested for making icewine. For red icewine, it needs to be -14C for at least 24 hours. German and Austria are the only other European countries that produce white icewine. Canada is the only country in the world that produce red icewine. There are only 5 wineries in BC and 6 in Ontario that produce icewines.

Lulu Island Winery is located at 16880 Westminster Hwy, Richmond, east of No. 7 Road.

Lulu Island Winery was the China House during the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver which hosted the Chinese Olympic committee during the game.

Lulu Island Winery has a 13 acres vineyard on the premises. The type of grapes planted here is Orange Muscat, a dessert variety. The vineyard is only in its 3rd year and not ready for harvest yet. It takes usually 4.5 to 5 years for the grape vines to mature.

The growth rate is slow here in Richmond. Grape vines need at least 8 hours of sunshine daily for a good growth. Grape vines also need very good drainage which is why we usually see vineyard in a valley. The vineyard here is made possible by embedding a layer of hay below the soil to create better drainage. We were told that the grapes in this vineyard will not be able to be used for making icewine as it’s not cold enough here. The wine produced at Lulu Island Winery are made from grapes from the Okanagan Valley. Lulu Island Winery is the newest and largest winery in Richmond.

Ching Po Leung

During the hot summer day, Ben would yearn for a cooling Chinese drink like Ching Po Leung.  Ching Po Leung can be cooked as a savory soup or as a sweet soup depending on what ingredients you add in. For the savory soup, meat like lean pork or skinless chicken is added in and season to taste with salt.

For the sweet soup version, rock sugar and more longan meat is added.  This Chinese concoction is supposed to have a cooling effect to the body.

Ching Po Leung can be bought from Chinese herbal or groceries stores. It came packed with all the ingredients except the meat or rock sugar.

Ingredients

• from top clockwise, barley, lotus seeds, lily bulb, Solomon’s Seal Rhizome, Euryale seeds,  longan meat, Chinese Yam and rock sugar in the middle

Click on the following link to check out the nutritional values of the individual components of this concoction.

Sidral Mundet – iPods Giveaways … and Tres Leches Cake

There is so much to learn about South American food. Just three weeksto ago, Suanne and I were at the Panaderia Latina Bakery to check out the pastries and desserts. Panaderia also had a section where they carry foodstuff from South America.

That was the first time I came across the soft drink called Sidral Mundet displayed next to bottles of Jarritos. I am quite familiar with Jarritos but it is the first I had seen Sidral Mundet.

Coincidentally, a few days later Sindral Mundet wrote to us asking if chowtimes.com want to host a giveaway and help create some buzz for the product. That is definitely something we are interested in doing for our readers, especially when the prizes included the following:

• 1 winner: Apple iPod Touch 8GB
• 1 winner: Apple iPod Nano 8GB
• 5 winners: Sidral Mundet Gift Pack
• 5 winners: Sidral Mundet Backpack

Read down to the bottom of this post and find out how to have a chance to win them. It’s easy.

So last week, I went to the Panaderia Latina Bakery to pick up some bottles of Sidral Mundet. I couldn’t write about it if I had never tasted it, right?

When I posted about the Panaderia, El Lobo Solo was mentioning about their Tres Leches cake. Since that comment, Suanne had been pestering me to go buy it on the way home.

Suanne is impossibly crazy over sweet desserts like this … especially when Tres Leches cake means three milk cake! The Tres Leches cake is a sponge cake make with evaporated milk, condensed milk and heavy cream.

The lady at the countered said that we need to let it thaw in room temperature for …

Indian Cuisine: Spiced Chai Tea

This is the last community kitchen at the Caring Place for 2009.  The reason is the Caring Place kitchen is fully booked for Christmas parties until end of the year.  Minoo has chosen an Indian theme for this meeting.  I love to learn cuisines from other culture.

Minoo made a popular Indian drink which is the Spiced Chai Tea.  The black tea is flavoured with various spices like cinnamon, cardamom, ginger and clove.  You can serve it with milk or as it is.

In India and Pakistan, Chai Tea is called Masala Chai.  Masala means spices.

Chai Tea is served in many restaurants/cafes.  Here are some of them:

• Saffron Indian Cuisine
• Stepping Stones Bakery Cafe
• Death By Chocolate
• Saravanaa Bhavan
• Vij’s

Ingredients

• 7 cups water
• 2 cardamom pods
• 1 piece of ginger, sliced
• 2 cloves
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tablespoons black tea (strong, loose leaves black tea such as Assam)
• 1 cup milk
• 6 tablespoons brown sugar or any sweetener as preferred like honey or palm sugar
• optional spice: star anise and peppercorns (for a stronger taste)

Frat-Bat Sampler at Alibi Room in Gastown, Vancouver

I finally met up with Kevin of 604foodtography.com.

We had planned to meet up for a few months but failed to for one reason or another. When we came to a date that suits both of us, Suanne had to go for her canning workshops. So it was just I who went and met with Kevin.

We met at the Alibi Room. The Alibi Room is located on Alexander Street in Gastown.

Having never been to this part of the town before, I thought it was just next to Water Street in Gastown. I was running late and I did not check the exact location before I parked at The Harbor Center.

Boy, it was a long walk to the Alibi Room from the Harbor Center. And to add to that, Alexander Street was so empty and quiet. I thought for a moment I was at the wrong place. Spin around the Google Street View above. It IS that quiet with hardly a soul in sight. It is situated in an old heritage building and there is no prominent sign on the restaurant front.

The Alibi Room opens at very odd hours. I am curious as to why they keep such odd non-uniform opening hours. See their hours here:

Tuesday – 5pm ‘til late
Wednesday – 5pm ’til well after dark
Thursday – 5pm ‘til closing time
Friday – 5pm – 1am
Saturday – 10am -1am (brunch 10am-3pm)
Sunday brunch 10-3
Monday – CLOSED

The Alibi Room’s decor is minimal and laid back. This adds to the charm of this place. It did appear to me that this is primarily a beer place. That is fine with me even though I am intolerant to alcohol. Since it was at that time there was a discussion on chowtimes about beer, I thought this would be a great place to learn a bit more about beer.

You know how bad my alcohol intolerance is? I first found out about my condition in the worse of circumstances. Of all times, it was at a …

Fair Bee Coffee & Tea in Lansdowne Mall, Richmond

After the cake meet at Meinhardt Fine Foods, Polly and I went to do some groceries shopping at the Real Canadian Superstore in Richmond. It was a nice warm spring day and we felt like having a cold drink.

Hence, Polly brought me to her favourite smoothies place in Lansdowne Mall. It’s Fair Bee Coffee & Tea. Strangely, their specialties are bubble tea and not coffee & tea.

Polly had the special of the day which was Papaya Milk Tea. It’s $4.50 with pearl.

I had the a Berry Smoothies which has blueberries and raspberries. It was icy cold and naturally sweetened by the berries. Mine is $4.00 only as I did not add any pearls.

With summer approaching fast, bubble tea will be a popular drink.