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shanghai street...

Why weave through the ikea maze when you can meander with the natives on Shanghai Street. Shanghai Street has everything you could possibly need. There are baking shops, 'white' porcelain shops, knife shops... If it's good enough for Anthony Bourdain, it's good enough for me. On my most recent trip, my list included white congee spoons, Vietnamese coffee filter, tiny white porcelain spoons and any gluten free goodies I could get my hands on. 


Of course, I found everything I needed and then some.


There's the Vietnamese coffee maker above. I have sweet memories of my iced morning coffee on the beaches of Da Nang. Now I just have to figure out their elusive method. But how hard can it be?


I have collected steamer baskets in all possible sizes. Does anyone have tried and tested gluten free recipes for dim sum? I also stack them up and corral goodies in them as well. 




Having a party? Shanghai Street has several baking shops as well. You won't miss them. One of them is affectionately named, 'I love cake.' 


This is where I purchased my pan for Hong Kong traditional egg waffles


Lunch anyone? After all that shopping we were hungry, but we decided against the various dried meats. Cafe Mido was closed due for Spring Break. So we found a dim sum restaurant down the street.   Before I leave Hong Kong I will return to Shanghai Street for one of their massive several inches thick round chopping blocks. I think the hubs also mentioned a set of knives. If you watch the Anthony Bourdain clip that's what he was after on Shanghai Street as well. And if you walk far enough down Shanghai Street, you'll run into the jade market... 

xox, 
c

photos courtesy of Heidi Selch


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traditional bubble waffles...

Our beloved Kong is a public transportation wonderland. Pick your favorite. taxi. mtr (subway). tram. double decker. And our F1 doppelganger -- minibuses (basically fast driving vans that operate as buses). My children prefer the mtr as every mtr station has food stalls. As soon the mtr slows to a crawl at our station the begging begins. Mama, can I have a waffle? noodles? shu mai? But ever since my son was diagnosed with celiac disease, half of my pair can't enjoy the yummy bubble waffles (gai daan tsai). Then just the other day I stumbled upon this egg waffle recipe at Williams Sonoma. I was quite surprised that they have the gai daan tsai recipe and the pan.  I purchased my waffle pan on Hong Kong's Shanghai Street as Williams Sonoma does not ship to Hong Kong. I substituted gluten free flour for the cake flour and abracadabra we can enjoy egg waffles for an after school snack. 




Ever the multitasker, I began by melting the butter while sifting my gluten free flour, salt, baking soda and a just a touch of grated nutmeg.

Then I whisked the egg yolks, milk, vanilla, melted butter and granulated sugar all together.  


I mixed the the wet and dry ingredients together and then gently folded in the egg whites. It should be a bit runnier than pancake batter and thicker than crepe batter. 


Now its time to heat up the egg waffle iron. After the iron's warm, brush it with oil. The Williams Sonoma recipe calls for vegetable oil, but I used grape seed oil due to its higher flash point. Just in case I should leave the iron on the burner too long. It's been known to happen... 



Pour in enough batter to fill up the bubbles on the bottom of the pan. I used a pancake dispenser to be sure I didn't make a huge mess. Close the top onto the bottom of the pan and quickly flip it over.  Flipping the pan allows the batter to cover both sides and develops the traditional egg or bubble shape. Let each side cook for about one or two minutes depending on how hot your burner is set.


Let the waffles cool off for a couple minutes on a wire rack prior to serving. My waffle iron turned out over ten waffles whereas the Williams Sonoma recipe states their pan makes five waffles. After looking at the online pictures I'm fairly certain my waffle iron is smaller than theirs. 




The children were famished after school and quickly gobbled all the waffles up before I could experiment with toppings. Next time I will try the gai daan tsai with powdered sugar, a sprinkling of cocoa, nutella, or maybe a generous smear of peanut butter. Wow, they would probably also be delish as a sandwich. Could even add sprinkles for a birthday breakfast!


xox, 
c


 all photos by Heidi Selch



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