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Hey there!
I’m Sandy.

An inspiring menu developer as seen on the current series of MasterChef 2020 on BBC1

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Happy Dragon Boat Festival 🐉 Indulging myself w

Happy Dragon Boat Festival 🐉 Indulging myself with a handmade zong zi 粽子 by @by_elyse_li (check out their other goodies like pineapple pastries)

I need to confess, it is one of those festivals that haunt me as a child. Not entirely because of the folk tale about a poet drown himself in the river (it is said that the locals dropped balls of sticky rice into the river so that the fish would eat them instead of his body, which is said to be the origin of zong zi) but the experience of having zong zi as breakfast, lunch and dinner for... a whole month. Not exactly a traditional ritual that people have to follow, just my mom became CBA when the weather got really hot I supposed. 🥵

Then I was off to the UK, so no more zong zi was offered in my English host family. And that's when I actually started to appreciate this scrumptious rice dumpling wrapped in flat leaves. Food always taste better when it makes you feel nostalgic, isn't it?

#dragonboatrace #zongzi

I have been doing it WRONG! A note on dried shiita

I have been doing it WRONG! A note on dried shiitake mushroom 🍄

Fresh is usually better when it comes to ingredients, but there are several occasions when it isn't. Cured ham, dry aged steak, sun dried tomatoes and of course mushrooms. The sun-drying process intensifies the umami-ness by breaking down its protein molecules. Great things happen and lots of glutamate are formed.

In the past, I soaked dried shiitake mushrooms with hot water (absolutely savage) in order to speed up the hydration process. Obviously, it works but I learnt something new from my mom when I was cooking in her kitchen back in Macau. She questioned why I didn't braised my dried mushrooms beforehand. And I tried a couple of the ones she stored in the freezer, braised with sugar, oyster sauce and the water which the mushrooms are soaked in- it was mind blowing.

So keep this in mind and thank me later. During the braising process, sugar has been added which works really well to balance the earthiness and bitter taste of the mushroom.

1. Soak the dried mushrooms in a water bath with a pinch of sugar overnight (creating a hypotonic solution) so the mushroom gets all plumped up.

2. Remove the mushrooms to a boiling pan, filtered any debris from the water bath and add the solution back to the pan.

3. Add oyster sauce, sugar and a pinch of ground white pepper (and some black vinegar if you wish to balance the sweetness) . Bring it to boil, then lower the heat so it just simmers. Keep cooking until all liquid has been evaporated/ fully caramelised.

Now you can cool it down then pop them in the fridge/ freezer. Make them in bulk, and trust me it's a game changer.

#打開東菇的正確方式
#shiitakemushrooms

♥ 过油肉拌面 Guò yóu ròu bàn miàn ♥

♥ 过油肉拌面 Guò yóu ròu bàn miàn ♥

Guò yóu ròu = Deep fried meat
Bàn miàn = Mix noodles

This is one of my most-favourite dishes that I would often order (again and again) as a solo traveler in Xinjiang. It is not as well-known as other sharing plates like 大盘鸡 Dàpán jī, but Ban Mian or as they call it 拉条子 Lā tiao zi are often served at casual eateries and might be the most satisfying food among the locals. Noodles are chewy and richly sauced.

Different from Biang Biang Mian or Lanzhou Lamian, Xinjiang Ban Mian has the thickness of a chopstick and served with various types of 拌菜 (Mixing dishes), ranging from tomato and egg, mushrooms and meat to lamb and onions.

I managed a cheeky detour to the Toksun County as they were famous for their Ban Mian as well as free noodle top-up policy across the county. They fed me very well, and I learnt a trick or two to recreate this dish back in London.

RECIPE serves 2

- 200g Lamb leg, marinated with 1/2 tbsp ground cumin, 1/2 chilli powder, 1 tsp salt, 10g whole egg
- 1/2 Red onions, sliced
- 1 Red bell peppers, chopped
- 40g Romaine lettuce, chopped
- 40g Black Ear Fungus, soaked with water and sliced
- 5 Dried chillies, soaked with water and chopped
- 200g chopped tomato
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 tbsp of chilli oil from @sunwahfoods (so good!)

To make Ban Mian:
- 200g All purpose flour
- 100g water
- Pinch of salt

#guoyouroubanmian #过油肉拌面 #noodles #food #foodie #foodporn #instafood #foodphotography #foodstagram #yummy #foodblogger #chinesefood #delicious #foodlover #asianfood #homemade #noodle #dinner #foodgasm #lunch#foodies #spicy #tasty #homecooking #foodiesofinstagram/

🌸𝑫𝒊𝒎 𝑺𝒖𝒎 𝑩𝒓𝒖𝒏𝒄

🌸𝑫𝒊𝒎 𝑺𝒖𝒎 𝑩𝒓𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒉 🌸

Handsdown this is the prettiest dim sum you can have at home from @mykidsarehungry8 🙌
They taste as delicious as they look as well!

We ordered sets of 3 for basically all types of dim sum they have. They come in frozen, so it's really handy to steam and serve on a lazy Sunday morning like this.

What we had this morning:
Scallop Tobikko Siu Mai
Pork Siu Mai
Har Gow and Chestnut
Spinach prawns chicken
Fresh crabmeat and prawns

We also ordered a vegan range so stay tuned and will let you know if they are equally as good!

#dimsum #dumplings
#hargow #siumai #chinesefood

𝐋𝐚𝐦𝐛 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐚 𝐌𝐨

𝐋𝐚𝐦𝐛 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐚 𝐌𝐨𝐦𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐒𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐓𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐨 𝐂𝐡𝐮𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐲 ☀☀☀

There were days when me and other colleagues go to a local Nepalese pub on a Friday evening. You get the best of both worlds - a pint of pale ale and momos. The word Momo '馍馍' in Northern Chinese dialects refers to steamed buns, which later the name spreads to Tibet, and Nepal and usually now refers to filled buns or dumplings.

A good chutney provides the perfect complement to these dumplings and you will often see timur berry (aka timut pepper/ thingye/ yerma) on the recipe. It is a Nepalese spice or pepper, which has the cold spiciness of, but not to be confused with sichuan peppercorn, with its remarkable hints of grapefruit.
In fact, it is related to the Sichuan pepper, but neither is from the same family as the black pepper everyone is familiar with. Both come from the zanthoxylum family, which helps explain the distinctive tongue-tingling taste shared by both timur berry and sichuan peppercorns.

ᴄᴏᴄᴏɴᴜᴛ, ᴘɪꜱᴛᴀᴄᴄʜɪᴏ,

ᴄᴏᴄᴏɴᴜᴛ, ᴘɪꜱᴛᴀᴄᴄʜɪᴏ, ᴄʜᴇʀʀʏ

#homeiswheretheheartis

MY LAST SUPPER BEFORE I HEAD OFF TO SOMEWHERE ELSE

MY LAST SUPPER BEFORE I HEAD OFF TO SOMEWHERE ELSE 🐚

I decided to take my parents out for 'popping clams’ in Shunde. (I drove all the way up this time as I applied for a Chinese driving license with my UK license). And it was definitely worth the journey! Fresh clams cooked in a bone broth made every morning, the owner really takes pride of. He was so patient, trying to explain to me the various types of clams on the menu. Some are massive but probably not as flavourful as the smaller ones...

Apart from fresh clams, we ordered some oysters, prawns balls, lots of tofu and beancurd rolls which absorb all the goodness from the broth.

Me and my parents really enjoyed it, and what a great meal to share one more time together... they will be missed for sure

It's my last week of a much-extended stay in Macau

It's my last week of a much-extended stay in Macau! 🇲🇴

As I walked into the village of Coloane, it didn’t take me long to notice the aroma of the freshly baked pastries. 22000 egg tarts are being freshly made daily, pretty much without a break all year round. There is no way you can walk passed the bakery and not noticing those golden-coloured caramelised custard filled pastries. They smell heavenly 😍

It was a pleasure to meet Eileen and Audrey from the Lord Stow’s Bakery, a bakery that has been established for decades and have won the heart of many locals as well as tourists from all over the world for their Pastel de Nata.

Things have changed drastically in the last decade in Macau, but the taste of these goodies was just like what I recalled as a kid. In my Masterchef audition, I actually put together a baked dim sum trio, including Pastel de nata and alongside with Char siu pork puff pastry and Black pepper beef cornish pasties. Which is very self-explanatory 😂

Big breakfast, skip lunch and ski all day long ⛷

Big breakfast, skip lunch and ski all day long ⛷️

Have you ever had a Kazakh style breakfast? I promise you would love it as much as I do! Starting from the left - a bowl of savory milk tea (lightly savory and yet so creamy), handmade blackcurrant jam, urum "奶皮子" (the layer of skin formed on simmered milk), baursuk "包尔萨克”(fried bread), kovardak “胡尔达克” (beef n potatoes stew).

And my favourite? Baursuk filled with the unsweetened blackcurrant jam, I can easily eat a bucket of those. Urum is so so creamy. I think dairy products are just exceptionally good in this area.

Until you see it yourself.

Until you see it yourself.

Happy Chinese New Year 🧧🧨✨ Wishing everyon

Happy Chinese New Year 🧧🧨✨ Wishing everyone health and wealth in the year of Ox 🐂

祝身體健康，牛年順利，牛市大吉 ❤️

Yesterday marks a momentous day that I received th

Yesterday marks a momentous day that I received the first dose of Sinopharm vaccine like many others in Macau! 💉 Knowing that I will be travelling to other parts of China and back to the UK in the next couple months, it's almost a no brainer to put myself forward to hop on the earliest appointment available.

Are there any risks and potential side effects? Yes. However, covid vaccination is so important for us to break the chain of transmission of this coronavirus and provide health protection for all of us. This is beyond a community, a region, or a country, with its benefits will get amplified as more people in the world has been vaccinated. 🌍

How am I feeling? I'm actually feeling pretty normal and perhaps just a bit more sleepy than usual (not sure if that's because of the vaccine or the sofa or Netflix 😜). Mentally, this feels amazing. I feel like we are finally making some progress after such a long time.

Being grateful is an understatement. Macau government has been doing an incredible job in keeping my family safe, reducing the social and economic impact of this pandemic to its minimum. Thank you 🙏🙏

New ingredient unlocked 🌟!

"Sea grapes" 海葡萄
(Caulerpa Lentillifera)

These green caviar-looking algae is originated from the coastal regions in the Indo-Pacific, and now commercially cultivated in many East Asia countries. They are served with two dips that you can choose from - soy & Wasabi or a Sichuan chilli oil.

It actually doesn't have much taste on its own. But I like the texture, just pops in your mouth like bubbles. Definitely something I would want to develop further in my own dishes.

Pardon the angle 🙈

They bring Ham Chin Peng 咸煎餅 (salty pancakes) to a different level! I love the gradual thickness of crunchiness with a soft doughy crust at the bottom. It's commonly served alongside with congee in many Cantonese breakfast eateries. Made with simple ingredients bread flour, water... and Nam Yu 南乳 (Fermented Red Beancurds) which gives you a subtle sweet taste as well as savory ones. Lots of sesame on top that gives you that extra aroma 👌

Swipe ⏩ They kindly cut it up as they serve us the dish
⏩⏩ Me showing you how crunchy it is 🐽🐽😋
⏩⏩⏩ Other great dim sum dishes
⏩⏩⏩⏩ The exterior of the restaurant

#飲茶#dimsum#bolei#foodie#londonfoodie#london#yumcha # 咸煎餅

*Inhaling the hotpot spirit* Tried out this new h

*Inhaling the hotpot spirit*

Tried out this new hotpot place in ZH and so impressed with their varieties and the quality of their broth base. The Left is the signature Taiwanese style Mala Spicy broth with unlimited braised tofu and duck blood to take home as well. The Right is a chicken broth with mushrooms and barleys which has a thick consistency and taste great even having as a soup on its own.

What I love most is their penguin shaped squid cakes, with half made from squid ink looking super adorable... As well as their yogurt flavour sorbet served as a palette cleanser between meals! 👌

A very happy Sandy.

Thanks to Mama's feeding and great food Macau and

Thanks to Mama's feeding and great food Macau and GZ has to offer, I probably haven't pick up a knife or get my hands dirty for a good month 😂

However, me and my sister decided to make some wontons together using @omnipork.uk - a plant based pork that took Asian markets by storm, along with some fresh shiitake mushrooms and chives 😋 which compliment each other really well because Omnipork is also made from shiitake mushrooms, peas, rice and non GMO soy protein.

Then cooked with a chilli, garlic and black beans sauce 🌶️👌 wontons has never been so good

Good thing is Omnipork is also launching their range in the UK this month. Make sure you follow @omnipork.uk to know where to get hold of them! What I really love about this product is how versatile you can cook with it unlike most vegan products in the market right now that is finished or semi-finished, check out @kaykayfood for more vegan recipe inspirations. 😍

#omnipork #veganuary

Fixing my sweet tooth 👌 The 'Popcorn' was exce

Fixing my sweet tooth 👌

The 'Popcorn' was exceptional. I love its presentation and you can really taste the essence of corn within a bite. Complex textures of mousses, popcorn crunch, and a fluffy sponge.

This shop is just round the corner where I grew up in Macau and their sweets are just as good as it was when I first had their Mont Blanc.

Visited the local market today, and thought might

Visited the local market today, and thought might as well popping down to the noodle and dumpling stalls next to it.

Another favorite of mine - braised beef brisket and tendons with egg noodles and choi sum 牛筋牛腩撈粗, some potstickers filled with Chinese chives 韭菜鍋貼, stuffed peppers 釀尖椒 and deep fried wontons 炸雲吞

What Macau feels like ☕

What Macau feels like ☕

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! 🎉🥂 Hope you all ha

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! 🎉🥂

Hope you all had some time to reset and feel ready to kick off again. 2020 has been a challenging year but we have dealt with it so big congratulations! It's also a year that I realised how passionate I'm about food and pivot myself to a completely different industry with the many opportunities I have been given. Massive thank you for those who had offered help, purchasing my products as well as your kind messages and supportive comment to keep me going. ❤️🙇🏻‍♀️

In order to pursue the exciting opportunities ahead, I finally made the move to leave my full-time consulting job with @accenture. I'm so grateful to be part of the organisation that constantly gives back and invest in their own talent. What I have learnt in this high performing environment will last for a life time and will play a vital role in my next step - starting off a new food venture! 🔨📈

In parallel, I'm still serving my clients as a food consultancy focusing on areas in new product development. Feel free to drop me a note if you have any questions and require a second option. I just LOVE interesting ideas especially when it comes to food 💡

Our 2021 will be great!

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