Hofex 2019 Day 1

Organized by UBM, Hofex is bigger and better this year.

I only had time for the 1st and 3rd floor so I shall be returning to the 5th floor tomorrow.

There were so many booths showcasing healthy snacks and foods.

From Australia we have Human Bean Co with these delicious air puffed faba beans which are crispy.
There are so many flavours: salted, salt and vinegar, lime and black pepper and pizza.
Coming from UK, the salt and pepper were my favourite.

Jomeis Fine Foods has a wonderful selection of lattes.
My favourite picks are turmeric, beetroot and minty cocoa which taste good.

Moving on to the UK section, there were quite a lot of finds.

I loved the smoked cheese crackers from The Fine Cheese Co.
(https://www.finecheese.co.uk/)

There were Stilton and Cheddar crackers as well which are popular in UK and also my favourite cheeses.

Artisan Cheeses that they have.

On the sweets side, I found these Vegan, sugar free & gluten free sweets by Jealous Sweets.
(www.thejealouslife.com)

Now to the meat section, we have meatless products and meat.

I am so glad that UK has a meat free option by The Meatless Farm Co as well so there are other options apart from Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat!
I can't wait to cook something soon with the mince and meat free patties.

While I was there, I tried their Chili Con Carne which was so comforting so I hope to get the recipe for that and make it.

In the meat section, there were lots of familiar faces as they are all distributed by the Golden Pig in Hong Kong as well!

My favourite Snowdonia cheeses especially the Black Bomber.

Wicks Manor:

Healthy and Luxurious soups delivered to you door

HK CHAN CHI MEI 真滋味 is a local brand that has been in Hong Kong since 1973.
You will always see them at the annual Hong Kong Brands and Products Expo.

I didn't realize that I already have one of their products in my kitchen which I must have got at the expo before!

This time I got the Abalone fish maw & sea cucumber soup (鮑魚海參滋補湯) and the pork trotters in sweet vinegar (天禧醋豬腳姜) which are both ready to eat but have to be reheated.

The soup is delivered frozen as there are absolutely no chemicals or preservatives in it.

There are four in the box for HKD$480 but using the promotional code 368 you get a discount!

You can actually see the abalone, sea cucumber and fish maw on top.

I was surprised how easy it was to reheat, you just put the sachet in boiling water and serve when it is hot.

The soup tasted amazing because there isn't any msg and it was viscous and sticky because of the fish maw.
The fish maw was lovely and soft as well.

The pork trotters in sweet vinegar is another delicious treat especially the pieces of ginger.

Please note: More than one packet in this bowl!

As well as ready to eat items, they also have fish powder and sauces which you can add to rice to make it tasty.
I like to add the fish powder to oats to make it taste like congee!

Will definitely buy more online when I run out.

http://www.chanchimei.com.hk

Healthy Beverages at [Tea Days 小茶堂]

I was actually in for a surprise when I went here.]

They had slow pressed juices and you could order drinks that were 100% sugar free.

I was actually doubting if they would be sugar free as usually taro and purple sweet potato are made with powders but ordered anyway.

There was a choice of purple potato or taro.

Purple potato is trending now but I had the taro because it is not as sweet compared to purple potato and less shops serve taro these days so you have to go to proper Taiwanese joints.

To my surprise, both were the real deal.

The cold pressed OJ was sweet and thick in the sense you could taste all parts of the orange from the pulp to the orange membrane.

Then the taro was exactly what I wanted, it didn't have any colouring and there were real pieces of taro so it was very satisfying as well as healthy.


Will definitely be back for the Sweet purple potato milk when I am in the area.

Tea Days 小茶堂:

Shop 22, G/F, Ho King Commercial Centre, 2-16 Fa Yuen Street, Mong Kok

34th HKTDC Hong Kong Gifts & Premium Fair

The 34th HKTDC Hong Kong Gifts & Premium Fair opens today at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre and runs until Tuesday (30 April).

This year’s fair continues to be the world’s largest event of its kind, expanding in scale in 2019 to feature a record 4,380 exhibitors from 31 countries and regions.

Close at heart is the UK Pavillion at Hall 3B featuring hand made flower jewelry by Shrieking Violet and Celebration Crackers.

Shrieking Violet is a multi award winning sterling silver jewellery brand handmade with REAL flowers.
They offer an exquisite collection of jewellery handmade with real flowers including rose, forget-me-not, poppy, daisy, sunflower & mixed flower collections.
https://www.flowerjewellery.com/

Not just for Christmas, crackers by Celebration Crackers are for all occasions.
They offer an abundance of designs, sizes and prices, from Handmade to Card Crackers which can be found thriving worldwide on restaurant tables, in boutique shops and in retail chains like John Lewis to Paperchase etc.

https://www.celebrationcrackers.co.uk

@shriekingvioletjewellery and @celebcrackers
@hktdclifestyle #hkgiftsfairs

J'adore [Trois Cafe]

Tit Hong Lane is a shabby alley in Central but all that has changed.
There is a new hip coffee joint.
As I don't drink coffee I ordered the EARL GREY tea and I was just expecting the usual tea served in a paper cup or pot.
The barista said she was going to come over and serve it which got me thinking as it was just tea while this other patron got a buzzer to go and collect his drink.

While I was waiting I saw this Chinese Tea set on the counter which is obviously for Chinese tea I thought.

Took a look at the food menu which was highly alluring so I will have to come back with friends as they have so many choices.
You can get sandwiches with a choice of ciabatta, foccacia or croissant.
The fillings are hard to decide as they have prosciutto with Camembert to tomato with sour cream and black peppercorn or a sweet twist with mixed berries and cream cheese.

Then for lunch, there is steak, but the crispy chicken sounds interesting as it has crushed pistachio.
The Japanese charsiu needs imagination though as it comes with American cheese.
Anyway, I've got to try it another time.

The tea took a while so I couldn't resist and took a peek.
To my surprise, I saw the tea being prepared in the Chinese Tea Set which explains why she had to come and serve it.
I wish I hasn't looked as it would have been a bigger wow moment when it came.

Anyway, it was still a surprise when it came because I have never had Earl Grey Tea served in a Chinese way.

The tall cup lets you smell the tea before you drink it.

There are samples of the tea leaves for you to see and a fact sheet.

Overall the tea was aromatic and it was definitely a memorable experience.

I also tried the cute little muffin as well which was delicious.

Definitely enjoyed my time there and the decor is a mix of modern and old.
On one side you can see part of the exposed wall with bricks.

[Trois Cafe] Tit Hong Lane

Quality beef time @ Maruju Aburi Farm

Recently I got addicted to the Wagyu sando so I decided to go and try everywhere that has it.

Maruju Aburi Farm has it so decided to go there one evening.

This branch specializes in Wagyu beef and they have two other branches in Kwaihing and Mongkok which serves a slightly similar menu.

On every table, there is a classy little glass bottle of lemon juice which you can add to your food.

I had in mind what to eat but the pandan coconut frappe came as a surprise, firstly I didn't expect to see this on a Japanese menu and secondly it was so good.

There were so many items to choose from so ordered beef sausages, wagyu beef sando and eel Tamagoyaki egg rolls.
+++++++++++
Tamagoyaki egg rolls:
These egg rolls were soft and delicate with sweet eel in the middle.

+++++++++++
Maruju Farm Beef Sausage:
These beef sausages certainly gave me a surprise in the sense that they were softer than you would expect and they contains herbs in them which make them taste like English pork sausages.
Definitely the best beef sausages and they didn't contain any of gristle.

+++++++++++
As well as beef, I love chicken so we had the Chicken Feast where they use chickens from the South Iwate Prefecture.
On there platter, there was chicken wings, thigh, breast, breast cartilage and skin.
Four chickens are needed for the breast cartilage skewer as you only get one piece of breast cartilage per chicken.
My favourites were the thigh and wings.
Adding the fresh lemon and the lemon from the glass bottle made it more appetizing.

+++++++++++
Premium Whole Wagyu Beef Platter 2 Pcs ($580)
This was a really good way of sampling the Australian Wagyu Beef which is clearly labelled and for each different cut, you get 2 slices.
On the platter, there was Tri-tip, Sirloin, Oyster Blade, Tongue, Brisket, Shank, Rump, Top-round and Outside Skirt.
Evidently I liked the Top-Round and Outside Skirt which is meatier and tasty.

++++++
Now to the Wagyu toast:
The toast was extremely thin and crispy so when you eat it the beef is more prominent but saying that the sauce they used was sweet and spicy and tasted like concoction of spicy siracha + burger sauce.
The Wagyu in the middle was meaty and tender.

++++++
Overall, I was really impressed with everything especially the sausages.

[Maruji Aburi Farm]

Shop 342D, 3/F, MOKO, 193 Prince Edward Road West, Mong Kok