Cooking in HK

I'm still enjoying downtime - August is usually a slow month anyway due to bankers and companies going on holiday, and with the partners vacationing and the recent financial fallout, my office has become an eerily quiet place. So I've been working out, juicing and cooking almost every day recently. However, home-cooking in Hong Kong is a bit of a challenge because most flats (including mine) don't come equipped with ovens. Without an oven, how do you bake pizzas or broil meat or roast vegetables? How do you bake anything or make anything that includes melted cheese? Basically, you don't. Which means mostly Asian cooking and pasta - noodles, grains, stir-fries, pan-fried fish and meat.

When I lived in the US, I used to like making everything from scratch. I tried to avoid canned, bottled or frozen products if possible. In HK, where the three luxuries in life are time, money and space, I basically make semi-homemade food.

Some easy go-to dishes:

Soba noodle salad: boil soba noodles, drain and toss with Japanese sesame dressing (store-bought), throw in some veggies such as chopped bell peppers, carrots, sugar snap peas, celery and serve as a main dish or as a side dish with chicken or fish.

Dduk bokki (spicy Korean rice cakes): this dish requires exactly seven ingredients, all of which you toss into a big saucepan and just cook over medium heat. Korean rice cakes, water, gochujang (Korean red pepper paste), mool yut (Korean malt syrup), cabbage (chopped thinly - I usually use half a head), fish cakes, one package of Neoguri or Shin Ramen. You add everything except the ramen noodles into the pot, then when the rice cakes get soft and the sauce has thickened, you add the ramen until it's cooked through. So simple to make, so little dishwashing after (it's one-pot cooking).

Sesame-soy [anything]: this basic marinade of soy sauce, sesame oil, rice wine or vinegar, garlic, sesame seeds and brown sugar can be used on chicken, fish, beef or tofu and makes everything taste yummy. If you want to spice it up, you can add some Korean red pepper flakes, or a spoonful of gochujang. If you want to make it richer, you can add a spoonful of tahini or peanut butter.

Quinoa: a fantastic substitute for rice that is rich in protein and has all of the amino acids your body needs. I use it to make rice-less sushi, salads with parsley, lemon and olive oil or full meal pilafs with veggies and sometimes meat.

Summer salad: I ate this like 2-3 times a week when I was on "self-detox." Organic baby greens, oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes (drained), fresh vine-ripened cherry tomatoes, avocado, red onion and raw organic sweet corn (just take a knife and cut off the kernels after washing - no need to cook). I toss this with good cold-pressed olive oil, lemon and sea salt. It's delicious, easy, filling and raw vegan-friendly.

Vietnamese flavored stir-fry: I am a huge huge fan of Vietnamese fish sauce. Not the concentrated undiluted potent stuff, but the nuoc cham sauce that is usually served with spring rolls and bun dishes. You can buy this at most Asian stores already made but it's easy enough to make yourself with limes, sugar, water, garlic, Thai chili peppers and fish sauce (the concentrated stuff). My favorite easy, healthy veggie stir-fry is super easy to make if you have nuoc cham on hand. Heat a tablespoon or less of good olive oil in a wok or saute pan until very hot, add about 4-6 cups worth of cleaned and chopped raw vegetables (I like to use cabbage, broccoli, sugar snap peas, cauliflower, baby corn but anything other than eggplant and potatoes are fine to use). Toss around (it should sizzle if the pan is hot enough) then add 2-3 tablespoons of nuoc cham, cover with a lid and let the water from the vegetables steam everything. Easy and healthy.

Raw marinara sauce (can be used for raw vegan pasta or cooked for regular pasta sauce): blend an 8 oz jar of olive oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes (including all of the oil), 2-3 cloves garlic, 1/2 of a red bell pepper (chopped), a handful of sweet cherry tomatoes, a teaspoon of dried oregano and a loose cup of Italian basil into a blender or food processor and pulse until the sauce comes together, still a little bit chunky. Serve with raw shaved zucchini tendrils if you want raw pasta, or cook with spaghetti for regular pasta.

Grilled cheese with tomato bisque: this is probably the most indulgent meal I make at home. Take two slices of FRESH bread from a bakery (I use wheat, as if that would make this decadent dish even remotely healthy). Spread the insides of the bread with Dijon mustard, then layer two very thin slices of good Gruyere cheese, a paper thin slice of good Prosciutto or Parma ham, and two very thin slices of good cheddar cheese between the two slices of bread. On a cast-iron or heavy skillet pan over medium heat, melt a slice of good salted butter (I use President butter). Put the sandwich on the butter and move it around to coat the entire face-down slice with butter. Take a spatula and press down on the bread to flatten like a panini. When the bottom-down side is browned, flip over, add more butter to the pan and repeat. Continue to flatten the sandwich with a spatula while cooking. Heat should be low to medium so that the bread doesn't burn but the cheese melts. I serve this with tomato bisque that I pick up at Mark & Spencers. It's super easy to make, not very nutritious (but very delicious) and totally hits the spot when you just want some good old American food after all the dim sum, xia long bao and noodles of Hong Kong.

Favorite juice combinations:
Celery-carrot-green apple: good morning pick-me-up with lots of cleansing and detoxifying properties.
Pineapple-green apple-lime-mint: tastes just like a mojito and aids digestion. Pineapple is an awesome detox fruit and in Asia it is sweeter than honey - I always have cut pineapple in my fridge.
Carrot-beet-celery: you can taste the goodness (however, I hate cutting raw beets because it "bleeds" and gets everything red)
Pineapple-mango-orange: sweet as dessert, but chock full of vitamin C
Blueberry-banana-yogurt-spinach-spirulina: The blueberries turn everything blue and hide the greenness of the spirulina, the strong flavor of banana masks the fishiness of spirulina and you'll never know the spinach is in there. High in antioxidants, potassium, calcium, folic acid, iron and chlorophyll.