Tag: #food

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Hong Kong Pineapple Bun Bo Lo Bao

Hong Kong pineapple bun, also known in Cantonese as Bo Lo Bao is a very classic bread pastry. This bun is very popular and iconic in Hong Kong bakeries and is a perfect delight for a Fika time. Fika is a Swedish tradition for a coffee moment accompanied with cake or cookies that can serve upto seven kinds of cookies on a tray. However, Fika is not really relevant in my recipe but since my partner is Swedish, I’m using the terminology Fika all the time for every Coffee &  Pastry moment 😊.

Bo Lo Bao is soft and lightly sweet and it’s topped with a golden-brown sweet crumbly crust. The softness of the bread is created by the Chinese Tangzhong (water roux) technique of heating flour and water into a gel paste that is then added to the bread dough. This will improve the texture of bread in making the dough softer and fluffier.  

Despite the name, Bo Lo Bao does not contain any pineapple nor flavours. The name rather refers to the look of the characteristic topping crust which resembles the skin texture of a pineapple. It may sound unlogic if you can’t see the image resemblance….. me neither but just take that as historic food story.

Let me know how your Bol Lo Bao baking turned out and enjoy your Fika moment!

Baking time: ~3 hours, time includes about 2 hrs in rising the dough. Serving ~16 buns

Ingredients & Tools

  • Kitchen scale
  • Saucepan
  • Whisk
  • Small bowl for cooling down Tangzhong
  • Plastic wrap
  • Kitchen towel
  • Big bowl for mixing the bread dough
  • Big bowl for mixing the topping
  • Small bowl for egg wash
  • Mixer for dough and topping
  • Baking paper
  • Baking brush

Tangzhong roux

  • 25gr patent flour
  • 125gr water

Dough

  • 360gr patent flour
  • 70gr sugar
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 25gr fresh yeast or 7gr instant yeast – I used fresh yeast
  • 120gr milk on room temperature
  • 1 large egg on room temperature
  • Tangzhong roux
  • 30gr softened unsalted butter

Topping

  • 125gr patent flour
  • 90gr sugar powder
  • 50gr softened unsalted butter
  • 15gr custard powder
  • 1 egg yolk on room temperature
  • 1 Tbsp milk
  • ¼ tsp baking soda
  • ¼ tsp baking powder

Egg wash

  • 1 egg yolk to brush the topping for a golden-brown crust topping

What to do?

  1. ————- Prepare Tangzhong ————-
  2. Add 25gr patent flour in saucepan and slowly add 125gr water while stirring.
  3. Heat over medium-high and constantly keep stirring until mixture turns into a thick gel paste
  5. Transfer the gel paste into a small bowl and cover it with plastic wrap. This is to prevent the paste getting dry.
  6. Let the Tangzhong cool down to room temperature.
  7. ————- Prepare Bread Dough ————-
  8. In a big bowl, put 350gr patent flour + 70gr sugar + ½ tsp salt.
  9. Dissolve the fresh yeast block by crumbling in the saucepan with 120gr milk and stir on low temperature until lukewarm. If you use instant yeast, you can just pour it into the big bowl mixture.
  10. Then, add the egg and Tangzhou into the big bowl
  12. Mix the mixture on low speed for ~5min until everything is combined.
  13. Add 30gr butter into the mixture and mix on medium speed for ~5min until a soft dough forms. If the dough is too sticky, then add a bit more flour at a time.
  14. Finish the dough off by kneading the dough by hand, then shape it into a smooth big ball.
  15. Re-use the big bowl or take a clean one. Sprinkle some flour in the bowl and place the dough ball in and cover the bowl with a kitchen towel. Let the dough rest and rise on a warm spot, in a sunny or room temperature spot for 1 hour.
  16. ————- Prepare Bun Topping ————-
  17. In another big bowl, put 50gr butter and mix it until the butter turns into a creamy consistency
  19. Then, add 90gr sugar powder and mix until it turns into a creamy consistency.
  20. Then, add 1 egg yolk + 15gr custard powder + 1 Tbsp milk and mix all together.
  21. Then add ¼ tsp baking powder + ¼ tsp baking soda + 125gr patent flour and mix until it turns into a thick paste
  23. Put the paste in a plastic wrap and shape it into a small log, like a sausage
  25. Let the topping rest until the dough is ready after 1 hour rise.
  26. ————- Start making the buns ————-
  27. The dough should have risen. Punch a finger into the dough and it should slowly bounce back
  29. Take the dough out of the bowl and divide in equal pieces. Personally, I like smaller buns especially mini sizes. The smaller it is, the tastier it gets with an equal balance of the crunchy sweet topping 😊
  30. Gentle shape every piece into a ball and cover with a kitchen towel and let it rest for 15min.
  31. After 15 minutes, softly knead each piece and shape it into a smooth ball. See short video on the technique used in shaping the dough into a ball
  32. Put each ball on a baking sheet with space in between to let it rise for another 40 minutes.
  33. During the last 10min, pre-heat the oven on 175°C fan function. I use fan function as I have two trays I want to bake in the oven at the same time. If you only have one tray, pre-heat the oven on 190°C on upper & lower heat function.
  34. Then, cut the topping in equal pieces as the number of buns. Don’t throw away the plastic, I prefer to re-use it rather taking a new sheet of plastic.
  35. Shape each piece into a ball.
  36. Wrap each ball, piece by piece in the plastic and flatten into a round shape and cover it on top of each bun
  38. In a small bowl, beat the egg yolk and brush the top of the bun. This will bring a gold brown crust in the baking process
  40. Bake the buns for ~15min but do check a bit before as you don’t want them to be burnt or bake it a bit longer if you like to have your buns more gold brown.
  41. For next day consumption, heat the bun short on low heat in the oven or microwave.

Let me know if there are any improvements can be made. Thank you & bon appetite 😊

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Refreshing Healthy Quinoa Salmon Salad

Refreshing healthy quinoa salmon salad is delicious for all seasons but especially in the summers when you make the dressing from fresh lemon juice and honey. However, making this salad will take a bit of effort in multitasking in preparing the ingredients but you will for sure love it at your first bite.

A suggestion is to make a double portion and keep one portion for max two days in the fridge. I prepare most ingredients for 2 consecutive meals in one go but do the salmon, cucumber, tomatoes, and dressing separately when I eat it the next time again. This will save you time in making the salad from scratch. You can keep the cooked quinoa & pan-fried vegetables after it cooled off for max 2 days in the fridge. Make sure you keep it in a contained box.

Quinoa seeds are rich in fibers, protein, vitamin B and nutrients and is lower in calory than rice. When you add a small piece of salmon on your salad, it brings a healthy tasteful light meal for your body.

Cooking time 1 portion: 35min

Ingredients & Tools

  • 60gr tri-colour quinoa (60gram per person or 1/3 cup)
  • 8 stalk green asparagus or a handful sugar snaps
  • 4-5 shitake mushroom
  • 1 toe garlic
  • ½ fresh yellow lemon juice
  • 1 tsp extra verge olive oil
  • 1 tsp liquid honey
  • Olive oil & butter to pan fry the vegetables
  • Pepper & salt to taste
  • 125gr salmon with skin
  • 4 cherry tomatoes
  • 8cm cucumber
  • Optional garnish: roasted sesame seeds or garden cress
  • 1 pot to cook quinoa
  • 1 big glass/ceramic bowl
  • 1 bowl/cup for dressing
  • 1 frying pan
  • Kitchen paper towel

What to do?

  1. ————- Cook Quinoa ————-
  2. Boil water in the water boiler.
  3. Put 60gr or 1/3 cup quinoa in the pot and pour gentle boiling water in with 1,5 cm water above quinoa level.
  4. Boil the quinoa with the lid on medium-low heat and let it simmer for about 12 minutes.
  5. Once all water is evaporated, switch off the heat and put the pan aside. Stir through the quinoa and let the heat steam off.
  6. Scoop the quinoa over into a big glass bowl to let it cool off further.
  7.  ————- Prepare Vegetables ————-
  8. Rinse 8 asparagus stalks under the tap.
  9. Dispose the end (this part is often hard and not nice to eat) and cut the asparagus sideways in bite sizes.
  10. Remove any dirt from 4 shitake with a brush or rub dirt away with a kitchen paper towel.
  11. Cut shitake in medium-thin slices including the stalks.
  12. Chop 1 toe garlic very fine.
  13. Heat the fry pan with a bit of olive oil mixed with a bit of butter.
  14. Fruit the garlic in the pan and add the asparagus and shitake in the pan. If you like crunchy vegetables, pan-fry it short and try one if it’s to your texture.
  15. Sprinkle salt & pepper to taste and scoop the vegetables in the quinoa bowl to cool off.
  16. Bear in mind, the heat in the vegetables is still in a cooking process. You might not want to cook it too long if you like it crunchy
  17. ————- Panfry Salmon————-
  18. Re-use the fry pan without cleaning and add a bit butter on medium-low heat.
  19. Dry the salmon off with a kitchen paper towel and put the skin side on the pan.
  20. On the skin side, you can cook it the longest to make it crispy and easy to remove if you don’t like to eat that part.
  21. Bake on each side until the salmon is cooked.
  22. ————- Salad dressing ————-      
  23. Meantime while baking the salmon, squeeze ½ fresh lemon juice in a small bowl/cup.
  24. Add 1 tsp extra verge olive oil
  25. Add 1 tsp liquid honey and mix it well.
  26. ————- Mix the Salad ————-        
  27. Cut 4 cherry tomatoes in quarters and add into the quinoa bowl.
  28. Unseed 8cm cucumber and cut in bite sizes and add in the bowl.
  29. Add the dressing in the bowl but not everything. This is to keep a last splash for the salmon.
  30. Mix all ingredients in the bowl.
  31. Add the salmon on top and splash the remaining dressing sauce over the salmon.
  32. Optional: garnish on top with garden cress or roasted sesame seeds.

I would like to hear your feedback once you tried this salad 😊 Bon appetite!

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Fascinating and Intense Marrakech

Fascinating and intense Marrakech can be love at first sight or a one-time experience. This is my first visit in Marocco and to be honest I have a mixed bag of feelings going there. However, I feel very excited to explore this city and get my impression on how the vibe is in Marrakesh.

On our arrival, our trip already started with a bumpy adventure around midnight. We booked a taxi service via booking.com, all went good with a bit of chaotic coordination regarding which driver will drive whom, as there were other passengers than us with transfer bookings. The driver dropped us at a taxi point and called our Riad for pickup by foot. Once arrived in the Riad, we realised we are dropped at the wrong place. Adventurely, we arrived at the right place with good people helping us as well as uninvited pedestrians from the streets who strongly urge themselves in leading you the way while you use your gps to get there. Of course, no surprise at all they rudely ask for money for their ‘genuine help’ services. Luckily, tired and all, this first taste of cultural experiences didn’t scare us off yet.

Staying for 3 full days in Marrakech, we decided to take things easy and explore on the go as we didn’t have must do’s. There are excursions in the rural of Marrakech and in my opinion, those would be nice to book if you stay here for more than 3 days and maybe to getaway from this busy city.

Practical tips before planning or during your trip

  • Ensure you don’t book your holiday during Ramadan. There might be limited shops or restaurants open.
  • Stay over in a traditional Moroccan house with an inner courtyard (Riad) instead of a hotel. It’s like B&B.
  • Pre-book airport hotel pickup to avoid distress of ‘pushy’ taxi drivers and negotiation hazards. Especially when you stay in the maze of Medina, book your transfer directly via your Riad. They charge about MAD220 per car. Riad’s can be hidden in small alleys where a taxi cannot reach, and some drivers have no idea where to find it. You can also call your Riad to pick you up at a taxi point closeby. I heard a taxi ride cost about MAD70-100.
  • Ignore locals who approach you initiatively offering help to guide you to your destination. Sometimes, they even call you out if you turn into a street, they inform that the road is closed (in French ‘ferme’) and ask where you want to go. It’s hard to know if the person is genuine or not and often it ends up in a game they play to get money at the end. Just say ‘la choukran sīdī’, means ‘no thank you sir’ and keep walking.
  • If you need help with directions, suggest you to ask cafe/restaurant staff or shop owners. You can also try ask locals for help who you may think are genuine but bear in mind they may not speak English.
  • Start with sightseeing around 9-10am until you have lunch to avoid the afternoon heat. Post-lunch, take a rest in your hotel and restart your wander after 19pm.
  • For nicer and popular restaurants, I highly recommend making table reservations.
  • Traffic is insane. Be alert and cautious all the time when you walk-on and cross over the streets. Scooters drive crazy, even in the small alleys of the souk. You can easily be hit if you don’t watch out. Seems, a lot of drivers don’t care as they are in a rush.
  • We did Marrakech by foot to explore the city and cannot share much on how much a taxi ride cost. For sure you have to haggle, and I heard from other travellers that a short ride cost approx. MAD30-50.
  • If you fly back home from Marrakech airport, make sure you read the airline check-in procedure when you receive an email. For example, Ryan Air does not accept mobile boarding pass and will fine you on the airport if you cannot present an old school paper boarding pass. Also, make sure you go to the check-in counter first to get your paper boarding pass stamped before you go to the departure immigration hall. You must do this, even if you do not have any check-in luggage: at least for Ryan Air flights.
  • At the airport, there is a sign that cash is not accepted at the tax-free or only in Euro bills. Fortunate, they do accept cash in euros or dirham at the kiosks and cafés behind the customs.
Medina
Medina Souk
Medina Souk
Medina Souk
Medina
Medina
Adhan – call to public prayer over city speakers

What to Wear as a Woman?

Marrakech is a busy and touristic city but it’s still a Muslim country. There are no specific rules here. Suggestion is to dress with modesty out of respect. As a female traveler or travelling together with my partner, I like to avoid any kind of uncomfortable catcalling or ‘street harassments’. Those beautiful Instagram pictures with short skirts (above knee), booty pants and strap tops are deceiving as they paint an inaccurate picture on what is appropriate women wear in Marrakech. To avoid unpleasant pervy male gaze, it’s better to cover up your shoulders, legs until knee and cleavage. This may not stop catcalling necessarily but it will minimise unwanted attention. For male, short pants and t-shirt or polo shirts are fine. However, in rural Morocco you better wear long pants. It is disrespectful to be showing off too much skin.

Money Exchange

Avoid exchanging money at the airport. Withdraw money from a bank ATM or exchange in town. There are a few reliable exchange booths that take 0% commission. We changed at ‘Bureau de Change‘, I’ve seen a few in Medina and I heard ‘Hotel Ali‘ at the Jemaa El-Fna square is also a good place.

Things To Do

  • Get lost in the maze of narrow streets and alleys of Marrakech historic old town Medina. You will find colourful souks (open from about 10am-22pm), artisan shops and historic buildings. I was surprised, that the overly persistent vendors were not that aggressive as I had in mind. Probably, time and experience has changed their sales method.
  • ‌To get different impressions of Marrakesh other than Medina (old town), take a stroll at neighbourhoods of Kasbah (Jewish quarter, popular for spices) and the new town Gueliz. All can be done by foot within 30 minutes.
  • ‌Stroll at the big square Jeema El-Fna. Life starts here from 19pm with lots of food & juice stalls and market shopping.
  • ‌Pre-book a comfortable (touristic spa) hammam experience with a massage. Nice Spa houses may be fully booked. A traditional authentic hammam may not meet your expectations in relaxation. Often, there is zero aesthetic in bath houses and the service and amenities (bathrobe, towels, shampoo, shower gel, hairdryer, locker) may be less. Personally, I experienced an authentic Moroccan hammam & scrub in The Netherlands, and I must say I quite liked the adventure. After having a Hammam Scrub in a Spa house of Marrakech, I prefer the authentic style. In the Spa, they don’t really speak English either and don’t inform you on the HOWs beforehand and you pay much much more (approx. MAD350 pp). When you book for two persons, they even put you together in a treatment room with one resource instead of one each. Certainly, it may be cleaner and seeing a star sky ceiling would bring you a nicer feeling, but it all depends on what you personally prefer.
  • ‌House of Photography, (historical) photos and portraits of people living in Marrakesh. End your museum visit at the roof terrace cafe, where you can have a nice chill out or have a delicious lunch menu for €15 pp including a drink. This building has the highest roof terrace in the area and gives a clear view over Marrakesh.
  • Bahia Palace, showcases Moroccan architecture and beautiful gardens.
  • ‌Le Jardin Secret, situated in Medina with beautiful gardens and historical architecture. It’s a place that has kept ancient structures intact.
  • ‌Jardin Majorelle, exotic gardens designed by Jacques Majorelle and later restored by haute couture fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent.
  • ‌Some 4-5 star hotels offer non-guests a day pass to make use of their swimming pool area. The price often includes a lunch and a towel for use.
Kasbah district
Medina
Jeema El-Fna Square
Jeema El-Fna Square
Medina
Medina
Bahia Palace
Bahia Palace
Lots of stray kittens & cats in this city
Medina
Local market
Medina
Medina
Medina

Where to Eat

There are plenty of eateries, restaurants and cafes in Medina, Kasbah and Gueliz. You can find local places and lots of places adjusted to ‘tourist/expats’ service, hygiene & exterior acceptance resulting in a higher price range. Places where I visited:

  • Le Jardin Restaurant Marrakech (Medina): nice trendy atmosphere and getaway from the heat in the garden area. They have a roof terrace but we hided in de garden to cool off. From the garden, there is a staircase up to a little local women boutique shop ‘Noria Ayron’ where they sell beautiful dresses and jump suits.
  • ‌L’Mida Marrakesh (Medina): trendy cafe restaurant serving fusion Moroccan food. Make sure you book a roof terrace table for dinner. Service is excellent but the food can take a while if the place is too crowded.
  • ‌Cuisine de Terroir (Medina): nice ‘local’ place with its charms. Good service, great value and yummy food. A proud place recommended by TripAdvisor & Guide du Routard. They have a roof terrace but if you prefer a bit ‘cooler’ temperature, I think a table downstairs on the ground floor is better. However, it may be noisier from the street.
  • ‌La Famille (Medina): a lushy cosy inner courtyard place serving vegetarian lunch. Booking is highly recommended.
  • ‌El Fenn Hotel (Medina): have a sunset cocktail at this amazing hotel roof terrace bar restaurant. Cocktails cost about MAD130-160 but definitely a nice place to enjoy design & a trendy vibe with good service.
  • ‌Le Kilim (Gueliz): great service & delicious food. Really liked the tajine chicken and vegetable plate with full flavours in each veggie.
  • ‌Le Palace (Hivernage): recommended as an absolute must go by a friend, especially booking a table at ground floor with art-deco design. Downstairs is a clubbing scene but also have dining tables. However, food is not authentic French as they also serve pizza and pasta. If you like to have a chic dinner in an ‘expat’ scenery in a cramped space with volumed up clubbing music and don’t mind bad acoustic, this may be your place to be.
  • ‌Absolute must drink are the fruit juices. They are full of flavour and taste natural. At the evening market stands at Jeema el-Fna square, a small fresh orange juice cost MAD5 and another type of fruit from MAD10.
El Fenn Hotel Roof Terrace Bar & Restaurant
L’Mida Restaurant
House of Photography: Berger Tribe Women
Le Jardin Restaurant

My Impressions of Marrakech

  • I love Moroccan food but the variations on the menu are limited. It’s always the same dishes on the menu. Tajine, pastille chicken and fresh fruit juices or smoothies are our favorites.
  • Beautiful Moroccan architecture.
  • Too much commotion in traffic, even in small ‘pedestrian’ alleys. Heavy pollution with smog and noise everywhere, except for when people sleep at night.
  • Be respectful and people will act the same.
Medina – authentic local hammam bath house
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Simple Grated Zucchini Spicy Mint Pasta

Simple grated zucchini spicy mint pasta within 30 minutes. It’s a quick & easy recipe with refreshing mint and spicy flavours. This recipe goes perfect with spaghetti, linguine, fettucine or fusilli. In general, any kind of pasta goes well but these are my favourites to cook in a ‘semi-dry sauce’.

My first time eating this zucchini pasta was at my friend’s home and I loved it! Her friend from Greece was on visit and cooked for us a quick meal as it was quite late for dinner 😊. She learnt cooking this simple pasta from a family in Sardinia while she explored the island. A typical home-made pasta that feeds people’s soul with happiness.     

For the refreshing taste, I use Greek dried spearmint (dyosmos). I got this from my friend after having this superlicous pasta experience, supplied directly from the farmers and no chemicals. The flavours are close to fresh peppermint but it packs a more potent punch with spicy notes and is milder than peppermint.

In addition, I will use shallots, oyster mushroom and lemon juice in my recipe for the extra texture and flavours. In the original home-made ‘Sardinian’ recipe, it contains only garlic, chili, zucchini and parmigiano topping. You can omit all additional ingredients and keep to the original flavours. The cooking method and steps are the same.

You can also make this pasta vegan and gluten-free, it all depends on what ingredients you like to cook with.

Cooking time for one regular portion: less than 30 minutes

Ingredients & Tools

  • Pasta for 1 person
  • ½ grated zucchini aka courgette
  • 1 chopped garlic toe
  • A little bit of thin sliced spicy chili. If your chili is hot spicy, use much less as you like to have a nice balance between mint & spicy flavours.
  • 1 overfull tsp cut dried mint leaves or extra to taste
  • Salt
  • 1,5 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • Topping: fine grated parmigiano cheese
  • Pan for pasta
  • Colander
  • 1 big bowl
  • Vegetable grater (ultra coarse grater)
  • 1 big mug

Additional ingredients for the extra texture and flavours

  • ½ chopped shallot
  • ¼ fresh lemon juice
  • 50gr or 2 handful shredded oyster mushroom

What to do?

  1. ————- Boil the pasta ————-
  2. Pre-boil water in the water boiler for 70-80°C. If you don’t have a temperature regulating boiler, no problem. Just boil the water.
  3. Spread the pasta in the pan and pour in the boiling water.
  4. Put a little bit salt in the pan and cook for 10min. It’s better to check your pasta package on how long it needs to be boiled. Cooking time may differ for different brands.
  5. Very important – do not pour oil in the pasta and stir the pasta from time to time.
  6. ————- Prepare ingredients ————-
  7. While boiling the pasta, rinse the zucchini and cut in half for 1 person. No need to peel the skin.
  8. Grate the zucchini in a big bowl.
  9. Chop 1 garlic toe.
  10. Chop ½ shallot.
  11. Shred 50gr (2 handful) oyster mushroom or tear along the stem.
  12. Cut ¼ of a lemon.
  13. ————- Start cooking ————-
  14. Once the pasta is boiled for 10min, fill 1 mug full of pasta water and keep aside for later.
  15. Drain the pasta in a colander and let it be.
  16. Re-use the pan and heat the pan with 1,5 Tbsp olive oil.
  17. Sizzle the garlic and add the shallots. Make sure that the garlic does not burn, avoid brown-ish colouring.
  18. Add the zucchini in the pan and sprinkle some salt.
  19. Stir ingredients until the zucchini gets a bit soft and add the oyster mushroom and chili.
  20. Stir ingredients and simmer light for a few minutes. Add extra salt to taste.
  21. Once all is soft and most liquid is evaporated. Turn the heat low.
  22. Above the sink, swirl ½ cup pasta water in the colander to make the pasta loose as it might stick a bit.
  23. Toss the pasta in the pan, add 1 overfull tsp dried mint or extra to taste and stir all ingredients for another 1 min.
  24. If you find the pasta ‘sauce’ too dry, you can pour in a little bit of the remaining pasta cooking water in the pan to make it moisty.
  25. Squeeze ¼ lemon juice into the pasta and stir quick & short. Switch off the heat.
  26. Serve the pasta on the plate and sprinkle grated parmigiano cheese on top.

I hope you enjoy this simple meal 😊 Bon appetite.

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Indescribable experience in Sevilla during Easter week

Indescribable experience in Sevilla during Easter week, I just can’t describe it and will try to share my holy week (Semana Santa) journey by photos and videos I took. I’m not religious myself but no doubt this is an incredible experience to see this live in Andalucia! The dedication & powerful synergy in the Semana Santa processions is one thing not to be missed here in Sevilla.

Young and old people march along the paths to the church, an entire week of processions by different brotherhoods. Some give away candies during the march, often by children and some give away religious cards like Jezus or Maria. It was amazing in seeing how Spanish folk start walking the procession at a young age and keep the traditions.

I was lucky in recording a small part of the procession in Sevilla from a balcony. The pasos (wagon with large sculptures depicting scenes from the bible) even made a turn at the end of the street. Watch here the short video with powerful orchestra marching together with the brotherhood.

On this post, I will also share my favorite foodie places, roof terraces and some shopping and sightseeing spots. For shopaholics, bear in mind, most shops may be closed during festivals.

Malaga
El Mesón de Cervantes Malaga
Sevilla
Sevilla
Sevilla
Sevilla

Watching various Catholic brotherhoods marching on every procession is a remarkable experience. The people marching in Catholic pointed hats (capirotes) & robes are called Nazarenos. In the old days, Nazarenos represents penance. Some historians believe that the capirote dates back to the time of the Spanish inquisition (1478–1834). Sinners had to wear a capirote and walk along the streets as a form of public humiliation to do penance and to absolve from their sins.

Today, only Catholic brotherhoods wear the capirotes. The costumes still represent penitence but those wearing these robes are not doing penance anymore and its now more a majestic representation once they were. Nowadays, the brotherhoods proudly lead the pasos to their church or cathedral holding large crosses and tall candle lights.

Each march can last for hours, some starts from 15-ish and ends around or past midnight supported by family or friends on the side to give them water & food.

Az-Zait Sevilla
Sevilla
Enjoying my take away coffee
Cathedral de Sevilla
Sevilla
Sevilla
Sevilla
Wagon carriers
Sevilla
Sevilla
Abantal Sevilla
Abantal Sevilla

When you observe the details, you will notice that carrying the wagon and the walk movement between Malaga & Sevilla are different. The brotherhoods in Malaga carry the wagon around the wagon lifting the weight on their shoulders and swing a bit while walking. With the brotherhoods in Sevilla, they lift the wagon underneath on their neck and take small steps moving forward. You may have watched the YouTube video I shared on top of this post.

To see how the brotherhood march in Malaga, watch this very short video.

I’ve seen the necks of the wagon carriers, bruised, skin damaged and they have a red glowing hump at their base of their neck. I’ve been told that the wagon weighs more than 1000kg and not to forget, the warm temperature in Sevilla adds up on the hard work they offer. During the day it can be around 27°C and marching slowly in robes and coned hoods covering their entire head is a high appreciated dedication. At least it is my impression and opinion ☺️

Their devotion for their religion is sky high. Some hard core brothers march barefoot, a devotion to be closer to Jezus and share the pain and suffer. I’m not sure if this is the correct reason as I’ve been told by a Spanish man and I think it makes sense but you never know.

Personally, the most thrilling part is the orchestra; powerful drums & trumpets making your heart pounding and witnessing a brotherhood marching slowly and leading the pasos holding large crosses, lanterns or lit candle lights🕯️

Hotel Alfonso VIII
C. Betis
For those who reserved for procession watching
Taking a rest from lifting
Strong wagon carriers

Where to eat

In Sevilla there is no lack of great tapas bars nor restaurants. Every corner you pass by, you can eat or have a drink. I share a few of my favorite places when I visit Sevilla every single time.

  • Gastronomic Bib Gourmand Az-Zait restaurante. I enjoy my dinner here from my heart. The service is friendly and impeccable and quality versus price is marvelous. A-la-carte 3-course including wine, table water and high quality of brandy as digestive approx €60 per person. You can also opt for a menu.
  • Have a tapas in the oldest tapas bar in Seville dated from 1670, El Rinconcillo.
  • PETRA, a small trendy tapas restaurant with splendid service & tasty food.
  • Very popular tapas bar & restaurant in an apartment hotel complex, Espacio Eslava.
  • Cozy wine bar with small bites at Vinoteco Lama La Uva.
  • Small inside & outside but great classic tapas at this taverne, Los Coloniales.
  • A lot of locals having their tapas at Casa Manolo Tapas Bar Sevillano.
  • Have a Fika (coffee & sweet) at Hotel Alfonso VIII on their patio in the inner garden. Their interior design and architecture are marvelous.
  • Have a sunset drink at Mariatrifulca. Get a table on the rooftop on the river side as you will get an amazing view looking over the river & the old center. Drink prices are decent, approx €3,5 for wine.
  • Have a good coffee & pastry at Ofelia Bakery.
  • Take away a good & strong roasted coffee at Virgen Coffee.

Roof terrace

Nice local boutiques

Ofcourse there is the fancy Spanish El Corte Inglés shopping warehouse but how about browsing in local (artistique) boutiques? Sharing a few streets but there are more. I browse in the smaller streets of the yellow area. When you keep yourself away from the main stream shopping area you will see a lot of small nice boutiques.

  • Calle Cerrajeria
  • Calle Don Alonso el Sabio
  • Calle Lineros

Where I like to hang out

  • Plaza España & park. At the square or in the shadow of the outdoor building site, there are regular good flamenco street performance. Probably in late morning or early/ late afternoon to avoid the hot temperature.
  • Setas de Sevilla, the mushroom sculpture and it has a rooftop walk (ticket required). Or have a take away coffee or ice cream and sit on a bench enjoying the view from the platform (one staircase up from the streets).
  • Wander around in Triana center. It’s less crowded and also nice to see the other side of the river.
  • Walk along on the other side of the river at Triana on Calle Betis. It is an excellent viewpoint to contemplate some of the most famous landmarks of Seville, the Torre del Oro (bull fighting arena) and the splendid Giralda. There are also a lot of bars and restaurants where you can have a nice cold drink and enjoy the old town of Seville from a distance.
  • Mercado de Triana – covered market selling vegetables, fish and meat. There are some small tapas bars or restaurants where you can enjoy a tasty lunch. A nice one is at Cerveceria Loli. However, service can be slow and the food may be served luke warm.
  • Stroll in the yellow areas of the centre in “Feria and Casco Antiguo”.
  • Calle Alfareria – pottery workshops that have been multiplying for centuries and where some wonderful decorated patios are located.

Special

Nothing fancy, it’s more like a cultural centre where you can have a beer and watch free flamenco performances, poetry or photography exhibitions in an old coal warehouse. This place, La Carboneria is hidden behind a big wooden door with a patio in the back. Opening times from 19pm. Suggest to go much later in the evening or check their agenda.

Sevilla is a charming city where I never get bored. Nice people, plenty of gastronomy and tasty food bars, and wonderful architecture in almost every street in the old center. I hope you will enjoy Sevilla as much as I do and if you have nice places you like to share, please do ♥️

If you like to watch other short videos of the procession, you can click on the links below.

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General Tso chicken

General Tso chicken is a very popular Chinese American dish and was invented by a Taiwan based chef who moved to New York in the 70’s. He named this dish as an homage to his Hunan heritage and their beloved general Zuo Zongtang. However, the name of this dish has no connection to general Zuo nor it’s known in China Hunan province. If you like to know more about the history of General Tso chicken dish, you can read this on Wikipedia.

The chicken is crunchy deep-fried yet still juicy and tender and has a sweet spicy flavour. My method of deep-fried chicken is slightly different than the original recipe and is mainly different in the batter. I also like to cook my choice of vegetables together with the sauce and chicken to serve it as a main (bowl) dish accompanied with steamed rice.

Cooking time: approx. 45 minutes for 2 persons

Ingredients & Tools

  • 300gr chicken thigh filet
  • 1tbsp cooking rice wine
  • Maizena or potato starch
  • Sunflower oil to deep-fry
  • 15cm Dutch type cucumber
  • 8x cherry tomatoes
  • Optional to add: 150gr bimi, broccoli or bell pepper – yellow bell pepper would bring a nice colour pallet)
  • 1 tbsp sesame oil
  • Salt
  • Garnish: roasted sesame seeds
  • Steamed rice to accompany the chicken dish

For the sauce:

  • 2tbsp light soya and 1tbsp dark soya – or just 3tbsp light soya
  • 1tbsp white vinegar
  • 1tbsp ketchup (Heinz)
  • 1tbsp white sugar
  • 0,5 tsp white pepper
  • 2x small garlic clove fine grated or 1x big clove
  • 1x chili
  • 1tbsp fine grated ginger (~3cm)
  • 1x deep fry pan
  • 1x big fry pan
  • Sieve and/or wooden chopstick to get the chicken out of the deep-fry pan
  • Kitchen paper
  • Very fine grater
  • 1x medium bowl to marinate chicken
  • 1x big bowl to powder chicken or use a 3-5L plastic bag
  • 1x big bowl
  • 1x small bowl for the sauce
  • 1x small cup for maizena mix

What to do?

  1. ————- Marinate chicken ————-
  2. Remove fat and cut the chicken in bite size pieces and put in medium size bowl.
  3. Marinate the chicken with 1tbsp cooking rice wine.
  4. ————- Prepare sauce ————-
  5. Use a small bowl to prepare the sauce.
  6. Put 2 Tbsp light soya and 1 Tbsp dark soya in bowl. Or just 3 Tbsp light soya if you don’t have dark soya. Dark soya has a stronger flavour of saltness.
  7. Put 1 Tbsp white vinegar in bowl.
  8. Put 1 Tbsp ketchup in bowl. Personally, I prefer using Heinz.
  9. Put 1 Tbsp white sugar in bowl
  10. Put ½ tsp white pepper in bowl and mix all the ingredients.
  11. ————- Remaining sauce preparation ————-
  12. Put below ingredients separately on the side (not in the sauce bowl) as these will used to get aromas when we heat the oil in the pan.
  13. Grate 2x small garlic cloves.
  14. Grate 1xtbsp ginger.
  15. Chop 1x chilli fine.
  16. Use a small cup to prepare maizena mix: put 1tsp maizena and 2tbsp water and mix it well.
  17. ————- Cut vegetables ————-
  18. If you do not like cucumber skin, you can peel this off. Then slice the cucumber lengthwise in 4 and remove the seeds.
  19. Then cut cucumber in bite pieces.
  20. Cut cherry tomatoes in half.
  21. Cut optional veggie of choice in pieces. Wash beforehand if needed.
  22. ————- Deep-fry chicken ————-
  23. Powder the chicken in maizena or potato starch. There are 2 easy ways to do this. Put all the chicken in a big bowl and mix the powder bit by bit in the chicken until the meat is lightly covered. Don’t use too much maizena. Or put all chicken in a 3/5L sandwich plastic bag and sprinkle a bit of maizena in and shake the bag. Repeat this until the meat is lightly covered by the powder.  
  24. Bring the oil on heat in the deep-fry pan (stand 7). The oil is ready when you see tiny bubbles coming up on the surface.
  25. Depending on the size of your deep-fry pan, you may need to fry the chicken in batches. The chicken will not deep-fry well if the pan it’s too full.
  26. Put the chicken piece by piece slowly in the pan and fry for 3 minutes. Meanwhile, put kitchen paper in another big bowl. This is to absorb the oil from the chicken after deep-frying.
  27. Fish the chicken out the pan with a sieve and/or wooden chopsticks and put in the paper bowl.
  28. Fry next batch for 3 minutes. Repeat the process if you have a lot of chicken.
  29. Once all chicken has been fried, a second round of 3 minutes deep-fry is required. This will give the chicken a crunchy texture and keeps the tenderness. The chicken should have a golden-brown colour.
  30. Let chicken rest in the kitchen paper bowl
  31. ————- Pre-stir-fry optional bimi or brocolli ————-
  32. Heat the stir-fry pan with 1 tbsp frying oil from pan or olive oil.
  33. Stir-fry the veggies for a bit. If you like the crunchiness, then only stir-fry for about max 2min.
  34. Sprinkle a pinch of salt, stir and scoop the veggies on a plate.
  35. ————- Start cooking sauce & blend ingredients ————-
  36. Continue with the same stir-fry pan. Put 1tbsp sesame oil and heat the pan on medium (stand 6).
  37. Fry the grated garlic until it’s yellow-ish.
  38. Add the grated ginger and chili in the pan, and fry for about 30 seconds.
  39. Pour the sauce mix in the pan. Cook for 1-2 minutes and keep stirring the sauce.
  40. Then re-stir the maizena mix well and add in the pan while stirring the sauce until it gets thick
  41. Add all the vegetables in the sauce and keep stirring in the pan
  42. Then add the fried chicken and stir all well in the sauce for a short time and switch of the heat.
  43. ————- Finishing touch ————-
  44. Scoop steamed rice in a bowl or plate.
  45. Scoop General Tso chicken on top of the rice or on the side.
  46. Garnish your dish with roasted sesame seeds on top.

Hope you like this dish and don’t find it too much work. You may agree it’s worth the effort after you have tried it 😉

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Asian stir-fried vermicelli rice noodle dish, quick and easy

Asian stir-fried vermicelli rice noodle dish is quick and easy to make within 30minutes. I make this dish often when I don’t have much time to spend in the kitchen and have cravings for a delicious Asian noodle dish.

Ingredients to use can vary on what you have in the fridge. Meat ingredients can be chicken, pork tenderloin, frozen/left-over roasted duck or shrimps. Main vegetable can be Chinese bok choy (there are different types and each type can be used in this stir-fry dish), kai-lan or easier to get from the supermarket is bimi, broccoli or tauge (bean sprouts). Side vegetables can be carrot, canned sweet kernel corn or baby maize and spring onion for the finishing touch.

Cooking time: approx. 30 minutes for 2 persons

 Ingredients & Tools

  • 250gr chicken thigh filet – I like to use chicken thigh or roasted duck meat
  • 100gr rice vermicelli – I prefer the brand Wai Wai because of the refine texture but any will do
  • 2x stalk shanghai baby bok choy
  • 1x carrot
  • 1x garlic clove
  • Optional: 1x chili
  • 2x stalk spring onion
  • 70gr canned sweet kernel corn
  • Seasoning: sesame oil, soya sauce, white pepper, salt
  • Oyster sauce
  • (Extra virgin) olive oil
  • Big frying pan
  • Bowl for marinating the meat
  • 2x spatula
  • 2x sieve

What to do?

  1. ————- Soften the vermicelli ————-
  2. Soak the vermicelli in cold water until it gets a little bit soft. Optional is to cut the noodle in approx. 10cm length, this makes it easy to stir in the pan and to eat. Drain the noodle in a sieve and makes sure it’s almost dry before you cook, otherwise it will become a moisty noodle dish. You can drain the noodle a few hours before cooking.
  3. ————- Cut the meat ————-
  4. Remove fat and slice the chicken in thin slices and put in bowl. If you use roasted duck, slice this in slices, not too thick and not too thin. You don’t need to marinate as the roasted the duck is marinated and pre-cooked.
  5. Put 1 tbsp sesame oil in the chicken.
  6. Put 1 tbsp soya sauce in the chicken.
  7. Put a pinch of white pepper and salt, and mix the marination in the chicken.
  8. ————- Cut the vegetables ————-
  9. Cut the bok choy in bite pieces. Rinse in water and drain in a sieve. Important is to dry the vegetables as much as possible, otherwise it will become a moisty noodle dish. You can wash it a few hours before cooking or dry it out with kitchen paper.
  10. Peel the carrot skin and cut in thin slices.
  11. Chop the garlic fine or use a garlic presser. If the latter, only do this when you start cooking.
  12. Optional: slice the chili in thin slices. Keep the seeds as well if you like a spicy punch.
  13. Slice the spring onion.
  14. Drain the liquid from the canned corn.
  15. ————- Start cooking ————-
  16. Heat the frying pan and put 3tbsp olive oil. Do not overheat the oil in the pan.
  17. Fry the garlic in the pan to light brown and add half of the chili slices.
  18. Start frying the chicken until cooked and put it back in the marination bowl. Keep the oil as much as possible in the pan.
  19. Stir-fry the bok choi in the pan, first the white stalks and later the leaves together with the carrots and corn. The stalks take a bit longer to cook than the green leaves. Don’t cook the vegetables too long if you like veggie crunchiness.
  20. Then move the vegetables on the side of the pan or make a whole in the middle.
  21. Put the vermicelli in the pan, half of the slices spring onion and stir it together with the vegetables for about 1 minute.
  22. Put 2 tbsp oyster sauce, a pinch of salt and stir everything in the pan for a very short time and serve it on the plate.
  23. Sprinkle the remaining spring onion over the noodle as finishing touch.

Hope you enjoy this easy vermicelli dish 😊

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Sticky aromatic rice dumpling Zhong

Sticky aromatic rice dumpling Zhong is a delicious festive snack. My mum made these little treats when it was “Dragon Boat Festival” which falls each year on the 5th day of the 5th month of the lunar calendar, approx. late May to mid-June.

On Wikipedia, there is a great write-up about the tradition of making Zhong. In short: this Chinese historical event began with the Duanwu Dragon Boat Festival and the making and eating of zong zi are seeped in love.  A loyal senior state office named Qu Yuan (340-278 BC) of the kingdom of Chu spoke out to his leader about his truthful views about how to lead the kingdom.  However, others were jealous of him and turned the leader against him.  Qu Yuan was banished and eventually the kingdom fell to outsiders.  Qu Yuan, in his grief, committed suicide by jumping into a river.  

The common people loved Qu Yuan so much that they rowed out to try to find the body.  When they could not find it they wrapped rice with bamboo leaves and threw it into the river to distract the fishes from eating the body.  And thus began this now ancient yearly love memorial from the Chinese people:  the dragon boats racing through the rivers and the wrapping of the bamboo rice dumpling.  

Zhong (in Cantonese), is a Chinese traditional festive food made of glutinous rice with different sweet or savoury fillings wrapped in bamboo leaves. After being cooked in water, all the ingredients stick together and stay in a particular shape when unwrapped. In the Western world, they are also known as rice dumplings or sticky rice dumplings.

This aromatic and flavoursome treat involves a tremendous effort and specific preparation but definitely worth than buying as the ingredients you use at home are better in quality and in taste. The filling used and wrapped shapes varies from region to region.

I make my Zhong on my preferred ingredients which does not come from any specific region… at least I think. It’s all about what you want to eat right 😊

First time making Zhong might take quite some effort and time in tying the Zhong in the bamboo leaves. I really thought, never again but until the moment I had my first bite on my very own wrapped Zhong… I loved it! All my childhood memories being together with my mum overflood me with emotions and joy. The second and third time went much smoother as the process and skillset was apparently still there while I haven’t wrap it for a long time.

You can store the Zhong for a few days in the fridge after it cooled down from the cooking process or store in the freezer for each time consumption. Re-boil in a pan of water or steam the Zhong for about 20-30min. In my opinion, the latter taste better. The structure and flavors remain well contained in the wrap for a delicious snack bite.

Cooking time: approx. 3,5 – 4hrs and serves ~20 portion bites

Ingredients & Tools

  • 40x bamboo leaves, take extra leaves in case some will torn during wrapping
  • 1kg glutinous rice
  • 3x Chinese sausage
  • 10x Chinese/shitake mushroom
  • 8x dried scallops or handful dried shrimps
  • 400-500gr boneless frozen roasted duck (defrost before cutting) or chicken thy fillet with skin. Do not remove the skin because the fat will give some extra aroma. In general, pork belly meat is being used.
  • Optional: 200-300gr mung beans
  • Chinese five spices
  • Soja sauce
  • Rice wine
  • Sugar
  • 2 big bowls
  • 1 big plastic tray or something to put the bamboo leaves on
  • Aluminum foil
  • Sieve
  • Some smaller bowls to put the ingredients in
  • 1 large soup pan
  • Natural (cotton) strings
  • Scissor
  • 1 Tbsp = table spoon
  • 1tsp salt in the soup pan when you start boiling the Zhong

What to do?

  1. ————- Prepare ingredients overnight – 30min ————-
  2. Soak the bamboo leaves in water. This will make them soft for wrapping. You can put the leaves alongside in a big pan
  4. Soak the rice in water in a big bowl.
  5. Soak the mung beans in water in a big bowl.
  6. Soak the scallops or dried shrimps in water in a bowl.
  7. Roasted duck: cut the duck in small chunks or pieces and put them in a bowl.
  8. Chicken thy fillet or pork belly: cut the meat in small chunks or pieces and put them in a bowl.
  9. Add 1 Tbsp rice wine to the meat bowl.
  10. Add 2 tsp sugar.
  11. Sprinkle a bit of soja sauce (2 Tbsp) and add 2 Tbsp Chinese five spices and mix the meat with everything in the bowl.
  12. Cut the mushroom in thick slices.
  13. Cut the sausage in thick slices.
  14. Cover the bowls with aluminium foil and store in the fridge.
  15. The rice and bean bowl can stay on the kitchen table.
  16. ————- Prepare ingredients next day ————-
  17. Take the bamboo leaves out of the water and drain it upright.
  18. Drain the water out from the rice and mung bean bowls. You can use a sieve to catch up the rice/beans.
  19. Drain the water out from the scallops or dried shrimps.
  20. Lay out all the ingredients on the kitchen table.
Top left to right: sticky rice, mung beans, Chinese sausage, dried scallops, shitake mushroom, duck meat, bamboo leaves
  1. ————- Wrapping 45min/1hrs ————-
  2.  Please check out my video on YouTube on how to hold the bamboo leave and how to wrap the Zhong.
  3. Put each wrapped Zhong in the big pan.
  4. ————- Boil for 2hrs ————-
  5. Put 1 tsp salt in the pan.
  6. I pre-boil water in a water cooker at 70C. What temperature is your own preference and is not a must.
  7. Fill the big pan until the last layer of Zhong. Do not overfill, especially not close to the lid edge. While boiling the Zhong, boiled water might overspill from the pan.  
  8. First boil 20-30min on medium heat, then lower the heat with the lid on.
  9. Check from time to time that water is not flooding over or drying out. You can refill water if needed as the Zhong need to be covered in water. The longer you boil, the softer and stickier the rice get.
  10. Take all Zhong out of the pan and let it cool down or start enjoying your hard effort of work 😊
  11. ————- How to eat ? ————-
  12. Cut the string off from the Zhong.
  13. Unwrap the bamboo leaves.
  14. Dip with a little bit soya or spicy sauce for extra flavors.

Let me know if you like my Zhong or share your view on where I can improve my wrapping skill.

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