Delicious Chinese Almond Cookies
Chinese Almond Cookies
Chinese almond cookies are my absolute favorite of all time! I used to buy Amay’s Almond Cookies in the tub load! My god, I can eat handfuls of it at a time because that is how addictive it is. When you take that first bite, the crumbs from the cookies explode all over your lips and your front teeth, followed by the nice hollow crunch of subtly sweet almond goodness and ending with supreme buttery awesomeness. Oh yeah. The almond. Oh yes, you must have a whole almond on an almond cookie! You must! Now with Amay’s cookies, the almond is placed perfectly on the center of the cookie, which made my eating experience that much more exciting because I would always wonder if I should bite the almond in half or pick it out and then eat the rest of the cookie. Yes, consider that! You can find these cookies in any Chinese supermarket/grocery. If they don’t have it, you should no longer shop there!
Ok, that was my five minutes of droolage for that cookie. But this post isn’t about the Amay almond cookie, it is about the recipe that I found to imitate or improve on that cookie. Now, I have looked for recipes online, asked my favorite Chinese pastries chef at work, and even asked my distant aunts on how to make the perfect Chinese almond cookie and ‘lo and behold, it’s in an American recipe book in Borders. Yes Borders.
Last Friday I decided to stop into Borders to “take care of business.” I refused to use the Starbucks one because that’s absolutely gross and sometimes there’s no TP. I personally think some of the best public bathrooms are in bookstores. I could be wrong, but in my positive experience, I’ve been fortunate to be in the clean ones! But please don’t get the impression that I do not go to bookstores to read books. I go there all the time! Amazingly I never go there to look for recipe books, but for business and other pleasures.
Anyways, at the Borders on Wall Street, next to the “restroom” is the section for recipes! I don’t know whether that is a good thing or not, but I would definitely chose a recipe book for my reading material if I need to do my business there. After maybe 45 minutes of looking and deciding on which book I should get, I decided to get the “Favorite Brand Name Recipes: Cake Mix Cookies” published by Publications International, Ltd (PIL). Unfortunately I cannot find the book online, but I will take a picture of it next time. The only reason why I chose to buy this recipe book is because of the Chinese Almond Cookies recipe. I kid you not. Plus at $9.98 for over 60 cookie recipes and with pictures, I think that’s a bargain.
Please click on the following link to see the recipe and other pictures!
Char Sui Bau (Steamed & Baked Roast Pork Buns) Comparison
So after reading that article from David Carr about Char Sui Baus, aka Roast Pork Buns, it just made me want to go get some. Thats just what I did this weekend. Since I live near the Flushing, Queens area, there’s a slew of bakeries to choose from. There’s the bigger names in bakeries like Tai Pan and then there are just very local/family owned ones. I prefer the local ones of course rather than the chains. Their prices are usually cheaper (of course the ones in Chinatown in Manhattan are still cheaper compared to Queens) and some times their food is just higher quality. I passed by this Bakery named Maxin Bakery and I’ve been meaning to stop in there to try it out. Its not a very big place with only 3 tables or so but the food looks great.
Now the real reason why I stopped in there is because of my Char Sui Bau craving. So I went and bought a bunch because one is just not enough for me. There’s two types of these Pork Buns, the Steamed ones and the Baked ones. Its so difficult to choose until you taste the difference and really its more of a matter of personal taste than anything. Some prefer steamed and some just prefer baked.
Char Sui Bau (Roast Pork Bun) Steamed
Char Sui Bau (Roast Pork Bun) Baked
More after the jump!
Char Sui Bau (Steamed or Baked Roast Pork Buns)
Now this is an idea from David Carr I should have thought of. I’ve already done a few dissections of Bor Lor Bau. My other favorite bun is the Char Sui Bau. For those who do not know what this delectably meaty bun is… its a Roast Pork Bun. It comes in two styles, the White Steamed Pork Bun and the Orangish Baked Pork Bun. Its a tough choice to see which is better but I’m also biased for both as I grew up eating it. I will have to get both and take pictures this weekend and while I’m at it, dissect the buns for all to see. Stay tuned!
Chinese Pineapple Bun – Fully Bakery
Fully Bakery
82-24 45th Avenue
Elmhurst, NY
(718) 446-9058
My dear co-worker Tina Y. has been teasing me for days about the best pineapple buns ever, and all located in Elmhurst. She continues to tease me by giving me two teaser buns instead of the best one that she’s been praising about. She bought me this packaged bun from Fully Bakery and tells me that she has been going there for years and have never been disappointed. Plus, that this pineapple bun is sweeter than any that she has tried. I will be the judge of that!
Anyways, I figure that I would do a photo post on it and share my experience with you!
Packaged Pineapple Bun from Fully Bakery
Steamed Spare Ribs w/Rice Noodle Rolls
My favorite dim sum dish of all time is this spare ribs/rice noodle rolls! This is also known as Pai Gwut Chern, in Cantonese, and it’s quite common in your local dim sum restaurant or Chinese bakery. On the weekends, my mother would buy me this from the bakery on Avenue U, Century 21 Bakery Cafe and I would feast on this like a wild animal! I personally think it’s great that the Chinese bakery serves hot foods as well as baked goods. I will do a review on the bakery itself another day, but for now let me tell you how tasty this really is!
Spare ribs w/rice noodle rolls
Spare ribs w/rice noodle rolls
There is something so terribly delicious and addictive about this dish. Usually rice noodles are plain unless accompanied by soy sauce, and luckily this was drenched in sweet soy sauce! The rice noodle rolls are soft and a little chewy to eat, and the flavored enhanced spare ribs from the soy sauce are just about the two best combos ever to compliment this dish! It tastes so good when it’s nice and warm and is not advised to eat the next day because the rice noodle gets hard and loses it’s flavor!
Anyways, I am going to finish this dish, but in the meanwhile please tell me what your favorite dim sum dishes are!
- FCG
