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Outisde Europe

View of Montreal from Mont Royal

Outisde Europe / Travel

3 things you must eat in Montreal

Of course, there are many things to try in Montreal, but these three are the must eats if…

18th January 2020

Niagara Falls

Outisde Europe / Travel

Montreal, Toronto and Niagara Falls in October

Having spent a total of two weeks in Montreal, Toronto and Niagara Falls, I have a lot of…

5th November 2019

Elsa Lee

Manchester Food Blogger

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What are bao buns?
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Balanced eating: My British Chinese perspective
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ElsaEats.Food

What are bao buns? 🤔 ➡️ Swipe to find out m

What are bao buns? 🤔
➡️ Swipe to find out more about what the buns pictured are and alternative names for them. Link in my bio or search for "bao buns" on ElsaEats.com for more information ❤️

Bao Buns is just a silly name to be honest. Put simply, when you say bao bun, you are essentially saying bun bun, as the word bao actually means bun. 🤪

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#ESEAHeritageMonth21 #ESEAHM21 #ESEAHeritageMonth #BaoBuns #GuaBao #ESEAEats #ESEAJoy #割包 #刈包 #荷葉包 #虎咬豬 #福咬住 #BaoBun #GuaBaos #PorkBellyBuns #LotusLeafBuns #LotusLeafSandwich #TaiwaneseHamburger #HirataBun #ChineseFood #ChineseCuisine

Seafood galore! Sometimes, nothing beats home-cook

Seafood galore! Sometimes, nothing beats home-cooked seafood. 🐟🦞 Here my parents have cooked up lobster, scallops and eel from Lough Neagh in Northern Ireland.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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You can order these dishes in some Chinese restaurants, so I recommend you give them a go if you are not shy with seafood! 🙌🙌⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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First, in the corners, we have stir-fried lobster with ginger and spring onion sauce. 🦞 This was served on a bed of noodles which soaks up all that lovely umami sauce. 🍜⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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At the sides, we have steamed scallops served with a light soy sauce and garlic sauce, topped with mung beans noodles and spring onion. 🤌 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Sometimes instead of mung bean noodles, rice noodles are used instead. My mum loves mung bean noodles so we used these. 👩🏻❤️⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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And finally, the centre plate contains steamed eel in black bean sauce. If you haven't tried black bean sauce, you can readily find this in most Chinese takeaways. 🥡 The beans are fermented so it's salty and adds so much flavour to a dish. 🖤⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
The eel in itself has a very smooth flesh and due to it having a long spine, you can pretty much eat these like you would spare ribs. 🐟🐍⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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🌱 Having said that, I do not consume eel/unagi anymore because it is not sustainable. All eels can only breed in the wild and they weirdly enough only breed in one particular area in the world. 🌎 ⠀⠀⠀⠀
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As the consumption of eels has increased in recent years, natural breeding can not keep up with demand so I choose not to eat this anymore.🌱⠀⠀
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If you like seafood, you should definitely give seafood in Chinese restaurants a go!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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💖 Save and share if you like this post 💖⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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#ESEAJoy #ESEAFood #ESEAHeritageMonth #ESEAHeritageMonth2021 #BritishChinese #BritishBornChinese #BritishAsian #APPIHeritageMonth #ChineseFood #Lobster #Scallops #Eels #CantoneseFood #龍蝦 #龙虾 #帶子 #元貝 #扇贝 #扇貝 #鰻魚 #鱔 #鳗鱼

Youtiao (油條)! Have you tried these? They are

Youtiao (油條)! Have you tried these?

They are also known colloquially in Hong Kong as 油炸鬼, literally oil fried ghost. In the Western world, many call this Chinese breadstick, Chinese doughnuts or Chinese churros (it is made similarly to one but savoury). 🍩🍞 Youtiao is eaten all over East and South East Asia. Recipe from @red.house.spice

You can have these with congee 🥣 or with sweetened fresh soy milk or dairy milk. 🥛

Wong Wong bakery in Manchester China Town also sells these if you can't be bothered to make your own. You can also find these at a dim sum table wrapped with a thin sheet of rice noodle roll, also known as 炸兩 / jaléung.

So I've pretty much perfected these and had to make some when my parents visited. Mum was in charge of the congee 🥣 and I made these bad boys.💖

I don't know if you've ever tried to cook something from your parent's heritage, but it's not something I do often! 😅😅 I was ready for an onslaught of comments like "it needs to be puffier" or "it tastes wrong", but nope, I got praise. 🥳👏🏻

Actually, I just remembered... mum said it needed more salt. 😅 I argued that with the fish congee, there was already enough salt total 😏

Looking forward to making some more and bringing them to @littleyellowriceco x @besea.n's Congee Club on Tuesday 14th! Looking forward to meeting some other congee explorers and lovers.

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#ESEAJoy #ESEAEats #ESEAFood #ESEAHeritageMonth #BritishChinese #BritishBornChinese #BritishAsian #EastAsian #SouthEastAsian #APPIHeritageMonth #HeritageMonth #Youtiao #油條 #油炸鬼 #OilFriedGhost #ChineseDoughnut #ChineseDonut #ChineseChurros #subtleasianbakes #SABcookbook #subtleasianeats @subtleasian.cooking

Almond cookies! 🍪💛 Who else loves almonds? R

Almond cookies! 🍪💛 Who else loves almonds?
Recipe followed from @bakeorbreak

STORY TIME
When my parents came over to England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 from Northern Ireland, I knew I wanted to create more meaningful memories with my mum. 👩‍👧 I knew how much she loves almonds and despite knowing they are hugely unsustainable, I went with it. 💛

These cookies turned out excellently and I think even mum was surprised at how easy they were to make. She asked me to forward the recipe to her. 🍪💛

Growing up, I didn't have the opportunity to bake with my mum. 👩🏻‍🍳 With parents who worked evenings and schooling taking up the rest of the time, I rarely saw my parents 😔 apart from Saturday mornings/afternoons and Monday evenings when they weren't opening the takeaway.

(Sunday afternoons were taken up by the cursed Chinese school, where I attempted to learn the language of my parents.) 📝

Unlike many takeaway children, I didn't spend all my childhood at the takeaway either. 🥡 Mum wanted us to have a good education and didn't see life above a takeaway to being conducive to that. 👩🏻‍🎓

Where possible, she would make sure we were at home, away from the takeaway as much as possible, only recruiting my sisters and me to assist when there was no other option. 🏡💛

Baking these with my mum was really fun and this recipe produces crispy thin cookies packed full of almond flavours.

Who else's mum loves almonds? 🙋🏻‍♀️

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#ESEAJoy #ESEAFood #ESEAHeritageMonth #ESEAHeritageMonth2021 #BritishChinese #BritishBornChinese #BritishAsian #EastAsian #SouthEastAsian #APPIHeritageMonth #HeritageMonth #AlmondCookies #AlmondBiscuits #杏仁餅乾 #杏仁饼干 #英國華人 #英国华人

ESEA ice cream! 🍦💕 Get your East and South-E

ESEA ice cream! 🍦💕 Get your East and South-East Asian ice cream cones and tubs from @lazysundaeuk! Mango mochi 🥭, Thai tea🧋 and Earl Grey Biscoff ☕ feature in this shot.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Lazy Sundae features ice cream flavours that are popular in East and South-East Asia. These flavours may be unusual to you, but they bring a taste of home for me. 😋💖⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Most of my mother's side of the family still lives in Hong Kong and I am saddened by the fact that I can not visit my grandmother any time soon due to the pandemic. 😢⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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9️⃣🈷️ This month marks the first ESEA Heritage Month in the UK. Although not an official contributor, I do want to take the chance to spread some information and joy surrounding ESEA foods.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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East and South-East Asian hate crime have risen over the course of the pandemic as people try to wrongly place blame on several ethnic groups which look Chinese. 👩🏻 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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ESEA Heritage Month aims to spread joy and information from the ESEA community. We are more than just a stereotype and "exotic" food.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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➡️ If you like our food, then please follow@besea.n and the #ESEAHM2021 hashtag for more information and events to celebrate ESEA Heritage Month.➡️⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

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#ESEAJoy #ESEAFood #ESEAHeritageMonth #BritishChinese #BritishBornChinese #BritishAsian #EastAsian #SouthEastAsian #APPIHeritageMonth #HeritageMonth #IceCream #MangoIceCream #ThaiTea #ThaiTeaIceCream #ManchesterIceCream #LazySundae #LazySunday

Have you ever had Ethiopian or Eritrean food? 🇪

Have you ever had Ethiopian or Eritrean food? 🇪🇹 🇪🇷@houseofhabesha_official has got you sorted. Featuring The Full House For One with meat options 🥩, although you can also get this completely vegan 🌱 or as a larger sharing platter!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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In the middle are 6 different dishes (which can be ordered separately) which you can use the outside bread to wrap and put into your mouth. Use your hands and forget the cutlery! 🤌 😋⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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🌾 The wrap on the outside is called injera and it is made from teff, a grain that is still mainly cultivated in the highlands of Ethiopia and Eritrea in East Africa. 🌾⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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It is thus a low yield crop given its specific growing conditions. The grain is gluten-free and contains more fibre compared to many other cereals.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Catch @houseofhabesha_official inside @blossomstsocial or when dining in at @mala_mcr. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Delivery is available via @foodstuffmcr 🚴 (independents supporting independents) or Uber Eats and Deliveroo.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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💖Save or share this post if you plan on giving this a go! 💖⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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#HouseOfHabesha #Habesha #EthiopianFood #EritreanFood #AfricanFood #Teff #Injera #厄立特里亞食品 #埃塞俄比亞食品 #特夫 #哈貝沙 #非洲食品 #因杰拉 #曼徹斯特 #曼城 #曼城食品

Dark Chocolate Cherry Tea Cake 🍒🍰 by @hestia

Dark Chocolate Cherry Tea Cake 🍒🍰 by @hestiapatisserie, transported all the way from Norwich by my sister @a.gluttony for our first family gathering in YEARS.

I don't often see my older sister but when she visits, it's always with some sort of treat from her neck of the woods. 🌳🌳

💖 This cake was perfect for us as a family of 5. Everyone got to have a nice slice and the flavours are good and most importantly, the Asian adage of "not too sweet". 💖

The top layer of the cake is maybe a bit too thick, but that's a minor point.

If you live down Norfolk way, definitely give ➡️ Hestia Patisserie a visit!

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#NorwichFood #NorfolkFood #HestiaPatisserie #MadeInNorfolk #Callebaut #ChocolateCherry #ChocolateGuinnessCake #TeaCake #TeaAndCake #巧克力蛋糕 #蛋糕 #诺维奇 #诺维奇食品 #朱古力蛋糕 #櫻桃蛋糕 #車厘子蛋糕

Dim sum at @jadecitymcr. Swipe for the steamed egg

Dim sum at @jadecitymcr. Swipe for the steamed egg yolk buns (sweet) 流沙飽 aka "lao sa bao", you'll thank me later.

And BOOM! Just like that Day 21 of the parent's visit is done! Copious Chinese meals were devoured, steps counted amongst England's landscape, minor tiffs and arguments dotted across and deep meaningful conversations unfold as the day unwinds.

It's been stressful and joyful at the same time. Since moving to Manchester for university a number of years ago, I only ever see them once a year, if that. This isn't entirely unusual for immigrant families either and if anything, I see my parents more often than my mother saw hers.

The difficulty for 2nd generation (those who were raised in a country different from their parent's country) is often one of communication. I don't have all the language skills to be able to speak to them in the way I want to in Cantonese and likewise with them in English. Throw in some cultural clashes as well as your usual parental "things were different in my time" and you have a pretty complicated mix

It does give me great pride to showcase the good Chinese eating spots in Manchester to my parents and 流沙飽 aka "lao sa bao" is my sisters' and mum's favourite dim sum.

Many restaurants call this by different names in the English translation, but if unsure, check the Chinese characters. The one I refer to has characters that contain the 氵symbol (it looks like water).

If they don't it's a different type of custard bun which has set custard. Nice but not the same!

I call them lava custard buns because just like a lava chocolate cake, the inside is gooey and flows out if you are not careful!

#DimSum #CustardBun #流沙飽 #CustardBao #JadeCity #YumCha #点心 #飲茶 #LavaCustardBun #LavaCustardBao #ESEAJoy #ESEAEats #BritishChinese #IrishChinese #BritishBornChinese #BambooSteamers #DimSumLover

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