Roast Pork (Siu Yook)

Roast Pork (Siu Yook)…..well let’s be honest here. Roast Suckling Pig....yes baby Pig.

OK, I know some of you will get a bit squeamish about this, but hey….if you eat meat you may as well know it’s not always served to you as a perfect, boneless, skinless filet :-)

Stop reading now, if you are going to be offended!  Don't judge me!

On our trip to China we sampled many interesting items.  I had big dreams of blogging about all our culinary adventures…but then when I realized that I was unable to access A Wok in the Tuscan Kitchen, I kind of lost interest in documenting our meals.  In the end I took a few pictures, so will share some of the highlights.

For me, one particular meal stands out.  It was near the end of our time in China.  After an incredible day in my family’s village in Zhongshan, Mr. and Mrs. Wong, the owners of Vancouver Chinatown’s Dollar Meat Store, treated us to dinner.  If you’re Chinese and grew up in the 60’s, 70’’s or 80’s, I am sure you have had your share of BBQ’d meats from the Dollar Meat Store.  They are probably as iconic as The Hong Kong Café for their apple tarts!

The meal the Wong’s hosted was pretty spectacular.  What I want to share with you is the incredible Roast Suckling Pig. 

新年快樂 Happy Year of the Rabbit! 恭禧發財

恭禧發財 Gung Hay Fat Choy!

新年快樂 Sun Nian Fai Lok!

Chinese New Year Celebrations will be in full swing by the time you are reading this. We will be celebrating with friends and family. There will be an abundance of food and perhaps a bit of frolicking!

Here is a fun link that will provide the quick and dirty about Chinese New Year.

http://www.theholidayspot.com/chinese_new_year/

As with most families, the celebrations revolve around food. Ours is no exception. My mom does a lot of traditional cooking….making sure we feast on a bounty of things that will bring luck and prosperity to our family. One of the traditions my mom has always followed is including our ancestors in the celebration. An offering is made to our dearly departed relatives. I admire my mom for carrying on this tradition. It has taught me the true meaning of respect. I have much gratitude for our family’s ancestors. They have laid the foundation for who we are today.

OK onto the food.

The Gifts that Re-Inspired Me!

Hello and Happy New Year!

It's been a while.
We didn't get Shanghai'd or thrown into a prison in China for being bad visitors......you can't access blogs from China!  Who knew?

Since being back, I have thought about my little blog quite a bit and have had a few comments about the lack of posts.  Life happens!  Please forgive my absence.

I have been re-inspired.
There were many things I saw in China that I thought...wow, that would be great to share.....
The memoirs of China will be sprinkled throughout my upcoming posts.
It's been difficult to focus in on something to post about.  Today it finally came to me. Hopefully this is the inspiration I need to keep writing.

I chose the name, "A Wok in the Tuscan Kitchen" in hopes of combining the two things that represent who I am as a home cook.  If you have been reading the previous posts, you will certainly know about the great garden makeover project, led by Garden Guru. We enjoyed some very yummy offerings from the garden last summer.  I suppose I should clarify, we are not really living in Tuscany.  Home is a suburb of Vancouver, British Columbia.

The Tuscan style of cooking, it's simplicity and the freshness of quality ingredients is what I try to incorporate into our daily meals.

The Wok.....well that's a given.
Being Chinese, in actuality, CBC (Canadian Born Chinese), the Wok is one of the most essential pieces of equipment.

I suppose I could have named the blog "A Cleaver in the Tuscan Kitchen", but somehow that just doesn't have the same ring.

The first gift of inspiration.

The second gift of inspiration.

Well, some might classify it as a re-gift.  I on the other hand, gratefully received this as an inheritance!  

Thanks Mom and Dad.....and aunty Cathy too!

A Very powerful propane burner...just look at all those jets.

Can't you just taste the wok hai? (breath of the wok....that intense smokey flavor)

The third gift of inspiration. 

Thank you Garden Guru!

Amazing stories from some of my favorite chefs

Garden Guru is currently working on the plans for the next phase of the garden.  

The Cooking area.......

A Wood Fired Pizza Oven and now a propane burner to include in the plan.

So here it is everyone.....the Wok in the Tuscan Kitchen.

Looking forward to cooking on and posting on!