Our outstanding meal last week in Toronto was at Taste of China. After an early evening at the Art Gallery Ontario (free Wednesdays from 6:00 PM to 8:30) we walked over to Chinatown and tried this place (338 Spadina Ave., 416.348.8828). They specialize in live seafood, with a wide range of fish, shellfish & bivalves available (I avoided looking in the tanks). The patrons were nearly all Chinese, and there was a Chinese blackboard with specials on it. Around us people were eating dishes heaped with whole fish, lobster, mussels and oysters. But this evening we were craving green vegetables! We decided to trust our waiter to help us out. He brought us two dishes, both excellent: garlic shoots and tiger shrimp in black bean sauce, and snowpea leaves and king mushrooms in garlic sauce. I hadn't had either of these vegetables before. The snowpea leaves were similar to spinach. The garlic shoots were tender, crunchy and a bright green, sort of a cross between shallots and asparagus. The shrimp was perfectly done -- extra juicy and flavorful, with a light touch on the black bean sauce. I'm going to look for these ingredients next time I'm in Chinatown (Philly) and will edit this entry when I make them!
Showing posts with label Toronto. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Toronto. Show all posts
Monday, August 2, 2010
Taste of China
Our outstanding meal last week in Toronto was at Taste of China. After an early evening at the Art Gallery Ontario (free Wednesdays from 6:00 PM to 8:30) we walked over to Chinatown and tried this place (338 Spadina Ave., 416.348.8828). They specialize in live seafood, with a wide range of fish, shellfish & bivalves available (I avoided looking in the tanks). The patrons were nearly all Chinese, and there was a Chinese blackboard with specials on it. Around us people were eating dishes heaped with whole fish, lobster, mussels and oysters. But this evening we were craving green vegetables! We decided to trust our waiter to help us out. He brought us two dishes, both excellent: garlic shoots and tiger shrimp in black bean sauce, and snowpea leaves and king mushrooms in garlic sauce. I hadn't had either of these vegetables before. The snowpea leaves were similar to spinach. The garlic shoots were tender, crunchy and a bright green, sort of a cross between shallots and asparagus. The shrimp was perfectly done -- extra juicy and flavorful, with a light touch on the black bean sauce. I'm going to look for these ingredients next time I'm in Chinatown (Philly) and will edit this entry when I make them!
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Green Mango Salad
I was in Toronto last week. A most memorable dish was this salad at Happy Thai on West Queen West. (I was the only customer there for a late lunch, so needless to say the service was excellent as well.) I tried duplicating it at home, but my dressing just wasn't the same. It was good though! My recipe for two follows:Salad
- Green (slightly hard) mango, sliced into fat matchsticks (one small or 1/2 large)
- 1/3 sweet red pepper, also sliced in thin strips
- some red onion, sliced a bit chunky
- crushed peanuts
- whole roasted cashews (ok to use salted)
- cilantro, some chopped fine and some for garnish
- cucumber and orange slice for garnish
- large piece of lettuce for the base
- optional: carrot, sliced into very fine matchsticks
- juice of 1/2 lime, or to taste
- 1 tsp Thai fish sauce
- 1 tsp sugar dissolved in 2 tsp warm water
- 1/2 tsp spicy toasted sesame oil, or to taste, since this is the source of hot peppers
- 1 tsp pickapeppa (I wanted to get tamarind flavor in there somewhere, since I didn't have any in the house)
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