Authentic Foods

 Chinese  and Filipino cuisines are much the same in style, flavour and how foods are cooked to perfection. Same tasty flavourful or simply delicious meals for the families are just handed down from us traditionally through centuries. That's why so many of our daily meals are the kind of menus you ordered from Chinese restaurants. 

My children like all the Chinese-Filipino foods I cooked at home and their Dad currently learns how to cook Asian foods: Chinese-Filipino and Malaysian hot chicken wings he learned to cook when he was invited by a friend in Malaysia many years ago. Husband known for cooking mostly western Canadian foods at home. He bakes his own loaf of bread and cinnamon rolls from scratch. 

Oh well, this page is about Foods so brace yourself. lol

A friend of mine and I went to Nanaimo, BC for an important visit. After that inquiry we decided to search and Google restaurants (within that city with a population of over 100,000). Then we found one that's appealing. It's SHANGHAI CITY. I like the name of that restaurant. It reminds me of the movies: Shanghai Surprise & Shanghai Noon starring Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson. Okay let's go. Actually we cannot find it at first. It turned out it was at the back of Staples department store. Somewhere there. 

At the main entrance, right there where the big aquarium, the Chinese lady welcomed us courteously and politely ushered us in and asked us questions. We though we could just order but they have lunch buffet (smorgasbord table or steamed table). Wow! I was impressed of how clean, neat and orderly organized  their restaurant and their steamed tables have 16 trays/platters of different food variety to choose from plus two types of hot soup: wonton soup and hot sour soup. Yum! We had the hot sour soup first. Then later we had plate of chow mein, eggroll, ginger beef so tender, deep fried prawns, veggies, sweet and sour pork, and DIMSUM! O-m-g they have dimsum!! I love dimsum. Actually we call dimsum as "siomai." I'm Mandarin you know! LOL. Just kidding. Dimsum and siomai's the same kind of food. So yummy!

Seldom you see dimsum or siomai and dumplings served in Chinese restaurants because the preparation and cooking of such authentic Chinese viand requires long hours of work. 

I should have other stuff but that's all I can eat. I know there are so much food to choose. There are 16 foods on the steamed table. They have fried rice, deep fried chicken, dumplings, squids, pork with green beans, egg fuyung, chicken balls. 

My friend "M" enjoyed Chinese foods too. She's Canadian White so at first I'm kind of reluctant whether she'll like Chinese foods. However, she likes all the foods that she had on her plate.

I should had took photos of the steamed table and the mouth watering desserts: fresh slices of peaches and other fruits, Nanaimo bars, chocolate cake, carrot cake, 4 variety of ice cream. 

I you happen to venture your way in Nanaimo stop and dine in at:

 SHANGHAI CITY Restaurant in Nanaimo, B.C.

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 By the way: AT HOME

Wonton soup with veggies

Wontons and Chinese gaylan with spices and oyster sauce

Ingredients: Ground pork, shrimps, garlic, onions, carrots, ginger, salt, pepper, celery, spring onions, spices, eggs.

The above photographs are: Wonton soup and how I prepared and steamed siomai (dimsum) from scratch. Yes it's laborious to make them at home. That's why seeing dimsum or siomai at restaurant made me feel impressed of the ethnicity and authenticity of such Chinese restaurants when so many of those "Chinese foods" has turned into westernized style in other Chinese restaurants losing its authentic flavour.