Homemade Lo Bak Go – 蘿蔔糕

Turnip Cake Recipe – Luo Bo Gao

Just in time for Chinese New Years, I’ve taken what I know of how to make a Lo Bak Go and tried it! Please note, I like my lo bak go with lots more filling than “go”, so feel free to reduce the amounts of any particular ingredient.

1 large dried scallop (or 2 little ones)
1/2 cup dried shiitake mushrooms
1/4 cup chopped dried shrimp
2 Chinese Sausages (lap cheong)
1 cup of Rice Flour
1 cup of water
1 cup grated lo bak (daikon)

Seasoning (adjust to what you think tastes good)
salt, white pepper, soy sauce

First things first, you have to rehydrate all the dehydrate ingredients, and I like to do soak my shiitake mushrooms, dried shrimp and dried scallop the evening before hand in a bowl with some water.

When I’m ready to start making my lo bak go, I start by grating the lo bak and I place it into a pot of boiling water with some sugar and salt for a few minutes until tender.

While the lo bak is bubbling away, I start by chopping up the Chinese sausage, Shiitake mushrooms and shrimp into little pieces, and shredding the scallop. I heat up a wok and put all the ingredients together to stir fry them until cooked. I also do the seasoning with some white pepper, soy sauce and salt until it’s more flavourful than usual – since the rice flour mixture would add no flavour, it works best this way.

When everything is good and ready, I prepare the rice flour mixture by first starting with 1 cup of water and 1 cup of rice flour. I mix it until it’s dissolved and pour it into the combination of lo bak and all other goodies. I mix thoroughly and judge by the texture how I would like it. If you like your lo bak go firmer, put more rice flour in so that it’s more paste like consistency. The more you mix, the tougher it gets as well. I like my lo bak go soft, so I do minimal mixing. When you figured out how you like it, pour it into a pie pan or something like it and prepare it for steaming.

I steamed my lo bak go for about 45 minutes and I put a toothpick in to check that nothing was sticking to the toothpick. When it was ready, I turned off the heat and put some green onions (scallions) on top for decoration and put the lid on it for about 5 minutes before I took it out and let it cook on a cooling rack. Be careful, the pan and the lo bak go is extremely hot at this point.

Now that it’s cooled down a bit and had some time to set, cut it up and enjoy! I always like to sprinkle extra white pepper, or sweet soy sauce, or even some hot sauce on top of my slices of lo bak go. Sometimes, I do all 3! Now, pick up your chopsticks and enjoy!

Cantina Grill at Denver International Airport

So, not all layovers at an airport is bad! We had a stop over at Denver International Airport (DIA) for awhile, and we needed to eat lunch. We went to the second level of concourse B where we found Cantina Grill for Mexican cuisine.

We had to be a little quick, so I ordered the Chicken quesadilla and it was really good. There’s never too much to say about a quesadilla, but this one was gooey with cheese and filled with cheese and chicken goodness! It was very satisfying for a food court!

We also ordered a Chicken Qdoba. (Gumbo) and it was also very impressive. It came in a bowl with beans, rice and stew on the bottom, and topped with cheese & salsa! We mixed it together for a delicious bowl of goodness as every spoonful was full of flavour!

The best part of Cantina Grill is the fact it’s on the second floor where there seems to be less passengers – so the line ups for food isn’t nearly as long! If I’m in Denver airport again, I wouldn’t have a problem sitting down at Cantina Grill for another meal!

Cantina Grill in Concourse B

Airport: Denver
Concourse B 8500 Pena Blvd
Denver, CO 80249
(303) 342-6860

Sunterra Market – West Market Square

I really like markets, and one of my favourite markets would be Sunterra Market even though it’s kind of expensive. I particularly enjoy going to the one at West Market Square as it offers a small eatery and has great grocery shopping! I enjoy buying fresh products from here, and a bunch of other stuff too! The food that they prepare from their kitchen isn’t bad at all either – and the prices are pretty decent!

I really enjoy having their Butter Chicken and I had my butter chicken over rice instead of spinach. For about $8, you get a pretty generous serving of rice and butter chicken, and even some naan! The chicken is always tender and the curry is very mild in flavour. The sauce is delicious and creamy and perfect over rice!

My other half ordered from the Daily Hot Carve and on this particular day, it was Roast Beef with vegetables and potatoes. Again, the serving is really large, definitely more than a mall food court amount and this plate was just under $10! There was at least 3 slices of roast beef which was quite thick of a cut (irregular, but overall thick) which is always nice! The vegetables were roasted peppers and they were surprisingly sweet, plus tons of potatoes which were good on it’s own, or with the roast beef sauce!

Since the first visit to Sunterra, where they gave me a sample of their Freshly Squeezed Orange Juice, I’ve made it a ritual where I purchase if nothing – at least a bottle of their orange juice. Sure, it costs more than other ordinary orange juice, but you actually watch them squeeze this juice out and it’s so good – year round! Of course, it’s best in the summer when the oranges are at their prime season. This is one thing I’d highly recommend if you’ve got nothing else to get from Sunterra!

Sunterra Market, West Market Square on Urbanspoon

Sunterra Market, West Market Square

1851 Sirocco Dr SW
Calgary, AB
(403) 266-3049

Zellers Family Restaurant – Chinook Centre

For the last 2 years on Boxing Day and random days throughout the year, I’d find myself inside a Zellers and eating at their Family Restaurant. This year is no different, we got to Chinook Centre bright and early on Boxing Day to make sure the lines weren’t insane. Last year, we waited 3 hours for our lunch, and this year we went for breakfast.

I usually enjoy a Hot Chocolate with my breakfasts, and I was quite hesitant to order one for breakfast as I didn’t want my hot chocolate to be all cold if my meal took 3 hours to come. I took a chance and ordered a cup anyway! Luckily, breakfast is much faster and it only took 20 minutes – so I didn’t have to enjoy cold chocolate!

For breakfast, I ordered Western Denver Omelette which was a giant omelette with sweet peppers, onions, sauteed with diced ham.

The other breakfast we ordered was called Meat Lover’s bacon, sausage and ham served with 2 eggs. To top this meal off, it also had sides of country styled potatoes and toast

Overall, I really like coming here and I’ll miss it if and when it goes away when Target takes over. It’s a great alternative to eating at the food court and it’s just a little different!

Zellers Family Restaurant – Chinook Centre

6455 Macleod Trail S.W.
Calgary, Alberta
403-253-3932

OEB Breakfast Co.

We made it to OEB Breakfast Co for breakfast this one Sunday – and it was a cute little place where a lot of people seem to gather. Immediately once in the door you’re in their coat room – where we had to wait for a table. Eventually, the line went right out the door, and even thought it was a cool morning, it didn’t stop their hungry guests from waiting outside!

When we finally got seated, we were actually at a table instead of the central common table – which is a neat way to seat a lot more in a smaller space.

I ordered The One That Did Not Get Away North Pacific smoked cod & egg scramble, green onions, crisp potatoes, brown butter Hollandaise, vegetarian kelp caviar. This was a fun dish as everything was in a giant bowl! I tried to eat it graciously and orderly, but I found more fun and flavour when I mixed up the entire bowl and ate whatever I had in my spoon! The smoked cod was a great choice as it added just the perfect depth of flavour with a hint of smokiness! I absolutely loved their potato wedges – they were cooked perfectly and had a nice crisp outside of each wedge, yet it was soft and fluffy in the inside.

We also ordered a delicious Smoked Steelhead Salmon, a three egg scram-blettes With green onions & Spanish capers. The omelette was perfect as it was full of flavour and veggies – it was perfect on it’s own. But, to top it off a few notches, the smoked steelhead salmon really made this feel like a five star breakfast!

This was a fun breakfast place, where the prices are reasonable – especially for it’s portion sizes and the amount of food and flavour you get! It’s a small restaurant, so be prepared to wait! It was sure worth it though! Everything was super delicious and I am sure I’ll be back someday soon!

Oeb Breakfast Co. on Urbanspoon

Oeb Breakfast Co.

824 Edmonton Trl NE
Calgary, AB T2E3J6
(403) 278-3447