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Diana Restaurant – Drumheller, Alberta

Touring Alberta some more recently and we found ourselves hungry during a late lunch hour in Drumheller. We originally wanted Vietnamese, which was closed, but we found Diana Restaurant right on Centre Street (basically Main Street), so it was easy to find with lots of parking.

We went inside and got seated in a booth and we looked around – couldn’t help but giggle as it was decorated with everything “Asian” and kind of retro actually! This place totally feels like a family restaurant as it appears there was only 1 person taking care of the front of the house and 1 in the back. Service was still really good and the food came out relatively fast. I wasn’t feeling 100% so I wanted something less greasy, so I opted for their Wor Wonton Soup which had quite a few wonton in the bowl — around 12 of them! I’m afraid to talk about the taste as I know I lost some tastebuds from not feeling good! If I had to say something, it would be that it was really quite good!! It just needed a little salt or soy sauce.. or even hot sauce!

My husband loves pork chop and he jumped to the opportunity to have pork chop. It was called Grilled Pork Chops off the menu, and it’s what it sounds like! We were just surprised that it came with 2 giant slices. Of course, I had some to try as well, and it tasted pretty good! Well seasoned, well cooked and it was still tender and juicy.

Overall, we enjoyed our little stop here! It was quite fun and the atmosphere was pretty neat! Not your traditional Chinese food, but as it says outside “Western Chinese”!

Diana Restaurant

388 Centre St
Drumheller, AB
(403) 823-3030

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Kam Do Bakery 金都餅店 – Richmond, BC

We’ve always had some wife cakes or wintermelon cakes from Kam Do Restaurant and Bakery since we have some famil here, and whenever they visit – they always bring some! It has always been delicious, and it was truly a treat to experience their pastries here fresh! We even had some breakfast meals here as well, and it was delicious!

This restaurant/bakery is located in a small strip plaza, and parking is available in the back. It’s pretty easy to find and there’s often a lot of people once you get through the doors – but be careful, not all of them are waiting to get in to the restaurant area of the place! I just sat down and ordered a Satay Beef Instant Ramen which isn’t something I typically order, but this particular day, it’s what I really wanted. The beef is so tender and delicious with it’s satay sauce that really made this super yummy! It is almost a fail proof item on menus, but you’ll be surprised, lots of places can fail you! It was fast and perfect here!

Along with the noodles, it came with a sausage, egg and a sweet bun! This was really intersting to me, as I never see it on a plate of it’s own, but it was fun! The bun was really fresh, with a subtle sweetness to it. It was really soft and you can just tell it was taken out of the oven not too long ago!

We also had another usual order from us for breakfast, and it was the Peppered Steak Breakfast which was slice of “beef steak” covered in their peppered sauce. The meat again was really soft and tender and the flavours of their sauces are unbelievable!

The best thing about eating from a Chinese restaurant for breakfast is the fact it’s always cheap! Needless to say, it was an excellent deal, and never forget to pick some wintermelon cakes or wife cakes up before you leave this place! This restaurant and bakery is truly a hidden gem and a great place to be for any time of day!

Kam Do Bakery 金都餅店 on Urbanspoon

Kam Do Bakery 金都餅店

6211 #3 Rd
Richmond, BC V6Y1N3
(604) 231-9216

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Yummy Yummy 好滋味 – Parker Place

During our stay in British Columbia – well, Richmond really… we stayed at the Radisson 2 blocks from Parker Place which was a Chinese Mall. I love it, since we don’t really have anything like that here in Calgary. One of the days that we were there, we got to break free from all the family events and we found ourselves here… looking for breakfast! We decided on the place with the longest line up, which just happens to be Yummy Yummy in the food court.

They actually move through their line up really quickly – or they tell you to sit down and wait for your order. They were really friendly and speedy! Everyone in the line in front of us was order Chinese HK style Milk Tea so, immediately, we knew we had to as well! It was actually quite a delicious cup of milk tea, one of our favourites during our visit actually!

We were looking for a light-ish breakfast as we knew we wanted a day with tons of food. So, I ordered the Condensed Milk with Toast which has always been one of my favourite breakfasts. I hate ordering it because I always think to myself I can make it at home, cheaper. But, regardless, that’s what I wanted, and that’s what I ordered!

My husband ordered a sandwich too, but his was the Corned Beef with Egg Sandwich which is something he has always loved! I don’t usually make corned beef, since I am not a fan – so I was really happy he ordered it for himself! He ate it in 4 bites, so obviously he was in love!

Then, just for fun, we ordered BBQ Pork Rice Rolls just because another person in front of us was, and there were other tables in the food court who were enjoying this dish as well. We didn’t go wrong, that’s for sure! The rice crepes were steamed fresh, and they had just the perfect amount of BBQ Pork. I loved this dish, and it was just so fulfilling!

Overall, we really liked our food court experience before we headed over to Vancouver for some adventure!

Yummy Yummy on Urbanspoon

Yummy Yummy

4380 No. 3 Rd
Richmond, BC V6X4E8
(604) 270-8830

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Homemade Soy Milk – 豆漿

Home Made Soya Bean Milk

I have just figured out I really like to make homemade Soy Milk, as it only costs about $0.75 to make a litre of this drink! It’s actually not very hard to make either!

Ingredients: Serving Size 2 Cups (500mL)
1/2 Cup Soy Bean
1 1/2 cup Cold Water

First, you will soak the soy beans for at least 8 hours. I’ve been soaking them over night for the 2 times I’ve made them so far! The beans will actually double/triple in size! As soon as this happens, you can basically peel the shells and you’re ready to make your drink!

Once you’re ready, wash the soy beans and place them in a pot with 1 1/2 cup of water if you’re using an immersion blender, or you can place it all into a blender. I’ve been using my immersion blender as it’s easiest for me! Blend until as smooth as possible, and then pour it through a strainer with a cheesecloth on top to make the milk a smooth as possible. Squeeze out as much liquid out of the cheesecloth as possible.

Once you’ve strained out the beans from the milk, you can boil the milk that you have. I have been adding extra water to the pulp and trying to extract more from the beans and strain again. From here, bring the milk to a boil and set up a strainer with cheesecloth on top of the strainer to collect any missed pieces of soy beans.

Then, I bring the milk back to a boil, and make sure you watch it as it will boil over fast. I strain it through the cheesecloth one last time, but I think this last step is completely optional. Then, just let it cool and refrigerate. I believe this can only last about 3 days in the fridge as there are no preservatives! But, you can enjoy as is, you can add some sugar to sweeten it!

For me, I turned a double batch of the unsweetened soy milk (1 litre) into Dou Fu Fa! Here’s a great recipe!

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Homemade Chinese Man Tou – 饅頭

Home Made Chinese Steamed Buns – Wan Tou

My brother-in-law came to visit, and as a welcome gift, I decided to make one of his favourites, which is Man Tou! The other thing he really likes is white rice, and that’s definitely harder to bring to the airport to greet with (in my opinion – without doing something fancy to it). So, I just made a small batch, and it’s quite simple!

Ingredients: (makes 8-10 small man tous)
3/4 tsp Yeast
1/2 cup Warm Water
2 cup Flour
1 tbsp Sugar
1 tsp Oil

First, you mix the yeast with the warm water, and give it time to activate. You can also use instant yeast, especially if you’re pressed on time. I was pressed on time, but didn’t have instant yeast – so my end results was a little more dense.

After the yeast had doubled, mix the sugar with the flour, then pour the yeast mixture and oil into the flour mixture as well. If you have an electric mixture, use the hook attachment and knead for about 10 minutes. If you’re like me, then just knead until the dough is soft, smooth and quite “silky”.

Now, you can roll out your dough into a rectangle, and roll up one end. Then, with a pastry cutter, cut the log into pieces and place on little squares of parchment paper.

Now, you can set up your steamer while the dough rises for about 20 minutes.

When you’re ready to steam, steam it for about 13 to 15 minutes if you’re making the large man tous, and 10-12 minutes for the little ones! Serve while hot!