A few months ago I wrote about my obsession with rose tea, also called rosebud tea. Not to be confused with rose hip, or the those things your boyfriend is supposed to give you for Valentine’s Day, rose tea uses the buds from a rose bush. 玫瑰茶 (meigui cha) is usually blended with black tea [...]
Tag Archives | Dessert
Matcha Tea and Honey Cakes
The very first thing I have in the morning, almost every day, is a cup of green tea with a spoonful of honey. Sometimes I add a bit of soy milk, other times I don’t. But it’s that combo of caffeine and tiny bit of sweetness that wakes me up, now that I’ve weened myself [...]
Rambutan
When I was about 4 or 5, growing up in Guangzhou, I went crazy with excitement whenever my parents brought home a sack of lychees or rambutans from the fruit market. Abandoning whatever toys I was playing with at a time, I would instead grab a plastic bowl and sit for at least an hour [...]
Homemade Almond Milk with Bananas and Honey
I have been obsessed with almond milk ever since I discovered Lulu in Beijing. Sold at every market here for 7 yuan a liter, this boxed almond milk has been my new alternative to chamomile for a soothing right-before-bed drink. I also have it at breakfast mixed with green tea, or at dinner whenever my [...]
Coconut and Lime Rice Pudding
In Beijing, it’s easy to find fruits like carambola, rambutans, and dragonfruit in almost every major supermarket. However, I couldn’t for the life of me find a single lime in this city. I’ve bought them in Guangdong, but up north it’s a whole different story. Even Carrefour and the foreign import stores didn’t have them, [...]
Goji Oatmeal-Almond Cookies
In the past few years, goji berries, or 枸杞 (gouqi) in Mandarin, have become one of those new “it” foods highly touted in the media. Everyone from health gurus to fashion magazine editors raved about how gojis were rich in antioxidents, good for your eyesight, and so on. As a kid I had eaten them [...]
Recipe: Orange-Almond Lace Cookies
Last night Jacob and I invited a Chinese friend, Amber, over for dinner. Upon seeing me in the kitchen getting ready to bake with a huge chunk of butter, she said, "I don’t think I’ve ever tasted butter before." Stunned, I asked her to clarify. She thought for a while, and said, "Unless you count [...]
Recipe: Orange Sesame Brittle
Oranges are so abundant and inexpensive this time of year that I’ve been making fresh squeezed orange juice every morning. It takes about 3 to 4 medium oranges and a lot of arm muscle just to get a cup of juice, but the fresh pulpy taste is well worth it. But what to do with [...]
