Hello from various roof tops across Hong Kong

I spent three weeks late June/ early July in Hong Kong visiting family and friends, and trying to get some work done. One of the interesting trends that has picked up in Hong Kong, very dense metropolis of 7 million people, is the emergence of rooftop farms and urban gardening.

Antonio and I first met Michael Leung from HK Honey last year when he showed us his (hibernating) bees and the start of his rooftop farm in an industrial building in Kowloon. Through running workshops and working with an association of local bee farmers, HK Honey has made great strides in making the general population aware of urban bee-keeping and local honey. His background in design comes in handy too - high end stores like Lane Crawford have requested bee hive commissions.  Eight months later, and one typhoon in, I had the chance to visit his rooftop again and see how his urban farming project (which he started with Matthew Edmonsen & Glenn Eugen Ellingsen), HK Farm is going.

Here's Michael showing me the wonderfully strange planter that someone made them using discarded materials.

The bee hives (painted green) are happily situated between his planters that are currently growing everything from chile peppers to basil. And there's a funny feather duster that is in the lower right corner that is used as a scarecrow.

Michael had spent a couple of months in Brooklyn two years ago, working on Brooklyn Grange's rooftop farm. His zine was fantastically heartfelt.

It's hard to run any type of farm, and it's particularly hard to use rooftops in a city; the engineering that is required and the logistics involved are daunting. But it's fascinating to see how rooftops in industrial areas can be slowly reclaimed and used to their full advantage.

The next day I headed out to check out Project Grow which is run by a non-profit group. Their model is quite different from HK Farm - they see themselves primarily as community center, a place where the people in their neighbourhood can come and learn how to grow their own food. Project Grow is located in the incredibly dense neighbourhood of To Kwa Wan, a once bustling industrial area that has seen better days. Run by the Hong Kong Film Culture Center (which has their screening room and offices in the same building) they don't see themselves selling their produce to generate revenue any time soon, instead choosing to focus their energy on running classes and hosting regular talks & open days.

The view from the rooftop at  Project Grow

Old bed frames were repurposed for planters

No live chickens - but some nice chubby clay ones

Foraged flavors - Angelica and our foraged root soda

Foraged flavors of the week!

We've been working on a series of foraged flavors for the past couple of months and we're happy to announce that this Saturday at Smorgasburg we'll debut two of them:
- Angelica
- foraged root soda (a root beer-like soda using sassafras root, spice bush and wintergreen leaves)

Ingredients were sourced via Evan Strusinski, the noted forager who also supplies a number a of noted New York restaurants.

Angelica archangelica has a long history of medicinal use, specifically popular in Scandinavian countries where it grows quite easily. If the taste is slightly familiar to you, it's because it is used to flavor gins, Vermouth and Chartreuse. In this batch, Antonio used both the root and the stems (see photos below)

Our root soda uses all found and foraged roots which was a fun challenge for us.

Sassafras is a traditional ingredient in root beer - it smells fantastic - perfumey, sweet and earthly.
Spice bush (Lindera; check out the informative Wikipedia link here) - is aromatic, heady and spicy and a fantastic accompaniment to the more tanin-y notes in the wintergreen.
Wintergreen is a small waxy leafed plant with red berries that grows everywhere in the north-east.  Wintergreen extract is the main flavoring in almost all modern root beers. It's easy to spot in the fall or winter when it is one of the few green things poking through the fallen leaves or snow (we foraged this batch of wintergreen ourselves from the Catskills - see picture below)

We're excited to bring these roots and plants straight from the woods of the north-east to your cup of soda.  Be warned though - even though some of these flavors are familiar from root beer, they are usually balanced (or smothered, depending how you look at it) by lots of sweeter lighter flavors, such as vanilla. Here we are letting them shine on their own for the adventurous tasters to enjoy in all their earthy, bitter, herbal glory! 

Foraged knotweed and our new production space!

The past month has been a whirlwind of activity - we finally finished our build out at our new production space over on Flushing Ave (on the border of Bed-Stuy and Bushwick). The building is pretty incredible; it is the pharmaceutical company Pfizer's former Brooklyn headquarters, and has been empty for a few years.  The 8-storey building is FDA approved and comes with a fully operational loading dock.  We are one of the first tenants in the building (along with Kombucha Brooklyn, Steve's Ice Cream and People's Pops) and it's been quite a journey to get our 1900 sq ft space fully operational.

(check out the recent NY Times article on this building)

Last week, we put down a new layer of epoxy floor paint, finished the walk-in refrigeration installation, paid the last electrician's bill and today our new steam kettle arrived (we are taking suggestions for affectionate names for our steam kettles).

And now for foraging news - this Saturday at Smorgasburg - Japanese knotweed and honey soda.  Knotweed is native to east Asia and grows wild on the east coast (it is sometimes classified as an invasive species). It has hollow stems, edible leaves and tastes a bit like rhubarb. We've been working with Evan Strusinski  the noted wild food forager who travels up and down the east coast, sending packages of foraged goodies to various NYC chefs and restaurants.

Antonio is particularly excited about the prospect of creating a root beer using mostly foraged ingredients - in the next few weeks we'll keep you updated on how our experiments with foraged Spice Bush, Sassafras, birch bark and wintergreen go.

Good Spirits Feb 28th

The end of winter is getting close - we can almost smell spring. And that means working on our new kitchen (1800 sq feet of space to house some new equipment) and preparing for a busy outdoor season.

Before all of that though, comes the annual Edible Manhattan's Good Spirits event. This coming Tuesday from 6-8pm, join a host of chefs, mixologists and spirit vendors for an evening of cocktail and food pairings. We'll be there with our signature Grapefruit, jalapeno & honey soda, and the crowd pleasing Apple & Ginger.

And of course, if you can't make that, you can always find us at our usual spot at the indoor Brooklyn Flea on the weekends (located at One Hanson Place in Fort Greene) or on tap at some great restaurants and bars (including the newest member of Danny Meyer's restaurant group, North End Grill).

Get your bottles! Cocktail recipes!

For a limited time this holiday season, you can get your hands on some of our bottles of apple & ginger soda at the Brooklyn Flea (now indoors at One Hanson Place in Fort Greene on Saturdays and Sundays).  We also wanted to take the opportunity to hand out some of our favorite (and simple) cocktail recipes for using the apple & ginger carbonated juices with.

Apple Ginger Dark n’ Stormy
2oz rum
6oz apple & ginger soda
about 1/2 oz lime juice
Combine in tall glass with ice. Stir.
Garnish with wedge of lime.

Bourbon with Apple Ginger soda
2oz bourbon
4 oz apple & ginger
dash of angostura bitters
Stir. Serve in short glass.

Beer Table drinks

We had a lot of fun coming up with the drinks for the Beer Table tasting event. The final menu for the evening:
- Citra Hops Soda with pink peppercorn foam
- Pineapple with sage & ginger ice cubes
- salted plum soda with Thai basil
- Honeycrisp apple with cranberry ice cubes
- spiced ginger soda with coconut pandan foam and a cinnamon garnish
- and a warm dessert to cap it it : hot almond milk

Thanks again to everyone who came out for the event!

Beer Table Tasting Event: Nov 7th 7-9pm

We are very proud to announce our first ever tasting event on Nov 7th which will be held at Beer Table, one of our favorite beer bars and the host of a monthly homebrewer's night.

Not just content with our 40+ flavors that we have dispensed at various markets and events, we have been working hard on foams, gels, flavored ice cubes and garnishes (don't forget, one of us is a chemist). This tasting represents some of our wackiest ideas, all of which we are trying out for the first time. Reserve your ticket by emailing: info@beertable.com (tickets are $35)

Tasting Menu

- Citra hops & honey soda, with a

pink peppercorn foam head

 

- Salted plum soda with Thai basil

- Fresh pressed Honeycrisp apple soda with cranberry ice cubes

- Spiced ginger soda with coconut pandan foam

 

- Warm almond milk dessert

ART/IS/AN/EATING tasting event - Nov 3rd at Brooklyn Arts Council

ART/IS/AN/EATING

In conjunction with co-founder Caroline Mak's site specific installation at Brooklyn Arts Council, BAC Gallery and Mak invite you to a tasting of food made by fellow artists & food makers on Nov 3rd, 6:30pm to 8:30pm at BAC Gallery, 111 Front St.

Making art and making food have always been interrelated disciplines. For artist Caroline Mak, co-founder of Brooklyn Soda Works, whose site-specific installation Chain Reaction is now on-view in BAC Gallery, both the acts of creating food and art have an element of futility. The practice of making is long and labor intensive, all for the creation of objects that are consumed (or not at all) in the space of seconds by a ravenous yet sometimes indifferent public. Why then, are some people drawn to both these careers? In this tasting event, curated by the artist, a sampling of food items by a variety of these makers (some of whom may be better known to the general public by their work in food) will be open to the public. Rather than focusing on artists who use food as a medium, there will be a range of artists some of whom may not consider their trades particularly related, to those whose work in the food world sprung naturally from their experiences in the art world.  Whatever the reason, and however you may or may not see the hand of the artist present in these edibles, it promises to be an evening of deliciousness.

TASTING MENU/PARTICIPATING ARTISTS

Ginger syrup by Morris Kitchen. Kari Morris studied painting at California College of the Arts and has worked organizing art fairs, and continues to develop recipes for Morris Kitchen.

Eleanor Whitney & Tracy Candido of Eat Art NYC will create mini-zines mapping the connection between two works of art and two dishes.  Tracy has extensive experience organizing exhibitions and public programs and is also the Director of the Community Cooking Club, a collaborative cooking and eating event. Eleanor is a Brooklyn-based arts administrator and educator, musician and writer, as well as a museum educator who has worked at the Brooklyn Museum and Rubin Museum.

Honey and maple syrup from Peter Nadin’s farm, Old Field Farm. Peter is a renowned artist who has exhibited his work worldwide, including a recent show at Gavin Brown’s Enterprise.  Old Field Farm in the Catskills consists of 150 acres with a wild bee pasture.

Kombucha from Rich Awn of Mombucha. Rich creates small hand crafted batches of kombucha using recipes handed down from his grandmother. Rich is also a performance artist and jester, and can be seen and heard, inserting himself into various mainstream media outlets.

Chocolates by Nathan Hodges of Raaka Chocolate. Nathan is an accomplished song writer and lead singer for the band Tall Stranger.

Cookies from Amelia Coulter of Sugarbuilt. Amelia Coulter is a trained sculptor and is the founder of Sugarbuilt. She creates edible lush cookies that reference art & architecture as well as regionally specific traditions & objects.

Salsa by Matt Burns of The Brooklyn Salsa Company. Matt is a classically trained actor who works in film, television and theater.

Soda by Caroline Mak of Brooklyn Soda Works. Brooklyn Soda Works was formed by an artist and a chemist in 2010. Fresh seasonal fruits and herbs are used to create flavor combinations such as Concord grape & fennel; and strawberry, hops & pink peppercorn. Their love of making things by hand and of experimentation are key components of the company.

Channing Daughters grape blend

One of our favorite things to do at the end of summer is to head out to Montauk and camp on the beach, hitting up the wineries and beaches after the summer Hampton's crowds have all gone home. We were lucky enough to bump into Channing Daughters Winemaker Christopher Tracy at the tasting room when we were there, and he very generously gave us a crate of beautiful grapes from their vineyard - muscat, sauvignon blanc, pinot grigio...  Of course we couldn't resist trying to make our version of a white grape soda. The result is pretty fascinating - light, a bit funky with so many of the characteristics of the grapes coming through.  It will only be available this coming Saturday at Smorgasburg!

Hong Kong 'silk-stocking' milk tea - Part 1

I'm in Hong Kong for the next week and am embarking on some research for the soon to be launched winter project of Brooklyn Soda Works. Hint - it will involve a giant tea bag that resembles an overstretched silk stocking.

'Silk stocking' style milk tea is a uniquely Hong Kong phenomenon; influenced by British colonial tea habits - it is a black tea sweetened with sugar and served with evaporated milk, it is available at all hours of the day at 'cha-chaan tengs' (Chinese diners that serve inexpensive Hong Kong style western dishes). It's much more than a simple cup of milk tea though; it has a uniquely fine and smooth texture that is due to the cloth that the tea is strained through repeatedly and the quality of the milk that is added. The reference to hoisery is due to the appearance of the cloth bag after a long period of use and the strong black tea has stained the fabric - supposedly the customers of one of the cha-chaan tengs started referring to it as 'silk stocking tea' and over time, the name stuck.

I've decided this is the year that I will try to make my own. It's a tough project though - it has involved a lot of caffeine and a few attempts to get grumpy old men to reveal their tea secrets. Each tea house has their own secret blend of tea leaves and every year there is a competition to crown the best silk-stocking tea maker. My first stop was to one of usual tea stops, Lan Fong Yuen. Perched on the edge of the market in Central, it was established fifty years ago as a 'dai pai dong' (an outdoor food stall). It's moved indoors but retains a tiny outdoor shack where the tea is made. Lan Fong Yuen has become a staple on the foodie tourist circuit, and its walls are lined with numerous food magazine reviews (if you go, try the pork bun and their French toast as well as their tea).

Their tea is strained 8 times through the large cloth bag and their tea is a secret blend of six different types of tea leaves. They do not use the usual 'Black & White' brand of evaporated milk that other cha-chaan-tengs commonly use, but another brand. The resultant tea is an stiff aromatic tea that manages to not be bitter and is well balanced with the evaporated milk and sugar, with a good silky texture.
The next day I went with my sister to Wanchai, a fascinating older district in Hong Kong Island and meandered through their large outdoor market that sprawls across several blocks in search of two well regarded cha-chaan-tengs (unfortunately because the tea is several times stronger than what you might commonly get in a standard coffee shop, you can only really have one or two cups a day). We settled on Tak Yu (17-18 Kwong Ming Street) a well kept quiet airy cha-chaan tengs tucked away on a quiet street in an up-and coming area where boutiques have started moving in. The staff are friendly and the older gentleman who was manning the tea shack was happy to chat a bit. They use Black & White evaporated milk, which is creamier and denser than some of the other brands. His tea was one of the best I’ve had - very smooth without compromising any of the intensity from the blend of black teas.

The other cha-chaan-teng that is considered a must-try in Wanchai is Kum Foong (or Golden Phoenix). I’ll be making a trip back over in a couple of days.

You'll notice the distinct fabric tea-bag and metal hoop that used - this is as integral to preparing the tea as the actual tea leaves and milk are. I asked the gentleman at Tak Yu cha-chaan-teng in Wanchai (see the photo above) where he got his, and he replied that their were made by hand years ago. The fabric I'm assuming is replaced regularly and a lot of traditional places still make sew theirs by hand. However if you don't feel like soldering your own hoop and sewing your own cotton bags, you can head over to Reclamation Street in Yau Mai Tei area of Kowloon where the street is lined with kitchen supply stores for commercial kitchens and restaurants.

 

There I picked up a couple of hoops and cotton bags, as well as a steel tea pot to attempt to make my own version.

Yau Ma Tei and the surrounding areas in Kowloon are filled with old historic streets and corners. One place in particular has become a fixture - Mido Cafe. It is a 3 story cafe that dates back to 1950 and lots of its original fixtures still remain from an old cashier to the menu on the wall and the clocks.

It has a great corner spot with a nice view over the public square in front of the temple - the day we were there, a youth group was practicing a dragon dance for the upcoming Mid Autumn Festival (usually in mid to late September). While I wasn't blown away by their milk tea (there was some sedimentation at the bottom) it's a really nice place to hang out for an hour.

iced milk tea for a hot summer's day

Before I even wanted to start making my own blend of tea, I wanted to try one more place - Bing Kee in the Tai Hang neighborhood of Hong Kong Island, conveniently very close to where I live. Tai Hang has experienced a renaissance of sorts - it has always been a close knit quiet residential area with charming older residential buildings and narrow streets but in the past two years a large number of small restaurants, bars and coffee shops have moved in. Bing Kee (on Ormsby Street) is a small outdoors cafe (a 'dai pai dong') that has been around way before any of the artisanal cake shops.

it's another tea-shack! But as well as churning out cups of tea you can also get Hong Kong breakfast staples such as instant noodles with ham & egg.

Note the intensity of the color! A very pleasing cup of tea - great strong tea taste without any bitterness but I think I would have appreciated a bit more of a smooth milky texture.

Anyway, I still have a few places I want to try. I'm still working on my recipe and my technique but will post another blog post in a few days with my results. Stay tuned....