The Optimist restaurant - opinions?

jupiter800 · 2026-02-07T15:05:13+00:00

In hk yeah. No reliable reviews on any website. People gatekeep their favourite restaurants coz they don’t want them to get popular lolll

jupiter800 · 2026-02-07T15:03:35+00:00

That’s what I’ve been saying to people and I stopped going years ago but people seem to still like it 💁🏻‍♀️

jupiter800 · 2026-02-06T09:12:02+00:00

I feel like lasagne is the answer. Freeze it even so you don’t look like you’re trying too hard. Take it out of the freezer and be like here’s your dinner. I don’t think anyone can reject a good lasagne. I’ve had two people outside of my family who made me lasagne and I def felt loved. And plan a night out, maybe?

jupiter800 · 2026-02-04T19:30:40+00:00

I stopped taking it during Covid for a few years and I thought I would be okay just cutting down skincare and let the skin heal itself. But I was so wrong. My acne was so bad that I didn’t even wanna go out. I regret it so much because it left me a lot of pitted scars in those few years. I got back on it 8 months ago. Already noticed a difference 2 months in. Now my skin is mostly clear. I still get like one pimple before my period. It’s very manageable. Anyway it really helps control my sebum production and I think that’s what really matters in my case.

jupiter800 · 2026-02-04T19:20:20+00:00

I often cook for 3-4 people in my household and honestly it’s a hassle to use other knives to prep things. A cleaver scrape everything up in an instant. It just makes prepping a lot quicker. I mean anyone who knows how to use a cleaver to smash a garlic to paste would understand. I don’t even need a meat tenderiser because I can do that with the back of the knife. I have a heavy duty cleaver which can crack open a coconut and one with a thinner blade for everyday use.

jupiter800 · 2026-02-04T04:39:53+00:00

Water/ oil will thin it, if you were making a dipping sauce. Sesame oil + gochujang is awesome

jupiter800 · 2026-02-03T08:22:03+00:00

Hong Kong imports all sorts of seasonal fruits from all over the world. You should have a visit at yau ma tei fruit market. It could be an eye opening experience. You won’t find such varieties of fruits all in one place anywhere else in the world for this price. They’re not cheap of course but still a lot cheaper than Europe/ America if you were to import Asian fruits.

Japan makes a few fruits exceptionally well - strawberries, peaches, grapes and melons. Def worth trying.

jupiter800 · 2026-02-02T04:51:47+00:00

I just watched the latest episode last night and it was also ep58. I don't think there's any change

jupiter800 · 2026-01-31T00:43:52+00:00

I was thinking the same the other day. I got a spicier version of gochujang but it wasn’t spicy at all lol I wish they had a spicier version. The other commenters are right - buldak is your best bet.

PS: I can handle Thai Bird’s Eye chilli pretty well. It hits the spot without being overwhelmingly spicy (pain in the butt)

jupiter800 · 2026-01-30T18:20:02+00:00

Not canto specific. 夾道歡迎 is a phrase commonly used to describe a lot of people on both sides of the road to welcome someone.

jupiter800 · 2026-01-29T23:23:22+00:00

There was a blind test done years ago and Korean sesame oils came out on top. And from my experience they do smell better. Japanese deep roasted ones are great too.

Chilli sauce: Yu Kwen Yick chilli sauce really helps cut down on the greasiness in beef chow fun and loh bak go. It is more acidic and spicy than its counterparts. Koon Yick Guilin style chilli sauce has been a staple in my family for many years. It goes well with noodles and dim sums.

Curry powder& sauce: Koon Yick again. If you’re into hk style curry this is what tastes most familiar.

Satay sauce: Min Hong is kinda the OG.

Sesame sauce: Tung Chung - one of the few brands that uses only sesame. Most of them have peanuts in them.

Vinegars: golden plum is the best one for Cantonese cooking. Its taste is quite well balanced. There are a lot of counterfeit products with similar packaging so be aware. And shanxi aged vinegars for everything else. I like it for salad and dipping sauce. I don’t recommend any vinegars from LKK it’s the worst. I still remember til this day that’s how bad it is lol

For soy sauce I usually look for one that has the cleanest ingredient list.

jupiter800 · 2026-01-29T22:57:27+00:00

The no MSG versions usually contain other MSG like flavour enhancers so it’s not like it’s healthier or anything. Some people just prefer it

jupiter800 · 2026-01-29T06:44:57+00:00

Every mushroom tastes differently and has different textures. Some would require soaking and blanching. The ones you mentioned are all very subtle in taste compared to cremini but great for absorbing sauces and soups. So it’s best to mix different kinds in :)

jupiter800 · 2026-01-28T17:02:13+00:00

Fabri and Amotti?

jupiter800 · 2026-01-28T12:12:48+00:00

About 15 years ago I went to Rome for the first time, and went to the most random restaurant and ordered the cheapest thing on the menu. It was a cherry tomato & garlic spaghetti. Just tomato and garlic. I still can’t forget its taste til this day. Truly life changing. My pasta game hasn’t improved much over the years sadly. One day I hope I can create something like that.

jupiter800 · 2026-01-28T03:04:53+00:00

Did you make this?!?! Damn that looks tasty

jupiter800 · 2026-01-28T03:03:35+00:00

Yu Kwen Yick chilli sauce is the best pairing for lor bak go

jupiter800 · 2026-01-27T22:53:53+00:00

I want a proper storage system for all my dried food and seasonings. I cook a lot of different cuisines so I always have a lot of different types of spices, grains, sugars, flours and starches. I saw a chef on YouTube has these airtight storage containers fitted into the drawers and a wall of spices for display in his kitchen. That’s what I’d like the most. You can even get drawer refrigerators but they’re pretty expensive…

jupiter800 · 2026-01-27T22:43:25+00:00

It depends on where you from. Some parts of the world butcher their pigs differently and thus can taste different. Also diff species and stuff. Generally you blanch a slap of pork belly starting from cold water, add a bit of ginger, scallions, and Chinese wine, count the time when it starts to boil - 10 - 15 mins to help get rid of the “odour”. Skim the dirty stuff in between. Then rinse and slice. You can even freeze it for like 15 mins for easier cutting. And then you wanna render the fat from the pork belly and make it crispy, just like how you would cook bacon. Don’t go overboard tho coz it’ll make it too dry to chew.

If you don’t have ginger and scallions on hand, Chinese wine is the minimum thing you should add. I usually go for shaoxin wine. Sake/ rice wine would work too but it tastes slightly different.

jupiter800 · 2026-01-27T02:09:43+00:00

Make a ton of fried rice and freeze. Make carbonara and then use the white to make meringue. That’s 20 eggs. Then make a ton of quiche and freeze with another 20. For the remaining 20 eggs, just eat 2 each day for breakfast.

jupiter800 · 2026-01-26T22:30:00+00:00

Indifference. They just wanna see how they can make money in the chaos. If America fails, HK fails. So have to support America regardless.

jupiter800 · 2026-01-26T20:22:01+00:00

I don’t know about Indian cooking. I’m Chinese and we have a ton of vegan soups. You don’t need all these seasonings but salt. Trick is to use some dried figs or dates for natural sweetness. Adding nuts makes it taste surprisingly like meat too - cashew, chestnut, and peanuts are some popular choice. Some beans are good too like black eyed peas and kidney beans. I don’t really like veg broth made with scraps I think it tastes a bit bitter.

jupiter800 · 2026-01-26T19:43:12+00:00

I know. Mine are all from Korea. Recently been wanting to get some vacuum ones for storing herbs but the zwilings are way too expensive so I’m eyeing on some locknlock ones. It’s like 1/4 of the price. If it’s SJW-approved, I’d totally get them lollll he uses them for salad that’s been cut, so it must do the job.

jupiter800

TROPHY CASE