Date Sweetened Vegan Pumpkin Pie

Date Sweetened Vegan Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin pie, one of my favourite desserts. As seen from my various other pumpkin recipes, I am quite fond of gourds. Pumpkin pie is already one of the healthiest pie choices available, even the ones from the supermarket aren't terribly bad. But of course, homemade is better. And naturally sweetened ones even more. 

Don't mind the little burnt blotches along the crust; that's filling I got on there :P

Every year, I attempt a pumpkin pie. Usually it is the hard crust that my family complains about. I've tried traditional full-of-butter pie crusts to super fast olive oil pie crusts, but they just never worked out as advertised. Finally I experimented with making pie crust in the food processor (and using coconut oil!) and discovered the perfect pie crust. Flaky, tender, and delicious even on its own.
 
At Thanksgiving early this year, I made a pumpkin pie that was covered in cracks and wasn't sweet enough. Note to self: a quarter cup of honey isn't enough for an entire pie. Pumpkin pie filling isn't difficult to make, in fact it's pretty fail proof. But making one that isn't laden with refined sugars and one that is crack-free is the challenge. I think I have found the solution!

Date Sweetened Vegan Pumpkin Pie

Unlike most pumpkin pies that are sweetened with granulated or brown sugar, this pie is sweetened with date paste. Dates are fat free 'jewels of the dessert' that are a great source of fibre, iron, and potassium. Fibre keeps your intestines clean and happy, iron is especially important to incorporate into women's diets, and potassium is an energizer! Eat a few dates before exercising for a boost of energy. They also double up as a post-work out snack. When my mom first joined hot yoga, her instructor told them to eat a banana (which also has high amounts of potassium) to re-energize the body after sweating buckets. Yes dates are really carb heavy because of the sugar content, but they are very nutritious and make for a great dessert too! Medjool dates are the sweetest, largest, and plumpest variety; I used them in this recipe to make the date paste. Date paste can easily be made at home using dates and water. Blend blend blend away until the texture resembles that of pumpkin puree. If you have any leftover date paste, use it up in a batch of Healthy Carrot Morning Glory Muffins! 
 
Eggs are not part of this recipe, as this pie is vegan. Having egg whites in a pumpkin pie filling may contribute to surface cracks because the proteins in the egg whites will shrink and pull apart as the pie cools, leaving valleys and canyons in the middle of the pie. To combat this problem (as well as make it vegan), cornstarch is used as the thickener. Without a thickener, one would be left with a pile of mashed pumpkin instead of a 'custard'. This recipe of pumpkin 'custard' does not rise at all during baking, which also reduces the risk for cracking. As a heads up, the filling pulls away from the sides just a little bit as it cools. Other than that, the surface of the pie remains crack-free. 

Date Sweetened Vegan Pumpkin Pie

In my photos, the pie looks pretty short. I would prefer the filling to reach the top for cosmetic purposes. Maybe my pie pan is just too deep..? I may add half a recipe more of the filling the next time I make this. Taste-wise, I have no complaints. The excess crust on the top makes for a delicious 'cookie' to munch on! My vegan pie crust is fragrant from coconut oil, flaky, and crunchy and makes for the perfect vessel to spread the pumpkin filling on. The way I like to eat my pumpkin pie probably sounds ridiculous, but hey. Don't judge. Just make the pie and taste for yourself ;)

This pie is essentially guilt-free. It's pretty much just dates, pumpkin puree, coconut oil, and flour. I am not ashamed to say that I've eaten this pie for breakfast on several occasions. This is how I like to get my fruit and vegetable intake.

Find the healthiest vegan pumpkin pie that is crack-free after the cut!

This Little Piggy Mobile Catering

This Little Piggy food truck

Every other Sunday, a farmer's market is held at the Port Moody Rec Centre. On one visit to the market, This Little Piggy was serving up pancakes. Needing a lunch after church and knowing my weakness for pancakes, I ordered one for my meal. I don't want to be to harsh, but their food does not match up to their prices whatsoever.

Pancakes with Apple Sauce ($5), The Original piggy ($8)

I ordered their market special, which was pancakes with apple sauce. Upon ordering, they were actually unsure if they still had any pancakes left to sell. But evidently, they managed to whip up some for me. These pancakes were nothing to write home about; flat, small, not fluffy. Even the compote didn't have any wow factor. This was beyond disappointing, my homemade pancakes are a billion times better. Strangely enough, the little dollop of berry jam (I don't remember what type of berry it was. Some like a blackberry but slightly harder and chewier) was the highlight of this plate. Condiments like syrup, honey, and an assortment of jams were provided by the truck. I enjoyed the jam most (sad huh?).

My brother ordered one of their pulled pork sandwiches for his lunch. This was also a disappointment. The bun was hard, the pork was dry, and we could've used more coleslaw. The chips on the side are rather random and doesn't accompany the sandwich very well. Eight dollars is a lot of money for this measly sandwich. 

It was a really chilly day that Sunday afternoon so the food got cold really quickly, which I acknowledge would affect the quality of the food. 

Isn't my baby sugar pumpkin in the back adorable? You've probably seen him in a few other posts already. He was only $1!

I believe This Little Piggy was one of the first food trucks in Coquitlam. Unfortunately, their overpriced food did not impress me at all. I actually felt like I had wasted $13 of my money after this meal. I would not recommend this food truck to anyone nor will I be a returning customer.



Love from Coconut Crumpet's Corner ♡

La Casita Tacos

A long day of walking around downtown really helps to build up some appetite. With two days until Christmas, a few Fat Rats went to enjoy some of the Christmas festivities in Vancouver. Stops included the German Christmas Market (a quick review: on weekdays, entry is $3, which is acceptable. But anymore than that I would not recommend going because it's really small, everything is super overpriced, and overall the market is not exciting at all), Gingerbread Lane at the Hyatt hotel, and Bright Lights at Stanley Park. The later two events were much more worth our time. 

When the Bright Lights started getting really crowded (as it gets darker and darker), we rode the bus back out to Denman Street and walked a few blocks to La Casita Tacos. The little restaurant seems to be newly opened, but they have an older sister restaurant in Gastown that is more sit-down style. I saw plenty of praising reviews for La Casita and it seemed to be the perfect place for me to curb my craving for fish tacos, one I have had since Palm Springs.

Counter Service

At 5:30pm on a Monday evening, the restaurant was empty except for a couple finishing up their meal by the window. We were unsure whether or not to take a seat first and expect table service, or to walk up to the counter and place our order. It's kind of a mix of both; order at the cashier first, then the food will be brought to the table. The woman at the front is very warm and welcoming to us Mexican-food-newbies. We all ordered 4 tacos for $10. I really appreciate being able to try multiple types of tacos with just one order. Since one can customize according to their preferences, it makes it easy to dine with a group of friends who may have different taste buds.

Top: Veracruz Fish; Bottom: Egg & Green Bean, Baja Fish

Pumpkin Chocolate Swirled Mini Cheesecakes with a Spiced Graham Crust

Pumpkin Chocolate Swirled Mini Cheesecakes with a Spiced Graham Crust

Another belated post...my apologizes we've been rather absent on the blog. The days are flying by faster than I can bake everything on my autumn bake-list. Since squash is the flavour of autumn, I wanted to incorporate pumpkin into the Halloween treats shared with Fat Rats. And everyone likes cheesecake right? I beat The Clumsy One at making these, mwahahaha~

Pumpkin Chocolate Swirled Mini Cheesecakes with a Spiced Graham Crust

-Insert ranting here- 

I actually put that in my draft... but there isn't much on my mind today, so you're in luck! Reduced amount of nonsense in this post.

Pumpkin Chocolate Swirled Mini Cheesecakes with a Spiced Graham Crust

The spiced graham crust can be substituted with gingersnap cookies, as that is what I was aiming to copy. The hint of extra spices amps up the volume of the spices already in the cheesecake batter. I admit, the chocolate swirl doesn't do much for the cake, other than make it look prettier. Feel free to leave the extra step out if it is going to be topped with whipped cream (coconut whipped cream, anyone?) or decorated with other methods. Either way, it'll be sure to impress and satisfy~

The gradual cooling of cheesecake is a vital part of the procedure, especially when making larger sizes. I still experienced a little bit of cracking on these mini cheesecakes and felt that they were just a tinge on the over-cooked side. If that is a concern for you, stop the oven about two minutes earlier and begin the process of cooling.

Pumpkin Chocolate Swirled Mini Cheesecakes with a Spiced Graham Crust

Yield: 12 muffin-sized cheesecakes

Ingredients

For the crust

• 5 graham crackers (the long rectangular shaped ones)
• A pinch each of ground ginger and nutmeg
• ⅛ tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tbsp coconut oil, melted

For the filling

• 8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature (low fat is okay) 
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• ½ cup pumpkin puree
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• ⅛ tsp each of ground ginger and nutmeg
• 1 egg
• ½ vanilla
• 2 tsp coconut milk
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350˚F. Line a standard muffin pan with twelve paper liners.
2. Blitz your graham crackers in a food processor to make crumbs. Add the spices and pulse a few times to combine. Add the melted coconut oil to the crumbs and mix until a wet sand texture is achieved. 
3. Press 2 to 3 tsp of the crumb mixture firmly into the bottom of each paper liner, I recommend using the back of a small spoon.
4. Bake crust in the preheated oven for 4 minutes.
5. In a mixing bowl, cream the cream cheese and brown sugar together until homogenous and fluffy.
6. Add the pumpkin puree and spices, mix until smooth. 
7. Add egg, vanilla, and coconut milk and mix again until smooth.
8. Reserve about 3 tbsp of the cheesecake batter in a separate bowl. Add cocoa powder to the reserved batter. Set aside.
9. Divide pumpkin cheesecake batter evenly between liners. Place dollops of the chocolate cheesecake batter on top and swirl with a toothpick.
10. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes. When done, prop the oven door open slightly and allow cheesecakes to cool in the oven for about 10 minutes. The cool completely on the counter in the pan before chilling in the fridge. Bringing the cheesecakes gradually to room temperature will prevent cracking. 
11. Once completely cooled, store in refrigerator. They last for quite a while, around a week or two?

Love from Coconut Crumpet's Corner ♡

Creekside Coffee Factory

Needing some catch-up time with two childhood church friends, we met up at Creekside Coffee Factory for a cup of early morning caffeine.

I've been aware of this cafe's existence for a very long time; the cafe with the giant Costco stuffed bear that is usually filled with Korean people (many of my Korean friends mention that their mom's chat with other ahjummas here, totally something my mother would do too). Oh, and its directly across from Sushi Town. If my friend hadn't suggested Creekside Coffee, it may have been a much longer time before I discovered its awesome-ness. (Oh no, here comes Peanut-Crumpet-influenced vocabulary..)

Some of the items for sale

The cafe is fairly busy on a Saturday morning at 10am. And to my surprise, filled with mostly Caucasian folks; I guess they know where to find quality coffee~ There are a handful of small tables and most of the customers were sipping on a hot beverage while splitting a giant scone with someone. Those massive scones are very reminiscent of the well-loved scones from Purebread, which I raaaaaaved about. At Creekside, one scone costs only $2.35! I must try one for myself next time. There are also seasonal(ish) baked goodies to pair with your drink or some simple sandwiches for a heftier meal.

Green Tea Latte, (unknown coffee dirnk), Coconut Chai London Fog

The Coconut Chai London Fog ($3.89) written on the 'special drinks' chalkboard caught my eye; I've been really into chai lately and adding coconut to it can only get better. A London fog drink is half a cup of strongly brewed tea plus half a cup of frothy milk. The coconut chai teabag is used in this particular one. I was lucky enough to score the last one they had! 

This drink did not disappoint; warm spices and a hint of sweetness from the coconut, in addition to the creamy milk was very enjoyable on a chilly November morning. This tea-based drink is a nice alternative for those that don't really like coffee. The serving is large and the mug keeps the drink hot for quite a long period of time. Even an hour later, my drink was still warm.

Sorry I can't comment on the other two drinks, but they were both presented beautifully!

Quoting my friend, "Starbucks is too mainstream". With prices that are essentially the same as Starbucks, I would recommend Creekside Coffee Factory over Starbucks any day. Yes, they don't have them red Christmas cups (which I admittedly will purchase from Starbucks each year to hold one), but their drinks are definitely of a higher quality and not laden with sugary flavoured syrups. I should try their Pumpkin Spice Latte next time to make a comparison to Starbucks, as I was quite disappointed by the 10 year-old famous PSL. Why no pumpkin flavour? D: 

Creekside Coffee Factory is a fantastic place to grab a hot drink to-go or sit down for long periods of time for chatting. The atmosphere is very cozy and warm, and the drinks are delicious. I can definitely see myself meeting up with friends here in the colder months (and Ninja Bubble Tea in the summer...?).



Love from Coconut Crumpet's Corner ♡

Delicious Pho

Today is that depressing day of the week where you know the next day is 'back to work' or 'back to school' or both. To make it slightly less depressing, I met up for lunch with my best friend's family. We needed to stay within central Coquitlam so her mom suggested we try the newly opened Delicious Pho.

To begin, I'd like to address parking. There is only limited free street parking as well as, I believe, a paid parking lot in the building. It wasn't too difficult to find a spot today as due to the statuary holiday, the surrounding offices are not open. 

There were about five or six other tables of customers which is a fairly good amount for a restaurant of small size. The interior walls are painted a vibrant green, adding a cheerful and fresh ambiance to the restaurant. Since the restaurant is newly opened, there are congratulatory flowers displayed at the front counter. The tables and chairs are sleek black and chic; very clean and comfortable. So far, so good.

Menus and tea were quickly provided and service was efficient. The waiters don't have perfect English and one of them (maybe the son of the operating family) seemed a tad shy. Not saying it as bad or good, just as what I examined. 

The pho ordered by my friend's family came shortly after ordering, like really quickly. Then again, pho is probably the easiest dish to put together; the broth is pre-made everything is just dunked into the bowl. The 'small' sized pho isn't small at all! However, I can't say for sure because I didn't actually touch their bowls. I've heard that at some pho restaurants, the small and large have the same amount of food, it's just the bowl size is different. I mean pho noodles are super cheap...scumbags... Anyways, before arrival, my friend already had complaints that their broth was no good. But her mom argues otherwise.

Pork & Vietnamese Ham Sub ($4) and Grilled Chicken & Grilled Prawns Vermicelli ($9.15)

My brother and I shared a Vietnamese Sub and a Grilled Chicken & Grilled Prawns Vermicelli. The sub was a disappointment, nothing special about it whatsoever. I was unsatisfied with the fact that the pork was a cold cut, not the lemongrass marinated pork I was expecting. There was also far too much mayonnaise (ew..) and the bun wasn't spectacular either. Not an exciting sandwich so do yourself a favour and avoid ordering this.

The vermicelli noodle dishes took a little while longer to get to our table. My friend's grandpa almost always gets these cold noodle dishes when dining Vietnamese. He commented on how large the serving was. This was a pretty good dish; the chicken pieces were plentiful, juicy, and marinated well, and there was a ton of fresh vegetables. The grilled prawns were a bit too oily for my liking though... But at least they were plump. Nine dollars is pricer than usual but it isn't too bad.
 

10 piece Chicken Wings ($7.20)

You may recall hearing about the Queen of Chicken Wings in my Phnom Penh post. It's no surprise she wanted to order some fried chicken wings here too. This 'appetizer' was the last thing to be served at our table. While Phnom Penh still reigns as best chicken wings ever and the ones from the nearby Pho Phu Thinh are still better, these weren't terrible. The crispy batter could've been more even but the pieces were large and meaty. However, the sauce was a disappointment. It is goopey and tastes like prepared plum sauce from a jar, it very well could have been exactly that. If you're craving chicken wings, then by all means, feel free to order this. But it definitely isn't a must-order here.

Delicious Pho didn't serve us anything so horrendous that I'd stay away from this restaurant forever, but there wasn't anything impressive enough to make me want to return either. 

Photos of full menu below:

Ninja Bubble Tea

After a trying out the new Vietnamese restaurant, Delicious Pho, my best friend's family and I wandered around the corner to see what other new businesses have popped up in the new building. There is a new Brown's Socialhouse, a dried fruit & nut store, a little Chinese cafe that serves bubble tea and some random Northern Chinese dishes, a pet boutique, and the trending Ninja Bubble Tea. 

For the last few weeks, I've seen several status posts on Facebook checking in at this new bubble tea joint. This Filipino-run bubble tea joint is known for their candy bar bubble teas, reminiscent of Bubble Queen in Richmond. Some of them have strange names like "Yeahhh Nutella"... someone was running out of creative juices... At first glance, it seems like their prices are ridiculously high. I mean, bubble tea is already expensive; for some reason we are willing to pay $4 for sugar + milk. At Ninja Bubble Tea, be prepared to pay $5 for a single drink, and that is excluding pearls/jelly. 

Ninja Bubble Tea Menu & Prices

BUT, I did not feel like the five dollars went to waste. I've visited Pearl Fever before and was severely disappointed with how watered down my coconut milk tea was. At Ninja, the drinks have a thick texture, like a smoothie or milkshake, and the cups are massive. I repeat, MASSIVE.

Varieties of candy bars used in their 'Famous Smoothies'

I decided to give the Taro Ice Cream Smoothie a try. It had a little 'Best Seller' banner next to the name and it was a flavour I had never tried before. They have a stamp card system where every 10th drink is free. If you check into Ninja Bubble Tea on Facebook and show the cashier, there is an instant 10% discount too. I just didn't bother asking them for their Wifi password, but I probably should have.

Be prepared to wait a while for your drink. There is only one person making the drinks, one individual serving at a time. Watching my drink being made, I could tell the mixer wasn't strong enough to process the thick slush (they should've invested in a Vitamix!) so that doesn't really help with speeding up production.

Left: My friend's Oreo Ice Cream Crumble Famous Smoothie and Right: My Taro Ice Cream Smoothie

Just to clarify, in the Taro Ice Cream smoothie, the taro and ice cream are separate ingredients. And to be more specific, the taro is taro powder. My jaw was close to dropping when I saw half a cup of purple powder being dunk into the blender, and a teeny tiny bit concerned about the No-Name brand ice cream... or 'frozen dessert'. I'm sorry, it's just my health-conscious side kicking in. Thankfully, this didn't taste half-bad. It was thick and slushy so I know they weren't cheap and watering it down with..water. The taro flavour was somewhat faint but I suppose that can be expected. I'm really glad that the drink wasn't overly sweet, just sweet enough for a bubble tea and enough to satisfy a sweet-tooth craving.

This bubble tea joint is getting busier and more popular by the day; eventually they'll have to figure out a way to add more seating! At the moment, there are three tiny tables plus one mini counter, each seating around four people. For the large servings and above-average quality, I would definitely recommend Ninja Bubble Tea as one of the best bubble tea places in the Tri-Cities, with Bon Vivant Fashion Cafe following very closely. I'll be back when I'm feeling like splurging on my calorie intake. Next on my to-try list is the Reece's peanut butter one!



Love from Coconut Crumpet's Corner ♡

A Long Weekend of Birthday Baking

Gaaaah, this post is about one month late but I still wanted to share three recipes I had tested out during the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend. Over that long weekend, I baked goodies as presents to three birthday girls: a childhood friend, a church friend, and my beloved grandmother. Without further ado, some eye-candy for you to indulge in.

Building the Vegan Chocolate Pumpkin Pie Layer Cake

Once I confirmed that my childhood friend, Tiff, was a fellow fan of pumpkin, I decided to go all out for her birthday cake. We were celebrating her 'entrance into adulthood' with a 'baby turkey' (aka Costco rotisserie chicken) dinner, Disney movies, and a sleepover. Sounding epic? Just wait until you hear about this Vegan Chocolate Pumpkin Pie Layer Cake I made her. Alternating layers of chocolate pumpkin cake and crustless pumpkin pie, glued together with whipped coconut cream. I could eat the whole cake and feel [almost] guiltless. I just got some teasing from my best friend, looking down on the cake just because I mentioned it's vegan. Whoa whoa now, don't hate on vegan food! Vegan food can be de-lish, as proven by this cake.

Completed Vegan Chocolate Pumpkin Pie Layer Cake

It was my first time using and eating whipped coconut cream, oh my goodness, Coconut Crumpet went on a vacation to heaven. I stuck a can of Rooster Brand Gold Label Coconut Milk into the fridge overnight for the vegan whipped cream. I highly recommend using this particular coconut milk because of its high, high, high fat content. It's super rich, thick, and coconutty. All the coconut whipped cream recipes I've seen online use the 'full fat' cans of coconut milk, which yield about half a can of whip-able coconut cream. The Gold Label Coconut Milk yields more than 3/4 can of coconut cream!! It was enough to frost this loaf-sized cake. 

As for the actual cake part of the cake, I used a pumpkin chocolate brownie recipe and adapted this crustless pumpkin pie recipe. While the brownie turned out fine, I took my Rachel-ifying a little too far for the pumpkin pie layer. It was bubbling in the oven like a cauldron and rose about five times the height that it should have, then I almost burnt it, and all that height collapsed as it cooled and some batter stuck to the sides of my loaf pan. Thankfully, the taste was fine and it would be ready to become a cake with a bit of a trim.

On the same day as I decorated this cake, I baked up two more birthday presents. Some Cranberry Orange Ricotta Muffins for my grandma and Soft Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies for a church friend, who is a lover of peanut butter and chocolate.

Cranberry Orange Ricotta Muffins

These muffins follow the same recipe as this Blackberry Lemon Ricotta Muffins I already have on the blog. This ricotta muffin recipe yields the fluffiest muffins ever; it is a must-try! I replaced the blackberries with cranberries, lemon zest and juice with that of an orange, and sprinkled the tops with turbinado sugar before baking. The raw sugar gives a beautiful sparkle and delicious crunch to the finished muffins. It's just unfortunate the the sugar will dissolve by the next day...so no more crunch :(

Soft Baked Peanut Butter Cookies

And finally, a batch of soft-baked peanut butter cookies, packed with chocolate chips and peanut butter chips of course. These were soooooooooooo good~~ Totally my type of cookie: soft, thick, chewy, peanut-buttery... I'm drooling again. You probably want to know what recipe I used right? Well head over to Sally's Baking Addiction; she has a plethora of cookie recipes with a good mix of healthy recipes too! 

I altered a few ingredients as softened (not melted!) coconut oil replaced the butter and Reece's peanut butter chips and chocolate chips instead of M&M's. The base of the cookie can be made vegan with the use of coconut oil. 

Soft Baked Peanut Butter Cookies

Even though many peanut butter cookie recipes recommend sticking to the regular creamy peanut butter stuff that is laden with sugar, I went ahead and used my natural peanut butter. The trick is to make sure the separated oil is very thoroughly re-incorporated (stir it every time you open the jar) and the jar is kept in the refrigerator. By keeping the natural peanut butter cool, the texture becomes creamy instead of runny.

I forgot to press down on the cookie dough before baking, which is why my cookies look a lot smaller and fatter. That isn't really bad at all as there will just be more soft cookie inside to enjoy!

Well, I hope that these little posts of "what I've been baking" is interesting. Halloween is over and now we're charging full force into Christmas. While I had a fun Halloween dressing up as a minion (I have a slight obsession with those yellow pill-shaped creatures), Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year. No arguing. I cannot wait for Christmas and all the festive deliciousness that happens during December; hopefully I'll be able to post about my successful recipes! Pumpkin pie anyone? The perfect Vegan Pie Crust can be made by following my recipe here. I'm still working on a perfect pumpkin pie filling so please check back soon! The Crumpets will try our best to post as often as we can between our busy schooling ;) We have lots to accomplish before we wander into the scarier-than-Halloween land of university...dundunDUNNNN..


Love from Coconut Crumpet's Corner ♡

Parklane Chinese Restaurant 百樂潮州酒家: Set Dinner for Six

We had such a great first experience at Parklane Chinese Restaurant, we made a reservation for a Sunday night to celebrate Thanksgiving and my grandmother's birthday here. 

Upon arrival, we were seated promptly at one of the large circular tables in one of the room sections of the restaurant. Being adjacent to the large windows, the natural lighting was plentiful and pleasant, at least while it lasted. The white tablecloths are clean and the settings are organized. It's one of the more upscale types of Chinese restaurants, the types that provide you with those addicting salted roasted peanuts at the table. I kinda ate them all...

Like our last visit, we chose to order from the selection of set menus. Please refer to my first post for a photo of the set menu with prices. This time, we got the Set Menu Dinner for Six Person (A). Many of the items are the same as the Set Menu Dinner for Four (A) that we tried last time. So again, my first post will have photos and thoughts of those dishes. Today, I will just go over the items that are unique to the six person menus.

Chiu Chow Marinated Platter

To begin, the appetizer plate consists of a selection of marinated items. Moving clockwise from the top we have tofu, intestine, cuttlefish (squid), pork belly, and then duck wings in the centre. I didn't try everything but from what I did try, the tofu is my favourite. It's super smooth and soaks up all the savoury marinade. Just so you are aware, everything except for the squid is marinated in the same sauce. Or at least it tasted the same to me. The cuttlefish was rather bland and way to chewy for my liking, and I really like chewy foods. I ended up dunking it into the vinegar that accompanies the marinated food. My parents managed to trick my brother into eating the intestine, saying that it was 'sausage'. -evil sibling grin- Hey, he said it tasted good. I'll pass.

The downside to this platter is that the tofu and duck wings are part of two dishes on the set menu. It is exactly the same as the marinated duck; then again, there is an option to choose chicken instead of duck. Overall, I wasn't impressed with this appetizer platter.  

I don't have a photo for the Pepper Pig Stomach & Salted Vegetable Soup, but I can definitely tell you about it. This is a broth-y soup that has an extremely heavy white pepper flavour. (That's good, if you enjoy ground pepper like me.) It's very warming to the body so it'd be wonderful on colder days. I let my grandpa enjoy the pig stomach; apparently it's not commonly found in restaurants anymore, making it a real 'treat' for the adults. This pepper-y soup was a great way to begin the meal. If the words 'pig stomach' deter you from trying this soup, the alternate soup choice is the more thick, goopey-type-soup Chicken & Fish Maw one, which I reviewed in the first post. Both soups are very different from each other and have their own good aspects and components. However, if I was forced into choosing one, I'd pick fish stomach over pig stomach, haha! 

(Front) BBQ Ribs with Plum Sauce & (Back) Stir Fried Gai Lan with Dried Sole and Fish Filet

In the six person menu, BBQ Ribs with Plum Sauce replace the Honey Garlic Pork Ribs. These barbequed ribs are of a much larger cut than their honey garlic relative. Although fried just as crispy and smothered in the perfect ratio of sauce, I prefer the honey garlic ribs. I couldn't really taste the plum in the sauce and the meat was not as tender and fall-off-the-bone as I remember the honey garlic ribs to be. I must've picked the 'bad' pieces because almost every piece I ate were very fatty. For easier-to-eat and a more umami flavour, go for the honey garlic ribs. Even as a person who tries to avoid meat and doesn't really favour pork, I could chow down piece after piece of those.

The veggie dish of the set menu is gai lan with fish! This was simply seasoned and helped to clear the palate between eating all the heavy and greasy dishes. (It's kind of impossible to avoid fat in Chinese cuisine as everything is either stir-fried or deep-fried or just laden to fat for flavour.) The fish filets were very moist and flaky, delicious! I have no complaints about this dish, except that the serving could be just a tad but more generous because I inhale vegetables like I breathe air. 

The oyster omelette, fried rice with olive leaves, marinaded duck, and dessert were all the same as last time. In addition, the quality and execution of the items were on par in comparison to my last visit a month before. There are items in the six person menu that weren't really worth eating, such as the appetizer platter and plum sauce ribs, so I think ordering a four person menu and adding a few more dishes from their regular menu would be a better deal. Oh, we were not given the tiny teacups of bitter tea at the end of our meal, not that we remembered at the end because we were so stuffed. My mom said she doesn't think any of the other tables received it either, so I'm not sure if it is just an occasional extra thing they give. The tea is supposed to help with the digestion of all the fatty food just eaten.

Both my grandparents were extremely satisfied with the night's dinner. My grandpa is a considerably picky eater, and one without much teeth, so that says quite a bit. My grandma shocked us all by saying that we should come back again the next Saturday. Being so full with all this delicious Chiu Chow food, I wasn't too sure if that was the greatest idea. Having said that, I can confidently say that it is totally worth the drive to Richmond to experience Chiu Chow cuisine at Parklane. Be sure to get the oyster omelette!

Love from Coconut Crumpet's Corner ♡