Sunday, October 24, 2010

Ghostly Mooli for Halloween






We're having a little Halloween soiree next weekend and I've been thinking about scary snacks to make. I had the idea to make some skull shaped mooli slices and pickle them. Turns out skulls are quite hard to do and I decided that these little Pac Man / space invader style ghosts looked a lot better. I peeled half a large mooli and cut it into slices about 2mm thick. I took a small sharp knife and cut little triangles out at the bottom of the circle. For the eyes I used a chop stick and pushed it through hard on both sides of the mooli. For the pickling juice I used rice wine, caster sugar and for a change I used some sushi seasoning (see picture) too, I topped it all up with water. I chopped up a lot of ginger quite finely, 2 cloves of garlic and 3 bird's eye chillies (most seeds removed). For a proper recipe for pickling veg see my earlier post.

Now for the char siew bloody pit with lotus root bones and the centre piece of the bride with white hair (vermicelli noodles)! Nice idea but that sounds a bit too much work; I will let you know what else I come up with.

Friday, October 22, 2010

Chow Yun Fat Lucky Cat Podcast





A podcast in honour of Chow Yun Fat! A Lucky Cat salute to Fa Gor.

    Playlist:
  • Lucky Cat Theme - Feat The Magic Cat - Connie Chan, Jackie Chan dialogue from Snake in Eagle's Shadow and mainly Bear Cat by Rufus Thomas
  • Kowloon Hong Kong - The Reynettes
  • Fatty Fatty - Clancy Eccles
  • Dying Gambler - Kate McTell
  • Playing Mahjong - Le-Ge
  • Slot Machine - The Three Tops
  • Chu Chui Lian - from 24 Favourite Gu Zheng Chinese Melodies
  • Confucius - The Skatalites
  • Yu Zhou Chang Wan - from 24 Favourite Gu Zheng Chinese Melodies
  • Will The orange Blossom Smile - Rebecca Pan



WIN a copy of the Chow Yun Fat movie directed by Hu Mei Confucius:
To enter please email me (luckycatzoe at gmail.com) your Chow Yun Fat poem. The best entry will win the Confucius DVD and I will publish all entries on this blog.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

New Ann Hui film All About Love

I stumbled across this trailer for the new Ann Hui film All About Love which was shown at this year's Hong Kong Film Festival. Hope we get to see it here in the UK (though I won't hold my breath).

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Isaac Julien’s new film installation Ten Thousand Waves


British artist Isaac Julien's Ten Thousand Waves is a 9-screen installation shot on location in China which aims to weave together stories linking China’s ancient past and present. The work looks at immigration, diaspora and the journeys that people make across continents. The installation premièred at the Sydney Biennale in May and was then shown at the Shanghai Expo. Now it is here in London at the Hayward Gallery (with still photographs also on show at the Victoria Miro Gallery).

Filmed on location in Guangxi province the film has many interesting collaborators; most exciting of all the mighty Maggie Cheung Man Yuk! The soundtrack is by Londoner Jah Wobble and The Chinese Dub Orchestra (an artist who has become interested in fusing digital Dub Reggae with Chinese sounds and traditional instruments, as heard in his CD Chinese Dub).

I haven't been to check it out yet but am dying to go, I will report back asap. I am a fan of Julien's work and of course I don't need to declare my love for Maggie Cheung again! Watch this space for a review of the installation....

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Where It All Began Part 2


Following on from my earlier post here is another book that I remember from my childhood. When I was in Paris earlier this year and at the amazing department store Compagnie Francaise de l'Orient et de la Chine I saw a copy of this book on the shelf and my heart fluttered nostalgically. I hadn't looked at the book in years and was pleasantly suprised to find some revolutionary Chinese art cards tucked inside when I opened it (see bonus section below). The book has page after page of amazing acrobatic feats all depicted in glorious Technicolor. Here are just a few for you:


Looking at this picture I remembered being fascinated by an episode of Sesame Street where Big Bird visited China and met some 'lions'. Wasn't there a big dog on Sesame Street who looked a bit like a Chinese lion? After some research (Googled it!) I found this clip where Big Bird and the dog (Barkley) are taught a few Chinese words by a very cute little girl:



Back to the book and another ingenious way of holding a vase:










Bonus Section: Revolutionary Chinese Art Cards
Positive depictions of agriculture and industry.