Sawdust Pudding Today, I'm enjoying 木 槺 布 甸, a Macanese or Portuguese dessert consisting of cream pudding covered with cookie or cracker crumbs on top. Its name in Chinese (muk6 hong1 bou6 din1) and Portuguese (serradura) means "sawdust," which is what the crumbs on top look like. It's hard to find 木 槺 布 甸 in HK. When I was in HK last year, the only place I was able to find it was at Orchid Padaria Bakery (君 蘭 餅 店) in Kowloon (尖 東).

Recently, when I was in Vancouver, Canada, I saw a small Chinese shop with a sign 港 澳 甜 品 (Hong Kong and Macau desserts). I got excited and was sure that they would have 木 槺 布 甸. But when I asked the owner, she said that she had never heard of it and seemed to be irritated at me for asking.

Although smaller than HK and less well known, Macau has some of the best food that I have ever tasted in my life. In a future post, I will describe my culinary adventures in Macau. For now, let me just mention an interesting blog that discusses the possibility that, 10 years from now, Macau, Zhuhai (珠 海), and Zhongshan (中 山) could become suburbs of Hong Kong. If you read Chinese, you might want to check out Over the Rainbow (see July 14 post). When I was in Macau last year, I remember walking along the beach at 黑 沙 灘, admiring the beautiful flats, and thinking about buying one.  ¶ 7:40 PM