慈航淨院

營業中

休息中

Around Lunar New Year, I was trying to get into the festive mode and checked out a well-known temple near my place in Hong Kong. Then I stumbled across upon a nunnery next to it, which to me, was a hidden gem.The nunnery was founded 1914 and it seems as a whole, it has been like a time capsule. It is low-key and hasn't been overly commercialised, which is a big plus to me. From what I could research online, during the Japanese occupation, the Japanese barged in and demanded to make the nunnery a barrack for the troops but the nuns refused and warned the intruders (while still continued to pray or chant) that if they insisted, the imperial Japanese army would be defeated. Then the Japanese backed off and left the nunnery alone. I think it is a private nunnery so it is not open to all daily. I'm not too sure. but on the day of my first visit, I was lucky enough to be let in because on that day, some kind of Buddhist celebration took place. I later found out they do serve vegetarian lunch on specific dates.  I kept the next available date in mind (which was today) and made my second visit. By the time I arrived, it was already a bit hustle and bustle inside. Eventually I purchased ticket (HK$80 each) at the door and settled at my table without knowing what to expect. Setting was simple so please don't expect anything fancy. It is a nunnery so I'm so happy it stays like one. The meal, as far as I know, was prepared by volunteers. I helped myself with tea, which carried some special tastes and yet simple. Food started showing up and I was excited! A bunch of friendly strangers shared 8 courses with rice, which were proven more than enough. These days lot of the vegetarian food served at lots of temples in Hong Kong are kinda commercialised, modernised (i.e. less fresh ingredients), mediocre at best and yet overpriced. Therefore, when I saw the first course, I was delighted though I didn't know what it was exactly! Old school. Hearty and yummy.It was an imitation of an old kind of rustic dish - baked worms with scrambled eggs (Well, I have never tried this dish but I guess it's not really for the faint-hearted like myself). This vegetarian version consisted of tofu (I think), tofu skin, dices of fungus & carrots, etc. The ingredient that added zest (but not overpowering) to the whole dish was dried peels! Very unique taste. The 2nd course was deep fried tofu skin. It was crunchy but not dry. It wasn't greasy either. The dipping sauce might look simple but it was so tasty - homemade sweet and sour sauce (not the kind you are given at Chinese take-away places). Honey-ish and vinegar-ish. It gently woke up my taste buds!!!The third course was a cold dish - cucumbers and mung bean sheet jelly noodles (I think!) that resembled jelly fish slices.Not sure what was added during preparation - it was a bit tangy but didn't taste the same like the sauce from the previous course. Interesting. I think on a hot summer day, this dish would be even more perfect!The next course was spring rolls together with egg plant tempura!! Spring rolls were yummy but the tempura was the star of the dish - the batter was airy and full of crunch! If you know about cooking, you would know egg plants can be tricky to cook - they could be too solid/ soft and could absorb oil like a sponge. But my, the volunteer must be a very good chef!! Every piece was cooked to perfection. Enough said.The casserole had broccoli, yam, carrots and vegetarian 'meatballs', served with Portuguese sauce (Macanese version). Yam was cooked till a bit gooey but was still intact. Full of flavours! Sauce was tasty - perfect for the rice! The next one was dried mushrooms with Chinese lettuce. When fresh and quality ingredients were cooked perfectly, It was so difficult not to like the dish! These days, a lot more ingredients are imported from China (whether we like it or not) and most of them are bland or even tasteless (or full of pesticides/ toxic colourings/ flavour enhancers) so I was blown away by the flavours!! Probably the nuns still grow their own vegetables I'm not sure.The 2nd last course had assorted veggies (chop sum, different types of mushrooms, fungus, carrots, Chinese cabbage) and fried tofu skin. Delicious!Sorry the last course comprised green beans, potato cubes (seasoned with rosemary) and bitter gourd/ melon (I'm sorry but I forgot to take a photo!)  I was nicely surprised that the chef incorporated western seasoning and the bitter gourd was far from bland - it is not for everyone I must say. I used to hate it when I was a kid but with age, it grows on me.Meals like that not only fill your tummy but also nourish your soul. I highly recommend the vegetarian lunch at this nunnery! If any one is interested, I could translate and post the dates on which, meals are served. Visitors are welcome to go to a few shrines inside the nunnery, or to check out the beautiful koi as well as plants, like lotus, camellia, bonsai, etc. Nuns that I met were pretty friendly, so as the volunteers.  繼續閱讀

慈航淨院位於沙田大圍山腳下，與車公廟為鄰，是典型的磗身雅舍，1914年創立，現在仍然保留了當年鄕村小屋的原貌間格，古樹、天井、木窗等等，歷史文物的間格。是一家女衆道場，即是修道的全是女師傅，當年曾辦學校，現在是慈善機構，並非旅遊景點，但亦可內進看看，地下飯堂，指定日子設素食午餐供應，歡迎任何人光顧，不設電話預訂，午飯時段，有師傅在門外收費，每位$80，四人以上可以預訂，人少可以隨緣，到訪碰碰運氣；假若認識主持或是搞團體活動，就可以跟主持訂位，現在的主持是妙智師傅。周六天清氣爽，我們一伙人相約早上於城門河畔健步行，然後踱步到慈航淨院午膳。八款菜式，份量十足，家常小菜，沒有菜名，亦不講究賣相，但炒得夠鑊氣，味清但不寡，完全不油膩，煎炸品只佔少數，我最欣賞兩道味道比較鮮明的素菜，就是咕嚕肉及焗素禾蟲。酸甜三色椒炒咕嚕肉，當然只是豆製素肉，但口感極似腍嫩的豬肉，尤其依足咕嚕肉的做法。炸漿不厚，酸甜汁味道自然宜口，似乎並非用工業白醋，酸味不霸道，肉質嫩腍如半肥瘦豬肉，但這次並無真版肥肉之膽固醇了！酸甜入味，炸得香脆，皮脆肉嫩有對比，碟內留有汁水，保持潤澤；三色椒新鮮爽脆，生熟度剛好。焗禾蟲，外型味道似足，唯欠砵仔。圓形蒸碟，亦有幾分似砵仔，以素肉菇類代替禾蟲，陳皮及胡椒粉落足，亦見有紅蘿蔔粒，混合雞蛋蒸，做出層次，入口完全有吃禾蟲蒸蛋之口感及風味。有兩道炸物，炸腐皮配自製酸汁及春卷，炸得就是脆，薄薄的腐皮捲成多層，層疊之間有空氣，吃起來輕脆俐落；春卷含餡料，都是一些菇粒及蘿蔔粒，有餡相比更美味及飽肚。兩款炸物優勝之處在完全不油膩，食物上不泛油光，碟底亦不見油，難得！青瓜木耳是道涼菜，以酸味醃製，醒胃爽口，青瓜新鮮爽汁，木耳多吃有益。冬菇炒生菜，用上厚身的冬菇，隨意炒炒，非常住家菜，味道略淡。餘下兩道小炒材料差不多，一道有菜心，一道雜蔬多一些，材料皆是一些粟米芯、紅蘿蔔、豆乾、豆、紹菜、金針、雪花及各種菇菌炒成，大雜會，各有特性，口感自然有變化，感覺豐富，鑊氣夠，不用芡汁，碟底無水留下，也許汁水被食材吸收了。白飯及茶壼早已放在圓桌上，客人自理，用具基本，摺疊式桌椅，環境衛生便成，大家無別要求；上菜迅速，份量會依人數調節，也許一切隨緣！好一個周末節目，健康養生，值得再訪。 繼續閱讀