慈航淨院

营业中

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.  继续阅读

慈航净院位于沙田大围山脚下，与车公庙为邻，是典型的磗身雅舍，1914年创立，现在仍然保留了当年鄕村小屋的原貌间格，古树、天井、木窗等等，历史文物的间格。是一家女众道场，即是修道的全是女师傅，当年曾办学校，现在是慈善机构，并非旅游景点，但亦可内进看看，地下饭堂，指定日子设素食午餐供应，欢迎任何人光顾，不设电话预订，午饭时段，有师傅在门外收费，每位$80，四人以上可以预订，人少可以随缘，到访碰碰运气；假若认识主持或是搞团体活动，就可以跟主持订位，现在的主持是妙智师傅。周六天清气爽，我们一伙人相约早上于城门河畔健步行，然后踱步到慈航净院午膳。八款菜式，份量十足，家常小菜，没有菜名，亦不讲究卖相，但炒得够镬气，味清但不寡，完全不油腻，煎炸品只占少数，我最欣赏两道味道比较鲜明的素菜，就是咕噜肉及焗素禾虫。酸甜三色椒炒咕噜肉，当然只是豆制素肉，但口感极似腍嫩的猪肉，尤其依足咕噜肉的做法。炸浆不厚，酸甜汁味道自然宜口，似乎并非用工业白醋，酸味不霸道，肉质嫩腍如半肥瘦猪肉，但这次并无真版肥肉之胆固醇了！酸甜入味，炸得香脆，皮脆肉嫩有对比，碟内留有汁水，保持润泽；三色椒新鲜爽脆，生熟度刚好。焗禾虫，外型味道似足，唯欠砵仔。圆形蒸碟，亦有几分似砵仔，以素肉菇类代替禾虫，陈皮及胡椒粉落足，亦见有红萝卜粒，混合鸡蛋蒸，做出层次，入口完全有吃禾虫蒸蛋之口感及风味。有两道炸物，炸腐皮配自制酸汁及春卷，炸得就是脆，薄薄的腐皮卷成多层，层叠之间有空气，吃起来轻脆俐落；春卷含馅料，都是一些菇粒及萝卜粒，有馅相比更美味及饱肚。两款炸物优胜之处在完全不油腻，食物上不泛油光，碟底亦不见油，难得！青瓜木耳是道凉菜，以酸味腌制，醒胃爽口，青瓜新鲜爽汁，木耳多吃有益。冬菇炒生菜，用上厚身的冬菇，随意炒炒，非常住家菜，味道略淡。余下两道小炒材料差不多，一道有菜心，一道杂蔬多一些，材料皆是一些粟米芯、红萝卜、豆干、豆、绍菜、金针、雪花及各种菇菌炒成，大杂会，各有特性，口感自然有变化，感觉丰富，镬气够，不用芡汁，碟底无水留下，也许汁水被食材吸收了。白饭及茶壸早已放在圆桌上，客人自理，用具基本，折叠式桌椅，环境卫生便成，大家无别要求；上菜迅速，份量会依人数调节，也许一切随缘！好一个周末节目，健康养生，值得再访。 继续阅读