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We got an AA Rosette for 2015! Thank you @TheAA_UK
Hello and Happy New Year my friends. Hope you had a good Christmas. Look what we received ! We got an AA Rosette (the only Chinese in the North West to receive one!!) What a wonderful way to start...
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Come to the Ideal Home Show Manchester 5 June 2015
We are delighted to announce that we are cooking at the Ideal Home Show 2015 in Manchester at Event City opposite Trafford Centre. Our cooking demo will be at 3pm. We look forward to cooking for you...
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Father’s Day – 21st June – I Love You Dad
I know one day will never make up for all the universal joys and incredible memories of childhood that I’ve shared with my Dad but I wanted to thank you Dad, for being there for me, always,...
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Chicken Stock
My grandmother, Lily Kwok, met my grandfather, Chan under the most remarkable circumstances. Lily was a maid and cook for an English family in Hong Kong and was walking the baby with a friend when saw...
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Chicken and Sweetcorn Soup
My parents married in the 1975 in Bury in a small traditional ceremony followed by a wedding banquet of huge proportions. My mum said practically all the Chinese who were in Britain were invited and...
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It has been said that the Chinese will eat anything that walks on four legs...
It has been said that the Chinese will eat anything that walks on four legs with its back to the sky. In actual fact, Leung joked with Lilly that only the tables and chairs were safe from the voracious...
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Winter melon and wolfberry soup
When we go for dim sum (also known as yum cha, which literally translated means ‘drink tea’) we bump into lots of family friends and one of those is Mr Dong. He grows his own winter melon, as does...
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Chicken Foo Young!
Foo Yung has been criticised as an anglicised Chinese dish but actually this omelette dish has roots in a Shanghainese dish called Fu Yung Egg Slices. Nonetheless, I believe we should embrace...
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Waterchestnut and Prawn Dumpling? Buy the dim sum cookbook and learn how to...
This is a really easy recipe but very effective and a party pleaser. Try this recipe at home and see what you think.This book is now available to purchase in Waterstones and online with Amazon. Also...
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Want to try make Pan-fried Pork Dumplings…… Then buy The Dim Sum Cookbook –...
This recipe is one of our family favourites and its so easy to replicate at home. We hope you will enjoy making these with your family. Purchase the DIM SUM Cookbook from all good bookshops and...
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Pork Open-Top Dumplings – Siu Mai – Buy our DIM SUM book today!
This recipe is taken from the DIM SUM book out now in Waterstones and online with Amazon. Also pick up a copy at Sweet Mandarin. We are having a book signing party at Sweet Mandarin on 22nd February...
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Tuesday’s Pork Rib Broth
My twin sister Helen, younger sister Janet, younger brother Jimmy and I grew up in the family food business and lived above the shop. Like our parents and their parents – it was a way of life and we...
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Lettuce Wraps (or San Choy Bau in Chinese)
When I make this dish, I think of my grandfather Chan who grew up well practised in Kung Fu and also immersed in his family’s restaurant business. He’d often amuse himself by throwing lettuces in the...
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Crispy Won Tons
These are one of my favourite dim sum. They are a great party food and are so easy to make. You can fill the wontons with any filling of your choice. I prefer using prawn as it makes the wontons light...
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Prawn Dumpling Mr Matt Preston? Masterchef Australia’s Next Challenge: Dim Sum…
Our brand new DIM SUM cookbook is out and we are delighted that it has caught the eye of Matt Preston, the formidable judge on Masterchef Australia. The DIM SUM Cookbook is now available to buy in...
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Thank you to the generations of clients who have supported us. You’re the best.
We held a Thank You Dinner for our longest standing clients – those who through generations have frequented my Grandma’s restaurant, my Mum’s takeaway and now us at Sweet Mandarin. As I was serving...
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Six Degrees of Separation – Dim Sum, Silk Road, Guangzhou China, Britain,...
As a British Born Chinese, I have lived a very British way of life being educated in Manchester and Australia. However, throughout my life, I grew up with the backdrop of serving and cooking in the...
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Yin and Yang Foods – Can Balancing such foods improve your hair and skin?
Balancing Yin and Yang can improve one’s hair and skin. “The created universe carries the yin at its back and the yang in front; Through the union of the pervading principles it reaches harmony” (Lao...
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Look Inside our DIM SUM Cookbook – and Buy Buy Buy! Thanks Antonio Carluccio...
This DIM SUM Cookbook is a culmination of generations of dim sum recipes and even has a chapter on Superfood dim sum. This book is now available to purchase in Waterstones and online with Amazon....
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Hot and Sour Soup
Helen, Janet and I gave up our day jobs as a lawyer, engineer and financier to open Sweet Mandarin in 2004 to the horror of our parents who protested that restaurants were hard graft and...
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The Chicken Wings
I gotta just blog-wax lyrical about the Chicken Wings - I just ordered a portion . Now there is a saying that “the Chinese will eat anything with its back to the Heavens except the table and chairs” –...
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Merry Christmas – We’re having Peking Duckenail for our Christmas Roast...
Peking duck is Beijing’s most famous dish and was served to numerous Emperors. However, the true Peking duck recipe takes over 24 hours to make and requires a pump to blow air between the skin and the...
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My Mum’s Chicken’s Feet Soup (For Beautiful Skin)
When my mum was pregnant with us, her knees were pained by the weight of the bump and Lily made this soup for my mum to boost her cartilage. There was a surprise in the pregnancy – only I had shown up...
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We’re open today 1st Jan 2016 Happy New Year! A New Year – A New You – Tip...
A New Year’s Message to You All HELLO! We hope you have recovered from all the Christmas festivities and raring to go for 2016. At Sweet Mandarin there are early preparations to make the celebration...
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Oprah’s Ten Weight Loss Recipes – Beansprouts and Chinese Chives
This series of blogs is addressed to Oprah and all those out there battling the bulge and excess weight. I am often asked by my clients to prepare for them a special detox meal over a period of a week...
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Oprah’s Ten Weight Loss Recipes – Firecracker Chicken
This series of blogs is addressed to Oprah and all those out there battling the bulge and excess weight. I am often asked by my clients to prepare for them a special detox meal over a period of a week...
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Won Ton mean ‘swallowing a cloud’
Literally translated, wonton means ‘swallowing a cloud’. The wonton floating in the soup is supposed to resemble the clouds. Every province in China boasts their own version of wontons with a variety...
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Lisa Tse features on BBC Radio for Chinese New Year
Lisa Tse, CEO of Sweet Mandarin was invited to speak to Becky Want on her show Retail Therapy, BBC Radio Manchester. Lisa talked about Chinese New Year and brought an array of delicious dim sum and...
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Oprah’s Ten Weight Loss Recipes – Finger Lickin Good Spare Ribs
This series of blogs is addressed to Oprah and all those out there battling the bulge and excess weight. I am often asked by my clients to prepare for them a special detox meal over a period of a week...
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Beijing Dumplings – For Chinese New Year and all celebrations from our brand...
To celebrate and bestow prosperity for the Chinese New Year these dumplings are cooked because they symbolise golden ingots used during the Ming Dynasty. Similar to the Christmas pudding where a lucky...
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Adam and Eve Oyster Omlette
A dear customer who asked to remain anonymous came to Sweet Mandarin one night with her husband to eat. I will call them Adam and Eve. During their meal, an argument ensued and Adam walked out to cool...
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Sesame Prawn Toast
The old Chinese fable goes that this dish was created by a Beijing chef whose specialty was mantou bread and a Guangzhou chef whose specialty was seafood. The Beijing chef travelled to Guangzhou to...
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I love Fridays at Sweet Mandarin
Hurray! We’ve made it to Friday. To celebrate we’re going to make you some amazing cocktails – Tom Cruise inspired – to get you in the mood for the weekend. So first, let’s enjoy the video of the...
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Healthy Fish Soup
My great-grandmother and great-grandfather were betrothed at the age of four and had an arranged marriage ten years later. Great grandmother was dressed in red – for luck and good fortune – before...
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Oprah’s Weight Loss Recipes – The Chicken Stock to Warm Your Heart – By Sweet...
This series of blogs is addressed to Oprah and all those out there battling the bulge and excess weight. I am often asked by my clients to prepare for them a special detox meal over a period of a week...
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